...'hum decide karenge kaun banega mukhyamantri. This decision is not to be taken in Mumbai.'
Congress leaders, on their part, are confident that the mobilisation of voters away from the BJP will gain more momentum in the state elections, scheduled for October 1, in the absence of national issues and the 'Modi factor'.
The BJP has fielded former MP Parvesh Verma from the New Delhi seat against Arvind Kejriwal.
Reaching out to Jats, a politically crucial community in western Uttar Pradesh, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah has presented his party as the best bet for them, saying voting for the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal or any other party would not help their cause.
India will display its military prowess and cultural heritage at the 76th Republic Day celebrations on Kartavya Path in New Delhi. The parade will feature 16 tableaux from states and Union Territories, 15 from central ministries, and a tri-services tableau showcasing the spirit of "jointness" among the armed forces. The event will also include a flypast featuring 40 IAF aircraft and three Indian Coast Guard Dornier aircraft, as well as a display of cutting-edge defense platforms including BrahMos, Pinaka and Akash.
Unprecedented violence... Mobs determined to teach Delhi a lesson... An incompetent chief minister... Losses of over Rs 200 billion. Haryana's Jat agitation has a somber message for the nation.
The Congress party suffered a crushing defeat in the Delhi elections, failing to secure a single seat in the 70-member assembly for the third consecutive time. Key candidates, including Sheila Dikshit's son, Sandeep Dikshit, lost their deposits. The only consolation for the party was a slight improvement in its vote share, which they attribute to a vigorous campaign and a renewed focus on contesting elections independently. However, the defeat raises questions about the party's ability to compete in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, particularly in light of its performance in other recent state elections.
India will showcase its military prowess and rich cultural heritage on Kartavya Path in New Delhi on January 26 to mark the 76th Republic Day. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will be the chief guest at the event, which will also see the participation of a marching contingent and a band contingent from Indonesia. The theme of the parade is 'Swarnim Bharat: Virasat aur Vikas', focusing on the platinum jubilee of the enactment of the Constitution. The parade will feature a number of cutting-edge defense platforms, including BrahMos, Pinaka and Akash, as well as the Army's Battle Surveillance System 'Sanjay' and DRDO's surface-to-surface tactical missile 'Pralay'.
The BJP's nationwide vote share saw its steepest decline in Rajasthan, falling by 9.23% from 2019, resulting in the loss of 11 seats.
Ahead of Republic Day, the Indian Army announced on Thursday the addition of two new features to this year's parade: battlefield surveillance systems and a Defebce Research and Development Organisation tableau showcasing Pralay, short-range ballistic missiles.
Congress leader Sukhjinder Randhawa and Brahm Mohindra will be two deputies to Punjab's Chief Minister-designate Charanjit Singh Channi, said party leader Pawan Kumar Bansal.
The high court passed the order while hearing a petition challenging the constitutional validity of The Haryana Backward Classes (reservation in services and admission in educational institutions) Act 2016 that was passed unanimously by the state assembly on March 29.
'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.'
Sporadic incidents of arson were on Monday reported as life in violence-torn Haryana limped back to normal with curfew being lifted gradually and Jat protesters starting to lift blockades after the Bharatiya Janata Party announced setting up of a committee to examine the quota demand of the community.
A day before Rajasthan goes to polls, the ambivalence of Jats, the traditional support base of Congress, is giving the party jitters while the Bharatiya Janata Party is hoping to corner a significant chunk of their votes to stage a comeback to power.
Former Indian kabaddi team captain and Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Hooda is locked in a multi-cornered electoral contest from the Jat-dominated Meham assembly constituency in the Rohtak district for the Haryana assembly polls.
Internet and mobile SMS services have been suspended indefinitely by authorities in Rohtak district in the wake of protests by Jat community.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the Centre's review petition on the Jat reservation issue which demanded a review of the apex court's previous order scrapping Jat reservation.
With the Jat agitation showing no signs of let up, the BJP government in Haryana on Saturday said it has "accepted" the demands of the community.
Explaining the rationale behind his statement, Chaudhary said, "Lord Ram's wife, goddess Sita, was abducted by Ravan, but Lanka was burnt by Hanumanji. It's injustice being done to someone by someone and the third person does not know either of them. This is the nature of Jats... they intervene whenever any injustice is done to anybody."
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday refused to vacate the stay granted by it last month on Haryana government's decision to grant reservation to Jats.
'Even if a dog dies, a condolence message is sent by Delhi leaders. But I am hurt that 600 farmers have died but no resolution was passed in Parliament'
The Julana assembly seat in Haryana's Jind district is set to witness a keen electoral bout with the Bharatiya Janata Party fielding Capt Yogesh Bairagi, a former commercial pilot, against Congress' wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh Phogat for the October 5 assembly poll.
The Narendra Modi government on Monday supported the United Progressive Alliance regime's decision to include the Jat community in the central Other Backward Classes list for providing reservation and refuted the allegation in the Supreme Court that it was done to gain political mileage in the general elections.
'He only promotes those leaders who will never show any resistance to him in future.'
"Centre and state will soon begin the process of giving reservation, following the Delhi High court order," Khattar told reporters in a joint press conference along with All India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti chairperson Yashpal Malik.
South Haryana hasn't delivered a chief minister since 1967, when his father Rao Birender Singh was ousted from power. It's a legacy Rao Inderjit Singh is determined to reclaim.
BJP leaders from a dominant farming community in Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh held separate meetings on Wednesday to chalk up an outreach to members of the Jat community and caste councils (khaps) to counter the narrative against the Centre's three farm laws.
It also cautioned that if the legislation is passed, the "two crutches" on which the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government is running at the Centre would not be able to escape responsibility.
'China will do everything to hamper our ability to be a competitor.' 'China wants every country in the region to be subservient and we are the biggest stumbling block.'
Roads leading to the protest hub were packed with Jat agitators from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Punjab, giving a tough time to motorists and commuters.
'Arithmetic could decide the Haryana election given the presence of multi-cornered contests.'
Giving this information at Chandigarh, a government spokesman said that more companies of the paramilitary forces have been demanded by the state.
Hours before the ceremony, Saini visited the Valmiki Bhawan and offered prayers at a gurdwara and the Mansa Devi temple in Panchkula.
Around 200 paramilitary personnel were on Saturday airlifted to Rohtak in Haryana from Chandigarh after Jat protesters blocked roads following fresh incidents of violence.
'The bad dream can turn into a ghoulish nightmare for the BJP if the Gujjars in Rajasthan and the Patels in Gujarat, both BJP-ruled states, were to fish in troubled waters and relaunch their respective agitations for quotas in government jobs,' warns Rajeev Sharma.
Delhi faces a severe financial crunch and the deficit is largely due to numerous welfare schemes without adequate revenue flowing in. The success of welfare schemes and electoral promises will need careful financial planning and out of the box thinking to whip up additional revenue, notes Ramesh Menon.
This would give BJP the chance to explore Constitutional options for government formation if there is no clear-cut mandate, explains Sheela Bhatt.
'On October 12-13, he started shivering from fear in his tent.' 'That was the time he wrote a letter to my mother to conduct Ganeshji's Atharvashirsha.' 'The moment he finished writing that letter, he told us, he felt serene calmness.'
Hundreds of members of the Jat community led by Harayana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Monday met Rahul Gandhi to thank him after the Cabinet asked the backward classes commission to expeditiously take a call on providing reservation to the community in central government jobs.