Accepting its defeat in Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said that the Congress had benefited from the division of votes of the opposition parties. "The Congress has benefited from the division of votes of the opposition parties. In Maharashtra, it is clear that the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is a factor. Similarly, in Haryana, the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Janhit Congress divided the opposition votes.
Rejecting Team Anna's claim of influencing the outcome in the Hisar by-election, Indian National Lok Dal chief Om Parkash Chautala on Tuesday said that people voted against the Congress to vent their anger against the ruling party. "Team Anna's claim of taking credit is wrong. People voted against the Congress to vent their anger against the ruling party. They were fed up by the misrule of Congress at the Centre and the state," he said.
Questions are being raised on the future of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) as differences among its constituents come to the fore and several parties call for serious introspection by the Congress after a string of debilitating electoral losses.
The battle for Hisar has 40 candidates, but the real fight is between the big three -- Kuldeep Bishnoi of the Haryana Janhit Congress, Ajay Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal and former MP Jai Prakash of the Congress.
The similar modus operandi in all these murders has led the police to suspect the involvement of gangsters, the officer further said.
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday stormed into the state assembly with a huge margin as his party, Congress, made a clean sweep of all the three byelections in Haryana held on June 2.
The Supreme Court on Monday gave its nod for criminal prosecution of Indian National Lok Dal leaders Ajay and Abhay Chautala in a disproportionate assets case.
The Delhi police on Saturday claimed to have arrested four young men involved in the armed attack on Indian National Lok Dal Member of Legislative Assembly Bhagat Singh and cited personal rivalry as the reason behind the assault. The MLA was shot at by assailants outside his office in south-west Delhi on Saturday and was rushed to the hospital with bullet injuries along with a relative who was also hit.
Adequate security and Covid safety measures have been put in place for the electoral exercise.
Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra was expelled on Friday from the Lok Sabha after the House adopted the report of its Ethics Committee that held her guilty of accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to further his interest.
With Haryana facing the prospect of a hung assembly, Indian National Lok Dal chief Om Prakash Chautala on Thursday said that the governor should invite the opposition parties first and give them an opportunity to form the government. "We appeal to the governor to invite the opposition parties first, which have emerged as the largest group. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda should immediately step down on moral grounds."
Predicting a hung assembly in Haryana after the October 13 polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday did not rule out a post-poll alliance in the state to keep Congress out of power.
Film star-turned politician Yograj Singh is hopeful that his son, cricketer Yuvraj Singh will campaign from him for the October 13 assembly polls in Haryana.
Congress on Sunday won two assembly by-elections in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana appearing not to have been hit by the spate of scams rocking the United Progressive Alliance coalition at the Centre while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a humiliating defeat in Karnataka.
In Haryana, the split between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal worries the Congress.In Maharashtra the main problem of the Congress is the anti-incumbency against its alliance partner the Nationalist Congress Party.
"We have come out of NDA and are no longer part of it," Chautala told mediapersons and charged the BJP with ditching them "again and again" and vowed to not to be part of the alliance again. He said that keeping the Congress party at bay has been his main aim so he had "compromised" by being part of the BJP many times in the past.
Chautala said that the loss/gain of the break-up with the BJP would also be known only after the polls.
Opposition parties in Haryana on Monday asked Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to drop Home Minister Gopal Kanda from his cabinet.On Sunday, Kanda allegedly ordered his security men to open fire on agitating Indian National Lok Dal activists, who had stopped his convoy at Sirsa. Kunda was caught on camera by a private news channel while issuing the order.The INLD had called for a shutdown and its activists had organised a sit-down demonstration.
It may be recalled that at the time of the last Presidential elections in 2002, Naidu had worked for evolving a consensus on the candidature of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam while the Left parties had fielded Mrs Lakshmi Sahgal.
Without staking claim to form the government, the Indian National Lok Dal on Friday requested the governor to provide an opportunity to other political parties or groups to form the government in Haryana, saying people have not given a clear verdict to the Congress."As an alternative to the Congress, which has failed to get the mandate, the other parties/groups should be given a chance to form a non-Congress government," INLD president Om Parkash Chautala said.
Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath for the Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir assembly poll results on Tuesday.
A firebrand youth leader, a seasoned politician who became a legislator for the first time, and a veteran physician are among the 12 new faces elected to the fourth Assembly of Delhi. The Congress leads the debutants pack with six MLAs, the Bharatiya Janata Party has five and the Indian National Lok Dal one.
A contest between Jai Parkash Gupta (Independent), Shashi Pal Mehta (Bharatiya Janata Party), Dharampal Gupta (Indian National Lok Dal) and Sumita Singh (Congress) is on the cards.
Can Nitishbabu create an anti-BJP phalanx like Jayaprakash Narayan did in 1977 or will his efforts come undone by Opposition leaders' political ambitions and, of course, the BJP's agency-aided campaign of intimidation?
Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala today said his party is the "only alternative" to the Congress in Haryana and claimed that success of a recent rally is an indication of wave in favour of INLD.
'The BJP uses its partners as a stepping stone to grab political space. They are in the habit of betraying their partners. That is how they treated Naveen Patnaik, Chandrababu Naidu, the Asom Gana Parishad and Farooq Abdullah.'
In a development that could help the ruling Congress ahead of the Haryana assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to part ways with Indian National Lok Dal led by former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has decided to cut short his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Uttar Pradesh by skipping western part of the state and saving five days, a party leader said on Monday while citing board exams.
'Every Haryana assembly seat has its own unique problems to earn victory for a political party and you as a politician need to know what are those issues and tackle it.'
In the past five years, UP's Opposition remained passive and defensive against the BJP, a trend that does not augur well for the impending battle.
'Congress leaders are ready to lose the election and not form the government, but are never ready to share seats with others.'
Addressing a gathering in the Sundernagar area of Himachal Pradesh's Mandi on Friday, Ranaut -- the BJP candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat -- while referring to the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), said the opposition alliance is full of 'spoiled princes'.
Seeking the abolition of the SEZ policy, the INLD suggested framing of Manufacturing Investment Region policy to boost investment and production.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP national president JP Nadda and several other famous faces were seen at polling booths, exercising their franchise in the final and seventh phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
Five MLAs -- four from the BJP and one independent -- were also sworn in as ministers. However, former home minister and six-term MLA from Ambala Cantt, Anil Vij, has not found a place in the new cabinet.
With Nitish Kumar on its side, a BJP-led government may feel increased pressure to conduct a nationwide caste-based census.
The Haryana CM faces state Congress president Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Chautala is seeking re-election from Narwana and he is pitted against his old rival and state Congress president, Randeep Singh Surjewala. Chautala had defeated Surjewala by just 2,194 votes in the last election.
Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij Monday said the probe into the killing of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD)'s state unit chief Nafe Singh Rathee will be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation even as 12 people including a former MLA were booked in connection with the murder.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances