Days after his minister brother triggered a controversy by demanding a ban on wearing bikinis on Goa's beaches, Cooperation Minister Dipak Dhavalikar on Thursday appeared to have waded into another, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi will develop India into a Hindu nation.
BJP leader from Haryana and actor Sonali Phogat died of a heart attack in Goa, police said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the lawyer of Irani's daughter, said his client is neither an owner nor operating the restaurant called Silly Souls Goa.
The Delhi BJP, however, rubbished the allegation and challenged AAP to name the MLAs and the people who contacted them with the offer.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday appointed election in-charges and co-in-charges for 23 states and Union territories in view of the Lok Sabha polls this year.
A senior state BJP leader had said earlier in the day that Sawant would induct BJP MLA and Deputy Speaker of Goa Assembly Michael Lobo, and three of the ten MLAs who have switched over from the Congress.
The Enforcement Directorate questioned Delhi minister Kailash Gahlot for about five hours on Saturday and recorded his statement in connection with a money-laundering investigation linked to the Aam Aadmi Party government's now-scrapped excise policy, officials said.
AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will visit Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh next month to launch his party's foray into these states that are slated to go to polls later this year.
The government is functioning 'very well' and all the alliance partners are firmly supporting Parrikar, who is undergoing treatment at Delhi's AIIMS, the BJP leader asserted.
'The BJP has proved that it is a threat to all its allies'
Nath's comment came amid the exodus from Congress and four days after eight MLAs of the Grand Old Party from Goa switched allegiance to BJP.
An official video showed the prime minister being welcomed at the church and him greeting priests and worshippers on the holy day.
A month after Sudin Dhavalikar, PWD minister in the Manohar Parrikar-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Goa, asked for a ban on bikinis on beaches, his party member Lavoo Mamledar said that if tourism had to be promoted and is necessary, then there could be a bikini beach with entry fees.
'BJP central observers have come to Goa and are scheming to merge smaller parties within their party to run the government.'
If pandemic (mis)management threatened to dominate Goa's electoral discourse, the BJP is up against a deeper structural issue in its organisation, created by the fact that a majority of the legislature party and the ministerial council is made up of Congress defectors, disparagingly referred to by the Opposition as "imports". Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
In the last two-and-a half years, the Congress has lost 13 of its MLAs to the BJP which now enjoys an overwhelming majority in the assembly.
Should the anti-defection law in India exist only to prevent democratically elected governments from being toppled?
With this, the Congress's strength in the 40-member assembly reduced to 14 from 16.
Campaigning came to an end on Saturday for the single-day election in Uttarakhand and Goa, two states known for political volatility where the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting to retain power, and for the second phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on February 14.
The names of two veterans -- Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Speaker of Legislative Assembly Rajendra Arlekar -- are being considered for the top post in case Parrikar moves to Delhi.
The culling of key state leaders and bureaucrats has given rise to distrust and uneasiness in Pramod Sawant's style of functioning, notes Aditi Phadnis.
In a shift from Goa government's earlier stand, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said he would not allow the controversial right wing outfit Sri Ram Sene to work in the state.
Non-BJP chief ministers holding the home portfolios are Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Naveen Patnaik (Odisha) and MK Stalin (Tamil Nadu).
Manohar Parrikar, who is tipped to get the defence portfolio, said he would resign as the Goa chief minister on Saturday, paving the way for his induction in the Union cabinet.
The group, led by Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, met Assembly Speaker Rajesh Patnekar in the evening and gave him a letter, informing him about their breaking away from the party.
People lined up in large numbers on both sides of the road to greet Modi.
Rane did not rule out the possibility of joining the BJP, saying 'all options are open'.
Sawant on Tuesday said his government had sought a floor test on Wednesday to prove its strength in the assembly.
Priyanka Gandhi addressed 209 rallies and roadshows, the maximum by any top leader during the UP election campaign, followed closely by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who spoke at 203 poll events.
Counting for assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur was held on Thursday. Here's how the big names fared.
Results of the assembly polls held in five states -- UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa, Punjab.
Goa's poll panel chief has already taken cognisance of similar remarks allegedly made by the Delhi CM.
A handsome victory for the BJP in UP would act as confirmation of its recent political choices. The UP chief minister would be cemented in the popular mind as Mr Modi's chosen heir within the Hindutva fold, and presumably as his successor in New Delhi, observes Mihir S Sharma.
Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury while making these points however, spoke out against any need for change in the top leadership of the party, stating that both Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi have been 'trying wholeheartedly'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met the top priests of various churches in Kerala, giving a push to the Bharatiya Janata Party's efforts to reach out to the influential minority community in the southern state ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, sources said.
The Goa unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced that it will observe the birthday of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in a simple manner in Panaji on Sunday.
Congress candidate Francisco Sardinha on Saturday won the Mormugao Lok Sabha seat by a margin of over 40,000 votes.
'The Kerala BJP leadership is doing the job of clerical staff. What the boss orders, they just follow them.'
Utpal Parrikar, son of former Goa chief minister the late Manohar Parrikar, on Friday quit the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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