Two days after resigning from the Gujarat legislative assembly as a Congress legislator, Patidar community leader Harshad Ribadiya on Thursday joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Gandhinagar.
In the first such initiative, the Bharatiya Janata Party has invited the ruling and Opposition parties from around the world to witness the Lok Sabha elections in India first-hand.
Political parties have fielded sons, wives and daughters-in-law of legislators who quit after being elected to the Lok Sabha.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asserted that Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will not be restored even if Congress stalwart and late PM Indira Gandhi comes down from heaven.
In an embarrassment for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat ahead of the assembly elections, a candidate allegedly said liquor can be sold openly, leading to the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against him for indulging in "corrupt practices".
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.
A source in the know said realistically two-three of the seven bullet train corridors could be included as a practical election promise.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers in the first list of 195 candidates.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday named 14 candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls including former Union minister R P N Singh and Sudhanshu Trivedi -- the only outgoing MP renominated by the party.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the people of Gujarat have given an unprecedented mandate to the party by rejecting those who do politics of hollow promises, freebies and appeasement.
It had given the BJP a tough fight in 2017 winning 77 of the 182 seats at stake.
That AAP managed a sizeable vote share in Gujarat is creditable. The BJP can no longer ignore AAP's growing presence in its strongest bastion, explains Ramesh Menon, long-time observer of Gujarat politics.
The BJP is far more prepared than the Congress as their pool of prospective candidates is much bigger, reports Prakash Bhandari.
The party fielded Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur, while Uttar Pradesh minister Jitin Prasada has replaced Varun Gandhi in Pilibhit.
'For Modi, it's not just winning, but winning with style.'
'Has any prime minister spent so much time in one state holding election rally after rally?'
Will the exit polls come true or will the results throw all of us a surprise?
The meeting, which began around 10:30 pm on Thursday, lasted for more than four hours and was held at the party's headquarters in New Delhi.
'What should surprise BJP supporters is Modi's call for 'stability' at the manifesto launch, a theme that he and his team members had not touched ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019.' 'The last time the party called for 'stability at the Centre' was in 1998 and 1999,' recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
Bharatiya Janata Party candidates Dineshchamdra Jemalbhai Ananvadiya and Rambhai Harjibhai Mokariya won both Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat on Monday.
A video of Nizamabad Lok Sabha MP D Arvind saying that people will go to hell if they don't support the BJP after benefitting from schemes implemented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has gone viral.
After being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, Trump started his inaugural address with a sentence that echoed Modi's coinage some years ago, notes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Can ordinary citizens counter this backward march? Can peace activists ensure that the two communities retain their bonds? Do they have a choice, asks Jyoti Punwani.
Voters, it is said, get the government they deserve. We will soon see what voters in Maharashtra choose. Till then, a sense of helplessness and scepticism hangs in the air, notes Ramesh Menon.
Union ministers Prahlad Joshi and Dharmendra Pradhan alleged that Gandhi has been spreading lies on this issue.
There are around 15 lakh diamond workers in Gujarat, including nearly seven lakh employed in units in Surat, which is the largest hub of cutting and polishing of these precious stones.
'Everyone knows there is no point in contesting elections from Gujarat as a Congress candidate because they know they will be wiped out.'
Hours before the ceremony, Saini visited the Valmiki Bhawan and offered prayers at a gurdwara and the Mansa Devi temple in Panchkula.
'He only promotes those leaders who will never show any resistance to him in future.'
Though the Congress, AAP and other Opposition parties may have high hopes and some positive takeaways to seize on from the results, it is the BJP which has a big headstart and is firmly in the lead.
Even as Gujarat polls are underway, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated a two-day meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in New Delhi to review the party's preparations and chalk out strategy for the next round of elections in states and the all-important Lok Sabha contest in 2024.
BIf you know this BJP, it will now go forward to Jharkhand and Maharashtra as if June 2024 never happened, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The Bharat Ratna for him comes nine years after the honour was bestowed on former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The two leaders together spearheaded the journey of the Jana Sangh and then the BJP for over five decades.
Over 65 Union ministers are likely to take oath, going by the visual of the meeting Modi held with his likely council of ministers.
What about Uttar Pradesh Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat and Bihar? Mamata asked.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday named 72 more candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, including Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Anurag Singh Thakur, and former chief ministers Manohar Lal Khattar, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Basavaraj Bommai.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, state BJP president C P Joshi and Union minister Bhupendra Yadav welcomed them into the party at its state headquarters in Jaipur.
Zala, a close associate of Thakor, was the MLA from Bayad in Sabarkantha district.
The opposition Congress has decided to support the bandh in protest against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's 'failure' to control the situation in the north-eastern state, a party spokesperson said on Saturday.
Will the Modi-Shah combine replace Vijay Rupani as Gujarat CM?
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