Three of the fence-sitters rule fairly large states Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha that together send 63 members to Lok Sabha -- where the Congress or other opposition parties have been pushed to the margins.
A weak presence in the Rajya Sabha has forced the NDA to try and rope in 'weak links' in the Opposition ranks to pass key legislation in the Upper House.
"Very shortly we will come out with a concrete plan," Rao told reporters after meeting the Trinamool Congress president.
KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida were made deputy chief ministers of the state, he said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on Tuesday as the Monsoon Session of Parliament gets underway next week with the united opposition set to corner the National Democratic Alliance government on issues ranging from the NEET paper leak case and railway safety.
January 22, 2024 has passed into history. Scenes from a day of religious fervour in many parts of India.
The incident took place as a large number of people congregated on Badamba-Gopinathpur T-Bridge on the occasion of Makar Mela, a police officer said.
Embroiled in a controversy over his 'slip of the tongue' on Lord Jagannath, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and party's Puri Lok Sabha candidate Sambit Patra apologised and announced he will undertake penance by observing fast for three days from Tuesday after being criticised from different quarters.
The incident happened on Sunday night when the woman, an undergraduate student at a private college, went to the beach along with her boyfriend, who is a classmate, on the occasion of the Raja festival, they said.
"It is high time India traded dynasty for meritocracy. This would require fundamental reforms, from imposing legally mandated term limits to requiring meaningful internal party elections, together with a concerted effort to educate and empower the electorate to choose leaders based on merit," Tharoor said.
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday ordered a judicial inquiry into the alleged torture of an Army officer and the sexual assault of his fiance at a police station in Bhubaneswar.
The third phase of polling will take place on May 7, 2024.
Odisha's Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das died of bullet injuries on Sunday, Apollo Hospital officials said.
Patnaik, won his his home turf Hinjili by over 60,000 votes, while he was leading from Bijepur till early on Friday morning.
In his three-page-long resignation letter to party president and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, he wrote, "It is with deep anguish, hurt and sorrow that I have decided to quit the kind of politics into which our BJD has descended."
At a felicitation function, in Bhubaneswar, to honour the men's and women's Olympics hockey teams, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, an ardent supporter of the game in the country, announced that the state will continue to sponsor the national hockey teams for another 10 years.
Priest-turned politician Yogi Adityanath, 44, who was on Sunday sworn in as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, now joins Trivendra Singh Rawat of Uttarakhand, M L Khattar of Haryana, Sarbananda Sonowal of Assam and 70-year-old Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik of Odisha in the league of singletons running state governments.
The incident took place when around 50 passengers hailing from Kharsia area in the neighbouring Chhattisgarh were returning in the boat after visiting a temple in Patharseni Kuda in Odisha's Bargarh district.
As the Odisha CM prepares to face the BJP onslaught, the BJP hopes to rope in some BJD heavyweights.
Jena said that 205 bodies of the total 288 have been identified so far and handed over to their families.
The Biju Janata Dal will support the bill replacing the Delhi services ordinance and oppose the no-confidence motion proposed by various opposition parties against the government, the party's Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra said on Tuesday.
Four-time Odisha MP Pinaki Misra's wedding to firebrand TMC MP Mahua Moitra in a quiet, intimate ceremony that chose privacy and tradition over fanfare, was a reflection of his personal style.
His father Somappa Rayappa Bommai was the state chief minister during 1988-1989.
The Odisha government on Friday renamed the WheelerIsland in Bhadrak district as Abdul Kalam Island.
Senior Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler, Niranjan Patnaik and several others were on Saturday booked by the police in connection with a clash between party supporters and policemen during a rally that left over 260 people injured in Bhubaneswar.
Condemning violence at a Congress rally in Bhubaneswar, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday said the people of Odisha were shocked over the incident, in which a policewoman sustained injuries after being assaulted and allegedly molested by the mob. "People are shocked over the incident that took place in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. Odisha is known for its peaceful atmosphere," Patnaik said.
What some of our leaders were up to this weekend.
The PM alleged that a 'PC' (percentage commission) culture has become the state government's identity.
Patnaik said the state has also urged the Centre to stop train and flight services to Odisha till April 30.
Modi reviewed the situation in West Bengal and Odisha with chief ministers Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik, two days after the cyclone, the worst in years, devastated their states.
Gandhi accused Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik of being remote-controlled by Modi
TCS chief executive officer Natarajan Chandrasekaran gave this assurance to Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during a meeting in Bhubaneswar.
President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and several other famous faces were seen at polling booths, exercising their franchise in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
Relief and restoration work was stepped up on Tuesday in areas ravaged by twin calamity of Cyclone Phailin and resultant floods in Odisha, which affected over 1.2 crore people in more than 16,000 villages and claimed 26 lives. Of the 26, five people died in floods.
Patnaik's statement came a few hours after the anti-posco activists sealed all the six roads connecting the proposed plant site villages located in three gram panchayats under Ersama block in Jagatsinghpur district.
India's sprint sensation Dutee Chand's nomination for Arjuna award and cricketer Harbhajan Singh's nomination for Khel Ratna award were rejected by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
Following the win, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced a cash reward of Rs 1 crore for the team, from which Igor Stimac's wards have "collectively" decided to donate Rs 20 lakh.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has questioned the granting of hefty funds to certain states by Pranab Mukherjee, the United Progressive Alliance's Presidential candidate, and sought to know if this was meant to influence the ruling parties including Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal - United and the Trinamool Congress.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on Tuesday that Member of Legislative Assembly Jhina Hikaka, who had been asked to quit by Thursday by Maoists, should not do so. Hikaka had been held captive by Maoists for nearly a month. "Any elected people's representative, including Jhina Hikaka, should not resign under pressure from illegal and unconstitutional forces," Patnaik told reporters.
Two Italian tourists were abducted in the tribal-dominated Ganjam district of Odisha by Maoists, who demanded an immediate end to anti-Naxal operations and release of some of their jailed colleagues.
