Mamata Banerjee fended off a spirited challenge by a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal with a landslide victory for her Trinamool Congress on Sunday for a third consecutive term and the saffron party and the Left Democratic Front were poised to form government again in Assam and Kerala respectively while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam stormed back to power in Tamil Nadu after a gap of 10 years.
More than 750 constituencies spread across four states and one union territory will go to the polls on Tuesday
It comes a day after party chief Sonia Gandhi proposed, at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the formation of a group to assess the party's losses in Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry.
In a Facebook post, Jaleel himself confirmed that he had put in his papers. "I am happy to say that those who had been baying for my blood can be relieved for now. I have submitted my resignation to the chief minister. Since the past two years, I have been facing a media onslaught," Jaleel, second minister in the LDF ministry to resign on nepotism charges, said in the post.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said while just 24 hours were taken to disqualify Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha after his conviction in a defamation case, it is to be seen how long will it take to reinstate him after the Supreme Court relief.
A strong demand for ending the culture of nomination at all levels for democratic functioning of the party and its revival was made at the Congress brainstorming conclave in Jaipur on Saturday.
A protest march of the SFI, the students wing of ruling CPI-M, against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's office in Wayanadon Friday turned violent as a group of protestors allegedly entered the Lok Sabha member's office and vandalised it.
The bitter political rivals -- the ruling LDF and the UDF -- close ranks in the state assembly to oppose the ban.
Stopping short of naming him, Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani on Saturday attacked Rahul Gandhi saying he goes around claiming to be a youth leader while being close to 50 years of age.
Leading Malayalam film actress Shweta Menon, who was allegedly molested by Congress Member of Parliament N Peethambara Kurup at the President's Boat race event at Kollam two days ago, on Sunday gave her statement on the incident to police.
Although the leaders are not on same page on many matters related to the party, they have apparently come together to check Tharoor's larger political ambition in the state, they said.
Maharashtra Opposition leader Ajit Pawar, who belongs to Nationalist Congress Party, on Saturday said Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) are trustworthy and the system cannot be manipulated by a single person.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the land of tourism like Kerala has turned into "nursery of terrorism", as he accused the Congress-led government of ignoring the state's development agenda.
Congress general secretary and party youth icon Rahul Gandhi kick started the United Democratic Front election campaign by addressing the Kerala Raksha march conducted by the state party president Ramesh Chennithala. In his speech, he called upon senior party leaders to start a package for Keralites who are suffering after the global crisis hit the Gulf region which has led to several people from the state returning home.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's son has sent a legal notice to Bharatiya Janata Party state general secretary K Surendran for making certain "defamatory" statements against him in connection with the solar scam.
Sharing his experience of the yatra so far, the Congress leader said he felt sad while talking to farmers, youth, and tribals.
'What The Kerala Story is trying to do is take the fake hate propaganda which we saw earlier only on WhatsApp to the big screen now.'
Trains were set afire and blocked, and public vehicles attacked as protests over 'Agnipath' swept across several places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu on Thursday amid partisan political voices in favour and against the new recruitment scheme for the defence forces that has set off a firestorm.
Kerala Congress-J leader T M Jacob on Thursday created a flutter when he displayed a grenade in the state assembly.
With an eye on assembly elections in Kerala, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi mounted an attack on the Communist Party of India-Marxist in its stronghold, accusing it of indulging in "politics of violence" on Monday.
If only the Congress could rebuild on its strengths and develop a modern enough ideology, we could again be moving towards a clearer two-party political landscape, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
'Why is a powerful person called Amit Shah who camped in Manipur for three days not able to maintain law and order in the state?'
Modi said this time 'a third decisive strength is emerging in Kerala and I am seeing this', thanking the thousands of people who stood braving the scorching heat.
Road and rail traffic was partially affected in some regions on Monday during a 'Bharat bandh' called against the Agnipath military recruitment scheme, while protests appeared to taper off in many states, with authorities stepping up security and imposing curbs after days of unrest.
His fresh attack came a day after he said the government is coming up with 'excuses' to stop the Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir yatra, which is currently in Haryana and will enter the national capital on Saturday.
The priority in ticket distribution will be given to youth, women, and those with a clean image, he said.
Today, with the Lok Sabha polls only months away, any inter-state dispute over the Cauvery water dispute has the potential to take more political turns than otherwise, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The raids, taking place mainly in South India, was termed by the NIA as the 'largest ever' investigation process 'till date'.
While agency sources informed that Gandhi recorded his statement and checked its transcript minutely, Congress leaders said the investigators took multiple breaks during his questioning
RSS joint general secretary Manmohan Vaidya, apparently referring to the Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra, described it as a "political gimmick" that will not serve its stated purpose of uniting masses.
The Congress's revival plan says it needs to bring back into its fold Hindus repelled by the Sangh Parivar, take its message to youth and women and sections upset at curbs on their personal freedoms.
Noted Malayalam writer Paul Zacharia, who was attacked for criticising moral policing in Kerala, speaks out.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would participate in the Karnataka leg of the "Bharat Jodo Yatra" led by Rahul Gandhi that will be entering the state on September 30, state party chief D K Shivakumar said on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi mounted a blistering attack on Trinamool Congress over corruption charges against it and also on CPI-M.
'How and why did we lose so many seats in places where we were expected to win?'
Gandhi rued that the fourth estate was showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's face round-the-clock and not raising issues like unemployment or inflation.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said the restoration of statehood and democratic process is a very important step in Jammu and Kashmir as he avoided a question on whether his party would be part of an Opposition alliance in the Union Territory.
In Bihar, where a bandh had been called, a railway station and a police vehicle were torched, an ambulance attacked and security personnel injured in stone-pelting incidents on the fourth consecutive day of the agitation, while protesters vandalised Ludhiana railway station in Punjab and blocked roads and rail tracks in West Bengal, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
Rampant corruption by Congress ministers must be counted as the single biggest factor to prompt the electorate to hand over a thumping mandate to the Communist parties, says M K Bhadrakumar.
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