Congress leader K C Venugopal and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's T R Baalu walked out of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's office, refusing to endorse NDA candidate Birla without being offered the Deputy Speaker's position.
Dubbing the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance as a "sinking ship", the Congress claimed on Tuesday that the UPA would retain power at the Centre as it enjoys the support of people for its "impressive performance and charismatic leadership".
The Congress is a national party with a pan-India presence and it is quite natural that it should be the fulcrum of any national coalition against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav said on Sunday.
Unrelenting on its demand for a JPC probe into 2-G Spectrum scam, Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for giving "repeated clean chits" to former Telecom Minister A Raja and alleged the government was "scared" of embarrassing truths coming out.
Five days before the Big Opposition rally in Patna, one of the Mahagathbandhan's allies will walk out of the ruling alliance.
Bihar assembly Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary on Sunday called on Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav, at a time when the state was witnessing a big political churn.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said his party would oppose the Centre's move to bring a bill in Parliament to amend the 1995 law governing Waqf boards, and accused the BJP of trying to snatch the rights of Muslims.
Though electoral verdicts have historically been accepted, even though grudgingly, by all parties, there has been a sharper edge to the questions being raised by Opposition parties this time over the polling process, including the Election Commission.
'The biggest festival of democracy is here! EC has announced the 2024 Lok Sabha election dates. We, the BJP-NDA, are fully prepared for elections'
The BJP-led NDA kept up pressure on the Manmohan Singh government on Thursday to take immediate action against all those indicted by the Nanavati Commission despite Jagdish Tytler resigning as Union Minister.
Asked whether the SAD would pull out of the National Democratic Alliance as well, Harsimrat said it was for the party to decide and a collective decision would be taken on the issue by all senior leaders together.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday pulled off a stunning performance in Maharashtra winning a record number of seats to propel the party-led ruling Mahayuti alliance to a landslide victory while the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) stormed back to power in Jharkhand on the back of a spectacular showing by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
Failure to address the core issue of development and overconfidence on the 'false campaign' of 'India Shining' led to the debacle of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the elections, leading economists said on Thursday.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday appeared all set to make his second political volte face in less than three years, with a highly-placed source close to Kumar saying that the Janata Dal-United president is likely to tender his resignation by Sunday morning.
The inquiry will bring under a scanner Arun Shourie, the then disinvestment minister, and Bharat Hotels Chairperson Jyotsna Suri.
The performance of Janata Dal-United has down compared its performance in the 2015 elections and the ruling party could not win even half of the number of seats it contested in this election.
"I again appeal to leaders of the Opposition to join the proceedings," the prime minister said in the Rajya Sabha.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, projected to come to power by exit polls, may review some of the decisions taken by the present United Progressive Alliance government, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said on Wednesday.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had 'begged for forgiveness for past betrayals' before his parents, party supremo Lalu Prasad and ex-CM Rabri Devi, before they allied with the Janata Dal-United president in 2022.
Prior to the strike, bookies were expecting 200-230 seats for the BJP in the coming polls, for which they were offering 1:1 odds (Re 1 win for every rupee bet). But now they are anticipating 245-251 seats for the party and over 300 for the NDA, more than enough to form the next government, reports Rajesh Bayani.
Many exit polls predicted that SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh is likely to trump the BJP in the country's politically most crucial state.
The two discussed the possibility of the Nationalist Congress Party joining the National Democratic Alliance.
Campaigning ended on Wednesday evening for 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19 with top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) making a last-gasp effort to woo voters.
Leaders of several Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties met on Saturday to take stock of the opposition's preparations leading up to the June 4 counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections, and claimed they will get more than 295 seats, enough for them to form the next government.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has already taken a lead with his knock-on-door campaign.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he wants the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance to win 400 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls to ensure the Congress does not bring back Article 370 in Kashmir and put a 'Babri lock' on the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The stakes are significant for the BJP in this round as the party had in 2019 won an overwhelming majority of these seats, including all in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, that will go to polls on May 7.
Headed by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, the JD-S has long been a strong third player in the southern state where the Congress and the BJP have been the two main parties.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday rejected the suggestion was the organisation exercised "remote control" over the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government at the Centre and said the Narendra Modi dispensation was initiating some good changes.
The decisive election victory for the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance has created a conducive environment for policy actions and should help in economic recovery, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said on Tuesday.
Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras on Saturday said he will contest the next Lok Sabha polls from Hajipur, rebuffing his nephew Chirag Paswan who has staked claim on late father Ram Vilas Paswan's constituency.
Many eyebrows were raised in Bihar on Monday as news broke of a meeting between Communist Party of India's rising star Kanhaiya Kumar and Ashok Choudhary, a minister and key aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The Congress on Friday claimed that a 'silent undercurrent' is brewing across western Uttar Pradesh against the 'failures' of the Modi government, as it flagged issues such as 'neglect' of sugarcane farmers and examination paper leaks.
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Lok Sabha secretariat for inauguration of the new Parliament building by President Droupadi Murmu.
Pawar will not restrict himself to the Rashtrapati Bhavan," the minister from the NCP said.
'The consecration of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya has demoralised them.' 'And, now it is reflecting in their individual reactions as they are losing hope to take on the BJP in 2024.'
Shetti said the SSS had committed a "grave mistake" by extending support to the NDA.
The Janata Dal-United on Tuesday became the third major ally after the Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal to snap ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party after 2019.
Leaders of 22 opposition parties met the Election Commission and demanded verification of VVPAT slips of randomly-selected polling stations before the counting of the votes.
Congress President and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday questioned Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the Union Budget and claimed that the plates of all states except Bihar and Andhra Pradesh were empty in the budget allocation.
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