There have been media reports that the LJP was unhappy over the return of the Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular into the National Democratic Alliance fold and contempleting fielding candidates against JD-U nominees.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have got a tough fight in Varanasi had Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contested against him as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) candidate, feel party workers from the temple town.
The ruling BJP in UP, however, lost Khatauli to Samajwadi Party ally Rashtriya Lok Dal.
The Congress should take the lead in resolving differences of opinion within the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and show 'large-heartedness' in seat sharing to emerge as a viable alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party in upcoming elections, according to some opposition leaders.
The passage of the women's reservation bill has ignited hope among stakeholders about attaining gender equality in India's political landscape, especially at the policy-making level, even as some raised concerns over its effectiveness given the uncertainty in the deadline for its implementation.
The rising price of pulses has become a hot issue during the Bihar assembly polls.
The party was trounced in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and is now left with only Himachal Pradesh in the north. It is ruling in only three states on its own and is in power in Bihar and Jharkhand as a junior partner in alliance with regional parties.
'Commentators have said that dealing with allies as equals will make Modi more sensitive.' 'Remember that the people Modi is dealing with are equally autocratic in their own lairs.' 'Further, Modi always has handy the threat of dissolving Parliament and calling for fresh polls.' 'Most of his own party, and certainly his allies and opponents having blown their budgets of efforts and resources in the just concluded elections, have no stomach for this.' 'They are all greatly looking forward to the loaves and fishes of office on offer.' 'That gives Modi an unbeatable advantage in any push-comes-to-shove situation,' explains Shreekant Sambrani.
"He (Manjhi) was in constant touch with BJP leaders. He recently met several BJP leaders... He wanted to be part of the June 23 meeting of opposition leaders... but I had apprehensions that he might leak issues/matters that will be discussed on June 23.
'This is the first time since Independence that we are facing such a despairing situation.'
'We had the option of either crossing over to the opposition or fighting on our own with a focus on seats being contested by the JD-U as its reluctance was the main reason the LJP was offered only so few seats'
The Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Friday made a pitch for unity among opposition parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, stating that the Bharatiya Janata Party can be defeated if all key leaders of these political outfits keep aside their ego and stick to their current stance of not keen on becoming the next prime minister.
The BJP, which has allied with a few smaller parties, has sought to upend the state's conventional politics, which has so far been indifferent to Hindutva politics, by taking the ruling DMK head-on for its alleged insult of Sanatan Dharma besides involvement in corruption.
The NCP chief said that representatives of minority communities had conveyed they would not mind if his party joined hands with the Shiv Sena, but the BJP must be kept away from power in Maharashtra.
Gogoi says BJP will suffer the same fate as Bihar in Assam if secular forces unite.
Nitish Kumar, who along with Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, steered the Grand Secular Alliance to a landslide mandate of over two-thirds majority in Bihar assembly poll, will be sworn in as Chief Minister on Novermber 20 for a third term along with his new cabinet.
The results for the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Telangana, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tripura were announced on Tuesday.
The RJD leader said he was being treated for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during the past month.
With the assembly poll results in three states being a disappointment for the Congress, some rumblings have begun among the constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) ahead of their meeting on December 6, with many leaders alleging that the grand old party ignored others, but was unable to win elections on its own.
The party, however, did not announce as whether it would merge with any other party or become part of some other alliance.
The rout of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance in the crucial assembly polls in Bihar is the "most significant domestic setback" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, global media commented on Sunday, saying it shows that his vote-winning abilities were on the wane.
The strategist is expected to visit Punjab for 2-3 days in mid-February for an early assessment.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's bypoll win in four of the six seats it contested has invigorated the party ahead of assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Following the party's sweep of assembly elections in three Hindi heartland states against the odds, the BJP's brain trust is now busy game-planning as to how it can improve on its 2019 Lok Sabha election tally of 303 seats.
Rahul Gandhi, the All-India Congress Committee general-secretary and the man leading the revival of the party's youth wing, may have suffered a setback in the Bihar assembly elections. But his supporters are putting a distance between the Congress defeat and the 'Rahul effect'.
'Everyone relies on caste to win elections in Bihar.'
'Over the last 65 years the state has seen majority of Maratha chief ministers and cabinet ministers, even Union cabinet ministers.' 'The Marathas have always wielded disproportionately significant political, commercial and social influence in the state and yet they are asking for reservations today.'
Emerging from a meeting with Banerjee at the state secretariat, Yadav said that the first priority of his party was to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party's progress in West Bengal.
'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.'
In UP and Bengal, it is willing to sacrifice its interests to stop the BJP and would work towards ensuring the BJP did not win incremental seats in Odisha and Telangana.
BJP leaders hit back at the DMK and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi if he agreed with the insulting remarks of its Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partner against the north Indians.
Mamata asserted that she has not spoken to anyone in the Congress on seat-sharing in the state for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Senior Janata Dal-United leader Dhananjay Singh pitched for Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and said party workers in Uttar Pradesh want Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to contest the elections from the state's Phulpur constituency.
Nitish Kumar's decision to resign as the state chief minister was as dramatic as the time he decided to tie up with old foe Lalu in 2015.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday hinted that a meeting of opposition leaders may take place in Patna after the crucial Karnataka assembly polls were over as many would be busy electioneering there.
'It is not his doing, but Rahul Gandhi is forced by circumstances.' 'In taking political decisions, everything has to get his clearance.'
'The JD-U is my party and of thousands of leaders and workers.' 'It is certainly not Nitish Kumar's party.'
'You can attack and conspire to weaken us, but you cannot destroy the Congress permanently.'
'The NDA has provided me a healing touch to survive'
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