Congress leader Kumari Selja ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the AAP for the Haryana assembly polls.
Beleaguered Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political credibility will be tested by the outcome of the three by-elections. And cries that he must resign will become shriller if the Congress loses them.
During Emergency Indira Gandhi acquired absolute power. Lakhs of political opponents, students, activists were arrested.
The opposition alliance that will take on the ruling National Democratic Alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be called Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and an 11-member committee will be set up for coordination, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced after a meeting of the parties in Bengaluru.
If the DMK is able to sustain the momentum until the assembly polls, the AIADMK especially and the PMK and possibly the infant TVK too would find it hard to sign up with the BJP, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi asserted that the Congress will protect the Constitution and the reservation system at all costs and foil "conspiracies" of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Monday said her party is very hopeful that the results of the Lok Sabha elections will be totally opposite to what has been shown in the exit polls.
Tharoor said there could be a surprise result in the election next year as there is an opposition coalition and there are chances of the INDIA alliance coming to power at the Centre by trouncing the BJP-led NDA in the general elections.
This negated the gain of more than a dozen seats in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala.
The Congress and the NCP are not comfortable with the name Maha Shiv Aghadi (a grand alliance comprising the Shiv Sena)
The BJP Friday formally announced that it will contest the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab in alliance with Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress.
Kumar had also made it clear that he was in the process of uniting the non-BJP leaders.
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 15 assembly seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand. The bypolls, however, will not have any direct impact on the respective legislative assemblies. The results will be declared on November 23. In Uttar Pradesh, polling will be held in Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur and Kundarki. Ninety candidates are in the fray in these seats with the maximum of 14 in Ghaziabad. This will be the first electoral test of the INDIA bloc as well as the NDA in the politically-crucial state after the Lok Sabha elections. In Punjab, bypolls will be held in four assembly seats - Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala. The bypolls were necessitated after MLAs representing them were elected to the Lok Sabha. Polling will also be held for the Palakkad seat in Kerala and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand.
The Congress on Sunday demanded a thorough probe into Siddique's murder and said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, who holds home portfolio, should take moral responsibility for law and order "failure" and resign.
The Bharatiya Janata Party announced on Saturday that Navya Haridas, a two-time councillor in the Kozhikode Corporation, will be the National Democratic Alliance candidate for the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election.
However, in 950 booths, voting will end at 4 pm, though people standing in the queue at that time will be able to exercise their franchise.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu's party secured a 'supermajority' in Parliament by winning over 60 seats in Sunday's crucial parliamentary election, seen as a litmus test for the pro-Beijing politician whose policies are being closely watched by both India and China amidst regional power dynamics.
Union minister Chirag Paswan has caused a flutter by stating he would choose to give up his ministerial berth instead of a compromise on his principles, in keeping with the precedent set by his late father Ram Vilas Paswan.
The Congress must learn its lessons from the Gujarat elections and ensure that the anti-BJP votes don't get splintered by aligning with the JD-S, says Shafeeq Rahman.
To a question whether his party will not forge a coalition with any political party, Azad said, "If any political party is willing to accompany the Congress, and the Congress feels that it can fight the BJP, then it will be definitely accommodated."
The party's research department team, which Rajya Sabha member M V Rajeev Gowda heads, has sifted through the suggestions received in the last five months, and the manifesto is slated to be released later this month, reports Archis Mohan.
In the post on X, Mahajan said, "I will be indebted to the family-like people from Mumbai North Central who treated me not just as an MP but gave me affection like a daughter."
Kharge launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the Himachal Pradesh poll schedule was announced but not of Gujarat so that the PM can inaugurate many more bridges like the one that collapsed in Gujarat's Morbi.
Shah pulled no punches in lambasting the RJD supremo for alleged nepotism, accusing him of making his wife the chief minister, getting his daughter elected to Parliament and "now both his sons want to become the CM".
'If you compare Rahul with Modi, then Modi seems larger.' 'The campaign has been built to show that Rahul is not mature enough to lead the nation.'
Five MLAs -- four from the BJP and one independent -- were also sworn in as ministers. However, former home minister and six-term MLA from Ambala Cantt, Anil Vij, has not found a place in the new cabinet.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav lashed out at his one-time ally, the Congress, and said that in the state the BJP is nowhere.
Initiating the debate on the bill from the opposition's side, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said that any delay in bringing the reservation into effect would be "gross injustice" to Indian women.
The opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition in Maharashtra on Tuesday announced its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray securing a substantial portion with 21 seats, while the Congress will contest 17 seats, and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar 10 seats.
The Congress on Wednesday said the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) constituents did not seek a division of votes in the Speaker's election as they wanted to maintain a spirit of consensus and cooperation.
Dikshit would be assisted by three working presidents -- Devender Yadav, Haroon Yusuf and Rajesh Lilotia.
The AAP failed to reach a pre-poll alliance in Haryana with the Congress due to disagreement over number of seats to be contested by it.
Amidst reports of unease between Congress and its allies, Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said the party was a "sinking ship" which was being deserted by its passengers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in a rally in Delhi, comparing him to notorious criminal Charles Sobhraj and accusing him of spreading lies about the BJP government in Haryana mixing poison in the Yamuna river. Modi said Kejriwal's claims are an insult to India and that the AAP is desperate due to the fear of defeat in the upcoming Delhi elections. He also highlighted the BJP's track record of fulfilling promises and urged people to give him a chance to serve them. The attack comes as the Delhi election campaign heats up, with the AAP and BJP locked in a tight race.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday clinched a stunning hat-trick win in Haryana overcoming anti-incumbency and dashing Congress' hopes of a comeback while the National Conference-Congress combine pulled off a spectacular victory in maiden elections in Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Five years after suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of a much younger Jagan Mohan Reddy, Telugu Desam Party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday was on course to lead his party towards a landslide victory in the Andhra Pradesh assembly polls, with allies Bharatiya Janata Party and Janasena Party (JNP) in tow.
The former CM is expected to sound the poll bugle for next year's Lok Sabha elections with the convention and rally.
The Congress took a dig at the BJP, saying, "We realise you've been down for a long time now. If you need help getting back up, we're happy to help."
'There are differences over certain issues between the JD-U and BJP but we are in alliance and continuing.'
The Congress is of the view that firming up of proper opposition alliances in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra is crucial.
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