A family feud within the politically influential Matua community has erupted between Union minister Shantanu Thakur and his brother, BJP MLA Subrata Thakur, creating ripples in West Bengal's political landscape and posing a challenge for the BJP ahead of upcoming elections.
Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Rupjyoti Kurmi was allegedly assaulted by Central Reserve Police Force personnel on Friday when he had gone to inquire about the kidnapping and subsequent release of two garden labourers in Assam's Jorhat district.
Former Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Sambhajirao Kunjir was beaten up by party workers belonging to the rival faction during the elections for the post of the Pune district Congress.It was a free-for-all in the Congress bhavan when workers, allegedly belonging to the Sanjay Jagtap group hailing from Punandar taluk, attacked Kunjir by hurling chairs at him. The scuffle broke out when efforts were being made to elect the party's Pune district president unanimously.
'Knowing that a no-confidence motion would succeed, the BJP central leadership forced N Biren Singh to resign.' 'If he had lost on the floor of the House, it would have been a major setback for the BJP.'
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.
Owaisi was appointed as pro-tem Speaker though there were other senior members in the House, state BJP president G Kishan Reddy alleged.
We will defeat them in the Speaker's election itself. We are sure the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP will form the government," Nawab Malik said.
In the coming assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters.
A meeting of the newly elected Congress Members of Legislative Assembly in Maharashtra on Saturday authorised party president Sonia Gandhi to nominate their new leader, who will be the next chief minister. A one-line resolution, authorising Sonia Gandhi to name the new leader, was passed at the first meeting of the Congress Legislature Party, convened in Mumbai to elect the leader, two days after the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine stormed back to power.
Kejriwal claimed that the BJP has ruined Gujarat in its 30-year rule. The Congress has failed as an opposition because it helps the BJP retain power, he said.
Ramesh Jena, the Congress member of Legislative Assembly in Orissa, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with a recent shootout incident at an apartment in Bhubaneswar, the police said.
The Congress, which has 37 MLAs, had fixed a quota of 30 first preference votes for its candidate Satav, and seven remaining votes were to go to its ally Sena (UBT)'s nominee Narvekar, party sources said. Eventually, Satav got 25 and Narvekar 22 first preference votes, which meant at least seven Congress MLAs cross-voted.
The Congress had on Saturday shifted its 14 MLAs to Jaipur fearing horse-trading by the ruling BJP ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls.
The electoral exercise, the first since the Lok Sabha elections, will decide the fate of many veterans and some debutantes including Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur.
Voting for the bypolls in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu were held on Wednesday.
Since Independence, Lok Sabha Speakers have been chosen by consensus.
Parasram Bishnoi, his wife Kusum and sacked minister Mahipal Maderna's close associate Goverdhan were on Saturday grilled by the Central Bureau of Investigation in Bhanwari Devi disappearance case.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will attend the meetings of the committee as a special invitee, while legal affairs secretary Niten Chandra will be secretary to the panel.
The last time when more than 200 MLAs were part of the state government was in 1972, but at that time all the 222 legislators belonged to Congress. Also, the strength of the House was 270 at that time, a former state legislature official said on Monday citing data.
'We share and support the ideology of the NDA and will not work against the NDA.'
Two bills that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections were introduced in the Lok Sabha after a fiery debate on Tuesday, with the opposition terming the move 'dictatorial' and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal asserting that the legislation would not tamper with the powers enjoyed by states.
In a jolt to the opposition Congress ahead of the assembly polls in Gujarat, senior MLA Mohansinh Rathva on Tuesday resigned as a party member and legislator and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
They were suspended for misbehaviour and shouting slogans in the House.
Amidst speculation over the NDA seat-sharing deal in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar distributed JD(U) tickets, while the BJP announced its first list of candidates. The INDIA bloc also faces internal challenges as parties prepare for the upcoming elections.
Orissa Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Shibaji Majhi, who his party has alleged was kidnapped at the behest of the ruling Biju Janata Dal, did not turn up to cast his vote in the Rajya Sabha elections till Thursday afternoon.
The decision was taken to foil the attempts made by Chief Minister Mayawati to further split the party.
"I was not happy in Congress. The Congress state leadership has failed completely," Madkaikar said.
The Maharashtra government is set to expand its cabinet on December 15 with 30-32 ministers taking the oath of office at a ceremony in Nagpur. The week-long winter session of the state legislature is scheduled to begin in Nagpur on December 16. The BJP-led government, which came to power after the November 20 assembly polls, has seen its fair share of twists and turns in the cabinet formation process. The BJP is likely to get 20-21 ministerial berths, followed by 11-12 for the Sena and 9-10 for the NCP.
The newly-elected members couldn't take oath even one month after the results of the assembly polls were announced, due to political up and downs in the state.
With the Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly rejecting the resignations of all members of legislative assembly from the Telangana region, the Congress MLAs are locked up in a meeting to decide on the next course of action.
The bill was defeated by a voice vote on February 23 in the upper house, where the Opposition has a majority, after it was passed by the assembly on February 21.
The political crisis and uncertainty for the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh further deepened on Monday, with 26 members of legislative assembly (of the party) deciding to submit their resignations in support of beleaguered YSR Congress president and member of Parliament YS Jaganmohan Reddy. Mohammed Siddique reportS.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Kavinder Gupta was elected unanimously as Speaker of the 12th Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir.
The move is seen as a prelude to Chavda's joining the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The BJP, the AAP and the Congress had fielded six, five and three women candidates, but only Reena Kashyap of the BJP won the election.
The formation of a new government in Maharashtra has been delayed due to a disagreement between the Shiv Sena and BJP over who should be the next chief minister. Shiv Sena insists on Eknath Shinde continuing as CM while the BJP favors Devendra Fadnavis. The delay comes despite the BJP-led coalition winning a landslide victory in the recent assembly elections. Sources suggest that the coalition has not reached a consensus on the CM, with various leaders from both parties voicing their opinions on the matter.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asserted that the NDA government, led by him, put an end to frequent Hindu-Muslim clashes in the state by taking measures such as fencing graveyards and bringing to justice those involved in communal riots. He also criticized the opposition, particularly Tejashwi Yadav, accusing them of lacking understanding and experience. Kumar's claims were met with anger and walkout by the opposition members.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is expected to achieve a clear majority in Rajya Sabha after bye-elections for 12 seats scheduled next month, which would help the party get the nod for key legislations such as the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.
Veteran party leader Anil Vij will seek re-election from his Ambala Cantt stronghold.
Two days after being sworn in as Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took oath as an MLA along with deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi boycotted the ceremony alleging EVM misuse.
