Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners Samajwadi Party and Congress on Wednesday announced a tie-up for the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with UP's main opposition party leaving 17 out of the 80 seats in the state for the ally.
Twelve of the 17 Congress MLAs in the Meghalaya Assembly on Thursday joined the Trinamool Congress, dealing a body blow to the grand old party in the northeastern state, their leader and former chief minister Mukul Sangma said.
As the elections appear closer, the nervousness in the Congress party has become more visible. Each one is frantically concerned about his own position rather than wanting the Congress party to get ready for a spirited fight.
Thackeray said leaders of the Congress and other parties are holding talks with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Telegu Desam Party (TDP) head Chandrababu Naidu to explore the possibility of their entry into the bloc.
The opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition in Maharashtra on Tuesday announced its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray securing a substantial portion with 21 seats, while the Congress will contest 17 seats, and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar 10 seats.
The PDP is the front-runner in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls. The ruling National Conference and the Congress will be lucky to reach double figures.
'All the big things happening today in economic development have their beginning in Dr Manmohan Singh's ideas.'
The Congress on Sunday expressed confidence that it would emerge as the single largest party in Jammu and Kashmir and 'determine' the future of the new government. "The Congress will emerge as the single largest party. And if it is a coalition government, the Congress will determine its future," Union Minister and Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress chief Saifuddin Soz said, with early trends of the poll results indicating a hung assembly.
Bandyopadhyay, eminent playwright and director, said in a statement that he is returning the award conferred on him earlier this year by the Paschimbanga Natya Akademi and the Rs 30,000 monetary grant.
Except for 69-year-old Xi, all top officials including the number two leader in the Chinese leadership hierarchy Premier Li Keqiang will be replaced in the massive reshuffle to follow during the week.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's leadership has come under attack. Although the party tried to dismiss the rebellion brewing in Congress-ruled states of Assam in the east and Maharashtra in the west, no one is convinced.
The TDP and Janasena, which won 16 and two Lok Sabha seats respectively from Andhra Pradesh, will play a crucial role in government formation at the Centre.
There were strong indications that the minister may announce the cancellation of the exam and action against NTA DG Subodh Kumar Singh, who was summoned by the ministry earlier in the day.
The Congress may stand a better chance in the assembly polls if it followed the 'Himachal model', suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray will not switch to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar president Jayant Patil asserted on Thursday, seeking to scotch speculation about a possible crossover by his key ally.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Chhagan Bhujbal would have become the chief minister of Maharashtra had he not quit the Sena.
The Congress government in Karnataka will provide financial assistance to those allegedly sexually assaulted by Janata Dal-Secular leader Prajwal Revanna, the national party said on Sunday.
Akhilesh Yadav hit back, saying no one had any clue that the alliance was coming apart and that he had dialled the BSP chief to know why the tie-up ended.
"Today, we stand united in solidarity with our security forces in fighting terrorism and in defending the unity and integrity of India."
The Delhi high court on Friday sought a response from the Centre, Election Commission of India, and 26 political parties on a petition seeking to restrain opposition parties from using the acronym INDIA for their alliance.
The people of Kashmir are strong enough to handle the National Conference. But what about the soul-searching Congress, asks Aditi Phadnis
The terrorists opened fire on the camp housing labourers of a private company working on construction of a tunnel Gund area in the district, officials said.
Opposition parties will hold the next meeting of their 26-member INDIA coalition in Mumbai on August 25 and 26, sources said on Thursday.
The Congress on Friday welcomed the statements of opposition leaders condemning Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha and said it was now time for the party to take on the job of building the opposition unity in a "systematic way".
The high court asked the defendants to file their reply within two weeks of service of notice and listed the matter for August 22 before the joint registrar.
They said they will raise issues related to rising prices, unemployment, corruption and caste census.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi Tuesday appointed former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad as the party's campaign committee chief in the union territory, but he declined the offer.
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday accused him of lowering the dignity of public discourse and the gravity of the office of the PM by giving "hateful speeches" during the poll campaign.
Ahead of the day-long Opposition meeting on Friday, Samvad Bhavan, Rajkiye Atithisala and Sadaquat Ashram have got a facelift.
While Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has made his national ambitions amply clear, even rechristening his party to aid the process, his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin insists he is already in the national scene and used his birthday rally on March 1 to not only strongly pitch for the Congress as a force to reckon with in the efforts to dislodge the Narendra Modi-led dispensation at the Centre, but also sought to shoot down the prospects of a Third Front.
Even as KPs lined up across special polling stations in Jammu amid tight security, several of them had to return without casting their vote.
Carter was in politics, but not a politician, certainly not a transactional politician, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
National Conference leader Mustafa Kamal landed in the middle of a controversy on Monday after he claimed that the Indian government was dragging its feet on talks with Pakistan, drawing criticism from his nephew and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who distanced himself from the remarks.
Responding to a query on when will the political crisis in Maharashtra end, Shinde, a minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in the state, said things will be clear after some time.
Congress leaders KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah were involved in attempts to topple the JD-S-Congress government in Karnataka.
'I would like to see Kharge include Shashi in the Congress Working Committee.' 'The other alternative is that the Congress will marginalise him.'
A confrontation is brewing up between the Jammu and Kashmir government and its over four lakh employees over the implementation of the sixth pay commission recommendations.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav announced a state-wide 'jail bharo' agitation on Wednesday against Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh and asked the Centre to "mend" its policies, but was silent on the issue of withdrawing support from the Congress-led UPA. "The 'jail bharo' agitation will not be symbolic. You all will have to go to jail...I will court arrest in Lucknow," Yadav said at the inaugural session of the party's Special National Conference in Agra.
Gandhi said Modi's top priority now is to get his Speaker in Parliament and is not bothered about NEET .
