The Karnataka legislative assembly on Wednesday witnessed chaotic and unruly scenes as angry Bharatiya Jansata Party legislators tore copies of bills and the agenda, and threw them at the deputy speaker, who was presiding, following which Speaker U T Khader suspended 10 of them for the remainder of the session.
Former Bihar chief minister and BJP ally Jitan Ram Manjhi alleged on Wednesday that five MPs, including a Union minister, have been elected to Lok Sabha from seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes on the basis of "forged" certificates and sought an inquiry.
The Mayawati-led BSP will fight 20 of the 117 assembly seats in Punjab, while the rest will be contested by the SAD.
Gujarat legislator Jignesh Mevani on Monday alleged that his arrest by the Assam police is a pre-planned conspiracy "designed" by the Prime Minister's Office to destroy him ahead of assembly elections in the state and termed it an act of "56-inch cowardice".
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh met more than 20 party leaders, including ministers, MLAs and MPs at his farmhouse in Mohali's Siswan, sources said. Sidhu, who may be declared the state party chief, met four ministers and at least six MLAs at the residence of Jails Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa in Chandigarh, they said.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was defeated by Aam Aadmi Party's first-timer and an eye surgeon from Bhadaur and Chamkaur Sahib seats, respectively.
Fifteen ministers took the oath in Rajasthan on Sunday in a cabinet expansion that included 12 new faces, fulfilling a key demand of former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot whose rebellion last year shook the state's Congress government.
Kharge or somebody else, whoever becomes the chief, he will only be a face to show, Sushil Modi said.
Meanwhile, an independent MLA in Gujarat has declared his support to the BJP.
"You are safe aren't you? I hope you have not faced any danger," shot back Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday when asked about the law and order situation in the state in the backdrop of the Badaun gang rape and murder case and the Azamgarh gang-rape incident.
The new cabinet, predictably, has a sizeable number of Yadavs and Muslims, though members of other sections of the society also find a place.
Despite Sharad Pawar's categorical stand, the Maharashtra government has done nothing to ease the suffering of the Bhima Koregaon 16, who have been denied their basic rights to health and to communication with their families while in jail.
Congress leader Sukhjinder Randhawa and Brahm Mohindra will be two deputies to Punjab's Chief Minister-designate Charanjit Singh Channi, said party leader Pawan Kumar Bansal.
Mallikarjun Kharge has the stature, maturity and gravitas to lead a national party like the Congress with its rich history of struggle and myriad achievements, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
Formidable challenges including funds for the farm loan-waiver, and law and order stare him at his face, with the opposition claiming the misses have outnumbered the hits.
'The distrust of traditional political parties in Punjab is an advantage for AAP.'
'BJP and Modi are confident they will win the 2024 election.'
Ashok Chowdhury, a Dalit politics expert said, "BJP had impressed the Dalits in the 2014, 2017 and 2019 elections, but it's difficiult to retain them now".
The coming elections seem a tough battleground for the BJP in the wake of anti-incumbency, Patidar and Dalit agitations and implementation of the GST.
Reacting to Yadav's dig at her on Wednesday, Mayawati said she has never aspired to become the President and the Samajwadi Party leader was dreaming about it to clear his path to become the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
In a letter to Gandhi, Amarinder Singh is learnt to have mentioned that there could be an adverse impact on the party's prospects in the upcoming and crucial 2022 assembly polls by ignoring the old guard and other senior party leaders representing Hindu and Dalit communities, sources said.
'I was feeling so suffocated under Yogiji's rule.'
Modi had said he receives "2.5-3 kg" of abuses everyday, but he turns the harsh remarks into positive energy.
He also rejected allegations of being a vote cutter and cleared the air about his fallout with the Akhilesh Yadav-led party.
Speculations were rife over the post with senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh, who was in the state to oversee the party's post-election activities, and chief minister Nitish Kumar keeping off from the issue when asked by the press.
The case was earlier registered at Chandpa Police Station, in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, on a complaint by the victim's brother.
Sadananda Gowda resigned as the chief minister of Karnataka on Wednesday and Jagadish Shettar met Governor H R Bhardwaj at Raj Bhavan to stake his claim to form the new government. Shettar will be sworn in as the new Karnataka CM on Thursday. However, the crisis is not yet over for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.
The CMP could not be implemented properly in the last two years due to the coronavirus pandemic, said state Congress chief Nana Patole in the letter.
But she added that her government will be open to erecting memorials to honour leaders from 'other communities' and keep their religious sentiments in mind.
'That would be very bad for them and suicidal for both the Gandhis and the Congress party.'
Mishra's assertion came amid a growing perception that the BSP could again join hands with the saffron party if the 2022 assembly elections throw a hung House.
Gujarat BJP in-charge Dinesh Sharma and national joint general secretary (organisation) V Satish, are scheduled to arrive in Ahmedabad to hold talks with local leaders
Rupani on Sunday met Governor O P Kohli and staked claim to form the government, a day after he was elected by BJP legislators to succeed Anandiben Patel.
In winning a seventh term, the BJP also matched the Left Front's feat in West Bengal.
'There were literally thousands of houses with cracks.' '40 percent of the town has been affected.'
When elected on July 18 -- which is almost a certainty, given the NDA's numbers in the electoral college -- Droupadi Murmu will be the first President born after Independence.
In a day of frantic developments, Digvijaya Singh entered the fray for the Congress president's election as Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot opted out of the race and the suspense over his continuation at the helm in the state deepened with the party saying it would be decided in a day or two.
A joint delegation of the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Communist Party of India on Tuesday met the family members of the Dalit woman who was allegedly gangraped and killed in Hathras, and demanded an independent judicial enquiry into the matter.
From the voter-level, traditionally anti-BJP, anti-Hindutva minorities and other secular voters would have an option, especially in the face of the mounting anti-incumbency against the ruling party -- as it happened in the 2001 assembly polls, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Hoping that the new state of Telangana will come into being by January, over a dozen Congress leaders from the region are said to be lobbying hard with the party high command for the chief minister's post.
