Narendra Modi and the father-son duo of Farooq and Omar Abdullah were on Monday engaged in bitter sparring, with the Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate alleging that the biggest blow to secularism in the country was delivered in Kashmir from where Kashmiri Pandits were forced out due to their religion.
Mehbooba Mufti will be CM while Nirmal Singh will again be the deputy chief minister in the new cabinet, a post he had held in the Mufti Mohammed Syeed's dispensation.
A basic outline and roadmap for Opposition unity are likely to be deliberated upon with the contentious issue of seat sharing and leadership questions to be avoided for now.
History would not see the institution kindly if it continues to avoid, as appears to be the case, hearing and deciding some of the most pressing issues of our time, asserts Aakar Patel.
Speaking in the legislative assembly on the condolence motion, Thackeray, without taking any names, said, "Some people have gratitude towards the city where they live and earn their livelihood, but some don't."
Not everyone in Jammu and Kashmir is optimistic about the alliance between the Peoples Democratic Party and Bhartaiya Janata Party. Upasna Pandey/Rediff.com spoke to Kashmiri pandit organisations to find out how they view the new coalition politics in the valley.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, senior leaders K C Venugopal, P Chidambaram and Salman Khurshid were among the party's top brass taking part in the satyagraha at Rajghat.
The Congress on Thursday accused the central government of evading a debate on India-China border face-off and asked why the Modi government has been running away from the issue.
The BJP can only form a government if the PDP splits.
The date for the oath ceremony of the new cabinet was decided after deliberations between the leadership of both the parties.
Tharoor argued that the proposed bill represents a "grave chapter in the history of the Indian republic, seeking to ratify an ordinance that in many ways is an assault on our democratic heritage and the spirit of federalism."
'Families think 100 times before sending their children to mainland India.'
Murmu's vote share is now likely to go past 61 per cent, while it was earlier estimated to be around 50 per cent at the time of her nomination.
Kharge launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the Himachal Pradesh poll schedule was announced but not of Gujarat so that the PM can inaugurate many more bridges like the one that collapsed in Gujarat's Morbi.
'By the time the ground dries up, considering that the homes are still submerged, winter will be here. By the end of October, it is going to be very, very cold. By the end of November, it will be freezing, and it would have snowed by mid December. So before the ground can dry up, there will be snow.' 'The anger has not receded with the water. It persists. The floods have completely finished whatever 5 per cent chance Omar Abdullah had left with the public... He is seen as someone who is highly arrogant and is coming across as one who has no feelings for his people.' A Kashmiri whose family has lived in J&K since before Partition, tells Archana Masih/Rediff.com how the government and media failed the people when flood waters turned Paradise into hell.
Marandi was the chief minister of Jharkhand from November 2000 to March 2003.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said "some people" will never find the time appropriate for withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the state as they have a "liking" for these laws. "It is an ongoing discussion with the Centre. First, it was with the United Progressive Alliance now the National Democratic Alliance government.
Raut said during their meeting, Rahul told him the system of creating and building leaders has stopped in the Congress.
Despite the AAP cutting into its votes, the Congress still polled 27 per cent votes and won 17 seats.
The bypoll assumes significance as Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is seeking her election to the assembly from the constituency.
The bill also makes it mandatory for the Delhi government to take the opinion of the L-G before any executive action.
"If we (the Kashmiris) don't talk about it (dialogue), who will? Not a Bihari, not a Punjabi," she said.
Congress on Wednesday downplayed reports of a possible split in its alliance with the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir even as NC president Farooq Abdullah said that his son and state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would take the final decision on the ties between the two parties.
The new PDP chief will have to work hard to keep everyone in the state happy.
Bommarabettu Laxmijanardhana Santhosh is the only south Indian and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's representative in the BJP's senior decision-making hierarchy.
"The first thing is he is not fit for politics. Probably, the work he should not do, he is doing," Sarma said.
Keshav Prasad Maurya's election from Sirathu in Kaushambi will be among the keenly watched contests in UP. If he and the BJP win, will he be luckier this time?
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD-U launched a frontal attack on ally BJP, asking it to rein in 'loudmouth leaders' whose 'arrogance' had cost it an old partner like the Shiv Sena.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur hit out at Gandhi over his claims of being under surveillance by intelligence agencies and accused him of maligning India on foreign soil.
'The BJP always said Rahul Gandhi is an 'air-conditioned leader', but after this yatra he has proved them wrong.'
"Azad saab (Ghulam Nabi Azad) had spoken on behalf of all of us that we don't accept this timeline -- we don't accept delimitation, election, statehood, we want delimitation, statehood and then election. If you want to hold polls, you'll have to restore statehood first," said Omar Abdullah.
Leading the Opposition attack over the Adani-Hindenburg issue in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday linked Gautam Adani's meteoric rise to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's coming to power and said "magic" happened after 2014 that propelled the businessman from the 609th to the second spot on the global rich list.
Why weren't the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra and Telangana -- all of which have borders with Karnataka -- not invited to Saturday's swearing-in ceremony, asks Shyam G Menon.
Kashmir's youth are being radicalised. The once-alienated separatists are ready to return to their old haunting ground. The ruling PDP-BJP coalition finds itself on the defensive over almost every issue of governance.
She praised the chief minister for leading the party to "many victories" and taking Punjab on a "road to progress".
The activists of the BJYM, led by its president Tejasvi Surya, staged a protest near Kejriwal's residence at Civil Lines in Delhi, demanding an apology from him for allegedly mocking Kashmiri Pandits, with the AAP alleging vandalism during the demonstration.
The Sena alleged that the meeting between Pakistan envoy Abdul Basit and separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani at a time when secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan have just resumed, has been "inspired" by Sayeed.
Briefing reporters after the nearly two-hour meeting, Abdullah said the leaders decided to formalise the alliance, that has been named 'Peoples' Alliance for Gupkar Declaration'.
Colourful lights illuminated buildings and earthen lamps dotted houses as people across the country celebrated Diwali with pomp on Monday after two years of muted festivities due to the pandemic.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh puts it succinctly: "Arun Jaitley was every non-BJP person's favourite BJP-ite."
