The Bharatiya Janata Party and its two Assam allies -- the Asom Gana Parishad and the United People's Party Liberal -- on Wednesday 'almost finalised' their seat-sharing pact for the Assam assembly polls and a formal announcement will be made in a day or two, sources said.
Some 1,100 years ago, Uthiramerur had an election system similar to what India has today.
Speaking to the media, Gehlot, who is in Kerala to take part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, said, "I said earlier that I will request him (Rahul Gandhi) to accept this post when all the Congress Committees are passing resolutions in this regard. He made it clear that no one from the Gandhi family will become the next chief. He said he has decided this due to some reasons, a non-Gandhi family member will become the party chief."
The Congress has so far announced 82 candidates for the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls beginning April 19.
Smriti Irani will reprise her electoral battle with Rahul Gandhi from Amethi.
Kanugolu had also made forays in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh following a directive from the party's central leadership but regional satraps Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath reportedly were not on the same page as the poll strategist.
The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced that independent candidates, a majority of them supported by the PTI secured 101 seats, followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 75 seats, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) getting 54 seats, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) bagging 17 seats.
Former Congress leader Jagdambika Pal on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party along with stand-up comedian Raju Srivastava.
Sources said the process was stuck since Rahul Gandhi is not willing to contest the election for the post of Congress president, although all the efforts to convince him are still going on.
There are concerns within the Congress with respect to the articulation of the party's demand for the caste census, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently accusing the grand old party of attempting to divide Hindus through its push for the Other Backward Classes.
Fernandes was hospitalised in July after suffering a fall while doing yoga at his house.
Madhav made the statement when asked why Sarma cannot contest despite being responsible for 25 seats.
At the same time, Sonia Gandhi does not want to hold the post due to health reasons and Rahul wants a non-Gandhi should hold the post in place of Sonia.
Putting pressure on ally Congress over the deadlock regarding seat sharing for the Maharashtra Assembly polls, NCP said a meeting of its core committee in Mumbai on Monday will take a final call on the matter even as it asserted that it is sticking to its "original demand".
The Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced that Chief Minister Narendra Modi will contest elections from one seat in the state, without ruling out the possibility that he may fight on a second seat from Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress is close to finalising candidates for 100 Lok Sabha seats after the first meeting of its Central Election Committee tonight, but a decision on the fate of sitting members of the Lower House will be taken only after Parliament session concludes on February 21.
The central election authority of the Congress met and finalised the initial program of the process.
The party also rejigged its Central Election Committee and included former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Om Mathur and its women wing chief Vanathi Srinivasan.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah has dissolved all its national cells pending their reconstitution and appointed Vijay Chauthaiwale as the new incharge of its foreign and Overseas Friends of BJP cell with immediate effect.
'The prime minister's comment on 'revdi culture' was welcome. But I am disappointed he did not follow up on that.' 'All political parties, including the BJP, have been guilty of this.' 'Now, Modi's guarantees, the Congress's 'nyay' path and both ruling and Opposition parties are vying with each other for freebies in my home state Andhra Pradesh.'
The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a reply from the Lok Sabha secretary general on Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra's plea challenging her expulsion from the Lower House.
Some farmer outfits on Friday threw their weight behind the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) woman constable who allegedly slapped actor and Bharatiya Janata Party MP-elect Kangana Ranaut, saying the entire sequence leading to the incident needs to be properly investigated.
Kejriwal asked whether the BJP-led central government was waiting for the Lok Sabha elections to make a move in this direction.
'For the last two elections, the Congress manifesto has been thrown into the dustbin.' 'This manifesto will also be thrown into the dustbin.'
Asked about the BJP's claim that its performance in southern states will be exemplary, Tharoor said, "The claim of an 'exemplary' performance is yet another product of the BJP's propaganda mill."
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday claimed he has the support of party workers from across the country for his bid to fight the AICC president polls.
With general elections on the horizon, the government's privatisation bandwagon has almost but stalled as a government wary of being accused of selling family silver opts for minority stake sales on stock exchanges over outright privatisation. The result -- the divestment target for current fiscal year is again likely to be missed. Big ticket privatisation plans such as that of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and CONCOR are already on the backburner and analysts feel meaningful privatisation can happen only after April/May general elections.
As per the revised contracts, the players in the A+ category will get Rs 7 crore, while ones in the A, B and C will get Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore respectively.
Hectic preparations were underway at the Congress headquarters for the ceremony where party president Sonia Gandhi will hand over the baton to her successor, Mallikarjun Kharge, the first non-Gandhi to head the outfit in 24 years.
It will be clear whether the voters preferred the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led regime for a third term or the "six guarantees" by the Congress worked any miracles or the BJP's BC chief minister 'mantra' wooed the electors or if there will be a fractured verdict, by tomorrow evening.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday night announced the 47 remaining candidates for Haryana assembly elections who include Union Minister Sushma Swaraj's younger sister Vandana Sharma and two former Congress MPs and a former minister in B S Hooda government in the state.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United on Wednesday described as "high indiscipline" and "arbitrary" the support extended by its Nagaland unit to the newly formed government in that state where the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance returned to power.
Ending suspense, the Bharatiya Janata Party has picked actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani to take on Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi.
"The way my papa (Dharmendra) worked with and supported Atal ji (Atal Bihari Vajpayee), I am here today to work with and support Modi ji. My work will do the talking," Sunny said after joining the BJP in the presence of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister for Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal.
A decision on the seats from where Narendra Modi and L K Advani will contest in Gujarat will be taken on Wednesday when the Bharatiya Janata Party's Central Election Committee considers the party's another list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls.
"The Congress is "going to (fight) the election with unity" and it will win the polls," Sharma said after the meeting at Pilot's Civil Lines residence that lasted for nearly half an hour.
After the resolution was passed, Chaudhary said being a president of the Delhi unit he has seen the sentiments of Delhi Congress workers and supporters for Rahul Gandhi that only he can fight against the ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party.
'The Reserve Bank's independence has remained a work in progress, an enduring challenge that the nation has been grappling with on an ongoing basis,' says RBI Deputy Governor Dr Viral Acharya.
A day after Congress leader Gourav Vallabh taunted Shashi Tharoor over his probable All India Congress Committee president poll bid, the party on Friday urged all its spokespersons and communication department office bearers to refrain from commenting on any colleague contesting the elections.
He also asked why anyone seeking to contest the Congress president's election should go to the PCC office to get the electoral roll as this does not even happen in a club election.
