The Congress on Friday posted its second worst performance in Bihar's electoral history, managing to win only six of the over 50 seats it contested and losing deposits in most seats as its 'vote chori' pitch failed to make any impact on the ground.
It was a protest which held a mirror to the government of a state taking pride in its commitment to democracy, gender equality and social indices.One person, who in his employed days had known governments and political parties at close quarters, told me that public perception of how the Kerala government handled the ASHA workers' strike had been terrible, reports Shyam G Menon.
Aam Aadmi Party's Gopal Italia on Monday won from Gujarat's Visavadar assembly constituency and his party also retained Punjab's Ludhiana West seat while the Congress-led United Democratic Front wrested Nilambur from the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala, according to results of assembly bypolls in four states.
'We can't afford to fight each other.' 'We have to win the 2026 election.'
The KPCC made this decision simultaneously as Sarin announced a press conference in Palakkad, declaring his intention to work with the Left Democratic Front moving forward.
The grand old party alleged that these namesake candidates are backed by the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bharatiya Janata Party to confuse voters.
According to the CPI-M, Aleida, who arrived in Chennai from Thiruvananthapuram, is likely to attend a party meeting on Tuesday and will participate in a public reception on Wednesday.
The display of RSS founder KB Hedgewar's portraits during a temple festival in Kollam district has sparked controversy in Kerala, prompting the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to request a report from its vigilance wing. The images of Hedgewar were reportedly displayed along with the photos of prominent social reformers like Sree Narayana Guru and B R Ambedkar during Kollam Pooram festival here on Tuesday night. TDB sources said the management of Puthiyakavu Temple, a local shrine in the district which does not come under its ambit, is allegedly responsible for the showcasing of the images of the RSS leader during the "kudamattam" as part of the Pooram festivities.
'It will be a ghastly mistake for the CPI-M to face the 2019 poll on its own.' 'At best, it can hope to split non-BJP votes in some pockets, but the humiliating rout will spell its doom,' warns M K Bhadrakumar.
Leaders from other state units are coming to VS's aid ahead of the party's crucial Central Committee meeting even as some ministers of his Cabinet have refused to work with him.
The workers have been hospitalised after they suffered series injuries in the ambush by more than 10 CPI-M workers over political rivalry.
Pinarayi Vijayan is a name not many Indians are familiar with, but few state leaders have such a strangehold over their party as the secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist's Kerala unit has. Can you think of the leader of any other state political unit preventing his party's chief minister from getting a ticket to contest an assembly election?
After big win in Bihar, the BJP is likely to push harder in Tamil Nadu, where the DMK government and the uneasy BJP-AIADMK alliance are preparing for a tense election filled with seat-sharing fights, changing alliances, and the unpredictable entry of Vijay's TVK party, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Jan Raksha Yatra from Payyannur will travel through the state before ending in Thiruvananthapuram on October 17.
The two day Communist Partyof India-Marxist state committee meeting which is significant after the Polibureau decision of demoting the octogenarian leader and Chief Minister of Kerala ,V S Achuthanandan from the party polibureau will begin in Thiruvananthpuram on Tuesday.
After putting the Communist Party of India - Marxist in Kerala in the dock with his controversial comment about it eliminating political foes in the past, party leader M M Mani has once again purportedly made a similar claim, embarrassing the party further.
"The CPI-M, which is facing its downfall, is attempting to come back through violence," Shah said, adding that the BJP would reply to it through votes.
Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs, George Kurian, strongly condemned the alleged threatening of teachers at a government school in Kerala by Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists over Christmas celebrations. Kurian urged the state government to take stringent action against the culprits to prevent such incidents from recurring. The incident sparked outrage, with opposition leaders accusing the Sangh Parivar of attempting to create communal tension. Meanwhile, VHP leaders clarified that they were not against any religion and admitted that their district office bearers had questioned the teachers about the organisation of the Christmas celebration.
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and state Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan were on Saturday suspended from the Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo over a war-of-words in public.
A nationwide strike called by trade unions to protest against the central government's labor policies had a mixed impact across India. While normal life remained largely unaffected in most parts of the country, some sectors like banking, transport, and insurance experienced disruptions. Sporadic incidents of violence were reported in West Bengal.
