With four contenders for the top post in case the BJP wrests power from AAP, party sources say naming of a CM face may trigger factional fights.
Former Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel died in Ahmedabad on Thursday after prolonged illness, family sources said. Patel (92) had recovered from Covid-19 recently and was rushed to a hospital in Ahmedabad on Thursday morning following health complications, the sources said.
Behind its high-decibel campaign, powered by well-organised party machinery, the BJP also appears to have made a slight departure from its 'next generation' approach to stay ahead of an aggressive Congress and enhance its prospects of securing a majority of seats.
In a bid to nullify anti-incumbency sentiment, the ruling party dropped 45 MLAs including former chief minister Vijay Rupani.
The state cabinet can have up to 36 ministers, including the chief minister. The induction of ministers on Tuesday is expected to keep a few berths vacant for future expansion.
A new Bihar government headed by Jitan Ram Manjhi as the 32nd Chief Minister was sworn in on Tuesday evening.
Kumar deposed before the federal probe agency in New Delhi and the investigators are recording his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
Events that shaped the nation in the past 48 hours in images.
Kejriwal was accompanied by his family and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
Some of the farmers allegedly tried to block Khattar's motorcade but police managed to provide a safe passage to the chief minister, sources said.
'Has any prime minister spent so much time in one state holding election rally after rally?'
'Bihar's caste survey has bolstered the Opposition parties, but one shouldn't forget that the BJP is also trying to present itself as a party that cares for the OBCs more than other parties,' points out Sanjay Kumar.
The swearing-in ceremony of the Mann's cabinet will be held at Punjab Raj Bhawan at 11 am, officials said.
Yeddyurappa, 74, an influential Lingayat leader, had led the saffron party to its maiden victory in the southern state in 2008, but was forced to resign following charges of corruption against him.
There is no mention of Kolar, the second seat from where senior party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, wants to contest, in addition to Varuna, where his name is already cleared.
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.
Polling will take place in 3,328 polling booths, out of which 1,100 are sensitive and 28 are categorised as critical.
Patel will be administered the oath as the 18th chief minister by Governor Acharya Devvrat at a function to be held at the Helipad Ground near the new Secretariat in Gandhinagar at 2 pm.
Patel's elevation and his subsequent projection as chief ministerial face -- he is the first from the Kadva Patidar sub-group to be the chief minister -- is key to BJP's plans to woo the Kadva Patidar community, which some political observers feel, has drifted away from the party.
'We are known political activists, so the police put our names in.'
Tributes were also paid at the places targeted by terrorists including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Cama and Albless Hospital, Hotel Taj Mahal Palace, the Oberoi Trident, Nariman House, the Jewish community centre, and the memorial of ASI Tukaram Omble who was martyred while overpowering Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist who was captured alive.
Raising doubts on the possibility of foul play in the Narsingh Yadav doping scandal, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hinted the wrestler may have been 'tricked or framed', while asking the Union Sports Minister to look into the case.
The agency made this disclosure on Monday before a local court in Delhi while seeking an extension of custody of Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramachandran Pillai, whom it had arrested on March 6.
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.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar walked to 10, Circular Road, from his home at 1, Aney Marg to meet his old comrade-turned political adversary-turned ally.
The story of Sahara India Pariwar founder Subrata Roy, who died in Mumbai on November 14 aged 75, is the stuff of movies - of a spectacular rise and an equally spectacular fall. Born in Araria, Bihar, Roy was 30 when he set up Sahara in 1978. He started with a capital of about Rs 2,000, a peon, a clerk and his father's Lambretta scooter in Gorakhpur, eastern Uttar Pradesh, writes Tamal Bandyopadhyay in his 2014 book, Sahara: The Untold Story. Sahara was not his first venture.
The BJP is faced with the crucial question of who will lead the party in the four impending state polls this year: In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
An elated Aam Aadmi Party after winning the Municipal Corporation of Delhi polls on Thursday vowed to improve civic amenities in the national capital while the Bharatiya Janata Party thanked voters for "recognising" its work as it took solace in securing over a hundred seats despite exit poll predicting its rout.
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Patel rejected the charge as "completely baseless" and urged the Bharatiya Janata Party not to politicise matters pertaining to national security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis.
The CBI has alleged that Singh had transferred funds through hawala channels to Chariot Media that was handling the AAP's publicity campaign during the Goa elections, the officials said.
Home Minister Amit Anilchandra Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday laid wreaths on the mortal remains of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat.
Cyclone Vayu was to hit the Gujarat coast on Thursday, but it changed course on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.
As Madhya Pradesh goes to polls, all eyes will be on 29 key assembly seats, out of the total 230, where the contest will be keenly watched.
Altogether 160 MLAs voted in favour of the confidence motion while no vote was cast against the same.
Some of our leaders were busybusy over the weekend.
The rebel Shiv Sena group led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Bharatiya Janata Party will contest the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation elections in alliance, a rebel faction functionary said on Thursday.
The defeat in the elections has put a question mark on the five-time MP and former Union minister's political future.
Kumar, a resident of Bhagwan village in Hanumangarh, worked as a manger with Ellaqui Dehati Bank at Areh Mohanpora branch in the south Kashmir district.
The agency is understood to have agreed to the request of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter to postpone her questioning from Tuesday to any date between December 11-15.
