While the BJP went back to the drawing board to recraft its political and governance outreach and regained momentum by notching up surprisingly big wins in a string of assembly polls, the burst of fresh optimism in the main opposition Congress and other INDIA bloc parties fizzled out.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said Parliament's Monsoon session is like a 'Vijay Utsav' as the Indian armed forces achieved their objectives under Operation Sindoor 100 per cent, and expressed confidence that the MPs will articulate this sentiment in one voice.
While acknowledging that they needed strong allies for a chance in the assembly polls, AIADMK cadres seemingly prefer actor-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to the BJP, owing to the latter's 'communal agenda' and consequent hardline Hindutva image, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Sena-UBT pointed out that the Congress only spoke about itself in the Ahmedabad meet, and INDIA or Bharat was nowhere in the discussion.
Modi accused the JMM, Congress and RJD of using Bangladeshi infiltrators for "vote bank politics," facilitating their settlement in Jharkhand, which is a threat to the state's social structure.
'Let's see how this love story shapes up in the run up to the municipal corporation election.'
The BJP's strategy seem to be to wean away allies from the Congress, in Dravidian Tamil Nadu, and maybe later in UP, Bihar and elsewhere, though in slow doses, but without wooing them into a new alliance. The idea seems to be only to weaken the INDIA bloc from within -- and leaving it at that, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
At the customary meeting ahead of the session beginning Monday, the opposition raised various issues, including voter roll revision in Bihar, the Pahalgam terror attack and Trump's 'ceasefire' claims.
Ahead of the Delhi assembly polls scheduled to be held early next year, state Congress chief Devender Yadav said on Friday that the party will contest on all 70 seats and there would be no alliance.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has set an ambitious goal of winning over 215 seats in the 2026 state assembly elections, aiming to secure a fourth consecutive term for the Trinamool Congress (TMC). She declared that the party will work to significantly reduce the BJP's tally and ensure that their candidates struggle to retain their deposits. The TMC's national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, echoed this sentiment, urging party workers to ensure a decisive victory and achieve a two-thirds majority in the upcoming polls. The BJP, however, dismissed the TMC's claims, stating that Banerjee is merely trying to boost morale among party workers.
"I'm amazed channels are bothering with exit polls especially after the fiasco of the recent general elections. I'm ignoring all the noise on channels, social media, WhatsApp etc. because the only numbers that matter will be revealed on the 8th of Oct. The rest is just time pass," Abdullah, a former chief minister, wrote on X.
Moderate turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling across five assembly constituencies across Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala where bypolls are underway on Thursday.
The BJP's surprise announcement of a caste census in the next census has sparked political debate, particularly in Bihar where the issue of backward empowerment holds significant electoral weight. The move is seen as a strategic maneuver by the ruling party to counter opposition efforts to mobilize support among disadvantaged sections of society. The decision is also viewed as a recognition of the growing influence of OBC politics in India.
Exit polls, which had given a clear majority to the Congress in Haryana and an edge to National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir, appear to have failed to feel the pulse of the voters once again.
Maha Vikas Aghadi constituents -- the Congress, the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar -- are still struggling to resolve internal differences over certain seats and fix an agreeable formula for the assembly polls even though the deadline for filing nominations is closing on October 29.
The government will send seven all-party delegations to key partner countries, including members of the United Nations Security Council, later this month to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
Congress leader Udit Raj criticized party colleague Shashi Tharoor for his reported remarks that India breached the Line of Control (LoC) for the first time during the 2016 surgical strike on a terror base, saying he should be declared a "super spokesperson of the BJP". Raj argued that India had crossed the LoC in 1965 and 1971, and that the UPA government had also conducted surgical strikes. Tharoor had reportedly said that India breaching the LoC to conduct a surgical strike was "something we had not done before". This is not the first time Raj has criticized Tharoor for his comments on India-Pakistan relations. Last month, Raj had hit out at Tharoor for his reported "no country has 100-per cent foolproof intelligence" remarks, questioning how Tharoor could be giving the BJP a "clean chit" on the Pahalgam terror attack. Tharoor had hit back at Raj, saying the latter is a former BJP MP and "is better qualified to understand who speaks for the BJP".
