In a strategic move, the BJP has welcomed prominent Christian figures like Anil K Antony, son of Congress stalwart AK Antony, and seasoned Kerala politician PC George, into its fold.
The Congress leader said he believes that democracy is derailed and "we are becoming too authoritarian". "It's all about one-man show," he said.
Sirsa MP Kumari Selja will campaign for the Congress and address a public meeting in Narwana this week, party general secretary Randeep Surjewala said on Monday after the Bharatiya Janata Party targeted the grand old party over alleged infighting amid reports that she was sulking.
Four of seven Bharatiya Janata Party MPs who fought the Rajasthan assembly elections won their respective seats while three others lost the polls.
"Not a single woman (from Sandeshkhali) has lodged any FIR. It was me who directed the police to lodge a suo motu case. Our block president has been arrested," she said.
BJP candidate and minister Kunvarji Bavaliya defeated his nearest rival Congress nominee Avsar Nakiya by a margin of 19,979 votes, officials said.
'The BJP alliance needs to handle the Maratha quota issue skilfully and address its root cause, which is agrarian distress. Then there is stalled industrialisation. If these issues are addressed, caste fault lines would wither away. But, this is next to impossible in a short span of three-four months.'
Reacting to the results, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that in the by-elections held on 13 seats in seven states, the people of the country have given their support to the INDIA bloc.
In a setback for the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, the exit polls on Saturday predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party will move ahead of Mamata Banerjee's party in the Lok Sabha elections in the state.
The BJP may win more seats in the February 5 assembly election, but not enough to trump AAP, notes Ramesh Menon.
Maurya's remarks assume significance as they came barely a couple of weeks after his statement that the party organisation will always be bigger than the government caused a flutter.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has accused the BJP of rigging the Maharashtra assembly elections and called for a return to ballot paper voting. He also criticized the Modi government for selling off public assets, undermining democratic institutions, and promoting communal polarization. Kharge's remarks come as the Congress prepares for its AICC session in Ahmedabad, where it will present its political and economic views.
There is no use of the BJP targeting the likes of Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin, directly by the party's political bosses, both in Delhi and the respective state capitals, or even using the Raj Bhavans to fire those salvos from. Successive elections have proved that it's counter-productive, if anything. But the BJP is yet to understand it, acknowledge it, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Union minister Raosaheb Danve has caused a flutter by saying if the Bharatiya Janata Party needs victory in the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra in 2024, then it must ensure that All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen leader and sitting MP Imtiaz Jaleel contests the election next year.
The outcome is beyond the market's expectation and will be a sentimental boost, say analysts.
'... dividing society not just on religious lines, but also creating rift in families and among brothers and sisters.'
As the Bharatiya Janata Party, which the former Union minister and two-time MP quit in 2021, and the Trinamool engage in a verbal war ahead of the general elections due in a couple of months' time, Babul Supriyo is very clear that if the BJP wins, as is widely expected, "democracy may not exist in India."
The cabinet of the new government led by Rekha Gupta balances representation of all major communities that propelled the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in Delhi with a massive majority after over 26 years.
Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe Patil lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and questioned the need for Rane to remain part of the cabinet.
The Janata Dal-United won seven seats, the National People's Party five, the Congress four, the People's Party of Arunachal one and Independents two.
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