With its landslide victory in Punjab assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party has achieved a major milestone in its journey so far and emerged as an alternative in the national politics.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has criticized the government's decision to appoint Gyanesh Kumar as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in the middle of the night, arguing that it is "disrespectful" and "discourteous" given the ongoing Supreme Court challenge to the selection process. Gandhi presented a dissent note to the selection committee, stating that the process violates the Supreme Court order and undermines the integrity of the electoral process.
It said the Congress will infuse new blood in leadership roles without creating new fault lines and cementing its ideological moorings.
Mamata Banerjee was on Sunday formally elected Trinamool Congress's Legislature Party leader.Two days after her party stormed to power with three-fourths majority, ending 34 years of Left Front rule in West Bengal, the name of 56-year-old Banerjee as TCLP leader was proposed by Subrata Bakshi.
The counting of votes for the bypolls to 46 assembly seats in 13 states and in the Lok Sabha segments of Nanded in Maharashtra and Wayanad in Kerala, a crucial electoral exercise since the parliamentary polls in April-May, will begin at 8 am on Saturday.
First-time MLA Rekha Gupta will be the new chief minister of Delhi, capping 11 days of suspense over who will get the top post after the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power after over 26 years ending the 10-year rule of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party.
Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde, camping in Guwahati, has claimed that he has the support of 34 MLAs of his party and passed a resolution on Wednesday evening reinstating himself as the leader of the Shiv Sena legislative party, a day after he was removed from the post by the Sena leadership.
'The continuous and mysterious praise of the BJP and the chief minister by AIUDF leadership and senior members have affected the public perception of the Congress party'
Should the anti-defection law in India exist only to prevent democratically elected governments from being toppled?
After Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhara Rao's 11-day fast forced the United Progressive Alliance government to concede to his demand for a separate Telangana state, some angry Congress leaders from Andhra Pradesh have threatened to go on a fast-unto-death themselves, to make the Centre reconsider its decision.Congress Member of Parliament from Vijaywada Lagdapati Rajagopal has declared that he will sit on a fast-unto-death in front of the assembly.
Seeking clarification, Karnataka Governor has sent back to the government a bill that sought to collect funds from temples with over Rs 10 lakh annual income, citing that a case concerning the earlier related act and amendments made to it is still pending in Supreme Court.
Upset over the defeat of several of Congress's sitting Members of Legislative Assembly in the Chhattisgarh assembly elections, state Congress chief Charandas Mahant blamed it on "internal sabotage" on Sunday evening.
Wasnik claimed some people with "bad intentions" were trying to create a rift in the Goa Congress, but the legislators scuttled it by showing they are united.
A senior woman activist of non-governmental organisation outfit People's Union for Civil Liberties was sent to jail by a court in Andhra Pradesh after she was arrested over her Facebook post in which some "objectionable" comments were made against Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah and a Congress member of Legislative Assembly.
Bommai on Friday met BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa along with other party leaders, including ministers Murugesh Nirani, Byrathi Basavaraj, party MP Lehar Singh Siroya and A T Ramaswamy, at the former chief minister's residence.
"In all, 22 of us (including 18 MLAs) met party chief and presented our view that we have majority in the state assembly," Pratapsinh Rane said.
In yet another jolt the Congress ahead of the Goa Assembly polls, the party's state working president, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, resigned as member of the legislative assembly on Monday, reducing the party's strength to two in the 40-member House.
Her election to the post was a foregone conclusion as the main opposition Congress chose to stay out of contest.
Spurred by the spectacular victory of the YSR Congress in the by-elections, many ruling Congress members of Legislative Assembly and main opposition Telugu Desam Party are believed to be keen to join the Jaganmohan Reddy bandwagon in Andhra Pradesh but he is said to wary of taking all of them.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar on Thursday filed papers as an NCP candidate for Rajya Sabha elections.
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.
'The new Waqf bill sows the seed for conflict in every town and village of India.'
Sacked Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna and Congress member of Legislative Assembly Malkhan Singh Bishnoi were on Wednesday named as the main accused by the CBI in the second chargesheet filed in the Bhanwari Devi case charging them with abduction and murder.
Asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Party's alliance with the Shiv Sena is firmly in place, senior party leader Gopinath Munde on Saturday said that the saffron combine cannot accommodate a third partner. Addressing a press conference after inducting former Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Nana Patole into the party fold, Munde who has been made in-charge of the BJP for the upcoming assembly elections, said there will be no change in the seat sharing formula.
With uncertainty looming over the Maha Vikas Aghadi government's stability in the wake of Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde camping in Gujarat with some party MLAs, the stand of 29 legislators from smaller parties and Independents is likely to be crucial.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in the assembly polls on Thursday has put the party on a stronger wicket for the election for the post of President expected later this year.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that India and Pakistan came closer to resolving the Kashmir issue during the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. He added that he does not expect a return to that situation in his lifetime. Abdullah lauded Singh's efforts on Kashmir, including the setting up of working groups on the issue, and said he practically initiated measures for the return of displaced Kashmiri Pandits. The chief minister also praised Singh's contribution to India's economic development.
Women politicians bring to politics and policy a sensitivity that most of their male counterparts, at least until a generation back, lacked.
Fifteen rebel members of Legislative Assembly belonging to Andhra Pradesh's ruling Congress and main opposition Telugu Desam Party were today disqualified for voting in favour of a no-confidence motion moved by TRS against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in March this year.
While Asaduddin was booked for his alleged involvement in the attack on Congress MLC Shabbir Ali on Tuesday, a case was filed against Akbaruddin after his followers allegedly assaulted M K Mahender, a BJP civic poll candidate, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) V Satyanarayana said.
Congress leaders from Telangana region will discuss the party's directive that they should "withdraw" from the all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee on Monday.
Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Sukhdev Panse and 64 others were arrested in Betul, Madhya Pradesh in connection with the 2007 Pardhi case that is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, police said on Tuesday. Panse, along with 64 others, surrendered at the Multai police station on Monday and the police arrested them, following issuance of an arrest warrant against them by a special CBI court.
In the aftermath of the announcement to form a separate state of Telangana, the Congress party is now facing new problems.
The communal violence in Sambhal that claimed four lives and left over 20 people injured has now sparked a debate over a purported rivalry between the Turk and Pathan communities, with political and administrative figures weighing in on the cause of the unrest.
Ten members of legislative assembly and council, who were with him, were also arrested by the police and sent to Falaknuma police station in the city. This is the second time in the day that Rajagopal has been arrested.
'This individual's constant endeavour at self-glorification, even at the cost of both the government and the party, has the potential to subvert whatever genuine efforts that Channi has been making since he became CM.'
Abhijit Mukherjee is a proud man. By the time of filing this report, his father, United Progressive Alliance-nominated candidate Pranab Mukherjee, was leading the Presidential election with 438,502 votes against the Opposition-backed P A Sangma.
Five Goa Congress MLAs, who went incommunicado a day before, attended the state assembly proceedings on the first day of the monsoon session on Monday, and claimed there was 'nothing wrong' in the opposition party.
Nearly 2,000 Congress workers participated in the 'Bellary chalo' rally on Sunday from the press club at Bengaluru to demand a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the illegal mining scam that has rocked the Karnataka legislative assembly for over a week.The 15-day rally will end at Bellary where a massive public gathering will be held. The Congress members plan to cover 20 kms everyday on foot across the state.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna passed away at his residence in Bengaluru early Tuesday morning, his family said.
