The tribal belt of Gujarat, which decides representations in around 43 assembly segments in Central and South Gujarat, had been a Congress stronghold from independence to the 2002 election.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's appointment as the Bharatiya Janata Party's Campaign Committee chief and the chain of events triggered by this announcement indicate that despite the recent patch-up efforts initiated by the party's ideological mentor, the Rahstriya Swayamsevak Sangh, all is not well in the saffron outfit.
Exit polls on Monday predicted a big majority for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat while most of them gave an edge to it in Himachal Pradesh, indicating re-election of the ruling party in both states.
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.
The Modi-baiter who is on a mission to mobilise support for the ouster of the BJP stalwart seems to have made up his mind to float a new party.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday launched the party's campaign in poll-bound Gujarat by making a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Sethusamudram issue saying how could a party which drags Lord Ram's name for political gains be trusted
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi on Thursday said they would campaign during the Gujarat assembly polls slated later this year if an independent Lokayukta was not appointed in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state.
One's religious faith is a private affair, and the government had no business to make laws on it, the Congress said.
The Supreme Court-constituted Special Investigation Team, probing certain Gujarat riot cases afresh, on Friday filed a chargesheet in Naroda Gam case in which Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former state minister Maya Kodnani is one of the prime accused.
Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led the Bharatiya Janata Party to a decisive win in Gujarat for a third time in a row with the party securing majority clinching 103 seats of the 162 results declared for the 182-member assembly and leading in 13 seats.
Election Commissioners Navin Chawla and Qureshi have threatened to postpone the Gujarat election process and bring President's Rule in the state if the Bharatiya Janata Party fans communal violence in Gujarat through its new CD, which is to be released in the birth place of Sardar Patel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he is willing to discard old ideas and embrace new ones as long as they fit into his essential ideology of 'nation first'.
Mumtaz Patel said that she will continue to work to make the party stronger along with the party cadre in Bharuch.
The Congress on Thursday suffered its worst-ever defeat in Gujarat but appeared headed for a close win in Himachal Pradesh, a mixed bag result for the party that not only faces a rampaging Bharatiya Janata Party but an ambitious Aam Aadmi Party vying for the leadership of the Opposition going forward on the road to the 2024 general elections.
A BJP defeat in Gujarat will deliver the party a seismic political and organisational shock and mark a historic setback for the entire Sangh Parivar.
The Gujarat government slammed Jaswant's book titled Jinnah: India-Partition, Independence, accusing him of denigrating the image of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, who was a Gujarati and held in high esteem by people across Gujarat and rest of the India for his role during India's freedom struggle against the British rulers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday cast his vote at a polling station in Ahmedabad during the second phase of the assembly elections in Gujarat and said the state's people listen to everybody, but it is their nature to accept what is true.
Suspended MLAs and party workers have also attended functions of the rival Congress party where they have urged people to vote for the Congress.
'The BJP's numbers in this government are almost the same as those enjoyed by the Congress under P V Narasimha Rao when the reform process was kicked off in 1991.' 'As before, the only constraints on the prime minister's actions are internal, not external.' 'They come from his own assessment of the political consequences of any action,' points out Mihir S Sharma.
Devendra Fadnavis will lead the new Mahayuti coalition government in Maharashtra, with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar serving as deputy chief ministers. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for Thursday evening at Azad Maidan ground in south Mumbai and will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several Union ministers. The Mahayuti coalition won the recent assembly elections by a landslide, securing 230 out of 288 seats.
Rejecting suggestions by President Pratibha Patil to modify Gujarat Control of Organised Crime bill, the Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party's government on Tuesday re-introduced the bill which was passed by the state assembly.
With the exit polls predicting a victory for the National Democratic Alliance, Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Tuesday went into a huddle, triggering speculations about finding a successor to Narendra Modi, but the party dismissed such conjectures and described the talks as "routine".
In winning a seventh term, the BJP also matched the Left Front's feat in West Bengal.
'The BJP will not win a single seat in Punjab.'
A court in Surat in Gujarat on Thursday sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his "Modi surname" remarks.
Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Dhanraj Kella, legislator from Wadhwan constituency, is the first rebel member to resign from the BJP and as a legislator after distribution of tickets. He submitted his resignation to Speaker Mangaldas Patel.
He said the people of Gujarat do not love him, state AAP president Gopal Italia or chief ministerial face Isudan Gadhvi but extending support because they feel AAP can resolve their issues
Hype has been created over the issue of Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate after appointment of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as election campaign chief to "target the party", BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said on Monday.
Stepping up his offensive against Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that there is a "partnership" between the BJP PM candidate and Adani and accused the industrialist of "funding" the Modi marketing blitz to return "favours".
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took a dig at Congress President Sonia Gandhi alleging the "misrule" of the party led by her will script its "worst-ever" drubbing at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in coming assembly elections.
The Congress vice president asked people if Vibrant Gujarat had helped them in any way.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd made a number of electoral bond purchases close to the date of bagging crucial projects, including the all-weather Zojila tunnel that is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 4,500 crore in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clinched 23 out of 27 Scheduled Tribe seats in Gujarat as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the new entrant in the state's politics, swept aside the Congress to find a footing in the state's tribal belt.
Gujarat has been the petri dish in which Hindu fascism has been fomenting a political experiment, she wrote in the inaugural issue of the Indobrit, a magazine.
The Gujarat assembly was on Friday adjourned for an hour as Congress Members of Legislative Assembly stalled the proceedings for the third consecutive day, seeking dismissal of two Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs, who have been accused of watching porn in the House. As soon as Question Hour began, Congress MLAs began to shout slogans, demanding the dismissal of those watching "nude clips in the House". They left their seats and gathered near the Speaker's podium.
The Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government has come under fire following the Centre's announcement that Tata-Airbus C-295 transport aircraft project would be set up in Gujarat, with the opposition seeking to know why the project that was supposed to come up in Maharashtra went to the neighbouring state.
Modi had won the last election in Gujarat with the active support of RSS and its allies like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh. However, with the organisation deciding to remain aloof this time around, things might turn out be different for the BJP.
Party sources revealed some half-a-dozen more legislators faced suspension for their outbursts against Modi.
The Election Commission on Thursday said that there were 'multiple factors' leading to the delay in the announcement of the Gujarat assembly polls, adding that the recent Morbi bridge collapse tragedy was one of them.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances