Chinese leaders, including its generals, will have to weigh whether they can win a war if they ever attack Taiwan and if at all, can they sustain the subsequent devastation, notes Rup Narayan Das.
Pinky Mali was an attendant on the Learjet 46, operated by Delhi-based VSR Ventures, that crash-landed at the Baramati airport
"The decision has been taken. The ropes of retreat have been cut," Mushrif said
The Congress, in such an eventuality, is ready to accommodate smaller allies like the RPI to forge a formidable secular alliance that could easily shake off the Shiv Sena-BJP challenge in the civic polls.
The Nationalist Congress Party has claimed all the 28 Congress corporators in Malegaon city in Maharashtra's Nashik district, including the mayor, crossed over to the party on Thursday.
The speculation about the likely cabinet reshuffle in Maharashtra strengthened on Saturday, with senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule stressing that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' discretion is supreme among allies.
He further said that he believes Ajit Pawar will play a key role as a "kingmaker" after the elections.
Sharad Pawar claimed that two individuals had met him in New Delhi before the 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls and 'guaranteed' the Opposition's victory in 160 of 288 constituencies.
The Congress on Wednesday began the consultation process with its allies on the issue of next President with party chief Sonia Gandhi holding deliberations with Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar on the issue.
Asked whether the AAP was more eager for an alliance with the Congress, he said the Bharatiya Janata Party would benefit in a three-cornered contest.
The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for January 21 on pleas challenging the Election Commission's decision to allot the 'bow and arrow' symbol to the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena. The court will also hear arguments on a similar dispute concerning the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on January 22.
The next meeting of opposition parties will be held in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18, the Congress announced on Monday, and asserted their resolve to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party has been strengthened by the 'Mumbai operations' of the 'BJP washing machine'.
Ruling out any differences between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday said Sharad Pawar is the biggest "supporter and well-wisher" of the United Progressive Alliance government. "There are no differences with Sharad Pawar. He is the biggest supporter and well-wisher of the UPA," Azad told reporters.
Pawar was amenable to increasing the height of the boundary walls of his house in Delhi as part of the enhanced security measures.
'I not only came back, but returned after breaking two parties'
Scores of Nationalist Congress Party workers refused to leave the venue, where Pawar earlier in the day announced his decision during the launch of his revised autobiography.
Now, the state has an unprecedented situation where there are six major political players with three on each side.
'I don't know if she is doing it willingly or not, but she is respecting the sentiments of the party.'
The high-level committee on 'one nation, one election' approached 62 parties out which 47 responded -- 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis expressed gratitude to Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray for their positive remarks in a coffee table book released on his birthday, emphasizing that they are ideological opponents, not enemies.
The Congress on Monday suffered a setback losing two out of three seats it had contested in the biennial elections to Maharashtra Legislative Council, which it fought in alliance with the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party.
He may have buried the hatchet with Sonia Gandhi, but P A Sangma says there is no question of either his joining the Congress nor the Nationalist Congress Party merging with it. The former Lok Sabha Speaker, who met Congress president Gandhi and patched up with her ten years after raking up the issue of her foreign origin, on Saturday said that "the question of my joining the Congress does not arise at all".
"The statement of Sangma, criticising the UPA government's decision to impose President's rule in Nagaland, is self-incriminatory," said All India Congress Committee spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi. "He forgets that his party is also a partner in the government," he said.
After four rounds of negotiations, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party have agreed to contest from 40-41 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra while a decision on the remaining eight seats will be taken soon. The two parties agreed on seat-sharing for 41 of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra. Sources in the Congress-NCP alliance said the two parties have agreed to contest 19 seats each out of the 40-41 seats.
Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray visited MNS president Raj Thackeray on Ganesh Chaturthi, further fueling speculation of a potential alliance between the two parties ahead of local body elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday took potshots at the ruling Congress party over reports of Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar offering to resign for not being given the number two position in the government, saying it is an old habit of the UPA to impose pressure on its allies and insult them.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has opted not to grant tickets to eight MLAs, followed by Congress which replaced five MLAs.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Thursday said all the party rebels contesting against the official candidates of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have been suspended for six years.
What began as a car accident in Pune has now spiralled into a full-blown political controversy, drawing in senior state leaders and sparking a debate over political interference, selective targeting, and law enforcement priorities in Maharashtra.
Warning that both the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party would be losers in the Maharashtra assembly elections without a poll pact, the Sharad Pawar-led party on Thursday warned that 'time was running out fast', with clouds of uncertainty hovering over the 10-year-old alliance.Though favouring an alliance, the NCP said it was prepared to contest all 288 assembly seats on its own.
The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party will be forging an alliance for the forthcoming state legislative assembly elections in Goa, a senior NCP leader said on Wednesday. "The alliance will happen. The Congress and the NCP are both keen to have an alliance for Goa elections," NCP Goa Observer Bharati Chawan said. She also rubbished all the doubts raised in this regard by a few local leaders. Congress leaders had said that the party can go alone in the state.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar president Sharad Pawar's remarks on Monday virtually declaring new entrant Harshavardhan Patil's candidature for the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra has irked a section of party leaders that was eyeing ticket from the Indapur seat.
The Maharashtra chief minister is here to stay for the time being, that's the message to party members. The Congress is in no hurry to replace him or rush into campaign mode, says N Suresh.
The Congress is keeping the Nationalist Congress Party guessing on their pre-poll alliance in Maharashtra, with no decision taken over it even on Monday, during a meeting of senior party leaders chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi. "No decision on the alliance with NCP has been taken," said Mumbai Congress president Kripashankar Singh, who attended the crucial meeting. Currently, there are both pro- and anti-alliance views within the party.
Amid talks of cross-voting, three of the 37 Congress MLAs in Maharashtra skipped a meeting called by the party ahead of the legislative council polls on Friday.
Data from the State Election Commission reveals that over 11 lakh voters in Mumbai have duplicate enrolments in the electoral roll. The SEC has extended the deadline for submitting objections, and opposition leaders have alleged irregularities in the voter list revision.
Ministers arrested post-2014 who, if the 130 Constitutional Amendment had been in effect, would have been unseated from office.
Days before the first vote for the Lok Sabha polls is cast, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the rival Nationalist Congress Party factions led by party founder Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to abide by its directions on the use of symbols, party names and disclaimers in publicity material for the elections.
The Sena-BJP combine was tipped to capture three other cities while Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party may bag four towns.