'The CPI-M faces multiple investigations, with the CBI, the SIT and the Kerala police pursuing different cases. It is said as many as 70 to 90 CPI-M leaders are under the scanner, and that as many as 30 of these leaders are under imminent danger of being arrested,' notes T V R Shenoy.
Seeking to downplay Communist Party of India's threat to pull out of the Left Democratic Front in Kerala over seat sharing for the Lok Sabha polls, the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Friday said the ally could not take such a stand so long it is part of a "national political line."
Kerala Chief Minister and senior Communist Party of India - Marxist leader V S Achuthanandan will be removed from the party's politburo and the central committee, said sources in New Delhi. The octogenarian leader, who is currently in New Delhi, will leave for Kerala early on Sunday morning, said sources.Though some leaders from West Bengal had voiced their support for Achuthanandan, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat remained firm on taking action against the Kerala CM.
'VS was a man who devoted every moment of his life, from the beginning till his death at the age of 100, to the struggle against the injustices inflicted upon land, nature and the common man.'
A recent interfaith marriage of a Muslim activist of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist's youth wing DYFI, has stirred up a political storm after the relatives of the Christian bride alleged "love jihad", with a senior left party leader supporting the charge, only to retract his statement later.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of 'linguistic terror' and plotting to delete Bengali voters from electoral rolls, vowing to protect voting rights.
A victim of alleged human trafficking and forceful conversion in Chhattisgarh claims she was coerced by Bajrang Dal activists to give a false statement. She also alleges police did not record her statement properly and that the arrested nuns are innocent.
In fresh escalation of political violence in poll-bound Kerala, a 28-year-old Youth Congress worker was hacked to death allegedly by Democratic Youth Federation of India workers at Evoor in Alapuzha on Tuesday even as the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India - Marxist workers clashed in Thiruvananthapuram district leaving at least 30 injured.
'The CPI-M indulges in senseless talk. Be it the solar scam or the National Games scam, did the CPI-M prove anything?'
Sources close to the top BJP leadership tell me that Tharoor has already had secret meetings with the BJP's top brass and is waiting patiently to make his next move, reports Ramesh Menon.
A 23-year old woman, daughter of a senior Communist Party of India-Marxist leader in Thiruvananthapuram, has accused her parents of forcefully having taken away her new-born child from her soon after its birth a year ago and approached the police seeking to get the baby back.
While the Kerala chief minister has not yet shown any sign of accepting the party's line on the SNC Lavalin corruption case -- where Vijayan has been termed an accused by the CBI -- the politburo will try to maintain a balance between the two factions in a last-ditch effort.
As an IAS officer in Kerala, Gyanesh Kumar -- who the Congress described as Amit Shah's 'right hand man' -- had a good working equation with the state's Congress and Left leaders.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor welcomed the revival of long-stalled India-UK FTA negotiations, posting a selfie with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and the UK's Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds. Tharoor's post comes amid a row over his recent article praising the Kerala government's investment climate, which drew criticism from some Congress leaders.
While they are trying to unite different parties to form a non-Bharatiya Janata Party, non-Congress alliance at the Centre, the Communist Party of India - Marxist and the Communist Party of India on Monday intensified their tussle over the Ponnani Lok Sabha constituency in northern Kerala's Mallapuram district.After the CPI announced its intention two days earlier to field its own candidate from that seat, the CPI-M's Central Committee today put its foot down.
Perhaps sensing mid-term polls, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has reinstated Kerala Chief Minister V S Achutanandhan and the party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the politburo
'You can say it was a moment that can be described as unimaginable or unbelievable.'
Kerala Chief Minister and veteran Marxist leader Pinarayi Vijayan intensified his attack on the Congress, alleging that its general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, is contesting the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election with the backing of Jamaat-e-Islami.
'It is not impossible that there will be some arrangement with the Congress in West Bengal after the ongoing local body polls.'
The 24th CPI(M) Party Congress commenced in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, with interim coordinator Prakash Karat emphasizing the need for Left unity to combat "Hindutva neo-fascism." He criticized the BJP-RSS government, accusing it of representing a "Hindutva-corporate nexus" and displaying "neo-fascist characteristics." Other Left leaders, including CPI general secretary D Raja and CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, echoed calls for unity and condemned the current political climate in India.
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