The arrest of two Catholic nuns from Kerala in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion has ignited a political controversy, with opposition parties criticizing the arrest and the Chief Minister defending the police action.
Raje however, said that "Gehlot's 'praises' is a big conspiracy" against her.
'No political party can antagonise Ambedkarite voters, particularly the neo-Buddhists.'
Ruling Shiv Sena's MLA Sanjay Gaikwad allegedly slapped an employee of a canteen at the MLA's hostel in Mumbai after complaining about being served stale food.
Ajit Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party, which is in an alliance with pro-Hindutva BJP and the Shiv Sena, noted Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh) and Nitish Kumar (Bihar) -- all secular politicians -- aligned with the BJP for the sake of development of their respective states.
Aam Aadmi Party's Delhi state convener Gopal Rai on Thursday said his party's alliance with the Congress was only for the Lok Sabha elections and hinted that the ruling party in the city will go solo in next year's assembly polls in Delhi.
The austerity bug seems to have bitten the Delhi Government also with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit asking her ministers and Congress MLAs to voluntarily take 20 per cent less salary, on Tuesday.
The MLA physically blocked the police vehicle, demanding Deshmukh's release, alleging biased action by the law enforcement officials.
Instead of harvesting the wrath against the BJP and using it to their advantage by opting for a collective form of leadership, the Congress decided once again to bestow their trust in the Hooda family who were given a free hand in the distribution of tickets. This turned out to be the biggest blunder and this faulty selection was the single over riding factor in the Congress defeat, explains Rashme Sehgal.
Soren also claimed that his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma indulged in "purchase" of Jharkhand MLAs.
'The BJP, which did not stand with the people of the state during the natural disaster, now wants to push the state into political disaster'
Five candidates were in the fray for the four seats in the elections, including Janata Dal-Secular contestant D Kupendra Reddy.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut alleges that several Maharashtra ministers and government officials have been honey trapped, a claim refuted by BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who challenged Raut to provide evidence.
The Kerala BJP has contradicted the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's justification of the arrest of two Keralite Catholic nuns, stating they were not involved in human trafficking or forced conversion attempts and promising to help them.
'Talking about boycotting polls is simply a move to galvanise party leaders, workers, and supporters for the big political fight.'
The apex court had on July 12 restrained Karnataka Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar from taking any decision till July 16 on the resignation and disqualification of 10 rebel MLAs of the ruling Congress-Janata Dal-Secular coalition.
Vijay, despite the loud message from his delayed arrival at the road-show/stampede venue, and more so his continued inaccessibility for fans-turned-cadres after graduating from a super-star to a political party leader with electoral ambitions, refuses to change. Or, so it seems, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The legislators will be staying at a luxury resort there and likely to visit the Somnath temple, sources said.
Brijesh Merja is the third Congress MLA to have resigned since Wednesday and the eight since March.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, state BJP president C P Joshi and Union minister Bhupendra Yadav welcomed them into the party at its state headquarters in Jaipur.
While the two MLAs will abstain in the event of a trust vote in the assembly, it is, however, not a withdrawal of support.
In the last five years, 480 candidates with declared cases related to hate speech have contested elections to state assemblies, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the ADR said.
Unofficially though, it is claimed that Ajit Pawar has the support of 29 MLAs, and the number could add up within two days.
A senior SP leader requesting anonymity said that the party chief had called a meeting to brief the MLAs about the voting process of the Rajya Sabha elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has denied allegations it was trying to wean away MLAs from other parties.
'The Congress government is on its way out in Himachal Pradesh.'
In a letter to all MLAs, Gehlot sought their cooperation in fulfilling the promises of development and prosperity of the state.
'Parrikar died twice...once on March 17 physically while today it is the death of his political legacy'
Here is a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh.
Following his resignation, the second this week, the Congress' strength further slipped to 13, while the opposition has 14 MLAs in the 33-member house which has five vacancies.
Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan on Sunday said the UDF will take part in all the rehabilitation efforts and work towards restoring normalcy in the lives of the survivors.
Amid cross-voting, BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan on Tuesday won the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh, defeating ruling Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi, officials said.
The Congress also has the support of 10 out of 13 independents, and other party MLAs like Rashtriya Lok Dal (1), which is its ally.
"No MLAs will be going anywhere," DK Shivakumar said.
Both the eight-time MLA Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah have made no secret of their ambition to become CM and had been involved in a game of political one upmanship in the past.
Singh said nobody anticipated that Scindia would quit the party.
The newly-elected MLAs of Telangana would take oath during the first session of the Legislative Assembly scheduled to be held on Saturday.
In the 2017 state assembly polls, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party by winning 17 seats.
The protesters torched tyres and old furniture in the middle of the road in Kwakeithel and Uripok, demanding the release of the leader. The situation remained tense on Sunday morning.
Some MLAs (from Shinde bloc) have been sending messages that they want to "seek forgiveness from 'Matoshree'.
