Elections for 19 Rajya Sabha seats spread across eight states will be held on Friday with the contest in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan promising to be a close affair between the BJP and the Congress.
'The BJP was looking at one or two disgruntled guys to see whether it can destabilise the government.' 'When the BJP does not win a state, it uses these back hand methods.'
Though the chief minister indicated seven new faces will be inducted, he did not make it clear whether it will be a cabinet expansion or reshuffle.
The Maharashtra legislative assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a bill which makes Marathi a compulsory subject across all schools in the state. The development came on `Marathi Bhasha Din' (Marathi language day) which is celebrated on February 27, the birth anniversary of poet and Jnanpith award winner late V V Shirwadkar. The state legislative council had passed the legislation, titled `Maharashtra Compulsory Teaching and Learning of Marathi Language in Schools Bill, 2020', on Wednesday.
A demand was also made that the Election Commission take appropriate action over the alleged money deal.
'Kumaraswamy is not officially the leader of the opposition. For three years and eight months of Yediyurappa's government, Siddarmaiah will officially be the leader of the opposition'
With sulking Tourism Minister Anand Singh shutting down his MLA's office in Hospet in Vijayanagar district reportedly to show his displeasure over the portfolio allocation, Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai on Wednesday said he would speak to him.
PM Modi's remarks at the rally at Akbarpur come amid a row in Karnataka where schools have stopped Muslim girls from attending classes while wearing hijab.
The BJP is 'alert and careful' as the chief minister is trying to lure our MLAs using 'power and money', he said.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram and Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Mohammed Salim were among the prominent politicians who tested positive for COVID-19 as a rapid spike in cases took the tally in the country to over 18 lakh on Monday.
Kumaraswamy predicted that the political instability would continue in the state.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah (Home Minister) and our national President J P Nadda have a special love and faith towards me. You are aware that no position has been given to those who have crossed 75 years of age, but appreciating my work they have given me an opportunity despite me crossing 78 years," Yediyurappa said.
The BJP is certain that the TMC will divide the Opposition votes, leaving it free to cruise through the polls.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday expanded his 17-month old cabinet, inducting seven ministers, and indicated that excise minister H Nagesh would be dropped. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan.
Adequate security and Covid safety measures have been put in place for the electoral exercise.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of some BJP-ruled states were among those present at the Raj Bhavan ceremony.
Bharatiya Janata Party nominee S Selvaganapathy was declared elected unopposed to the lone seat in Rajya Sabha from Puducherry, the first time the saffron party has got representation in the Upper House from the Union Territory, while Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's two nominees, Kanimozhi N V N Somu and K R N Rajeshkumar, were elected without contest from Tamil Nadu.
One more ruling Bharatiya Janata Party legislator on Tuesday joined the list of party leaders facing land scam charges with a court in Haveri on Tuesday directing Lokayukta police to probe a private complaint against Nehru Olekar that he secured land to two educational institutions allegedly in violation of rules.
The second round of reallocation today was carried out to pacify Madhuswamy, who was said to have been contemplating resigning as minister, after Republic Day celebrations on Tuesday, official sources said.
There are laws that are as out of time and place today as the Rowlatt Act was a century ago, explains Aakar Patel.
Opening a new chapter in Karnataka politics, former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa On Sunday formally launched Karnataka Janata Party and took over as its president at a massive rally in north Karnataka.
The newly elected Congress legislators, who are staying at a resort on the city outskirts, also joined the protest.
The JD-S, which has 34 seats in the assembly, is not in a position to win a seat in Rajya Sabha on its own and will need support from the Congress with its surplus votes. A minimum of 44 votes are required for candidates to win. If he wins, this will be the second Rajya Sabha entry for 87-year-old Gowda, the first time being in 1996 as PM.
Sources said that despite senior leaders making serious attempts to convince him to rethink on his decision, Gandhi is said to be unfazed.
The message for 2024 is that the man on the street is not going to be euphoric if the G-20 crowns Modi as king-emperor for 2023, or if India sends its first man to space just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Even a 'temple consecration' in Ayodhya, or a Uniform Civil Code, or both of them together, may not have enough electoral purchase if fuel and commodity prices are not rolled back, and money-in-the-pocket does not fatten, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has taken a jibe at Kumaraswamy over his Singapore visit to celebrate the new year, at a time when most parts of the state are reeling under drought.
All India NR Congress leader N Rangasamy was sworn in as the chief minister of Puducherry at a brief ceremony held at the Raj Nivas here on Friday and will lead a coalition government of Bharatiya Janata Party members in his cabinet.
'With over 50 per cent of medical seats reserved for those who have the ability to pay a fee ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore for a five-year MBBS course and quotas in accordance with affirmative policies in government colleges, the band of seats available for the not-so-rich and non-OBCs is very narrow.'
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday expanded his cabinet with the induction of 28 ministers. Twenty were made cabinet ministers and eight ministers of state. They were administered oath of office by Governor H R Bhardwaj at a ceremony at Glass House at Raj Bhavan.
If the Opposition has any chance at the prime minister's job, it can happen only if they all stop dropping names and work at the grassroots-level, state-wise, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Amid the looming threat of more resignations by ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ministers and legislators loyal to B S Yeddyurappa, Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar Wednesday said his government is stable and that he did not expect further resignations.
Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka struggles to finalise its list of candidates to fight the assembly elections in May, the party is faced with a new problem -- a sex scandal. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Another disqualified rebel MLA from Maski, Pratap Gowda Patil, asked the voters in a video message not to panic and said they were confident of emerging victorious in the Supreme Court.
'Don't make the mistake that Scindia made. The BJP is unreliable. Nobody who joined it from any other party has succeeded there'
While the Constitution makes everyone in India eligible to work anywhere in the country, states have used legal loopholes to frame laws.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress on Sunday were set to share the honours in the Lok Sabha and assembly bye-elections in 13 states.
"Should this be the fate of the Speaker or the assembly," Kumar asked minister Priyank Kharge.
To snatch a state government out of Congress hands is therefore a high-stakes game with national political implications, for it denies the party the essential fuel to run effective election campaigns, notes T N Ninan.
In his complaint, the BJP legislator had alleged the Congress leader had defamed the entire Modi community with his remarks, made during the Lok Sabha campaign this year.
In a major political development in Karnataka, three independent legislators -- G Shekhar, Sangadgi, and Narendra Swami -- on Monday called on Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa at the latter's residence in Bangalore. The BJP needs the support of three more legislators to achieve simple majority in the 224-member Karnataka assembly.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances