After division in the National Democratic Alliance ranks, the Bharatiya Janata Party and some other allies appeared set to back P A Sangma, who quit the Nationalist Congress Party, ignoring its direction not to contest the Presidential poll against United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee.
The Janata Dal-United on Friday virtually put its foot down on the issue of the National Democratic Alliance taking any stand on Abdul Kalam, projected as Presidential candidate by the Samajwadi Party and the Trinamool Congress, following which the opposition alliance deferred its decision.
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Accusing the United Progressive Alliance government of misusing the Central Bureau of Investigation to target political opponents, Narendra Modi on Wednesday said it will be the agency that will fight the coming assembly and Lok Sabha elections and not the Congress party.
Thomas A Sangma of the ruling National People's Party-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) coalition was on Thursday elected as the speaker of the 11th Meghalaya assembly.
The Telugu Desam has decided to abstain from voting in the July 19 Presidential election, a statement from party president N Chandrababu Naidu said on Tuesday night.
Union Agriculture Minister and key United Progressive Alliance leader Sharad Pawar on Sunday favoured a non-political candidate as the next President in view of the fact that UPA and National Democratic Alliance did not have the strength to elect their own nominee.
C V Ananda Bose was on Thursday appointed as the new governor of West Bengal, a communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
The Congress on Sunday said other National Democratic Alliance partners need to take cue from Janata Dal-United which has insisted on a prime ministerial candidate having a "secular credibility beyond doubt"
President Droupadi Murmu will administer the Oath of Office to the elected Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar at Rashtrapati Bhavan at 11.45 am on Thursday.
Top leaders of the Opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) held talks in an informal setting in Mumbai on Thursday evening to chart out a concrete roadmap and evolve a structure for cooperation among the alliance partners to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Congress leaders paid their tributes to India's first woman prime minister Indira Gandhi on her 98th birth anniversary.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday took the Congress to the cleaners over making the 2024 general elections about the protection of the Constitution, saying Indians voted on the plank only once when they threw out the Indira Gandhi government in 1977 after the Emergency.
Seeking to capitalise on the poor performance of the Congress in the assembly polls, the National Democratic Alliance on Sunday decided to add another partner to the alliance by taking in its fold Janata Party headed by Subramnian Swamy.
Two-time chief minister and five-time MLA Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy has once again demonstrated his political acumen by bagging a seat in the union council of ministers, despite his party joining the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance just last year.
The 2014 Lok Sabha election saw the Bharatiya Janata Party led by Narendra Modi storm to power at the Centre with a "triple century", giving the National Democratic Alliance an unexpected 336 seats in the Lok Sabha .
Chautala said that the loss/gain of the break-up with the BJP would also be known only after the polls.
Voting for this crucial phase, covering 40 assembly segments across seven districts -- Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua in the Jammu region and Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in north Kashmir -- is scheduled for October 1.
As suspense over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir continued, Peoples Democratic Party on Monday said the idea of a grand alliance with the National Conference and Congress was an option for forming a stable government in the state.
Congress President and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday questioned Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the Union Budget and claimed that the plates of all states except Bihar and Andhra Pradesh were empty in the budget allocation.
Rediff.com's Reuben NV captures the contrast in moods from the party headquarters in the national capital.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday started probe against 24 companies and public officials in connection with alleged irregularities in coal block allocations between 1993 and 2004, including during the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance regime.
The Indian National Lok Dal on Sunday rejoined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and announced that it will contest the coming Lok Sabha elections in Haryana in alliance with the BJP.
The first meeting of the reconstituted Congress Working Committee under Mallikarjun Kharge's presidency will be held in Hyderabad on Saturday during which the party's top brass will deliberate on evolving a strategy for upcoming assembly polls in five states and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
However, a majority in the Council of States will continue to elude the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
The assembly secretariat released the business agenda of the House for Monday, when the budget session will commence, with a customary address by the Governor to members of the bicameral legislature.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a high-level meeting on Tuesday to review the situation in Jammu and Kashmir which is witnessing violent clashes between security forces and protesters in the aftermath of killing of Hizbul Mujahideen's poster boy Burhan Wani.
In the coming assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters.
Former chief minister Lal Thanhawla beat his nearest rival, United Democratic Alliance nominee J Lalchhuana by a margin of 96 votes in South Tuipui and UDA candidate C Lalramzauva, an advocate, by 736 votes in Serchhip.
Campaigning for May 13 elections in 96 Lok Sabha constituencies across 10 states and Union territories including all seats in Andhra Pradesh, where assembly elections are also being held concurrently, and Telangana concluded on Saturday evening.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he wants the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance to win 400 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls to ensure the Congress does not bring back Article 370 in Kashmir and put a 'Babri lock' on the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Former National Security Adviser Brajesha Mishra in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government has said both the BJP and Congress were indulging in "petty" electoral politics on terror attacks.
The road to Raisina Hills appears to be smooth for United Progressive Alliance Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee with the veteran Congress leader assured of support from parties, which have a vote value of at least 6.29 lakh, much above the requisite figure.
The way things are going, India may have a no-limits free-for-all political contest rather than a three-horse race. Parties are approaching one another across the dividing lines of alliances, breaching conventional rules of the political game.
Reacting sharply to reports that the Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to name late Pramod Mahajan in the spectrum scam, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday said this shows how the Congress has taken the 'misuse' of official agencies to the 'lowest ebb for its political vendetta'.
Justice Khanna said all the intervention applications filed on the issue will also be taken on April 16 when the final hearing will take place.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced the formation of a seven-party rainbow alliance for the April 24 Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu, in its first-ever such electoral venture in the state where the turf has been largely dominated by Dravida Munetra Kazhagam and All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam.
Karra, who became the J&K Congress chief last Friday replacing Vikar Rasool Wani, said a call is already there for all secular parties who are opposed to the "hegemonic attitude" of the BJP to unite.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal-United rift widening in Bihar, the Congress on Monday virtually ruled out a tie-up with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar if the alliance breaks, saying his "communal face" had been exposed.
While the opposition alliance is putting up a united front in Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand's Dumri, Dhanpur and Boxanagar in Tripura and Uttarakhand's Bageshwar, its constituents are contesting against each other in Dhupguri in West Bengal and Puthuppally in Kerala.
The Communist party of India-Marxist on Thursday demanded a judicial inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the 1995 Purulia arms drop, saying both the Congress and the Bharatiya janata party have a lot to explain in the matter and said Trinamool Congress was a member of the Union Cabinet when Peter Bleach was released on Presidential pardon.
