Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal has criticised Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar for questioning the judiciary over the timeline for the president to take decisions, calling it "unconstitutional " and a lowering of the dignity of the chair. Sibal asserted that Dhankhar's remarks are not neutral and amount to an attack on the judiciary by the executive. He also pointed out that the president acts on the aid and advice of the council of ministers, and therefore, the president's power cannot be curtailed. Sibal urged Dhankhar to seek a review of the judiciary's decision or an advisory opinion from the Supreme Court if he has problems with it. He also questioned why Dhankhar only focuses on actions taken during Congress governments and not after 2014.
Fissures emerged within the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra following their defeat in the state assembly elections. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve blamed the Congress's overconfidence, claiming they were already discussing portfolios even before winning the polls. Danve also said there was a lack of clarity on leadership within the alliance, with 10 Congress leaders reportedly vying for the chief minister's position. He also expressed that Uddhav Thackeray's presence as the chief ministerial face could have swung votes in their favour. Despite winning 30 of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, the MVA secured only 49 seats out of 288 in the state polls. The Shiv Sena (UBT) won 20, Congress 16, NCP (SP) 10, Samajwadi Party 2, and CPM 1.
The anguish of the party MLAs seems to be directed at Digvijay Singh who has been handling the party affairs in Goa.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has asserted that the third battle of Panipat, fought in 1761, was a symbol of the bravery of Marathas and not their defeat. He said the state government is building a memorial to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Agra and acquiring land for another memorial in Panipat, where the battle was fought between Marathas and Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren expanded his cabinet on Thursday, inducting 11 new ministers, including six first-timers and two women. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi. The new ministers include six from the JMM and four from the Congress. One minister is from the RJD. The expansion comes after the JMM-led alliance won the recent assembly elections with a comfortable majority. The cabinet expansion is expected to give the government a fresh impetus to push its agenda and accelerate development in the state.
As suspense over who will become the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra continues, Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Sunday backed his party's chief, Ajit Pawar, for the top post.
Political temperatures were soaring in several states that could see close contests, with parties trying to keep their flock together and trading accusations of poaching of MLAs.
However, two Bahujan Samaj Party and one Samajwadi Party MLA who support the government skipped the CLP meeting, he added.
The Web portal of the Organiser, the RSS mouthpiece, published an article (withdrawn later) that the Christian community holds many acres of land, far more than Waqf property.'
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has distributed portfolios among the new ministers, keeping key departments such as Home, Personnel, and several others to himself. The Congress' Radhakrishna Kishore was given Finance, Commercial Tax, Planning and Development Department, and Parliamentary Affairs departments. JMM's Deepak Biruwa was allotted the departments of Revenue, Registration and Land Reforms (non-registration), and Transport. Chamra Linda, another JMM leader, was allotted the departments of Schedule Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes (except Minority Welfare). RJD's Sanjay Prasad Yadav was given the departments of Industries, and Labour, Planning, Training and Skill Development. The Congress' Irfan Ansari got Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, besides Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs, and Disaster Management departments. The chief minister also kept to himself the departments of Cabinet Secretariat, Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Official Language, Road Construction, Building Construction, and those departments yet to be distributed to anyone. Among the other ministers, JMM's Ramdas Soren was given the School Education and Literacy, and Registration departments. Party colleague Hafizul Hasan was allotted the departments of Water Resources, and Minority Welfare Department. Panchayati Raj, Rural Works, and Rural Development departments were given to Congress MLA Deepika Pandey Singh. The CM gave Drinking Water and Sanitation, and Excise and Prohibition departments to JMM's Yogendra Prasad. JMM legislator Sudhivya Kumar became the minister for Urban Development and Housing, Higher and Technical Education, and Tourism, Art Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs departments. Shilpi Neha Tirkey of the Congress was allotted Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperative Department. A total of 11 MLAs took oath as ministers in the Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand on Thursday.
The Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Tuesday fielded Milind Narvekar, a close aide of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, in the biennial elections to 11 seats from the legislative council, taking the number of candidates in the fray to 12.
It was baptism by fire for Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi who had a first hand experience of life with partymen, in what is being called close encounters of the fiery kind during party's day-long deliberations on Friday, reports Renu Mittal.
Reflecting new strains in the Congress-Trinamool tie up, Union minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday asked his party to counter Mamata Banerjee's charge that Congress was responsible for the break up of the alliance for the upcoming civic polls.
The Congress has accused the two MLAs of hobnobbing with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to bring about a split in the opposition party.
Elections to the nine council seats which fell vacant on April 24 were postponed in view of the coronavirus outbreak, but last week the Election Commission set May 21 as the poll date.
Goa assembly speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Friday dismissed the disqualification petition filed by the Congress against eight of its MLAs who defected to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in 2022.
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday raided the premises of former Chhattisgarh chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel as part of a money laundering investigation against his son in the alleged liquor scam case and seized about Rs 30 lakh apart from some documents, official sources said.
Opposition to the Karnataka government's proposed implementation of a caste census has intensified with dominant communities raising concerns about the survey's findings. The report, which has not been publicly released, is said to contradict traditional perceptions regarding the numerical strength of various castes, particularly Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas. These communities, along with political parties, including sections of the ruling Congress, have criticized the survey as "unscientific" and demanded a fresh assessment. The Vokkaligara Sangha and the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha have expressed strong opposition, alleging that the report misrepresents their populations and demanding a fresh survey. Meanwhile, Dalit and OBC groups have defended the survey and its recommendations, including an increase in reservation for OBCs to 51%. The controversy has fueled political tensions in Karnataka, with opposition parties accusing the Congress government of using the caste census for political gain.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has clarified his remarks on the Pahalgam terror attack, saying he did not call for no war with Pakistan, but emphasized that war should only be a last resort. His comments, which were played up by Pakistan media, have sparked criticism from the BJP, which accused him of acting like a "puppet" of an enemy nation.
The notices were sent to Ramesh Jarkiholi, who was dropped as minister in the recent cabinet rejig and is said to be extremely unhappy over it, B Nagendra, Umesh Jadhav and Mahesh Kumatahalli.
Karnataka minister Satish Jarkiholi on Wednesday said the guarantee schemes need to be reviewed so that only the economically weaker sections, and not the rich, benefit from them, sparking a debate on the ambitious programmes launched by the Congress government.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is set to enter the Legislative Council unopposed as the Congress on Sunday announced that it would withdraw one of its two nominees for the May 21 elections to nine seats.
With a series of elections including to Lok Sabha fast approaching, Rahul Gandhi is embarking on an exercise on Friday to set Congress' house in order in the states.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has announced its intention to challenge the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in court, labeling it a "black law" that threatens the community's rights. The AIMPLB, a major organization representing Muslims in India, asserts that the Bill, if passed, would lead to the seizure of Muslim properties and undermine the autonomy of Waqf Boards. The organization plans to launch nationwide protests against the Bill, echoing the farmers' agitation, and has urged all citizens to resist the legislation. The Bill has been met with criticism from various quarters, including opposition parties, who claim that the Centre is rushing it through Parliament without adequately addressing concerns raised by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
In another jolt to the opposition Congress for the second day in a row ahead of the Gujarat assembly polls, senior MLA Bhagwan Barad on Wednesday resigned as a legislator and primary member and is set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party.
'This is a new Congress. Let the BJP be warned.'
In a series of interviews, Capt Amarinder Singh said, "Priyanka and Rahul are like my children. This should not have ended like this. I am hurt."
Sources said that despite senior leaders making serious attempts to convince him to rethink on his decision, Gandhi is said to be unfazed.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Saturday decided to field its candidate in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, a party leader said.
Atishi, who retained her Kalkaji seat, handed over her resignation to Saxena at Raj Niwas, officials said.
The meeting is expected to start at 11 am at the hotel on the city outskirts where Congress legislators in support of the Ashok Gehlot government are camping.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new Mahayuti government in Maharashtra on December 5. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis is considered the frontrunner for the chief minister's post, with the BJP having recorded its best-ever electoral performance in the state. The Mahayuti coalition includes Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party.
We the people are left in the wind, waiting on the whims of an unengaged president and an oligarch with a nearly bottomless wallet, observes Sree Sreenivasan.
A political crisis involving the ruling All India NR Congress-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition is brewing in the union territory with a section of saffron party MLAs expressing displeasure against the government over issues including corruption, and have knocked on the doors of the national leadership with a plea to set things right before they 'become worse'.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed concern about the lack of clarity regarding the INDIA bloc's leadership and agenda, suggesting the alliance should be dissolved if it was only formed for parliamentary elections. He called for a meeting of the alliance members after the Delhi Assembly elections to discuss the bloc's future and decide on a collective strategy. Abdullah also highlighted the need for a clear vision and leadership within the INDIA bloc. His remarks come amid speculation about the alliance's future and its ability to effectively challenge the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Dr Mukul Sangma on Tuesday took oath as the chief minister of Meghalaya, replacing veteran Congress leader D D Lapang, who quit as the Congress Legislative Party leader on Monday night after losing the support of 21 of the Congress' 28 Members of Legislative Assembly in the 60-member state assembly.Governor Ranjit Sekhar Musahary administered the oath of office to Dr Sangma and three other cabinet ministers at a ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan in Shillong today afternoon.
Joining the BJP cannot have been an easy decision for former UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who grew up with secular values and appears to be a victim of the party's durbar politics. Amit Agnihotri reports.
Sudhakar Badgujar, the leader in question, denied the allegations while speaking at a news conference in Nashik.
Top state leaders--Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Congress' Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar and Janata Dal-Secular leader HD Kumaraswamy are contesting from different seats.
