The most important lesson is that you have to build your political proposition, and sell it yourself. You can't leave it to the courts, media, NGOs and civil society and expect them to play the role of the Opposition. That's precisely what Mr Modi's challengers have been doing and we know the results, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Irom Sharmila, the rights activist who formed a party recently, was unable to garner any significant votes.
The government has convened an all-party meeting on July 21 ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament which will start next Monday, the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry said.
Now, the chief minister is under pressure to make good his promise after the December 4 incident in Nagaland's Mon, where 14 people were killedAFSPA has eclipsed all other achievements of the Biren Singh government.
The ruling Congress has pledged to improve the law and order situation in Manipur and withdraw the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act if voted to power in the assembly election.
The Lok Sabha passed a resolution on Tuesday condemning Opposition's disruptions during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address, with Union minister Rajnath Singh saying these actions 'shredded' parliamentary norms.
The Congress on Monday promised that a government led by it will conduct a nationwide caste census and implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies at the earliest, including adequate representation for women belonging to the OBC community.
Speculation is rife in political circles over the past few days that he is likely to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Modi held a massive roadshow from Someshwar Bhavan RBI Ground in Bengaluru South to Malleshwaram's Sankey Tank.
The former footballer who later became editor of a vernacular daily Naharolgi Thoudang, has managed to strike a chord with the youth, promoting entrepreneurship through programmes such as 'Start-Up Manipur' as an alternative for young people who were being attracted to insurgency.
'Whatever tricks the BJP may play, it will not be able to stop JD-U from becoming a national party by 2023'
Besides law and order, the long standing demand for junking Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, economic woes of the land-locked state which has hardly any industries, are expected to figure high on the agenda of the unfolding electoral battle between the two main parties with smaller local parties such as National People's Party and the Naga People's Front chipping in with their own demands.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday shared a video on martial arts sessions held at campsites of his east to west Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra earlier this year and said a 'Bharat Dojo Yatra' is coming soon.
The BJP, which rules the Centre, is in power in Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and is all set to get Madhya Pradesh back and snatch Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress after today's vote count.
Congress and RJD are single largest parties in Goa and Bihar respectively.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Monday alleged that the agenda of the upcoming special session of Parliament is to separate Mumbai from the state and declare it as a Union territory.
Gandhi, who is seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala, in a video appeal said this election is to save democracy and the Constitution.
Despite the fact that the number of Manipuri women voters at more than 10.57 lakh, outnumber males (9.90 lakh) and are known to take the lead when it comes to civil society movements, women find it difficult to rise in electoral politics against the tradition of male dominance.
After Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, discontent is brewing among Congress MLAs in Manipur.
Congress candidate E Suraj won the by-election to Yaiskul assembly constituency in Manipur, the counting for which was held on Wednesday, by defeating his nearest rival H Jayadev (independent) by over 900 votes. According to the Election Commission, Suraj secured 9799 votes as against 8856 votes obtained by Jayadev. The by-election, held on December 19, was necessitated due to the untimely death of Congress Member of Legislative Assembly E Kunjeshore, father of Suraj.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is ahead in 20 seats in Manipur, with Chief Minister N Biren Singh leading by a handsome margin of more than 16,000 votes against his nearest Congress rival in Heingang constituency, Election Commission data showed.
Helped by a fragmented opposition, the Congress on Tuesday swept back to power for the third consecutive time in Manipur with a two-thirds majority in the 60-member assembly.The Congress secured 42 seats, one more than the required 41, for two thirds majority in the troubled state. The fragmented opposition, which formed a loose coalition recently named Peoples Democratic Alliance, managed to get only 18 seats.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the people of the country had given his government the chance to serve them for the third consecutive term after testing it on every criteria.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has signed an 'agreement of cooperation' with several party members who might be fielded in the upcoming Manipur assembly elections, in a bid to prevent switching of allegiance before the polls.
The Rajya Sabha chairman asked him to authenticate his assertions and refused to accept newspaper clippings that the Congress leader showed to buttress his points.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday embarked on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Thoubal in Manipur with a promise to bring peace and harmony in the ethnic violence-hit state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday took the Congress to the cleaners over making the 2024 general elections about the protection of the Constitution, saying Indians voted on the plank only once when they threw out the Indira Gandhi government in 1977 after the Emergency.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Sunday said the people of his state, including himself, want the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act but only after mutual understanding with the Centre as national security is their top priority.
The suspense over whether Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest the polls from Amethi and Raebareli respectively continued.
Congress ally in outgoing Secular Progressive Front government, Communist Party of India, won two seats. The two parties did not contest the Assembly elections as allies this time.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra will be hearing the petition filed by NGO Manipur Tribal Forum.
Singh, along with five cabinet ministers, were administered oath by Governor La Ganesan.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
Being a coalition partner of the Congress at the Centre need not be a deterrent for Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress to join hands with the BJP elsewhere. Konthoujam Sarat of the Trinamool Congress on Thursday won the Konthoujam by-election to the Manipur legislative assembly. It was the first election victory of the Trinamool Congress in the state. Last year, it had won five assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that she has been admitted to hospital due to an illness and hence would not join the party's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on Friday.
In a protests against the decision of Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala to invite BJP to form the government despite falling short of the required numbers, the Congress has been demanding they be called to form the government in Goa and Manipur as it had emerged as the largest party in the 2017 assembly election.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned twice in the post-lunch period on Thursday as a war of words broke out between the treasury and opposition benches, triggered by Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi's spat with the Bharatiya Janata Party's Ravneet Singh Bittu.
Before leaving, Biren Singh said that he and the present and former Congress MLAs will meet the BJP central leadership in the national capital to personally introduce and to invite them to join the party.
Officials have said an absence of drainage system and safety measures, and use of basement for commercial activities in violation of norms led to the death of three civil services aspirants at the coaching centre.
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.
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