The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies are well on the way to power in two north-eastern states, and is almost certain to be part of the ruling dispensation in the third.
With just a week left for the Fadnavis government to prove its majority in the Maharashtra assembly, Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena are yet to resolve their differences over terms for the latter's participation in the ministry, deputy chief minister's post being one of the sticking points.
The 81-year-old parliamentarian said in internal meetings of the UPA, he used to tell everybody present that even if there were differences between them and Modi and his party BJP, one should not forget that he was a chief minister.
What we have in the Congress is a useful glue to hold a non-cultural, unified Opposition together. That is the sacrifice the Congress must be willing to live with if showing the BJP the door is what the collective Opposition wants, observes Shyam G Menon.
'The NCP fires the gun from Raut's shoulders and who does the bullet hit? Not enemies of our party but loyalists like us. This is not acceptable to us'
'The Congress is trying to cover up their anti-incumbency by highlighting the Dalit CM factor.'
Sulking Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday skipped the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the honour of outgoing President Pratibha Patil.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar was given the finance and planning portfolio on Friday, nearly two weeks after he broke away from the original party and took oath as Maharashtra's deputy chief minister.
There they were, showing the world that there are still people motivated not by religious structures, not by past glories, not by hatreds deliberately stoked. These were ordinary folks doing something extraordinary purely because they think that effort might shake a nation out of a spiralling miasma of division, mistrust, cynicism, sophistry and violence.
'The BJP, already falling short of a strong OBC leader from Maharashtra, will be more than happy to welcome Chhagan Bhujbal in its fold.'
But last weekend when Bhujbal appeared in a Mumbai court to withdraw a 1997 defamation case against the Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray with Uddhav Thackeray keeping him company in front of cameras it ruffled many a feather despite both Bhujbal and NCP playing down the development seen by many as pregnant with possibilities of realignments in the state.
Marking a vertical split in the Nationalist Congress Party, its senior leader Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government as deputy chief minister on Sunday.
On the Congress and the NCP collectively fairing better than the 2014 polls in the state, Raut said the opposition also needs to be strong in a democracy.
Maharashtra Shiv Sena MLA and minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday moved the Supreme Court against the disqualification notice issued by the deputy speaker to him and 15 other rebel legislators.
Reacting to the comments, Raut on Monday said the Shiv Sena has "never kept quiet on the issues relating to Savarkar and it will never do so". Without naming the BJP, Raut said the party should browse through history to know the Shiv Sena's stand on issues involving Savarkar.
Being the single largest party after the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance, the Bharatiya Janata Party is projecting senior leader Eknath Khadse for the post of Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly, though its ally Shiv Sena is in no mood to part with it. Sena Executive President Uddhav Thackeray's statement -- "numbers won't determine who gets to hold the post"-- seems to have no impact on the BJP, which is projecting Khadse for the post.
The Nationalist Congress Party would not to be a part of the Maharashtra government if Congress does not follow the 1999 formula of allocation of key home, finance and power portfolios to it, party leader Ajit Pawar said on Tuesday.
'The Congress cannot appreciate people with an independent opinion.' 'That's why many people left the party.'
The airline, on its part, on Wednesday denied retrenchment plans.
Thackeray claimed when the Shiv Sena was with the BJP, he (Shinde) would say the BJP is harming the Sena.
Addressing the annual Dussehra rally at the iconic Shivaji Park ground in Mumbai, Thackeray lashed out at Shinde, whose rebellion in June this year brought down the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in the state.
The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, allies in the Shiv Sena-led Maha Viaks Aghadi government in Maharashtra, on Monday demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation reveal its final finding into the Sushant Singh Rajput death case.
'This silence is an eloquent testimony to the fact that such private armed mobs enjoy the luxury of official patronage'
Two candidates each of the ruling coalition allies Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and the Shiv Sena and four nominees of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday night won elections to the Maharashtra legislative council, an official said.
It will be interesting to see if Thackeray now succeeds in reviving the fortunes of his weakened party.
Long caught between two polarities, Gujarat's electoral field has expanded to include a third party with the Aam Aadmi Party challenging the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as well as the opposition Congress that has lost ground but still has significant presence.
Not all Opposition parties on board, say they are once bitten, twice shy.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, his predecessor and state unit chief R R Patil and senior ministers Ajit Pawar and Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil figure in the first list of 80 candidates announced by the Nationalist Congress Party for the state assembly elections scheduled to be held on October 13. The Sharad Pawar-led party, which has been a part of the ruling alliance with Congress in the state for the last 10 years, is contesting 114 of the total 288 seats.
P A Sangma could face disciplinary action from the Nationalist Congress Party if he ignores his party's direction to withdraw from the Presidential race and back UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee.
A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's comment that there was no United Progressive Alliance anymore, Kishor, who has earlier been political advisor to various parties, also called for democratically electing the opposition leadership.
The Bharatiya Janata Party will not contest the November 3 bypoll to Andheri East assembly seat in Mumbai, Maharashtra party chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Monday.
Congress party in Maharashtra has its hopes pinned on a 'newly recharged' vice-president Rahul Gandhi for its revival.
'The intention is to let the governor know that we have the majority and the letters of support is the proof.'
Voting began on Thursday in the by-election to seven assembly constituencies in six states -- a contest symbolic of the fierce turf war between the Bharatiya Janata Party and regional parties.
Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs will vote on Monday to elect the 15th President of India, with National Democratic Alliance candidate Droupadi Murmu having a clear edge over Opposition's Yashwant Sinha as over 60 per cent votes are expected to be cast in her favour.
The Sena and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray labelled each other gaddar (traitor) after Shinde's rebellion split their original party last year, while Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis publicly asserted he had exacted revenge on Thackeray for his betrayal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided it would not adopt the path of appeasement and vote bank politics.
The SC said it will not interfere with the Bombay HC order but Malik can avail the remedy available under the law.
A day after the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Biju Janata Dal announced support for party leader P A Sangma's candidature, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said his party's stand on the Presidential election will be consistent with that of the United Progress Alliance.
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