Modi said whenever Congress came back, all development works came to a standstill.
The ruling Congress on Thursday swept the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) polls with a two-third majority by winning 24 wards out of the total 34, wresting the prestigious civic body from the BJP.
If the Congress reached 90, it would have a pretty good chance of holding the BJP below the 272 mark. A hundred seats will rock national politics, argues Shekhar Gupta.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday promised to restore the old pension scheme for government employees in Himachal Pradesh if the Congress was voted to power in the assembly elections.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the Himachal Pradesh assembly speaker's order disqualifying the six Congress rebels who had cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in the state.
As trends indicated a comfortable win for the grand old party in Himachal Pradesh, Shukla said the party was happy that it is getting an opportunity to form the government in the state and asserted that the party will do everything to fulfill the 10 guarantees made to the people of the state and would provide better governance to people.
Shivakumar said, "Mahayuti leaders should visit my state to see how Congress' welfare guarantees are benefiting people."
With the party bagging its first victory in the hill state without the charismatic presence of Virbhadra Singh, Sukhu's elevation makes it clear that the party is ready to move on.
The Congress is sending Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, senior leaders Bhupinder Hooda and Rajeev Shukla to Himachal Pradesh on Thursday with the possibility of the party getting a majority in the hill state.
The Commission did not announce the elections for the Gujarat assembly, the term of which ends on February 18, 2023.
"I have been given BJP ticket from Mandi and the party has informed me about this," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said the Congress stands 'badly exposed' in front of people for promising to them what the party knows it will never be able to deliver.
With the Congress emerging victorious in Himachal Pradesh, state party president Pratibha Singh is considered a key frontrunner for the chief minister's post, closely followed by former party chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and outgoing Congress Legislature Party leader Mukesh Agnihotri.
He said the multi-party committee formed by the Speaker in Himachal Pradesh would discuss all issues about street vending on October 3. Singh's remarks came a day after the Congress top brass chided him over his remarks on mandatory display of names by the street vendors and told him that no one was allowed to go against the party's policies and ideologies.
The Congress party finished second, winning a paltry 17 seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party bagged just five.
In a jolt to the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, state party chief and Mandi MP Pratibha Singh on Wednesday announced that she has decided not to contest the Lok Sabha elections as the ground situation was "not favourable" and workers were disheartened.
The Himachal Pradesh Congress on Monday challenged Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut to prove her allegation that the state government took loans and diverted the money to Sonia Gandhi, failing which it said it would file a defamation case against her.
The legislation is aimed at streamlining various services related to immigration and foreigners, including their entry, exit and stay in India.
Priyanka Gandhi in large part was at the centre of the Congress's action, giving a number of enduring images from this election campaign.
Sukhu, the 58-year-old MLA from Nadaun in Hamirpur district, was elected the the CLP leader and will take oath as chief minister Sunday, the party said.
Campaigning for the third day in a row in the state that goes to the polls on November 9, he said the election was not being fought by his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, but the people of the state who were out to "teach" a lesson to the Congress for corruption and poor law and order.
The swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers would take place at the Raj Bhavan in Shimla on January 8 at 10 am, the sources said on Saturday.
The chief minister and his wife Kamlesh Thakur presented a cheque of Rs 51 lakh to chief secretary Prabodh Saxena at their official residence in Shimla.
The difference in the number of votes received by the candidates of the two parties in Bhoranj, Sujanpur, Darang, Bilaspur, Sri Naina Devi, Rampur, Shillai, and Sri Renukaji was less than 1,000 votes.
Just eight months after its good showing in the Lok Sabha polls, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) seems to be running out of steam with internal bickering and conflicting ambitions resulting in diminishing electoral returns that have once again put the Bharatiya Janata Party in the driver's seat in national politics.
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.
On poll eve, both the BJP and the Congress claimed they were headed towards a majority and would form the government.
The highest polling of 72.35 per cent was recorded in Sirmour district followed by 68.48 per cent in Solan and 67.67 per cent in Una and 67.5 per cent in Lahaul and Spiti. The high-altitude district of Lahaul and Spiti had recorded 21.95 per cent, the lowest, till 1 pm, but polling was brisk as the sun came out.
The Himachal Pradesh government's Excise and Taxation Department inspected an Adani Group company, scrutinising records and checking the stock at the Adani Wilmar warehouse in Parwanoo, officials said on Thursday. The officials were apparently investigating possible GST violations by the company, a 50:50 joint venture between the Adani conglomerate and Singapore-based Wilmar. The inspection on Wednesday evening in the Congress-run state comes at a time when the group finds itself in the middle of a political row at the Centre, triggered by a scathing report by US-based Hindenburg Research.
Starting the debate on the second day of the ongoing monsoon session, Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri said the law and order situation in the state has deteriorated under the Bharatiya Janata Party government.
Speaking to ANI, Pratibha Singh said, "After all the big responsibilities were given to me by Sonia Gandhi ji, she told me that she has elected me as the party's state president where I would have to visit in all 68 constituencies and also to make sure that the party wins in the state. I did that work with utmost sincerity and the result is in before all of us today."
Kharge's remarks came after Modi on Friday said the Congress stands "badly exposed" in front of people for promising to them what the party knows it will never be able to deliver.
If the Congress comes to power in the state, it will not allow his government to work, Modi claimed.
According to sources, Sonia Gandhi took a jibe on party leaders, "You all are sitting together right but otherwise you don't even talk to each other."
A day after a goof-up over serving snacks to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu snowballed into a major controversy necessitating a CID probe, state Bharatiya Janata Party chief Satpal Satti on Friday claimed the Congress government has become a 'laughing stock' for ordering an 'inquiry into samosas'.
It is in power on its own only in three states -- Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana -- with a big question mark on whether it can even stake claim to be head of the INDIA bloc.
The tiny hill state of Himachal Pradesh, which acquired its present shape after merger of Punjab Hill areas on November 1, 1966, has remained a Congress bastion with the party winning all but three state assembly elections since 1967.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has criticized BJP leaders for accusing the National Conference (NC) of insulting Maharaja Hari Singh, the last ruler of the state. Abdullah challenged the BJP to provide evidence of such insults, while highlighting their own actions that he claims have undermined the Maharaja's legacy. He also called on the BJP-led government to retrieve the part of Jammu and Kashmir under Chinese occupation if they are serious about reclaiming the territory under Pakistan's control.
The DMK protested in the Lok Sabha after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan criticized the Tamil Nadu government for refusing to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) and accused them of "politics." Pradhan alleged that the state had initially agreed to the PM SHRI scheme but later backed out. The DMK, however, asserted that they have issues with the NEP and the three-language formula, and cannot accept it in full. The protests disrupted House proceedings, leading to an adjournment. The DMK members were angered by Pradhan's accusations, demanding the release of funds allocated for education in the state.
The Congress now knows that it is the only force -- however weakened it might be -- that stands between the BJP and India's evolution into a single-party Republic. Because, once it is out of the way, the BJP could sort out the other regional powers: Co-opting some, demolishing others, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
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