A late-night meeting between leaders of the ruling NCP and Opposition NCP (SP) at the Maharashtra Chief Minister's residence has sparked intense speculation about shifting political dynamics in the state. This comes as the BJP reportedly seeks support for the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill, which proposes to increase Lok Sabha seats and initiate delimitation, a move criticised by Congress leader P Chidambaram for potentially disadvantaging states that controlled population growth.
Congress sources have told rediff.com that Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram or External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will replace Shivraj Patil, who resigned on Sunday, as home minister. The announcement is likely to be made in the next couple of hours after the all-party meeting called to discuss the Mumbai terror attacks.
'Our leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, are in touch with all Opposition parties, including the DMK and the AAP.'
The Congress party is set to challenge the Modi government on a range of critical issues, including alleged theft of Ram temple donations, 'systemic corrosion' of the education system, and constitutional amendment bills related to delimitation and dismissal of ministers, during the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.
The Delhi High Court has closed proceedings on a plea by Congress MP Karti Chidambaram seeking to defer the hearing on framing of charges in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Chinese visa scam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Melbourne Cricket Ground, announcing India's aspiration to host the 2036 Olympics and welcoming Chennai's role in the Big Bash League. He emphasised cricket as a strong bond between India and Australia, and both PMs unveiled a Roadmap on Sport Cooperation to deepen bilateral ties beyond cricket.
Indian industry, which made a strong demand for "tougher laws" and "stronger and firmer leadership" to tackle terrorism, hailed P Chidambaram's appointment as the home minister, saying he can provide the right kind of leadership to tackle the menace.
Besides Karti Chidambaram, the Lok Sabha MP from Sivaganga, the CBI had named his alleged close associate and chartered accountant, S Bhaskararaman, Talawandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL), a subsidiary of Vedanta, and Mumbai-based Bell Tools, through which bribes were allegedly routed.
Attacking the Congress, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said that India has "paid a heavy price" for the sins committed by the Congress while Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has accused the Oppostion party of "mishandling" the situation after the 2011 terror attacks in Mumbai in under foreign pressure.
Home Minister P Chidambaram addressed chief ministers on internal security.
After entering into a war of words with Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and actor Shahrukh Khan, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray has attacked Union Home Minister P Chidambaram for acting as Pakistan's home minister.
Congress leader P Chidambaram has refuted Home Minister Amit Shah's allegations regarding the delay in the execution of Afzal Guru, calling them a 'lie and distortion'.
The Congress leadership is reportedly upset with former Home Minister P Chidambaram for his remarks on 'Operation Blue Star'. Party sources indicate that senior leaders should be cautious about making public statements that could embarrass the party.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday asked Union Minister P Chidambaram to step down in the wake of media reports that he was an alleged beneficiary in the 2G spectrum scam during UPA-I, even as it charged him with failure as home minister in fighting the Naxal menace.
'Congress needs a positive agenda rather than primarily picking up on two business houses.'
Senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler on Monday said the 1984 anti-Sikh riot case against him has been re-investigated by the CBI, which has filed a closure report before the court.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday demanded the resignation of Home Minister P Chidambaram or his removal -- in the wake of the Madras high court rejecting his plea over an election petition -- and said his continuation would be a "blot on democracy".
The empty cartridges found at Pahalgam and those after test firing by the recovered guns were matched by the forensic lab, Shah said. The ballistic report is with him, he added.
Congress leader P Chidambaram's remarks questioning the origin of the terrorists behind the Pahalgam attack sparked a fierce political row ahead of the debate in Parliament on Operation Sindoor.
Sri Lanka's response to the Easter attacks has been slow and politically contested, unlike India's swift institutional reforms after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, observes Colonel R Hariharan (retd).
Chidambaram said that Operation Black Thunder was the right way to retrieve the Golden Temple, by keeping the Army out of the Sikh worship place.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday makes history as she presents a record ninth consecutive Budget that is expected to unveil measures to sustain growth momentum, maintain fiscal discipline, and contain reforms that could buffer the economy from global trade frictions, including US tariffs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked the Congress to tell the nation who prevented India's military response after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks linked to Pakistan, and accused the party of weakening the fight against terrorism when in power.
The police should have been alert in preventing the Hyderabad blasts rather than look for culprits once the damage is done, said Ajit Doval, former director of the Intelligence Bureau.
'The preparedness of our defence forces and positioning of intelligence assets were very different in 2008, so we had to rebuild our assets and preparedness.'
Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Monday rejected senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi's attack on Home Minister P Chidambaram on the issue of CAG indictment of his ministry for alleged favours to private firms, saying such attacks would harm decision making at higher levels.
How come the home minister jumped to the conclusion that there was a 'phenomenon' called saffron terrorism? Can he explain where is the phenomenon? Do a couple of sporadic cases that took place during a period of 14 months become a phenomenon? RSS leader Ram Madhav wants to know.
Noting that Maoists still have "pockets of influence" in Lalgarh, the government on Saturday said the situation in the strife-torn area in West Bengal was not stable but maintained that paramilitary forces cannot be deployed there indefinitely.
Pakistan-based groups like Lashker-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed persist in their attempts to launch terror attacks in India posing a "grave" challenge, Home Minister P Chidambaram warned Indian police officials on Monday.
Home Minister Amit Shah stated in the Rajya Sabha that the terrorists responsible for the Pahalgam attack were killed in Operation Mahadev. He also criticized the Congress party's stance on national security.
The wife of the French diplomat, who has been accused of raping his three-and-a half year-old daughter, has appealed to the government to ensure that the official faces trial in India even if he enjoys diplomatic immunity.
The Centre on Monday dismissed as "unwarranted" the remarks of BCCI president Shashank Manohar, who had held the government attitude responsible for moving the Indian Premier League out of the country. Manohar, after the BCCI working committee on Sunday, had said that they were forced to take the tournament out of the country because of the government's attitude.
"In 1948, Indian armed forces were in a decisive position to take back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir but then PM Jawaharlal Nehru declared unilateral ceasefire," Amit Shah said. In 1971, Shah said, 93,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered and India had 15,000 sq km Pakistan territory under control, but still PoK was not taken back. During the 1962 war with China, then PM Nehru bade goodbye to Assam in a speech on Akashvani, he said.
Union home minister, P Chidambaram, is a worried man. He has to ensure that the Wankhede Stadium is fully secured so that the final of the cricket World Cup passes off peacefully and no terrorist is allowed inside the stadium.
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind chief Maulana Arshad Madani's remarks alleging discrimination against Muslims, citing the Al Falah University case, have sparked a row with the BJP, who accused him of supporting terrorists.
When the government chooses to either ignore or use identity documents only when it suits them, it shakes people's sense of stability, notes Shyam G Menon.
When the government chooses to either ignore or use identity documents only when it suits them, it shakes people's sense of stability, notes Shyam G Menon.
Vicky Nanjappa on the challenges that the new Home minister faces
The highlight of Tuesday's debate on Operation Sindoor was the speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the rebuttal by Congress's Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi coming a close second.
When former finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in August 2019, it was considered by some as payback from Home Minister Amit Anilchandra Shah who likely held his predecessor in the home ministry responsible for his own arrest nine years earlier, in July 2010.
