'Leave alone top gear, we are in the neutral and when we are applying gears, we are applying reverse'
"The country and Maharashtra will benefit out of Pawar's vast experience and hence, it is extremely necessary for Pawar to consider joining the NDA. I invite him to join the NDA," the Union social justice minister said.
Buoyed by the exit polls projections, the party has sent its senior leaders including general secretary Randeep Surjewala and Avinash Pande, chairman of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee screening committee, to Patna for proper coordination with the allies and possibly also to keep its flock together after the results are declared.
Ahead of the crucial legislature party meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis met with caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday, the first in-person meeting since their discussions in Delhi last week for government formation.
Chhatrapati Yadav, the MLA from Khagaria Sadar, has shot off a letter to Congress high command, demanding that he be considered, by virtue of his caste, for a berth in the new cabinet headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
The marathon meeting, spread over two sessions and kept under wraps, came a day after top leaders of socialist-leaning parties attended SP's silver jubilee meet here -- a move seen as an attempt by Mulayam to forge an alliance ahead of the assembly polls hardly a few months away.
The ruling party is worried as the alliance represents over 50 per cent of the state's population, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
The Congress chief added that the governments of Delhi and Bihar are 'captive governments' -- demonetisation, lockout, trade-off, economic bandit, farm-barn captive, bread-employment detention.
Even as parleys continue in both states, the grand old party is expected to contest less than 110 seats in the November 20 polls for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly.
With no clarity yet on seat sharing with old ally Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Thursday told the alliance partner to find a quick resolution to the impasse while making it clear that there will be no compromise at the cost of self-respect.
Soren spent more than an hour with Prasad at RIMS Director's bungalow, where the RJD leader is staying. Coming out of the RIMS, Soren told reporters, 'we will fight Bihar elections together'.
Meanwhile, the Congress' data analytics department chairperson Praveen Chakravarty on Tuesday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, seeking assembly-wise voter rolls in excel sheet format for the Lok Sabha elections and the assembly polls in Maharashtra.
'Shatrughan Sinha's name is in the Congress's probable candidates list.'
Bihar's ruling JD-U and Lalu Prasad's RJD on Sunday decided to contest the state assembly elections in alliance and constitute a six member committee to finalize seat-sharing.
Rediff Labs analysed the 2016 assembly election results to develop a Sentiment Meter for the 2021 battle in Assam.
Congress leaders were seen giving media bytes at various places at the headquarters, arguing that the trends would change by 1 PM but it did not happen.
Police have launched a probe into the killing of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique from different angles, including a possible contract killing, business rivalry or threat over a slum rehabilitation project, officials said on Sunday.
Mohan was released from the Saharsa jail on April 27 following an amendment in Bihar's prison rules.
Besides Hooda, Bhan and Phogat, the Congress has fielded Mewa Singh from Ladwa to take on Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.
The RJD is yet to complete its seat-sharing talks with smaller allies and the Left parties.
Lalu claimed that the BJP wants to disturb communal harmony in society to hide the real issues that people are facing.
As far as the party is concerned, it has already taken its decision. The decision was not mine alone and it was taken with the consent of the party. If he keeps a different opinion, then he is free to do so," Nitish told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Nitish Kumar, once seen as a potential rival to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, broke ranks with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance coalition on Tuesday to stake claim as head of the rival 'Mahagathbandhan' (Grand Alliance) to be the chief minister of Bihar for the eighth time.
Hours before the ceremony, Saini visited the Valmiki Bhawan and offered prayers at a gurdwara and the Mansa Devi temple in Panchkula.
'CM Banerjee passes a resolution in the Parliament against BJP, but then praises PM Modi'
Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant Chautala on Thursday said his party is ready to support the Congress in the Rajya Sabha election and ruled out any alliance with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Haryana before or after the next assembly polls.
Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his 3 Idiots barb against the grand alliance, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said Modi is making such remarks as he is sensing "defeat" in Bihar polls.
The Congress will get three ministerial berths in the new Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, a senior party leader said.
The Opposition grand alliance is proving to be a non-starter, with senior RJD leaders reluctant to be ordered about by an immature and entitled Tejashswi, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The Bihar unit of Samajwadi Party, which had protested over denial of seats in the grand alliance for Bihar Assembly polls, claimed to have fruitful talks with the alliance partners Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over seat sharing.
Navigating a history of animosity and mistrust, negotiations for a potential Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance in West Bengal face significant challenges while addressing the shared adversary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, with the Bengal Congress unit appearing reluctant to engage in an electoral pact.
Party sources said Kumar drove to Gandhi's Tughlaq Lane residence and discussed about graft charges against Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasdad's son, Tejashwi Yadav.
"'So ja bete nahi to Gabbar Singh aa jayega'. Mothers, who have seen the jungle raj days in Bihar, please do tell your children, especially youth, on the polling day to cast their votes carefully, otherwise they (the RJD) may return to power... those who ran a regime of terror and fear," he told a press conference.
Political observers lauded the SP's choices in fielding several non-Yadav and Scheduled Caste candidates, the party's alliance with the Congress, and Rahul Gandhi's campaign around the danger to the Constitution if the BJP won a big majority.
'The NDA has provided me a healing touch to survive'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday mocked Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for "handing over the remote control" of the party to the Congress as he took poll battle to Mumbai with less than a week left for voting in Maharashtra.
With the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and allies far ahead in all the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state and 1 in neighbouring Puducherry, it appears the outcome, for the Stalin-led Dravidian party will be similar to the success of the popular flick Baahubali.
Suspended Congress leader Nilesh Kumbhani, whose nomination form was rejected over discrepancies leading to Bharatiya Janata Party winning the Surat Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat unopposed, resurfaced on Saturday after 20 days and alleged it was the grand old party that had betrayed him first in 2017.
"The BJP has four Bs -- 'Badhta Bharat' and 'Banta Bharat'. Those who are forming an alliance have four Bs -- 'bua' (aunt), 'bhatija' (nephew), 'bhai' (brother) and 'behen' (sister)," Shah said, accusing the opposition parties of dynastic politics.
Despite the upbeat statement, the party is expected to reflect on what caused the sharp fall in its numbers. It is expected to win about 240 seats against the 303 it had won in 2019.
