Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asserted that Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will not be restored even if Congress stalwart and late PM Indira Gandhi comes down from heaven.
In an election where every seat will matter, micro-strategising is going to be the order of the day. And in such a situation, party infighting - in all parties --could lead to unpredictable results.
The first of the two-phase urban local body polls in Uttar Pradesh will take place on Thursday, a major poll battle in the politically crucial state ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.
If the DMK is able to sustain the momentum until the assembly polls, the AIADMK especially and the PMK and possibly the infant TVK too would find it hard to sign up with the BJP, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Corruption overshadowed Modi's roadshows.' 'As the BJP did not deliver any of their promises, people stopped believing him.'
'The Congress must honour the mandate. The mandate is clearly for the BJP.'
Out of 224 seats in the state, the Congress is projected to take 114 seats, a "slender but clear majority", gaining 49 seats over the 2004 assembly elections, the poll says. The poll predicts a major setback for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is hoping to capture power in the state, as it projects the party winning only 60 seats, a decline of 19 seats for it from last time around.
Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party strongman and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday said his son and party's state Vice-President B Y Vijayendra will be contesting 2023 assembly polls from his Shikaripura constituency, which he will be vacating.
Five Congress legislators on Wednesday threatened to resign if senior party leader and minister K H Muniyappa's son-in-law Chikka Peddanna was given a ticket to contest from Kolar in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, bringing into open the divisions in the outfit.
K Siddaramaiah, who led the Congress to victory in the May 5 assembly elections in Karnataka, took oath as the state's 22nd chief minister on Monday.
However, he claimed that this was a fight to save the party and its ideology and to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister once again.
The electoral fortunes of top leaders-- Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai of the BJP, Congress heavyweights Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar and JD-S' H D Kumaraswamy, among many others will be known on Saturday.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions for the prime minister ahead of his rallies in Karnataka.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called for tough decisions and unity within the party after the Congress suffered electoral defeats in Maharashtra and Haryana. In a meeting with top party leaders, Kharge highlighted the need to strengthen the organization from the grassroots, fix accountability, and address internal bickering. He also urged leaders to remain united and avoid public criticism of each other. The Congress chief expressed concern over the party's performance in state elections despite a strong showing in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year. He acknowledged the need to learn from the setbacks and improve the party's strategy and communication to counter its rivals' propaganda.
While Wadiyar, scion of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family, is making his political debut from the Mysore Lok Sabha segment, Lakshmana is state Congress spokesperson and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's confidant.
The Congress on Thursday renamed the Rahul Gandhi-led Manipur-Mumbai yatra starting on January 14 as the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will travel through 100 Lok Sabha segments in 15 states including Arunachal Pradesh, and asserted it will prove to be as 'transformative' as his earlier cross-country march.
The Opposition is also expected to target the Eknath Shinde-led government on shifting of mega projects like Foxconn to Gujarat, according to political observers.
Two-time chief minister and five-time MLA Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy has once again demonstrated his political acumen by bagging a seat in the union council of ministers, despite his party joining the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance just last year.
For the first time, a presiding officer was declaring in public what decision he will be taking, the Rajya Sabha member said.
The Election Commission Wednesday decided to defer proposed by-polls to three Lok Sabha and eight assembly seats in view of the prevailing coronavirus situation in the country.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti who is visiting Karnataka, on Sunday appreciated the people for voting out a 'fascist' Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, but also cautioned people about the recent developments in Delhi, saying it was a wake-up call for everyone as it can happen anywhere in the country.
'What matters is policies, not personalities like Priyanka, Rahul or Modi.'
The Congress leadership is caught in a peculiar situation and wants to find a middle path to the issue, party sources said.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and senior leader Jairam Ramesh were among the 10 candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha on Friday from Karnataka, Rajasthan and Haryana, while counting was underway in Maharashtra after an eight-hour delay due to wrangling by rival parties over alleged breach of voting rules.
Top Congress leadership on Tuesday discussed the issue of government formation in Telangana.
Dubbing as 'farcical' the time of 15 days given by Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala to Yeddyurappa to prove his majority, the Tamil superstar, who is set to enter politics, said that it should not have been done.
The Supreme Court has said that commitments made by political parties in their election manifestos will not amount to 'corrupt practice' under the election laws.
Suresh Kumar said he was withdrawing his nomination following a direction from the BJP leadership.
Shivakumar also claimed that the BJP wanted to call for elections in Karnataka soon after the 2022 Gujarat poll results were out but backtracked on the move.
The cabinet decided to bring the religious minorities under the EWS category.
Headed by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, the JD-S has long been a strong third player in the southern state where the Congress and the BJP have been the two main parties.
'Revanth Reddy mounted a spirited campaign in Telangana which turned around the fortunes of the Congress in six months.'
In a letter to Kharge, Khan said he will not campaign for party candidates for the remaining phases of the Lok Sabha polls and is also resigning from the state Congress campaign committee.
Denials poured in on change in the leadership in Karnataka, amid buzz over such a move by the Bharatiya Janata Party high command ahead of the assembly polls next year, as Union Minister Amit Shah was on a day-long visit to take part in various events in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Key states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana would go for polls this year, besides states from the North-East.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced a Rs 100 per cylinder cut in cooking gas LPG price to ease financial burden on households. Non-subsidised cooking gas price will be cut to Rs 803 per 14.2-kg cylinder in the national capital with effect from midnight of Friday/Saturday, official sources said. Prices vary from state to state depending on the incidence on local taxes.
The top guns of all the major political parties were on a campaign blitz across the state in the past few days, even as the ruling BJP has been striving to break the 38-year-old pattern of alternating governments and retain its southern citadel.
"This is an unparalleled and unprecedented win," he said.
Following this a Veearashaiva-Lingayat seer -- Srisaila Jagadguru Channa Siddharama Panditaradhya Swamiji on Friday said ministers from his community should be considered for the CM's post in case there is a leadership change, while also pitching for them to be given priority in the event of creation of additional Deputy CM posts.
The Karnataka election is being seen as the semi-final to the 2019 general elections and appears to be heading towards a close fight
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