The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers in the first list of 195 candidates.
Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee along with party leaders and workers sat on a dharna at the Rajghat in New Delhi on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on Monday demanding the release of funds for West Bengal by the Centre.
'Switching loyalty from one party to another is completely unfair as it devalues my vote.'
Party chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said it will introspect on the reasons for the loss in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and will re-dedicate itself to strengthening the party and being the watchdog of people.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said if the Congress comes to power in Karnataka, dynastic politics will be at an all-time high in the state and it will be 'afflicted with riots'.
Goa's Rural Development Minister Fransisco Miccky Pacheco, whose conviction for assaulting a government servant was upheld by the Supreme Court, resigned from the cabinet on Friday saying he did not want to cause further embarrassment to the BJP-led government in the state.
Re-elected MLAs from the ruling party added more wealth in the last five years than re-elected candidates from other political parties, shows an analysis of ADR electoral data.
Pawar made the announcement at the 25th anniversary of the party, founded by him and P A Sangma in 1999.
Among the 17 new AICC secretaries named so far, 10 are below 50 years of age, indicating the generational change in the 132-year-old Congress being brought in by 47-year-old Rahul, reports Amit Agnihotri.
The situation raises concerns about whether the promised freebies will once again push the state into a revenue deficit.
Even if the BJP gets 60, 70, or even 100 per cent of the votes in the seats where it scored more than 50 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, these will still add up to only 224 seats, argues Shekhar Gupta.
'Wait for 2019, there will be no space for the BJP in UP.'
Amit Shah wants to increase the party's nationwide vote share by at least 10 per cent from the 37.7 per cent it secured five years ago and ensure above 50 per cent vote share in the states where it came close to that benchmark, but couldn't cross it.
According to the officials, the funds to the Congress were sent by Hyderabad-based Megha Infrastructure and Engineering.
Sibal, a prominent Opposition voice and a former Congress leader, also said that instead of a common minimum programme, the Opposition parties should talk about a 'new vision for India'.
The Congress on Friday took potshots at the Bharatiya Janata Party over absence of some of its leaders from the party meeting in Goa, saying senior leaders are falling sick "due to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi" and the the BJP should think what will happen to the country because of him.
Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar also said that an alliance similar to the one stitched up in Bihar is needed at the national level for the next Lok Sabha elections.
'There is no meritocracy or at least there is none that is visible and transparent.' 'The Congress has two opportunities to change this,' says Aakar Patel.
Modi-Shah can complain about the Congress playing caste politics but the fact is that in Gujarat it is threatening to return to the old normal. Caste again threatens to divide what Hindutva has kept united for 25 years, says Shekhar Gupta.
The two rival Senas took over each other a day after the party's 57th foundation day celebrations which saw Thackeray and Shinde holding separate events in Mumbai and trading charges.
The Election Commission has come across instances of suspected violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act by Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in their acceptance of donations from subsidiaries of multi-national firm Vedanta group.
Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday promised free pilgrimage to various religious centres, including Ayodhya and Ajmer Sharif, if his party is voted to power in Goa in the assembly polls due in next February, which he said is a 'third guarantee' being given by AAP to Goans.
'In all likelihood, the Congress will fall short in Gujarat.' 'The Modi-Amit A Shah duo will hold on to the state for the BJP,' predicts Sudhir Bisht.
Amid opposition unity talks, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked the Trinamool Congress, alleging that it was fighting elections in Meghalaya to ensure the Bharatiya Janata Party comes to power in the state, drawing a sharp reaction from the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
The young and suave candidate of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Bhavya Bishnoi, looks to defend his 'family bastion' for five decades, while the main opposition Congress has placed its bet on veteran leader Jai Prakash in the Adampur bypoll in Haryana.
Besides the SAD, the SP, the AIADMK and the TRS supported the idea; while the AAP, the TDP, the JD-S, the AIFB, the DMK, the TMC, the GFP and Left parties opposed it.
Yoga was the mantra and asanas the discipline on Wednesday as millions across the globe and distant corners of India stretched for the skies and dived for their toes, breathed in and out -- mindfully -- and twisted and turned to celebrate the International Day of Yoga.
Faced with poll debacle in four states, the Congress is expected to hold a 'chintan shivir'.
Chidambaram also stressed that there were lessons to be learnt by the Congress from the Gujarat loss, saying there is no such thing as a "silent" campaign in a hard-fought election.
Locals of Ramnathi in North Goa district where the Sanatan Sanstha is headquartered, have demanded a ban on the right-wing outfit and urged the state government to ensure that its ashram is shifted out of their village failing which they would intensify their agitation against them and their 'sadhaks' (seekers).
The top guns of all the major political parties were on a campaign blitz across the state in the past few days, even as the ruling BJP has been striving to break the 38-year-old pattern of alternating governments and retain its southern citadel.
However, the AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SC committee has limited terms of reference and 'cannot bring out the deep nexus between' the prime minister and the billionaire businessman.
Going by Himachal Pradesh's "riwaj", or tradition, it should be the Congress' turn to form the next government.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi greets 93-year-old Lilabai Chitale during the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra at Patur in Akola. Lilabaiji went to jail in 1942 when she participated in the Quit India Movement of 1942.
Assembly elections to five crucial states will take place in a few months and the results will be decisive for the BJP, which is eyeing a third successive term at the Centre, in the forthcoming the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
Yogi Adityanath's aura is no longer limited to Uttar Pradesh. At the age of 49, his journey to the higher echelons in the BJP has well and truly begun, predicts Sudhir Bisht.
'Why don't you contest the election for PM's post. You are media, you can also contest'
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said that the police had no intention to arrest the engineer who was booked for posting comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Facebook, indicating that he may be let off after inquiry.
While PM Narendra Modi-Amit Shah dominated the national executive, senior chief ministers and 'margdarshaks' LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi were ignored
