Opposition parties on Wednesday opposed the 'one nation, one election' proposal by calling it impractical and a 'cheap stunt' by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
There are states that could swing either way and change the results of the 2024 general election.
The Congress's loss in the three states in the North-East, a region it had dominated for decades, shows there is a lot left to do to reclaim its political turf despite the Bharat Jodo Yatra which it had touted as a successful experiment in mass public outreach.
Senior leader P Chidambaram whose Rajya Sabha tenure is ending from Maharashtra is under consideration from Tamil Nadu as the Congress is all set to get the support of alliance partner the DMK. The G-23 leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Vivek Tankha, are also said to be in contention.
In its third list of candidates for the coming Lok Sabha elections, the Congress on Tuesday fielded 58 candidates, mostly tried and tested ones. While most sitting ministers, including Kapil Sibal (Chandni Chowk), Krishna Tirath (Northwest Delhi), Sachin Pilot (Ajmer) and Srikant Jena (Balasore) were retained, the surprise elements were state Youth Congress President Vishwajeet Kadam replacing tainted Suresh Kalmadi from Pune and cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur (Rajasthan).
Also, with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra not in the running for the party president's post, a non-Gandhi would be at the helm after over 24 years following the polling on Monday and counting on Wednesday.
Both the BJP and Congress understand that coalitions and alliances are not just about numbers, but have symbolic value.
Sixty-eight Rajya Sabha members, including nine Union ministers, are completing their tenure this year, triggering a race of sorts among leaders across political parties to eye a six-year term in the Upper House of Parliament.
10 vacancies in the Upper House after Rajya Sabha members were elected to the Lok Sabha.
The BJP is leaning on Yogi's 'batenge to katenge' theme to weave a unifying narrative that transcends caste and communal lines.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar on Thursday filed papers as an NCP candidate for Rajya Sabha elections.
The Congress is likely to get 11 Rajya Sabha seats in the upcoming election cycle with some of its top leaders, including P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh, eyeing another term.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's tally in Rajya Sabha has dipped below 90 for the first time in several years but the party and its allies are expected to not only recoup the their losses but also make some gains when by-elections to fill the existing vacancies are held in the coming weeks.
Former Congress legislator Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, who was chargesheeted in the Adarsh Society scam, died in Mumbai on Tuesday following a brief illness.
Noting that elections will be held in four states, she urged party leaders to sustain the momentum and goodwill that had been generated for the party in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) would soon form government at the Centre, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claimed on Wednesday as he predicted that the ruling National Democratic Alliance will not complete its five-year term.
The conspiracy to kill Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique was hatched in Pune and shooters were provided with a photo and a flex banner for the target identification, police said on Monday.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for 'one nation, one Election' as recommended by the Kovind panel, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
According to an official release, the voting percentage is likely to go up when reports from all polling stations are obtained, as polling was scheduled until 6 pm in many constituencies.
The only occasion when the BJP had 100 seats in the Upper House was in 2022.
Out of the sitting MPs with serious criminal cases against them, nine face murder cases. The analysis revealed that five of these MPs belong to the BJP.
The government on Saturday lifted the ban on onion exports but imposed a minimum export price (MEP) of $550 per tonne, amid ongoing Lok Sabha elections in the country. Last night, the government imposed a 40 per cent duty on export of onions. In August last year, India had imposed a 40 per cent export duty on onions up to December 31, 2023.
Describing the unrest among party members as just the "tip of the iceberg," the report shed light on the underlying discontent within the BJP.
Hearing Gandhi's petition on Tuesday, Justice S V Kotwal of the high court noted that it raises some "important questions of law."
The coming weeks are sure to have a lot of drama unfolding in Maharashtra, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Guru Nair, the vice-chairman of the cultural cell of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, has written to both the President and Prime Minister, questioning the legality of the auction.
He alleged that the MVA allies were refusing to consider the factor of Maratha activist Manoj Jarange.
Though the police have not found their links in Siddique's murder case as of now, the accused were being further interrogated, she said.
President Pratibha Patil's son and Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Raosaheb Shekhawat was on Tuesfay questioned by the Amravati police in connection with the seizure of Rs one crore unaccounted cash ahead of the civic polls. Accompanied by Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Ganesh Patil and a battery of lawyers, Shekhawat reached the police commissioner's office in Amravati on Tuesday morning, where his statement was recorded in the case.
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The party was retaliating to farmers' suicide comment by BJP national treasurer Piyush Goyal.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure, the little-known Hyderabad-based firm that in recent years won the prestigious Zojila tunnel deal among other projects, forayed into city gas and acquired a media group, was the second largest donor to political parties using electoral bonds.
The Congress rebels are seeking to install a person of their choice as the new chief minister of the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday poised to form the government for a third consecutive term with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance getting a majority in the Lok Sabha, notwithstanding crushing losses in three Hindi heartland states after a bitterly fought election that was projected as a referendum on his popularity.
Fadnavis is the local remote control, but the ultimate remote control is in the hands of the BJP leadership in Delhi, observe Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) on Thursday trained its guns on the Adani Group, alleging hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in publicly traded group stocks through Mauritius-based 'opaque' investment funds managed by partners of promoter family, charges the conglomerate denied vehemently.
If Meena resigns, it is likely to put pressure on other ministers whose areas also saw poor performance in the general elections.
Despite being lodged in prison, Bishnoi has allegedly managed to execute murders of many high-profile people, including Punjabi singer Siddhu Moosewala in 2022, Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi in 2023, besides orchestrating firing outside the residences of singers A P Dhillon and Gippy Garewal in Canada, the officer said.
Uddhav Thackeray claimed the new Narendra Modi government at the Centre, which was sworn in on June 9, will collapse and will be replaced by an INDIA bloc dispensation.
"The state-wide bandh will commence from 12 midnight," NCP spokesman and state minister Nawab Malik said on Sunday.
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