The People's Democratic Party of Abdul Nasser Madhani will work for the success of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front in the coming Assembly elections in Kerala.
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, who is also a member of the Communist Party of India Marxist politburo, has openly come out against the CPI-M's stance on People's Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madani .The veteran leader, while fielding questions at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, said that the government would investigate whether any cases were pending against Madani. An unabashed Madani welcomed the chief minister's statement.
He said, during a press meet in Kannur, that during the LS polls, alliances were being formed in various states as part of the platform and its result was that the Bharatiya Janata Party was being largely isolated.
Union Minister of State for Home Mullapally Ramachandran told rediff.com on Monday that there were certain individuals and organisations in the state, which were facilitating the activities of the ISI and said that the Union government would take stringent action against them.
'Rahul Gandhi is the face of the INDIA alliance. If he contests against a BJP candidate and defeats her/him, it will send a strong message.'
The specter of how the Munambam issue was exploited during the November by-elections is proof of the price Kerala is paying for its emergent politics. Controversies become the stuff of slow-burn and brinkmanship. The former promises mileage; the latter searches for an advantage, notes Shyam G Menon.
People who were present at the convention centre told media that the first blast occurred in the middle of a prayer.
'What matters is policies, not personalities like Priyanka, Rahul or Modi.'
'It will be the end of the Congress after the Lok Sabha election.' 'Many Congressmen and even Communists will move to the BJP.'
Controversial People's Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madani has accused the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala of playing into the hands of the Opposition Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the case related to the arrest of his wife, Sufiya Madhani.
'We should see to it that not even one woman gets radicalised.' 'We should not let even one young man become a jihadi.'
When it comes to the Congress and Wayanad, the only way the scepticism in the minds of some in Kerala may be addressed is by the Gandhi family proving that they are more than a passing caravan in town, reports Shyam G Menon.
When the landslide hit, Sruthi's house was washed away, along with its inhabitants. She lost her entire family and some relatives. All she had left for a close confidante was her fiance Jenson. Days after the landslide and the loss of her family, Jenson died in a road accident that also left Sruthi with serious injuries. News of the accident and Sruthi's backdrop as the lone surviving member of a family wiped out in the July landslide, was picked up by the media, and people rushed to help.
The Left rewrote history in Kerala on Sunday by becoming the first government to get a second term in four decades but its fortunes fell to a historic low in West Bengal where it failed to bag even one seat, resulting in its complete decimation in a state it once ruled for over three decades.
Priyanka's victory seems assured, but the broader implications for Kerala's political landscape and South Indian politics remain to be seen.
The police, in its plea, had contended that the veteran politician violated the bail conditions and, therefore, the bail was liable to be cancelled.
"We are in close touch with Karnataka police. Madani will be arrested at the appropriate time. There is no confusion on his arrest between us," Kerala DGP Jacob Punnose told reporters at nearby Aluva.
The Karnataka government charged the Kerala government with not extending co-operation to facilitate Madani's arrest in the Bengaluru blasts case in which he is listed as an accused.
Prohibitory orders were clamped in and around the camp of People's Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madani at Anwarssery near Kollam on Saturday as tension prevailed with a large number of his supporters gathering there anticipating his arrest in connection with the Bengaluru serial blasts case.
Mufti said the Bharat Jodo Yatra was like a breath of fresh air in Kashmir as it allowed people to come out of their homes in numbers for the first time since 2019.
Gadgil and the report prepared by the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) headed by him are back in news after over two dozen people lost their lives in landslides and flash floods in the past few days in the hilly regions of Western Ghats in central Kerala districts of Kottayam and Idukki.
At a time when none in Kerala's Left politics questioned the chief minister's authority, MLA P V Anvar hurled a series of accusations against Pinarayi Vijayan's government, notes Shyam G Menon.
It had been reported in a section of the media Madani and his wife had links with some extremist elements, who were shot dead by the army in Kashmir .It may be recalled that four youths from Kerala were killed I an encounter while they were trying to cross the border into Pakistan.
'Those who are starving need not go to watch the match'
The humiliating rebuff given to the power brokers in Delhi in Kerala's local body election carries a big message: Malayalis thoroughly disapprove of the Modi government's shenanigans to misuse central agencies to destabilise a genuinely popular state government, notes M K Bhadrakumar.
'The first and most basic responsibility of any government is to protect its people from external threats and internal harm.' 'Budget 2025-2026 has to focus on meeting this responsibility,' asserts R Jagannathan.
'If Kerala votes back the LDF, if Tamil Nadu brings the DMK and if Bengal votes for the Trinamool, we will project a formidable opposition to the BJP.'
Noted poet K Satchidanandan has alleged that he was restrained by Facebook from liking, commenting and sharing posts for 24-hours after he tried to upload online a satire video on the Bharatiya Janata Party's defeat in the recently concluded Kerala assembly polls.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan's move to seek the resignation of vice-chancellors of nine universities has kicked up a huge political storm in the southern state with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday issuing a stern warning to the Constitutional head asking him not to cross the limits of his powers.
A fast track court dismissed a bail application of Kerala Peoples Democratic P leader Abdul Naseer Madani, an accused in the 2008 Bengaluru blasts, on grounds that there was "no prima facie case to grant him anticipatory bail". Sessions Judge Srikanth Watavatagi, who heard arguments put forward by both Madani's counsel and the public prosecutor on Thursday, rejected the application, saying there was no prima facie case to grant anticipatory bail to the leader.
Meanwhile, the Congress and RSP whole-heartedly backed the Kollam MP.
The Congress continued its losing spree on Saturday posting its worst-ever show in Maharashtra and ending up a distant junior partner to the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand, further diminishing its role in the opposition bloc as other allies perform better.
Amid the bitter tussle with the Left Democratic Front-led government, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Tuesday said he will not interfere in the business of the government unless there was a total collapse of the constitutional machinery and "fortunately" that was not the case in Kerala.
'In Parliament, he was the one person who stood for democracy and secularism even when the principal Opposition party was not very forthright in taking on the BJP and RSS.'
'He should not come to Kerala and fight against the CPI which is an integral part of the INDIA alliance'
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was given a rousing welcome by thousands of people, including United Democratic Front leaders and workers, at Kalpetta in Wayanad on Wednesday as she prepares to make her electoral debut by filing nomination papers for the coming Lok Sabha bypoll.
Expressing solidarity with the people of Lakshadweep, the Kerala Legislative Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a resolution demanding the recall of island administrator Praful Khoda Patel and requesting the immediate intervention of the Centre to protect the lives and livelihood of the islanders.
The Bharatiya Janata Party lined up several promises, including a legislation to protect traditions of the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala and a law against "love jihad", while assuring employment for at least one person from each family and free laptops to high school students, in its manifesto for the assembly polls unveiled in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held on Friday for 88 seats in 13 states with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala.
The National People's Party, which rules Meghalaya, is another national party which received no donations through electoral bonds.
