Congress general secretary Margaret Alva on Monday met Meghalaya Governor S S Sidhu, even as its rival Meghalaya Progressive Alliance claimed a strength of 33 legislators in the 60-member House.
The party's political affairs committee "unanimously" decided to support Alva after a meeting chaired by its national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, AAP's spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said on Tuesday.
Barring a brief lull in 2008 triggered by her standoff with Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the issue of family entitlement in ticket distribution, the suave and soft-spoken Alva's career has largely been a dream run.
Could coteries in the Congress they have put Alva up to attacking Digvijay Singh by destroying his reputation? In other words, in the byzantine politics of the Congress, is Alva merely a lamb being led to slaughter by those who want to use her to get at other leaders including Digvijay Singh?
Alva, who has been sulking since her son Nivedith was not given nomination in Karnataka elections, was critical of adoption of 'different yardsticks' in deciding party nominations for coming elections in six states.
Alva, 80, would file her nomination papers on Tuesday, July 19 which is the last date for filing nominations for the August 6 election.
Both the parties were not represented at the opposition meeting that decided on fielding Alva as their consensus candidate, but Pawar had said that he is in touch with both TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as well as AAP convener and Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
There's enough time for Mamata Banerjee to change her mind, Alva said.
Rajasthan Governor Margaret Alva will be sworn-in as Governor of Goa on Saturday after predecessor B V Wanchoo resigned last week. Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, Mohit Shantilal Shah will administer the oath of office to the Governor at Durbar hall of the Raj Bhavan at 6 pm on Saturday, according to a statement issued by the state government.
Alva said she believes that by supporting the BJP in this election, such parties and leaders have damaged their own credibility.
An overview of the past vice presidential elections in India, highlighting uncontested wins, multi-cornered fights, and notable candidates.
Several leaders of the BJP and its allies are of the view that the NDA this time is unlikely to follow the instincts that made it pick Dhankhar and will be more conventional in its search for his successor.
Resignation of Bharat Vir Wanchoo as Governor of Goa was accepted on Monday and Rajasthan Governor Margaret Alva was given the additional charge of the post.
Margaret Alva claims she is unable to make phone calls after dialing 'friends in the BJP'
'Parties which supported me were all threatened. This could hardly have been called a fair election.' 'This is Modi's India.'
Members of Parliament will vote on Saturday to elect the next Vice President of India in an election where National Democraitc Alliance candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar is pitted against Opposition pick Margaret Alva.
'I have had occasion to work with Bill Gates as a young engineer, and am one of the few people in India who has interacted with Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison.' 'I have worked with Andy Grove at Intel, so I know what bright and great people are like, but Modiji is a different level of perfection.'
Jagdeep Dhankhar who is set to take oath as the next vice president this week met incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi on Sunday.
Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi was given charge of youth affairs and the National Students Union of India, the Congress students body.
Former judge of the Rajasthan high court Justice Sajjan Singh Kothari was on Monday sworn in as Lokayukta.
Alva, who is also in charge of Punjab and Haryana, also asked partymen to be prepared for early general elections.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Gujarat Governor Om Prakash Kohli will take additional responsibilities of Rajasthan and Goa as Margaret Alva completed her tenure on Tuesday.
The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttarakhand on Wednesday mounted pressure on Congress-led Vijay Bahuguna government to seek a trust vote forcing repeated adjournments of the Assembly and lodging a protest before Governor Margaret Alva on the issue.
Congress on Friday said its top state leaders would meet the Uttarakhand Governor and stake claim to form a new government even as the BSP, which also holds key to government formation, kept its cards close to its chest.
Rahul Gandhi's name does not figure for any organisational post.
Senior Congress leader and spokesperson Satyavrat Chaturvedi has denied that he has been removed from his post or asked not to hold media briefings.
The party, going it alone on all 294 seats, earlier announced names of 83 candidates.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi is expected to reshuffle her team after Makar Sankranti, party sources said on Monday. "Ashok Gehlot, who became chief minister of Rajasthan, has left a vacancy as he was in charge of several states. This is also the time to do something about Margaret Alva who had been sidelined for her anti-party comments in last few months," a party general secretary said.
However, the Shiv Sena reacted angrily to any move to reopen the cases saying it amounts to saying "hang the Hindus" with an eye on Muslim votes.
A crucial meeting of the Congress Legislature Party to choose Goa's next chief minister got underway in Panaji on Thursday.
With two contenders for chief minister's post, the Congress is having difficulty to install its government despite having numbers on their sides.
State chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has said that he would be meeting party chief Sonia Gandhi to finalise the ministers' list.
The CLP will meet at 11 am at Vidhan Bhavan, party spokesman Anant Gadgil said.
Within two or three days, a Congress team would discuss seat sharing arrangements with the NCP. The task is to be finished by the end of August.
The NCP has already put its claim on Deputy CM's post while the Congress Legislature Party will meet later in the evening to elect their leader.
The MPs took the Swarna Shatabdi Express to Amritsar and will cross the border at the Wagah check-post in the afternoon.
Time came to a halt in Parliament around 1705 IST on Thursday when all the wall clocks suddenly stopped in both Houses, the Central Hall, in ministers' chambers and rooms.
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