The Bharat Mata controversy in Kerala shows how political and symbolic fights between the state and the Centre have taken attention away from education, throwing the state's oldest university into confusion and disorder, observes Shyam G Menon.
The Congress had won 77 seats in the 2017 assembly elections. Of these 77 legislators, as many as 20 resigned during the past five years, with three quitting in the last two days alone.
Counting of votes will be held on Thursday for the Gujarat assembly elections which were held in two phases on December 1 and 5 across 33 districts of the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state.
A meeting is being held at the Bharatiya Janata Party's headquarters chaired by the party's national general secretary (organisation) B L Santosh on Sunday over the 2024 Lok Sabha Election.
Gujarat voters, spoilt for choice, are eagerly waiting to see what the BJP will offer them.
The ruling BJP has named Kalpesh Parmar as its candidate for the Matar seat, which was represented by Solanki in 2014 and 2017.
In another jolt to the opposition Congress for the second day in a row ahead of the Gujarat assembly polls, senior MLA Bhagwan Barad on Wednesday resigned as a legislator and primary member and is set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Kejriwal asked whether the BJP-led central government was waiting for the Lok Sabha elections to make a move in this direction.
Shivakumar said, "Mahayuti leaders should visit my state to see how Congress' welfare guarantees are benefiting people."
Gujarat BJP leaders on Friday said if the physician-turned-politician, once a member of the powerful Narendra Modi ministry in the state and rising star in politics, wants to return to active politics, the saffron party will definitely assign work to her.
Incumbent MLA Kandhal Jadeja of Samajwadi Party on Thursday retained the Kutiyana assembly seat
The Congress has proposed AAP should contest five seats while the Samajwadi Party and Left parties could contest one seat each.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel tendered his resignation along with his entire cabinet on Friday to pave the way for formation of a new government in the state after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) landslide victory in the assembly elections.
The seven candidates are contesting from the seats that will go to polls in the first phase of the elections scheduled to be held on December 1.
The Gujarat high court has issued summons to the Bharatiya Janata Party MP from the Surat Lok Sabha constituency, Mukesh Dalal, over two petitions challenging his uncontested victory.
While the BJP faces rebellion in some pockets and an undercurrent of anger palpable among the dominant OBC Chaudhary community due to the arrest of dairy cooperative leader and former home minister Vipul Chahduary, local caste dynamics and selection of candidates are likely to play a major role in the final outcome, political analysts said.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Thursday headed for a second straight win from the urban constituency of Ghatlodia, where he had taken a comfortable lead of almost 20,000 votes over his nearest rival after five rounds of vote counting.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at the residence of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in Raipur and Bhilai on Wednesday. The agency also searched the residences of a senior police officer and a close associate of the former chief minister. The CBI is tight-lipped about the matter in which the searches are taking place. Further details are awaited. Recently, the Enforcement Directorate had conducted searches at Baghel's residence in connection with an alleged liquor scam case.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel resolved issues of merger of other princely states, but 'one person' could not resolve the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, in a veiled attack on India's first PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
Former Gujarat chief minister Suresh Mehta quit the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday after several decades of association with the party.
A court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of jailed Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Legislative Assembly Jetha Bharwad, who had been charged with attempt to murder in a case related to firing during the last month's assembly elections.
Names of Rajya Sabha MPs Harbhajan Singh and Swati Maliwal are missing from the list.
Jaynarayan Vyas was defeated in the subsequent assembly elections in 2012 and 2017.
But, the opposition Congress and some social activists hailed Twitter's decision to remove the cartoon, and claimed the BJP was trying to gain political mileage out of the court's judgment.
The rebel group was represented by former chief minister Suresh Mehta, Member of Parliament Vallabh Kathiria and suspended legislator Gordhan Zadafia, sources in the rebel group said. From the Congress, three senior leaders, Vyalar Ravi, Prithviraj Chauhan and B K Hariprasad were present in the meeting, sources further said.
'The BJP will not win a single seat in Punjab.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday fielded its president J P Nadda for Rajya Sabha polls from Gujarat and former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan from his home state.
Celebrations had already begun at BJP headquarters before the full announcement of results.
Of the 788 candidates contesting 89 seats in the first phase of Gujarat Assembly polls, 211 are 'crorepatis', with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party accounting for 79 such nominees, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said in a report on Thursday.
The resolution, moved by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, was passed unanimously as besides the BJP MLAs, members of the Opposition Congress as well as the Aam Aadmi Party extended their support to it.
Some BJP workers in the area have expressed unhappiness over her candidature.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday attributed the party's "historic" victory in Gujarat assembly polls to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's credibility and people's trust in his leadership.
MNS leader Raj Thackeray has sparked speculation about a potential political rapprochement with his estranged cousin and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, suggesting their past differences are "trivial" and uniting for the greater good of "Marathi manoos" is not a difficult task. The comments come amid a political landscape in Maharashtra where the Shiv Sena (UBT) is facing a tough battle to retain its stronghold in Mumbai in upcoming civic polls, with competition from the Shinde-led Sena and BJP.
These are the 25 seats to watch out for as Gujarat goes to the polls over two phases on December 1 and 5.
'If he loses Gujarat, then he has a major, major, problem coming up in 2024.'
'It showed me that this man had courage. He makes his own decisions, but he also trusted me enough in that moment to walk with me into the crowd,' Modi tells Lex Fridman on his podcast.
In total, 17 people, including Telangana Chief Minister and Congress leader Revanth Reddy, have been issued notices to appear before the Delhi police's investigation officer (in connection with the case. Sources, however, said Reddy is "unlikely" to join the probe and may send his representative.
'Can we force somebody to contest and fight an election when they don't want to contest an election?'
There is no use of the BJP targeting the likes of Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin, directly by the party's political bosses, both in Delhi and the respective state capitals, or even using the Raj Bhavans to fire those salvos from. Successive elections have proved that it's counter-productive, if anything. But the BJP is yet to understand it, acknowledge it, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Of these 14, all but three won the election on Thursday.
