Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday expressed apprehension that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections would be the last opportunity for the people to save democracy, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi might prefer dictatorship in case his party wins the upcoming polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Sunday inflicting a resounding defeat on the Congress to tighten its stranglehold in the Hindi heartland, in a big boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and setting the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
As the Opposition held its first meeting on the Presidential polls and names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi also cropped up, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice with senior party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal).
The INLD's graph had been on the decline after it split in 2018, following a feud in the Chautala clan.
By keeping the Sanatana Dharma row alive and adding the Ayodhya temple consecration scheduled for January 22 and adding the free darshan promise from four polled states to the entire country, the BJP may have a self-fulfilling concoction, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Nine months after he stepped down, JD-U leader Nitish Kumar was on Sunday sworn-in as the Bihar chief minister
The opposition on Tuesday termed as an 'election jumla' the women's reservation bill brought by the government with many leaders raising questions over the proposed legislation, contending it doesn't account for reservation for OBC communities and that it will be effective at the earliest by the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
The government on Tuesday introduced a constitutional amendment bill reserving 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, reviving a proposal pending for years and blending history, politics and societal imperatives on the first day in the new Parliament building.
Members of various organisations on Friday held protests at Ambala in Haryana and Delhi against the proposed screening of controversial film Messenger of God featuring Dera Saccha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the lead role.
"I want to clarify one thing that the BJP is not going to take the support of Kanda," he told reporters in Chandigarh.
Chautala told reporters that his party believed the alliance was necessary for stability in Haryana.
While the wrestlers braved tough weather conditions, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu demanded custodial interrogation of WFI President.
A video showing the incident involving school teacher, Tripta Tyagi, and the Class 2 boy in Muzaffarnagar has gone viral on social media eliciting strong words from several political parties.
The Haryana assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution seeking the completion of the SYL canal and the transfer of Hindi-speaking areas from Punjab, while denouncing the neighbouring state for staking its claim over Chandigarh.
In a move aimed at consolidation of opposition forces, six constituents of the erstwhile 'Janata Parivar' will soon become one party as their leaders on Thursday authorised Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav to work out the "modalities" in that direction.
Convicted former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala's place is in jail and he cannot enjoy hospitality of the hospital, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said, rejecting his plea for extension of interim bail granted on medical grounds in the teachers' recruitment scam.
The PM is seen as slipping up in confidence levels as aired by his 'exposure' of the BRS on a crucial issue as alliance negotiations, which is not done under normal circumstances, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The MPs representing various political parties offered heartfelt tributes to the building that has been the epicentre of India's democratic journey.
Following the address by President Ram Nath Kovind, the economic survey will be tabled in the two Houses.
Dushyant has now emerged as a leader of some reckoning in the Jat community, as well among Haryana's youth.
If Indira Gandhi hadn't targeted the RSS, Narendra Modi wouldn't be sitting pretty with his second majority and looking at a third, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Sparks flew on the first day of the debate on the no-trust motion moved by the Congress with the Opposition on Tuesday asserting that it was forced to do so to break Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'maun vrat' (vow of silence) on Manipur and the treasury benches hitting back saying it was a no-trust vote against a 'poor person's son' who has worked for the welfare of the people.
In terms of electoral fortunes, in all likelihood, the status quo is not going to change in any significant manner. These six seats from Bihar are unlikely to give any clear signal to UPA, NDA or Federal Front.
'One is happy. The moment one starts criticising the BJP, ED, IT and CBI comes to one's house.'
The Baharatiya Janata Party has propelled to power in Haryana by a dramatic surge in vote share that saw its tally zooming from 4 to 47 in the 90-member House in the backdrop of a Modi wave.
Addressing a press conference, farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chadoni said if the Centre does not accept their demands during Saturday's talks, they will intensify their agitation against the new farm laws.
The names of both Maregowda and Puttaraju had figured in the list of missing Janata Dal-Secular workers tweeted by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Monday.
About 40 per cent of sitting MPs have criminal cases registered against them out of which 25 per cent have declared serious criminal cases under charges of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and crimes against women, according to poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
During the day-long debate, the lines between science and religion often got blurred with many invoking religious texts and the contribution of 'rishi munis' to highlight India's tryst with the extra-terrestrial world.
The AAP said the tie-up can only be done on 33 Lok Sabha seats across four states and one Union Territory.
Livid with Abhinav Bindra's sustained campaign against tainted officials in the Indian Olympic Association, the suspended body's president Abhey Singh Chautala launched a stinging personal attack on the Olympic gold-medallist shooter, saying he should first sort his house in order before commenting on others.
The JD-U appears unwilling to become the BJP's second-string. A senior leader said, "If the BJP demands that the 2014 polls be made the yardstick for seat-sharing in 2019, we will insist the results of the last assembly polls become the criterion for the next state election." Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Here is the lowdown of the each state and parties.
The polls have come at a time when opposition parties in Haryana are in a disarray.
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday asked the Centre to explain to farmers why it does not want to repeal the three farm laws, while promising it that they 'will not let the government bow its head' before the world.
"NDA is a beautiful rainbow of regional aspirations... So nation's development through the development of states... At a time when we are working for a developed India, NDA is taking the lead in showing the spirit of sabka prayas," he said.
Around 10 people were injured Saturday as police allegedly lathi-charged a group of farmers disrupting traffic movement on a highway while heading towards Karnal to protest against a BJP meeting.
LS MPs are paid Rs 2.8 lakh per month plus travel and other perks which works out to nearly Rs 177 crore for 545 MPs during the last financial year. Add another Rs 78 crore for the Rajya Sabha MPs, according to data.
At a time when the BJP's stars are at the top on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls, the Puri-Joshimath Sankaracharyas may have kick-started a row whose efforts might be to divide Hindus, not in the name of castes, but on what passes for greater belief, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday slammed the opposition alliance INDIA as a collection of arrogant dynasties who will take India back by two centuries as he exuded confidence that people will bless the "garib ka beta" with a record-breaking mandate in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
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