AAP is working on its new strategy to build a strong organisational set-up with leaders from all sections of society, reports Nitin Kumar.
The decision by BJP's highest decision-making body was announced by former party president and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh after the meeting, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.
The BJP president will have to address issues like scrapping Article 370 of the Constitution, an issue dear to the party and the Sangh Parivar for long and a promise included in the manifesto during the last elections.
"I am sure that in 2018, we will come back to power hundred per cent," he added.
Among the 17 new AICC secretaries named so far, 10 are below 50 years of age, indicating the generational change in the 132-year-old Congress being brought in by 47-year-old Rahul, reports Amit Agnihotri.
The term of the Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura legislative assemblies is ending on March 6, March 13 and March 14 respectively.
The finance minister said while the 10 years of the United Progressive Alliance government were characterised by "policy paralysis", the Modi dispensation introduced structural reforms to make India a developed nation and give it a cleaner economy.
CNG cars have been kept out of the ambit of the odd-even scheme while a decision on whether women drivers will continue to be exempted will be taken soon.
The Congress chief took a swipe at the ruling party saying if it had a film franchise it would be called "Lie Hard".
A list of some prominent political families of the BJP.
However, the number of confirmed cases reported by states rose by over 500 to cross 3,000 with at least 90 dead. While Maharashtra, Telangana and Delhi disclosed several new cases of the deadly virus infection, government officials said the numbers have risen in last few days mostly due to one event -- referring to the Tablighi Jamaat's religious gathering in the national capital attended by thousands of people last month.
The party managed only 52 seats on its own and many of its top leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Jyotiraditya Scindia were defeated in the polls.
While the term of 288-member Maharashtra assembly ends on November 9, that of the 90-member Haryana assembly expires on November 2.
A slew of sops were announced for teachers, employees of municipalities and others.
Bharatiya Janata Party veterans like Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh and V K Malhotra may be accommodated as governors as their names are doing the rounds for appointment in gubernatorial posts in key states like Karnataka, Maharashtra and Haryana.
I challenge Rahul Baba that let me know if there is even a single line in the act regarding the withdrawal of anyone's citizenship, said Shah.
People may belong to any caste and religion, they are not safe, the Congress leader alleged.
Major focus will be on adequately funding existing schemes to ensure their timely completion before the next General Elections.
The final phase saw voting in all 13 seats of Punjab and an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat Chandigarh.
According to an internal assessment of the food ministry, shared with chief ministers recently, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh will see a massive reduction in their annual grain allocation.
The RLSP and the HAM, the two other NDA allies, went unrepresented.
Amid reports that her appointment as secretary in-charge of Punjab has left the Congress embarrassed, Kumari met Sonia and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal of unnecessarily making an issue out of a 'non-issue'.
'Gehlot is right now doing things, which are not appreciated by the Gandhis.' 'The Gandhis have realised that their writ does not run in Rajasthan, therefore they have deflected the issue to Kharge.'
Over the past week, Rahul Gandhi has replaced office-bearers in charge of party units in Gujarat and Karnataka and Goa, and brought in young leaders as secretaries. These changes are unlikely to be a one-time exercise and poll-bound states would get the primary attention.
In a major exercise ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Congress on Thursday night constituted screening committees for all states and union territories for early selection of candidates.
The SKM also gave a call for observing a nationwide 'Day of Betrayal' on January 31 against what it called the government's reneging on its assurances to the farmers on their demands, including legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) of crops.
Beware of fake cow vigilantes, says PM Modi
Accused by the Bharatiya Janata Party of taking bribe, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh arrived here today to present his version to the Congress high command while slamming the opposition party of indulging in "malicious propaganda" against him and his family.
Several newly elected MLAs including Navjot Singh Sidhu, Manpreet Singh Badal, Brahm Mohindra, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Rana Gurjit Singh, Pargat Singh, Razia Sultana, O P Soni are in the race for becoming ministers, party sources said.
As many as 22 states and Union Territories have supported a Law Commission recommendation to bring a bill to prevent 'honour killings', but government has refused to fix a timeline to put in place a legal framework, saying a decision will be taken after due consultations.
'Removing Biplab Deb and replacing him with Manik Saha is a fruitless exercise that the BJP national leadership has indulged in.' 'It is foolish to think that people will forget what these two have done to the state and its people in the last four years.'
The BJP is not taking the AAP challenge lightly. Amit Shah has cautioned party insiders to ensure that AAP does not cross a vote share of 24%. He has always seen AAP as a much more significant challenge than the Congress, observes Ramesh Menon, author, Modi Demystified: The Making Of A Prime Minister.
'The BJP had a big threat from the Congress in J&K, therefore they were threatened by us.'
Trains were set afire and blocked, and public vehicles attacked as protests over 'Agnipath' swept across several places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu on Thursday amid partisan political voices in favour and against the new recruitment scheme for the defence forces that has set off a firestorm.
'It indicates the grooming of the party's new leadership.' 'It is also a signal to the states that these ministers represent.'
There were Vedic mantras engraved along with prayer songs for Lord Shiva, Lord Rama and Lord Krishna. Neither the government nor the people of Faisalabad demanded that the carvings be removed. I felt very happy to see Sanskrit shloka
42 MLAs, including leader of Opposition Charanjit Singh Channi, went to the assembly and submitted their resignations.
Those who trim or shave beard and hair, smoke or drink alcohol cannot vote in the elections to Sikh religious bodies, with President Pranab Mukherjee giving assent to a bill passed recently by Parliament.
On its own or with allies the Congress has a strong presence in states that account for a total of 253 LS seats, or 20 short of the magic figure of 272 required to form a government at the Centre. So what is Mamata Banerjee talking about, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Modi leadership could lose Election 2024 if a communal flare-up becomes cause for all-round catastrophe, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.