The opposition party, however, said the four eminent Congress MPs and leaders who have been included at the instance of the Modi government will, of course, go with the delegations and make their contributions.
China and Pakistan are in a tight strategic alliance. India must deal with them one at a time, but be prepared in case they decide to collude, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The results of the assembly elections will be announced on October 8.
Both candidates have shifted from their traditional constituencies - Sadhotra from Marh and Sharma from Akhnoor - after these two segments were reserved for Scheduled Castes.
Yogendra Yadav, a founding member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), believes the party's defeat in the Delhi Assembly polls is a setback for the entire opposition and raises questions about its future. He attributed the loss to factors like the liquor scam, the 'Sheesh Mahal' row, and the constant fights between the Delhi LG and the AAP government.
The Congress on Sunday said it was not stopping anyone from being part of diplomatic delegations to be sent to various countries following Operation Sindoor and that its leaders who have been named at the instance of the government must listen to their conscience and contribute to the exercise.
Tharoor also said he is honoured by the invitation of the government to lead an all-party delegation to five key capitals to present the nation's point of view on recent events.
'If Uddhav bhau and Raj bhau come together, who can stop us?' Prasanna D Zore reports on the fervour and hope set off by the Thackeray cousins coming together.
Senior AIADMK leader M Thambidurai has asserted that there will be no coalition government in Tamil Nadu in 2026, with party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami forming a government "alone." He said this in response to reporters' queries on the possibility of a coalition government if the NDA wins the 2026 Assembly election. Thambidurai stated that Tamil Nadu has never had a coalition government, citing the examples of Congress leaders C Rajagopalachari and K Kamaraj, as well as Dravidian stalwarts M G Ramachandran and M Karunanidhi. He further clarified that Palaniswami's previous statement regarding a coalition government was misinterpreted by the media.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday attributed early arrival of the southwest monsoon and heavy rainfall in a short span for the inundation of low-lying areas in Mumbai, which disrupted road and railway traffic.
The Congress party also called for a special session of Parliament to evaluate the situation in detail, to identify any mistakes that were made, and to ensure that they are not repeated in the future.
Akhilesh Yadav hit back, saying no one had any clue that the alliance was coming apart and that he had dialled the BSP chief to know why the tie-up ended.
'If this is true, the Election Commission should come forward with data and officially confirm it.'
The BJP and Congress have called out the 'Delhi model' as a hoax, built on sustained propaganda when the ground reality is different.
As part of the investigation, EC officials visited Sudhakaran's residence on Thursday and recorded his statement. They said the matter would be submitted to the district collector for further actions.
Taking a 180 degree turn from his previous stance of not approving the Congress and Samajwadi Party's alliance stitched together by his son Akhilesh, Mulayam on Thursday announced that he would campaign for his son, saying, "He is my son after all."
'CM face ko lekar NDA mein koi confusion nahi hai, Nitish Kumar hi NDA ke CM face hai'.
The Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a setback in Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra on Tuesday, with its tally dwindling by less than half compared to 2019, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar was on a roll, pocketing 30 of the 48 seats.
'The Congress will have to go deep into it and find the reasons for its defeat'
The opposition party's attack came after Shashi Tharoor, not part of the four leaders nominated by the Congress, was named as the head of a delegation to key partner countries to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism following Operation Sindoor.
'They have no chance of winning if free and fair polls are conducted.'
The Congress leaders maintained that Indian defence forces had attained complete superiority and dominance over Pakistan before the sudden "ceasefire" was announced by US President Donald Trump.
Two former MLAs Neeraj Basoya and Nasseb Singh resigned from the primary membership of the party putting the party's Lok Sabha preparations in doubt.
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