In what could stoke fresh controversy in the Bharatiya Janata Party after the row over L K Advani's ticket, the party today replaced his loyalist and sitting MP Harin Pathak with actor Paresh Rawal from Ahmedabad East Lok Sabha seat.
Ahead of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the government on Monday approved the issuance of the 23rd tranche of electoral bonds that will open for sale on November 9.
Shah's meeting with the two leaders came days after they were not given poll tickets.
With Rahul showing a significant lead over Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi in opinion polls across southern India but lagging in the north, the Congress believes his contesting from the south will help galvanise cadres.
The Gujarat unit of the Aam Aadmi Party launched a "broom march" as part of its campaign for the Lok Sabha elections and to expose corruption of the state government.
Some have been cherry-picked to assert the BJP's supremacy over its allies or, significantly, its leaders who charted an independent course in the recent past.
'Commentators have said that dealing with allies as equals will make Modi more sensitive.' 'Remember that the people Modi is dealing with are equally autocratic in their own lairs.' 'Further, Modi always has handy the threat of dissolving Parliament and calling for fresh polls.' 'Most of his own party, and certainly his allies and opponents having blown their budgets of efforts and resources in the just concluded elections, have no stomach for this.' 'They are all greatly looking forward to the loaves and fishes of office on offer.' 'That gives Modi an unbeatable advantage in any push-comes-to-shove situation,' explains Shreekant Sambrani.
Gujarat Congress on Friday filed a complaint with returning officer of Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, alleging that senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and the party's candidate L K Advani submitted false information regarding his education in the election affidavits.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's brother-in-law and Bihar Congress leader Anirudh Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav today met Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at his Gandhinagar office.
Days after ending the row over his parliamentary seat that brought to fore strains in his relations with Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L K Advani on Monday kicked off the campaign for Lok Sabha polls, saying the party's PM nominee would revive the process of development started by Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Patel said when the Congress decided to postpone its rally, earlier scheduled for February 28, following the terror attack in Pulwama last month, the PM was busy addressing gatherings across the country.
The party's CM choice came as a surprise for many as the low-profile, first-time legislator was not seen to be among the top contenders for the post.
The Gujarat Congress has recommended the names of two leaders for the high-profile Gandhinagar seat to take on Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate and sitting Member of Parliament L K Advani in the coming Lok Sabha polls.
Complaints of electronic voting machine malfunctioning poured in from several booths on Tuesday during the third and largest phase of Lok Sabha polls which saw voters turning out in large numbers to cast their vote in 116 seats, including all constituencies of Gujarat and Kerala.
Surveys suggest that the AAP would win 40 seats in the 182-member assembly if elections are held tomorrow.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha poll verdict on May 16, former Nationalist Congress Party leader P A Sangma on Monday met Narendra Modi and declared support of the North East Regional Political Front led by him to the Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial nominee.
For the Stalin government to win back the confidence of voters ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, post-flooding restoration works, their speed and efficacy would be closely watched, and not just by the political Opposition, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
In 2014 too, the Congress had lost all the 26 seats in Gujarat.
Priyanka Gandhi on Thursday broke away from her SPG security cordon and went ahead for campaigning in Tiloi in the district without security cover of the elite protection agency.
In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, where it was introduced for the first time in any parliamentary election, around 60 lakh voters had opted for the NOTA option -- equalling about 1.1 per cent of the total votes polled during those elections across 543 seats.
AAP could make its presence felt. But Gadhvi may have to wait for a chance to get the top job.
His margin was just a shade lower than the 6.96 lakh record set by Pritam Munde in October 2014 when she won the by-election to Beed seat in Maharashtra after the untimely death of her father and former Union minister Gopinath Munde.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday said that they will put up a strong candidate against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP is faced with the crucial question of who will lead the party in the four impending state polls this year: In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding.
Modi's decision to bring Shah in his cabinet signals that he will now play a crucial role in the government.
When a former police constable was appointed Gujarat unit chief, everyone was surprised. Now workers are laying bets on when he will be elevated to the Union Cabinet, notes Aditi Phadnis.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday snubbed senior leader Jaswant Singh by denying him a ticket in the Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan and instead decided to field Col Sonaram Choudhary in Barmer, which Singh was seeking.
Amid growing clamour in the Bharatiya Janata Party to name Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for 2014 Lok Sabha elections, veteran BJP leader L K Advani said on Saturday there was no competition in the party for the top post.
Here's a list of the full first-time ministers in the second term of the Narendra Modi government.
Strange are the ways of Indian politics. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani, who was the most convinced supporter of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and among the first to "bless" his fast, and dependent on him because his Lok Sabha constituency Gandhinagar falls in Gujarat, now seems all set to queer the pitch for the Gujarat chief minister's national ambitions, says Neerja Chowdhury
BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani will be fighting the next general elections from his four-time Lok Sabha seat -- Gandhinagar --, but this time the saffron leader will have to face new people as the geography of the seat has changed due to the recent delimitation process. The Gujarat BJP leaders have started surveying the delimited constituency to ensure that their leader is elected from the seat for the fifth time.
The transformation of the Modi-Shah baiting Hardik Patel into saffron poster boy.
Taking strong objection to Gandhi's remarks, Swaraj tweeted: "Rahulji - Advani ji is our father figure. Your words have hurt us deeply. Please try to maintain some decorum of your speech."
There is also a buzz about Shah joining the government. About 60 ministers may take oath.
The message for 2024 is that the man on the street is not going to be euphoric if the G-20 crowns Modi as king-emperor for 2023, or if India sends its first man to space just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Even a 'temple consecration' in Ayodhya, or a Uniform Civil Code, or both of them together, may not have enough electoral purchase if fuel and commodity prices are not rolled back, and money-in-the-pocket does not fatten, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Modi knows how to turn Gujarati pride into an emotive issue at election time and a Gujarati President would have its own electoral resonance and significance, note Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
Less than half the ministers in Team Yogi are not long-term BJP members. Many old-timers have been dropped.
Priyanka said the Modi government did not fulfil its promises of providing jobs to crores of people in the country.
As per norms, a minister who is not a member of Parliament has to be elected to either House within six months of his or her swearing in.
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