A day after the Congress brainstormed over its electoral reverses, senior leader M Veerappa Moily on Monday said Sonia Gandhi should take "full control" of the party with a free hand to change non-performing leaders, and asserted that a "mere culture of tweets and social media propaganda" would not take the organisation forward.
Reacting sharply to Banerjee's fulminations, the Congress struck back pointing out that Prime Minster Narendra Modi's and her stand were similar, with one seeking a 'Congress 'Mukt' (Free) India' and the other, an 'Opposition coalition sans Congress'.
Sarma, after being elected unanimously as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance legislature party, said in his address that he was grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda, Sonowal and all other party leaders for giving him an opportunity to serve the people of the state, and pledged to carry out his duties with "dedication and honesty".
Elections 2024 is not as open and shut as has been presumed. There is some life left in it, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
"You don't change party leadership for losses in one or two elections. The leadership is ideology. They make teams. Our team failed there (in UP)," he said.
Counting of votes for the high stakes assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry began on Thursday morning with trends expected to be available by 11am.
The chief minister will arrive in Agra on Friday night and visit the calamity-hit areas on Saturday morning, Principal Secretary Information Avanish Awasthi said.
Jamat-e-Islami Hind on Friday backed the fatwa issued by the Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband against chanting of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai"
The Uddhav Thackeray-led regime is performing a veritable balancing act. The lack of coordinated strategies, the weakening authority of the leadership, growing disgruntlement among its constituents, the inability to set a narrative, and poor damage control mechanisms have seen it lurch from one crisis to another, reports Dhaval Kulkarni
Sidhu was in Patiala to take part in a protest against inflation when the Supreme Court verdict came in.
The prime minister may go for new faces with an eye on grooming younger leaders while also factoring in caste and regional balances
The plea said there should be a total ban on such populist measures to gain undue political favour from voters as they violate the Constitution and the ECI should take suitable deterrent measures.
Without doubt, the BJP is miles ahead in marshalling digital tools for electioneering better than any other party, observes Virendra Kapoor.
For the first time, the Election Commission will provide 'None Of The Above' option button in EVMs for the 11 crore voters who will exercise their franchise in the five states going to polls beginning next month.
Shah said Modi's 'pro-poor policies' led the BJP to victory in UP.
The economist was also critical of demonetisation and the way Good and Services Tax was implemented.
Referring to party's win in Assam and rise in its vote share in Kerala and West Bengal, and 'unequivocal rejection' of the Congress by voters in the recent assembly polls in five states, it said the National Executive notes with 'pleasure' that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for 'Congress-mukt Bharat' has today become a 'people's mission'.
'Even if the government does not implement an all-India NRC before 2024, it will be part of the party's long-term project.'
To clear doubts over EVMs, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi will soon call all-party meet.
The session will begin with President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha assembled together in the Central Hall and chambers of both the Houses in view of the COVID-19 situation.
Over the past week, Rahul Gandhi has replaced office-bearers in charge of party units in Gujarat and Karnataka and Goa, and brought in young leaders as secretaries. These changes are unlikely to be a one-time exercise and poll-bound states would get the primary attention.
However, the party remained evasive about the part she could play in the party in future.
According to him, the temple issue did 'more harm than good' to the BJP as the matter was being used by the opposition 'to terrorise minorities and polarise votes'.
The Congress on Friday said it was open to post-poll alliances, even though it exuded confidence of emerging victorious in all five states, including Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the Samajwadi Party.
Amarinder Singh on Monday held the Gandhis totally responsible for the rout of the Congress in the assembly polls, claiming that the party was "comfortably placed" in Punjab before he was unseated as chief minister.
The chief minister still has time to repair the damage but he will have to act all-round, both at the government and party levels, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Saturday credited 'Modi wave' for the party's stong showing in the high stakes Uttar Pradesh elections.
Kumar leaves in the midst of assembly polls in five states and ahead of the February 20 election in Punjab.
As per the rules and regulations, members must not do anything that brings disrepute to the Parliament and affects their credibility, and members must utilise their position as Members of Parliament to advance general well-being of the people.
Many in the BJP believe that postponing the UP elections even by a month will allow the negative perception against demonetisation to dissipate.
To review the security and other poll arrangements ahead of Assembly elections in five states, the Election Commission will hold a meeting of chief secretaries, directors general of police and chief electoral officers of poll-bound and neighbouring states in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Congress workers must feel what their BJP counterparts did in 2009, but that could change.
'An old party like the Congress cannot rely solely on the prescriptions of a 'Doctor' whose motives and intentions are still unknown and that he does not look attached towards any party or ideology,' point out Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
As the new year arrives, the Bharatiya Janata Party's finds itself on the cusp of the most consequential cycle of state polls since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as the results will tell if the road ahead in its bid for a third straight term at the Centre is getting any bumpier or a strong opposition challenge remains elusive.
The chief minister visited several villages in Khairagarh tehsil, the worst affected in the dust storm that left a trail of death and destruction, disrupting power lines, uprooting trees and claiming the lives of over 40 people in Agra alone.
According to Yashwant Sinha, a national-level pre-poll alliance of all opposition parties should be formed or a nationwide pre-poll alliance of regional parties should be made to defeat the BJP in the general elections.
The EC directed the state's Chief Electoral Officer to ensure that wide publicity is given in the polling areas. It also directed the official to inform political parties and contesting candidates about the fresh poll.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani appeared to be on the same page as Narendra Modi, a rarity since the acrimony over naming PM candidate, as he endorsed the Gujarat chief minister's view that there that there should be compulsory voting along with the 'none-of-the-above' option.
The Congress will hold a chintan shivir immediately after the Budget session of Parliament and the CWC will meet again before that, he told reporters
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