NRAI termed the disqualification of trap shooter Manavjit Singh by organisers of the Asia Olympic Qualifiers in Kuwait as 'unjust and unfair'.
'We repent our decision today as we feel we betrayed our (Congress) party, while the DAP betrayed us'
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday reiterated that he will not resign over the present crisis engulfing his state. "I know most of the media has been running stories about my resignation. I have no intention to resign," he told a TV channel during an interview. Abdullah refused to answer when asked if he enjoyed the confidence of the people and his coalition partner Congress.
Ahead of the day-long Opposition meeting on Friday, Samvad Bhavan, Rajkiye Atithisala and Sadaquat Ashram have got a facelift.
As India inches closer towards the general elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has emerged as the most searched chief minister on search giant Google.
Kumar also asserted that his efforts should reap benefits for the younger generation, "for people like (his deputy) Tejashwi Yadav".
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.
Leaders of several like-minded opposition parties are likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday in Bengaluru.
Ahead of the crucial third round of discussions, the opposition INDIA bloc on Wednesday exuded confidence that it would provide a formidable alternative to bring political change in the country and asserted that it has several prime ministerial faces against BJP's only one.
The alliance leaders are getting together for the third round of the brainstorming session in Mumbai, after Patna and Bengaluru, to chalk out their common campaign strategy to take on the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"The rotation issue did come up during the discussion but Congress President Sonia Gandhi was kind enough to understand the point of view that rotation was damaging to the state and created uncertainty and confusion," Omar told reporters in New Delhi when asked if there would be a set-up similar to the one in the previous Congress-Peoples Democratic Party government in J&K
The Congress said the rally by the INDIA will send a "strong message" to the Lok Kalyan Marg, where the prime minister's residence is located, that the BJP-led government's "time is up".
The officials said the SSG will be "right-sized" by reducing the number of the elite force to the "bare minimum".
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday made it clear that he will complete his full term of five years, as per the agreement between the top leaders of the National Conference and the Congress.Addressing a media conference in Jammu, the CM said, "I, as the then president of National Conference and Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress, discussed the issue threadbare and made it clear that there will be no rotational chief minister."
Omar welcomed the announcement of setting up of an IIT in Jammu and expressed hope that something similar would be announced for Kashmir to maintain regional balance.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday deplored the attacks on moderate Huriryat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq saying it was against the democratic traditions of the country.
The former Congress president alleged that PM Modi had a "monopoly over corruption".
Even as the grand old party seeks to promote opposition unity ahead of the hustings next year, Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, however, would be conspicuous by her absence at the event at Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
The alliance adopted a resolution to this effect and said its theme for the elections will be "Judega Bharat, Jeetega India, (India will unite, India will win)".
The Congress is planning to call a meeting of Opposition parties in May. It is possible to keep all possibilities open in case Karnataka yields a hung House, leading to a recalibrated Opposition.
Abhay Chautala said that Banerjee has told him that she had some preoccupation on that day and she will depute a senior leader of her party for the event while Thackeray told him that if he is unable to attend due to some reasons he will send a senior leader for the event.
An Army-run school in Baramulla district has stoked a controversy by asking its staff to avoid wearing the hijab during school hours, prompting criticism from Jammu and Kashmir's mainstream political parties.
'It is very unfortunate that the AAP seems to be looking at the issue through the prism of rivalry with Congress in Delhi and Punjab'
According to the former Union minister, Banerjee has also said that she was ready to forget her experience with the Congress in the West Bengal state elections.
Efforts to forge unity in the opposition ranks gained momentum on Monday with the Congress asserting that a 'vast majority' of non-Bharatiya Janata Party outfits will meet soon, after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met its president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi.
Briefing reporters after the nearly two-hour meeting, Abdullah said the leaders decided to formalise the alliance, that has been named 'Peoples' Alliance for Gupkar Declaration'.
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.
Ill-health forced Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to cancel his scheduled visit to Chennai on Tuesday, where he was invited by his Tamil Nadu counterpart MK Stalin, a key aide of the Janata Dal-United leader said.
This is first picture of 49-year-old Omar to have appeared in public domain after five months of captivity. It showed him smiling in a snow covered jacket and sporting an unkempt greyish beard.
The Shiromani Akali Dal skipped the meeting, besides the Aam Aadmi Party, the TRS and the BJD.
According to sources in the Congress, eight legislators are likely to be sworn in as ministers along with them.
"I am free... Hope others political leaders would be released soon. Thank all parliamentarians who fought for my freedom. Will be able to take decision on future only after other leaders are released," Abdullah, the Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, told reporters from the terrace of his residence in Srinagar.
He was expected to script a new chapter of hope in the sporting history of Jammu and Kashmir but it ended up being a case of so near yet so far for Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder Parvez Rasool, who was not included in the Indian team for any of the five One-Day Internationals against Zimbabwe.
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).
In a statement, the state public health engineering minister, Taj Mohi-ud-Din on Monday said that 'the coalition government led by Omar Abdullah will continue its full term'.
As far as security situation is concerned, there has been improvement in past two years and the state saw a 30 per cent decline in terrorists-related incidents, he said.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday distanced himself from Agriculture Minister Nilomoni Sen Deka's remark -- that eight meals cost a total of Rs 20 in the state -- saying it was his personal view.
Justifying his demand for the policy during the CMs' meet in New Delhi, Abdullah said: "A pragmatic policy to this effect is the need of the hour. The state government had proposed it after taking into consideration all pros and cons so that it is not misused at any level". He said the Centre and the state governments should work out the policy in a manner without hampering the national interests at any level but pave way for the militants to return to normal life.
Several leaders from the Congress and its alliance partners from across the country attended the event.
Top leaders of 26 opposition parties were arriving in Bengaluru on Monday for a two-day brainstorming session with a call for unity and are expected to chalk out their joint programme aimed at defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
