With the curtains drawn on the Italian hostage crisis, a somewhat relieved Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday flew to Maoist-infested Koraput where 37-year-old tribal MLA Jhina Hikaka was being held captive by a separate Maoist group since March 24.
Opposition leaders slammed the Centre on Wednesday for its 'limited' focus on important sectors like health and education in the Budget for 2023-24 fiscal.
Sources said Modi also called up various leaders, including Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham's M K Stalin and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal.
Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday signed on the nomination paper as a proposer for the candidature of former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma in the coming Presidential election.
Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik on Monday stepped up the campaign for former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma's candidature for presidency describing him as a distinguished tribal leader.
Four days after release of Jhina Hikaka from Maoist captivity, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday questioned why the MLA, belonging to his party the Biju Janata Dal, should resign and said he was looking forward to meeting him.
By keeping the Sanatana Dharma row alive and adding the Ayodhya temple consecration scheduled for January 22 and adding the free darshan promise from four polled states to the entire country, the BJP may have a self-fulfilling concoction, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
An overwhelmed Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who led the Biju Janata Dal to power in the state for the fourth time on the trot, on Friday thanked people for their support in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday asked his party Member of Legislative Assembly Jhina Hikaka to "relax" and questioned why the legislator should quit, as demanded by the Maoists before his releaese on April 26.
On its own or with allies the Congress has a strong presence in states that account for a total of 253 LS seats, or 20 short of the magic figure of 272 required to form a government at the Centre. So what is Mamata Banerjee talking about, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The 67-year-old hasn't only received a clear-cut mandate for an unprecedented fourth term but also done it on his own. From distributing tickets to planning party campaigns to chalking out strategies for the present and the future, the chief minister had played a stellar role throughout, and emerged successful in his endeavour. Bikash Mohapatra reports
Prime Minister Modi saw a reflection of himself -- she does not come from a political background, has no lineage, and had a lifetime of personal struggle and sacrifice.
The conference was seen by many as a show of strength by the Opposition with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav joining in to raise their voice against oppression of backward classes.
The Modi government has to embrace the history of Tamil conquests in South East Asia and stop obsessing about Babar/Humayun, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Chief ministers and other senior leaders made last-minute appeals to voters for their support in Mokama and Gopalganj of Bihar, Adampur of Haryana, Manugoda of Telangana, Gola Gorakhnath of Uttar Pradesh and Dhamnagar of Odisha.
With Orissa set to witness simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls, the decision on an alliance between Biju Janata Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party would be taken soon, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on Monday.
The RSS wants BJP to field a 'swayamsevak', while the Opposition has mulled fielding former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi.
In a major blow to the National Democratic Alliance, the Biju Janata Dal announced on Saturday that it had split from the Bharatiya Janata Dal, over failure to reach a seat sharing deal for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls."The BJP-BJD will contest separately," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters, adding that 'winnability' was the reason behind the break up in the decade-old alliance.
The four rebels are -- Prasanna Patsani, Prabhat Samantray, Kumudini Patnaik, wife of former state Finance Minister Ramakrushna Patnaik, and Jagannath Mallick.
The Naveen Patnaik-led party bagged 112 of the 146 assembly seats despite the Modi wave in the country.
Move the pointer on the sentiment meter (depending on who you think will get more votes) towards the political parties to see how the outcome is likely to change.
The Left on Sunday came out in support of the Naveen Patnaik government, which was reduced to a minority following snapping of ties with ally Bharatiya Janata Party, and even hinted at forging an alliance with the Biju Janata Dal for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Orissa.
The two-page booklet "Aama Bapuji: Eka Jhalaka" (Our Bapuji: A Glimpse) -- published on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi -- presents a brief account of his teachings, works and links with Odisha, while also stating that he "died due to accidental reasons in a sudden sequence of events on January 30, 1948 at Delhi's Birla House".
The ruling Biju Janata Dal in Odisha on Wednesday appeared to be sending signals to the Bharatiya Janata Party over its possible outside support to a National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre.
Rampur Sadar and Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh, Padampur in Odisha, Sardarshahar in Rajasthan, Kurhani in Bihar and Bhanupratappur in Chhattisgarh are the assembly seats where the bypolls are being held.
The grand old party faces the onerous task of rebuilding its moribund organisation, which is struggling to overcome a leadership crisis and regain credibility with the voters.
Thanks to technological support provided by BlinkIN, a Bengaluru-based intelligent visual-assistance company, engineers in Wuhan were able to remotely install air ventilation systems in two hospitals in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, reports Peerzada Abrar.
A basic outline and roadmap for Opposition unity are likely to be deliberated upon with the contentious issue of seat sharing and leadership questions to be avoided for now.
The breakaway faction is led by former Union minister Dilip Ray.
The ruling Biju Janata Dal in Odisha on Sunday announced that it would abstain from voting in the vice-presidential election scheduled to be held on August 7.
The TMC also announced it would hold talks with other regional parties in their bid to take on the BJP in the crucial 2024 elections but at the same time denied that it was planning a third front, separate from the Congress-led front.
By almost unilaterally announcing her party's support for the candidature of former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma for the President's post, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary J Jayalalithaa has queered the pitch and made it that much more difficult the search for a common opposition candidate.
In a bid to suppress dissidence, Biju Janata Dal supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday suspended Jagneswar from the regional outfit on charge of anti-party activities.
With the fate of kidnapped Jhina Hikaka still unknown after almost three weeks the Odisha government is exploring back-channel negotiations with the Maoist group, which has imposed tough conditions for the release of the ruling Biju Janata Dal tribal member of Legislative Assembly Jhina Hikaka.
Suspended Biju Janata Dal MLA Prabhat Biswal's vote in presidential election was rejected for allegedly showing the ballot paper after voting as polling in the 147-member Odisha assembly was under way today.
A day after his release from Maoist captivity, Biju Janata Dal member of Legislative Assembly Jhina Hikaka on Friday did not rule out the possibility of resigning his membership of Odisha assembly and said he had twice written to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the issue.
According to media reports, abducted Biju Janata Dal Member of Legislative Assembly Jhina Hikaka will be released on Thursday in Koraput district of Odisha at 10 am. Reports say that the decision was taken at a Maoist 'people's court'. The Naxals have also asked Hikaka to 'resign'.
Maoists on Thursday produced abducted ruling Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka before a people's court to decide his fate, a day after the Odisha government said it would withdraw cases against 13 prisoners in exchange for freedom of the tribal legislator.
As the Opposition held its first meeting on the Presidential polls and names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi also cropped up, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice with senior party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal).
Fresh talks were held on Friday between the Odisha government and the Maoist mediators, a day after the government named the 27 jailed people to be freed in return for the release of Biju Janata Dal member of Legislative Assembly Jhina Hikaka and Italian Paolo Bosusco taken hostage by two separate Naxal groups.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances