He said the people are looking for an alternative and the Congress' victories in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka elections are clear proof of this.
Several top Congress leaders from party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were involved in the hectic parleys with Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar, which finally helped to break the logjam over the top post in Karnataka.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday assured his government will continue the Ladki Bahin Yojana and fulfil Mahayuti's pre-poll promise of hiking the monthly stipend under the scheme to Rs 2,100 from Rs 1,500 now to eligible women.
Sarma's name was proposed by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and seconded by BJP state party president Ranjeet Kumar Dass and newly elected Haflong MLA Nandita Garlosa.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Thursday expressed happiness that the Congress party has taken cognisance of the issues raised by him about welfare of youth and corruption under the previous Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan, and asserted the party will contest the assembly polls unitedly to secure a massive victory.
However, induction in the NCP-SP will come with riders, asserted the former Union minister.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has sent a strong word of precaution to the group of dissidence within the Congress Legislature Party by reminding them that he has been the chief minister of the State since 2001 only because of the confidence imposed on his by the people of Assam and will remain in the chair as long as the people desire so.
BJP leader and caretaker chief minister Pramod Sawant is the clear favourite for the post of the CM but faces some opposition.
K Rosaiah, who resigned as the chief minister earlier in the day, had moved the resolution. Rosaiah's resolution had become imminent because of conflicting claims by different groups and regions that the new leader should by of their choice.
Admitting that he has 'lost majority' in the Congress Legislature Party, Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang on Sunday said he is ready to quit, paving the way for his deputy Mukul Sangma to take over the reins.
He was administered the oath of office by Governor Rajendra Arlekar at the Raj Bhavan in Patna.
He will meet Governor R L Bhatia on Tuesday morning and will be sworn in later in the day, CLP sources said.
Springing a surprise, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday picked Mohan Yadav, a leader of Other Backward Classes (OBC) and a three-time MLA, as the next chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, state party president VD Sharma said.
'Everyone is unhappy with the lieutenant governor's administration, which is ignorant, high-handed, and inaccessible.'
The 44 legislators, including Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who deserted the Congress party on Friday and joined the People's Party of Arunachal are set to form a new government with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led North East Democratic Alliance.
Opposition parties said it was a move to appease the party leader.
What India needs more than one simultaneous election is better governance both at the central and state level. Yes, we need reforms, but our priority should be to make elections less expensive, make it more democratic, do away with freebies which are actually bribes before elections, allow only those who are educated to contest, and bring in a bill to make it impossible for criminals to contest, advocates Ramesh Menon.
The BJP MLAs, who had staged a demonstration outside the assembly during the first half and marched to the Raj Bhavan during the lunch hour, were summoned by the speaker when the House reassembled at 2 pm.
The sources told PTI that Shettar flew from Hubballi to Bengaluru on Sunday in a special helicopter and held discussions with Congress general secretary (Karnataka in-charge) Randeep Singh Surjewala, Congress state chief D K Shivakumar, former minister M B Patil and veteran Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa.
The division bench completed the hearing of arguments and said it will pronounce its order on Friday, requesting the Speaker too to extend his deadline for accepting the MLAs replies to the notices. The notices had followed a Congress complaint that the 19 MLAs should be disqualified from the assembly for defying a party whip.
Karnataka chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar arrived in New Delhi on Friday to discuss with the party's high command the names of ministers to be inducted into the new cabinet and the allocation of portfolios.
'Uddhavji will face the no confidence motion on the floor of the House whenever it happens.'
The Lok Sabha constituencies that JD-S will contest are Uttara Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Tumkur, Hassan, Mandya, Bengaluru North and Vijayapura.
He urged people to ignore politicians who only make speeches and instead, vote for those who work.
BJP leader Diya Kumari, who was elected deputy chief minister of Rajasthan along with Prem Chand Bairwa, is a member of erstwhile Jaipur royal family and a two-time MLA.
Encouraged by the unprecedented success of the Gujarat Gaurav Yatra of Narendra Modi, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has launched Vishwas Yatra.
'This has been the history of these people,' Congress leader Ahmed Patel tells Sheela Bhatt.
Senior Congress leader D D Lapang was on Monday sworn in as Meghalaya chief minister by Governor S S Sidhu, who rejected the demand of the newly-formed Nationalist Congress Party-led Meghalaya Progressive Alliance saying the decision was aimed at preventing horse-trading. Stung by the Governor's decision, the MPA led by former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A Sangma decided to move the Supreme Court on Tuesday against installation of the Congress government.
Reddy, whose party stormed to power with a landslide victory in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday, is likely to discuss providing outside or issue-based support to the Modi government in the meeting, sources said on Saturday.
Before leaving, Biren Singh said that he and the present and former Congress MLAs will meet the BJP central leadership in the national capital to personally introduce and to invite them to join the party.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to get reservation for women in legislatures promises to shape the political discourse ahead of key state polls and Lok Sabha elections, and a parliamentary approval to the long-contested proposal will be used by the Bharatiya Janata Party to burnish his credentials as a decisive leader.
Azad had, on Sunday, called on the Governor to stake claim to form the new government in Jammu and Kashmir, replacing Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as the chief minister.
The 17th Lok Sabha, which was dissolved on June 5, did not have a deputy speaker for its full term, and it was the second consecutive term of the lower house without an LoP.
The turbulent relations between Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and INDIA bloc parties came to a head on Friday with sources saying that the opposition is considering submitting a notice for moving a resolution to remove the vice president from his office.
Pilot was spied on after revolt, says Gehlot's OSD
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
"Reports of @sherryontop (Sidhu) seeking time to meet @capt_amarinder are totally false. No time has been sought whatsoever. No change in stance... CM won't meet #NavjotSinghSidhu till he publicly apologises for his personally derogatory social media attacks against him," Thukral tweeted.
Pandian joined the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) in 2011, and since then, he has been Patnaik's private secretary.
Lapang, facing revolt by at least 14 legislators, is expected to tender his resignation to Governor R S Mooshahary later on Monday after he returns from New Delhi along with 23 legislators.