As the Opposition on Wednesday held its first meeting on the presidential election, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice for the top constitutional post with senior party leader Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Naveen Patnaik, sources said.
A day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar formed the government in Bihar in alliance with the National Democratic Alliance, hectic lobbying started for the post of assembly speaker, and other legislators to be included in the council of ministers.
Accusing the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre of dithering in taking strong steps against terrorists, Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the National Democratic Alliance would opt for surgical strikes to demolish their camps inside Pakistan, if it came to power.The NDA would take other countries into confidence on the need for such surgical strikes if it came to power after the Lok Sabha polls, he said.
Kumar, whose NDA-allied Janata Dal-United has won 12 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, has emerged as a key player in government formation
With Nitish Kumar on its side, a BJP-led government may feel increased pressure to conduct a nationwide caste-based census.
A multi-layer security arrangement involving five companies of paramilitary personnel, NSG commandoes and snipers have already been deployed around the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Drone cameras have also been put into service.
Ruling parties held sway in most of the 13 states in the assembly byelection results declared on Saturday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies wresting seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and the Trinamool Congress sweeping West Bengal.
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 opposition wants the country to run on the basis of Shariat but this cannot happen'
The Mal Mas will last until middle of the next month, while President A P J Abdul Kalam's term expires in July.
'One nation, one election' is not possible under the present Constitution. It requires at least five constitutional amendments'
'There will be no khel on February 12 during the confidence motion vote.'
While trends suggest a whopping 340 seats for the NDA -- a direct endorsement for BJP's PM nominee Narendra Modi -- the results have also showed a clear drubbing for some of the biggest political forces in the country.
Hours before the ceremony, Saini visited the Valmiki Bhawan and offered prayers at a gurdwara and the Mansa Devi temple in Panchkula.
The opposition, which had earlier accepted defeat, is again jumping around today, the UP CM said.
Locals have witnessed real estate prices skyrocket from a historic low of Rs 6,000 per square yard (in 2020) during Jagan Mohan Reddy's regime to around Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 per square yard after elections.
Ending the more than a month long suspense over cabinet formation, five ministers, including two from the Bharatiya Janata Party, were inducted in the Chief Minister N Rangasamy-led National Democratic Alliance cabinet.
'The BJP has killed public anger. They have killed people's self-respect.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will move the motion today in the Lok Sabha to choose Om Birla as the Speaker of the lower house amid a tussle for the post with the opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
Bijendra Prasad Yadav, the senior-most minister in the state cabinet, also lamented that the lack of cohesion was causing allies to engage in allegations and counter allegations, a job best left to the Opposition.
The senior Paswan sought an appointment and waited for more than three months but Rahul Gandhi did not relent, said Chirag Paswan, who at that time too was keen to leave the UPA and join the National Democratic Alliance.
The 70-year-old leader attended a meeting of the floor leaders of NDA allies in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in the Parliament chamber of Opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani on Thursday.
Nitish Kumar wants to assure the BJP leadership that he will continue to be a part of the NDA. But he also wants to secure a larger number of seats for his party in the 2025 assembly elections in Bihar.
The decision taken about Kharge at the INDIA bloc meeting earlier this month had shocked the JD-U, which believed that its president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would be named as the convenor without being saddled with any chairperson, its leaders had then said.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday asserted that 'something major' will take place, after Lok Sabha results are out, in Bihar where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seemed to be 'not going along well' with ally Bharatiya Janata Party.
Biju Janata Dal president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday appealed to all members of the Odisha assembly to support the National Democratic Alliance candidate Droupadi Murmu in the upcoming presidential election, describing her as the daughter of the state.
The Congress on Wednesday filed a police complaint over the recent statements of leaders belonging to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) targeting Rahul Gandhi.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is not a threat to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance but a threat to the Bharatiya Janata Party led-National Democratic Alliance itself, as proved by the developments following his elevation as the BJP poll panel chief, his Assam counterpart Tarun Gogoi said on Saturday. "Modi is not a threat to the UPA. Modi is a threat to NDA itself," he said.
After the Mahagathbandan rejected his overtures, the need for political survival forced Pashupati Kumar Paras to stick with the NDA. The BJP may reward him with a governor's post after the election.
The JD-U leader's outbursts met with disapproval from the RJD as well as ally BJP, leaving the party to fend for itself.
Unless it leaves the NDA, we will wait and watch the developments, the NCP said.
Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu has told party workers that he would be entering into a pre-poll tie up with the NDA and has been assured that he would be made convenor.
There was no immediate response from the Aam Aadmi Party over the matter.
While the markets have factored in a number close to 350 for the BJP and almost 400 for the NDA, 50 seats fewer could trigger a market correction
The BJP could ask at least a dozen of its 92 Rajya Sabha MPs, particularly those who have served more than one term, to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Leader of the opposition L K Advani, NDA convener George Fernandes and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Arun Jaitley and V K Malhotra will be among the alliance leaders calling on the President.
Sanjeev Kumar alias Sanjeev 'Mukhiya', an alleged kingpin behind the NEET paper leak, was not only minting money but wanted to become an MP or MLA.
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