The Trinamool Congress's candidate selection for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls is expected to prioritise the nominee's winnability, public image and sitting MPs' performance, while also reflecting the internal debate on whether experienced leaders should make way for the younger generation.
The six presidential nominees to the Rajya Sabha have reportedly been handpicked by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, in an attempt to reassert her authority in the United Progressive Alliance government, which has allegedly acquired a pro-United States stance under the aegis of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.The five persons nominated are Mani Shanker Aiyer, Javed Akhtar, Dr Balchandra Mungekar, Bombay Jayshri and Dr Ram Dyal Munda.
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.
February will see only mid to decent budgeted films arriving.
Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped out of the race to win the Republican nomination for this November's US presidential election after polling a pathetic 8% in the Iowa caucus, has already begun schmoozing the famously amenable to flattery Donald J Trump.
The government has now made it "practically impossible" for political appointees to find a place on the boards of the public sector units (PSUs) as independent directors (IDs), a top official said.
The Congress on Monday took a dig at National Democratic Alliance's vice presidential nominee Jaswant Singh reminding him of his unceremonious exit from the Bharatiya Janata Party three years ago for praising Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah in his book.
'This is the moment when India is shining all over.'
He alleged that the MVA allies were refusing to consider the factor of Maratha activist Manoj Jarange.
Noted industrialist Rahul Bajaj's candidature for the June 15 Rajya Sabha byelection has led to fissure in the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party coalition with Congress on Monday announcing fielding Avinash Pandey.
'Since the last ten days our own people were spreading canards and propaganada against me and my family.' 'I was upset by this behaviour and I decided that I should not contest this Lok Sabha election.'
After the Congress announced its second list of 88 candidates for the next month's Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, protests erupted at several places in the state on Friday through which party workers expressed disappointment over the names of some nominees and denial of tickets to others.
Sharad Pawar expressed surprise over the PM taking a "different stand" now.
Current President Robert Zoellick, who took office in July 2007, is schedule to retire in June.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have got a tough fight in Varanasi had Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contested against him as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) candidate, feel party workers from the temple town.
'Sonia did not visit this place once since she won. Who's to say they won't lose this one, too?'
Togadia said he would go on an indefinite fast from Tuesday to push the Hindutva cause.
Indian badminton stars Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were on Tuesday nominated for the Player Year of the Award by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
'After three decades of passion for our sport and playing for 1.3-plus billion Indians in the Olympics and Davis Cup, I am thrilled that my hard work has been recognised.'
Ayesha Kanga played Yashika on Netflix's Class.
'Who is telling the truth? Former finance secretary Ajit Kumar or disgraced former UTI chairman P S Subramanyam?' asks Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.
Despite Dharavi being located in the Mumbai North Central constituency and Mahalaxmi Racecourse in South Mumbai, the issues have caught the attention of all parties and their candidates.
The government said on Wednesday its 'job is done' in handling the crisis-ridden Satyam, which posted a standalone net profit of Rs 181 crore (Rs 1.81 billion) in October-December quarter, and the company board can decide on sending back the nominee directors. Following disclosure of accounting fraud by founder chairman of Satyam, B Ramalinga Raju, on January 7, the government superseded the board of the IT company and appointed its own nominees to run the company.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pinned its hopes on the old guard to ensure victory in next month's assembly elections in Chhattisgarh as it gave tickets to 11 sitting MLAs and renominated 13 leaders who lost in the 2018 polls.
Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, on Monday, became the first-ever woman chief minister of a province in Pakistan when she was elected to head the Punjab province, describing it as an 'honour' for every woman in the country.
The Congress had fielded Bam against sitting BJP MP Shankar Lalwani from the Indore Lok Sabha seat, where polling will be held on May 13.
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.
Prolific India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, the leading run-scorer in the ongoing Test series against England, has been nominated for ICC Men's Player of the Month Award for February alongside New Zealand's Kane Williamson and Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka.
Narendra Modi's anointment as BJP's prime ministerial nominee catapults to the national scene the Hindutva poster boy who is seen by his critics as a "polarising" and "divisive" figure after the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Speaking in the Delhi Assembly on Wednesday, Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Supreme Court overturning the outcome of the Chandigarh mayoral poll.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi had on Sunday deliberated on the issue of Rajya Sabha nominations from Karnataka with senior party leaders. There are reports of talks between the Congress and H D Deve Gowda-led JD(S) for a possible tie-up for the Rajya Sabha polls.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary announced the tie-up on social media for the elections later this year.
As the curtain falls on the campaign for the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat on Wednesday, April 24, a ringside view of the closing ceremonies.
A political source revealed that Naqvi assumed the role of chairman through a clear understanding between influential stakeholders and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday cautioned partymen against speaking out of turn on its prime ministerial nominee, with its president Rajnath Singh saying some leaders have been announcing names on a daily basis and creating unnecessary controversy. The party emphasised on the need for discipline and improving its image at a meeting of its office-bearers in Delhi to discuss the strategy and issues ahead of polls in six states and the Lok Sabha elections.
In a jolt to the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, state party chief and Mandi MP Pratibha Singh on Wednesday announced that she has decided not to contest the Lok Sabha elections as the ground situation was "not favourable" and workers were disheartened.
These Congress rebels, who had voted in favour of the BJP nominee in the Rajya Sabha polls, later abstained from voting on the Budget, defying a party whip.
The RJD polled the highest vote share in Bihar, but it was not reflected in the number of seats it won.
The RJD has fielded six women candidates, some of them are wives of bahubalis.
With six children of Karnataka ministers in the Lok Sabha poll arena, the campaign scene is getting spiced up in the high-stakes elections for the ruling Congress in the state.
