Maharashtra minister's announcement regarding the disbursement of financial aid under the Ladki Bahin Yojana before Makar Sankranti has triggered a controversy, with the Opposition alleging a violation of the Model Code of Conduct ahead of municipal elections. The State Election Commission has sought a report on the matter.
The BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena alliance secured a majority in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, winning 118 out of 227 seats and ending the Thackeray family's long-standing control.
The State Election Commission (SEC) has barred the Maharashtra government from releasing the January instalment of the 'Ladki Bahin' scheme in advance, citing the enforcement of the model code of conduct for municipal elections. The decision follows complaints about the timing of the release, coinciding with upcoming municipal elections.
Political tensions rise in Maharashtra as OBC, SC, and ST groups express concerns over a government resolution on the Maratha quota. Chief Minister Fadnavis cautions against divisive politics, while Sharad Pawar accuses the government of weakening the social fabric.
As an IAS officer in Kerala, Gyanesh Kumar -- who the Congress described as Amit Shah's 'right hand man' -- had a good working equation with the state's Congress and Left leaders.
In an article in the Congress Sandesh, senior party leader Karan Singh said that the ASI shocked the nation by making certain sweeping statements that questioned the very existence of Lord Ram as a historical figure.
Standing near the noose, he recited a couplet in which he said he wished nothing but to sacrifice his life for the motherland. Utkarsh Mishra remembers Ram Prasad Bismil on the revolutionary leader's 128th birth anniversary.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sougata Roy has demanded the removal of Kalyan Banerjee as the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha after a spat with fellow MP Mahua Moitra. Roy accused Banerjee of "uncivilised" behaviour on multiple occasions and cited incidents of Banerjee breaking a bottle and throwing it at the chairman of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting and making inappropriate remarks about Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. The spat between Moitra and Banerjee reportedly occurred on April 4 when a TMC delegation met the Election Commission over duplicate voter ID numbers. Banerjee was tasked with collecting signatures from TMC MPs on a memorandum to be submitted to the Election Commission, and Moitra alleged that she was not included in the signatories, leading to a heated exchange. Roy, who was present at the time, said he saw Moitra crying and complaining about Banerjee's behaviour. Roy believes that Banerjee's actions warrant his removal as chief whip and left the decision to Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee. The incident has also been highlighted in leaked WhatsApp messages, where Banerjee engaged in heated exchanges with another TMC MP, Kirti Azad, leading to further accusations of uncivilised behaviour.
The Congress has virtually blamed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam for the drubbing in the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry assembly elections. "The results in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were affected by the 2G scam and these states were lost to other parties," the editorial in the latest issue of 'Congress Sandesh' said. Congress was part of the DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu. The issue has come at a time when DMK chief M Karunanidhi is holding an emergency meeting.
The Maharashtra Assembly elections witnessed the continued influence of political dynasties, with prominent families retaining their strongholds across the state. The Thackareys and the Ranes emerged as dominant forces, securing victories in various regions. The Rane brothers, Nilesh and Nitesh, won in Sindhudurg, while Uday and Kiran Samant secured victories in Ratnagiri. In Mumbai, Aaditya Thackeray retained his Worli seat, while his cousin Varun Sardesai won in Vandre East. The results underscore the enduring power of family connections in Indian politics.
The withdrawal of the candidature by DPAP leaders on the last day on August 30 is seen as a boost to the NC-Congress alliance.
At a time when Mamata Banerjee has created unease in Congress by not supporting its presidential candidate, the latest issue of Congress mouthpiece on Wednesday recalled that Pranab Mukherjee has won respect even in the opposition.
The TMC released a video, in which a man, claimed to be a BJP mandal president in Sandeshkhali, was heard saying that leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly "Suvendu Adhikari is behind the whole conspiracy".
Congress has criticised the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly misusing grants from the Centre and blamed it for rising crime and corruption in the state.
"One of the main principles of the Congress has been its commitment to secularism. This is particularly important in Gujarat where communal politics has polarised society and undermined the pluralist and tolerant ethos of our nation," Gandhi said in the latest issue of Congress Sandesh.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has said the government has a "very active agenda" for Parliament in the coming months when bills on land acquisition, food security and changes in income tax laws will be taken up.
Strongly condemning the "attempt to create communal tensions," she said the Congress will continue to demand that justice be meted out to those found guilty of any such activities.
scotching all speculation, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has virtually made it clear that Manmohan Singh would continue to be the prime ministerial face of the party.
On Saturday, the Congress leader had said the government had kept the Left and Opposition informed during the negotiations of the nuclear deal.
"In the states where we are in power, the party chief ministers must work in tandem with the party presidents," Sonia Gandhi said, asking partymen to prepare for the challenges ahead. Her comments came in the backdrop of setbacks in several party-ruled states last year and in view of the upcoming assembly polls in ten states this year, followed by the Lok Sabha elections next year.
Setting the agenda ahead of a series of elections lined up in the next few months, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said that with its 123-year old history and large organisational base, the party is fully geared up to win the elections.
The governor assured the "tortured" women, who tied rakhis on his wrist, all help to get justice.
Here's the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to a joint session of the United States Congress, delivered on Thursday.
'Rahul Gandhi should have prevented Nitish Kumar from going.' 'He must pacify Mamata Banerjee if he has a cause of Mohabbat Ki Dukaan.' 'He should bring this Mohabbat Ki Dukaan on the political canvas.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday received wholehearted support from a group of women from the troubled Sandeshkhali area who met her after a Trinamool Congress rally in Kolkata, party sources said.
Days after he quit Congress and created a controversy by taking down the website of the party state unit, Sanjay Puri on Thursday joined Aam Aadmi Party along with scores of Janakpuri block Congress workers.
Sonia's comment on foreign policy not aimed at Left: Congress
The burgeoning death notices come amid apprehensions that the number of cases and casualties are being underreported for a variety of reasons.
The dates of the forthcoming assembly polls in Rajasthan are yet to be announced by the Election Commission, but on the ground, the battle has already begun between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
It is a record that the saffron party has created, where the majority of its legislators belonged to the minority community.
Even as Congress General Secretary and the party's in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh on Tuesday sought to describe Rahul Gandhi's 'kisan sandesh yatra', which he launched from Bhatta Parsaul early on Tuesday morning as "completely apolitical", both the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party and the Bhartiya Janata Party sought to term it as a "political gimmick."
'Goa is a tiny state, but in terms of its Business of Politics, several powerful lobbies of India are involved in it, be it the mining lobby, hoteliers' lobby, casino lobby, hawala lobby, drugs lobby etc.'
A BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, said all party MLAs have been asked not to leave the state.
Urmila, who unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election in April from Mumbai, said she was quitting owing to "petty in-house politics" in the party.
The comments, made in the latest edition of Congress newsletter Sandesh commemmorating the anniversary celebrations of Indian freedom fighters, have drawn criticism from different quarters.
The ruling Congress and Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party are both set to hit the road and undertake 'yatras', aimed at garnering support among the masses for Assembly elections lined up in the state later this year.
The 41-year-old Congress general secretary is on the second day of his padayatra -- 'Kisan Sandesh Yatra' -- in western Uttar Pradesh, a footmarch billed as a campaign against Chief Minister Mayawati ahead of the Congress's proposed 'kisan mahapanchayat' in the neighbouring Aligarh district on July 9
The Congress general secretary made Bhatta Parsaul, which saw widespread protests over land acquisition two months back, the first stop of his 'Kisan Sandesh Yatra' when he came calling in a car at 6 am drumming up support for the planned kisan mahapanchayat in Aligarh on Saturday
Prabhat Jha, editor of the BJP mouthpiece Kamal Sandesh, says the government should probe the source of India Against Corruption funds. Vicky Nanjappa reports
All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi seems to be taking a great deal of interest in a large number of party and government matters as he shifts to the centre-stage of Congress politics.
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