The National Sports Governance Bill was on Tuesday passed by the Parliament with Rajya Sabha giving its nod a mere 24 hours after Lok Sabha.
While naming him as the NDA candidate for the Vice President's post, the BJP had described him as 'Kisan putra', a move seen in the political circles aimed at reaching out to the politically significant Jat community which had participated in huge numbers in the year-long farmers' protests against agriculture reform measures unveiled in June 2020.
'In my 26 years at Raj Bhavan, working with more than ten governors, I can tell you C P Radhakrishnan Sir stands out.'
Results showed that Solih, who had the backing of a united opposition trying to oust Yameen, secured 58.3 per cent of the popular vote.
'It is something like traditional Indian families.' 'The family might be run by younger people, but if the patriarch says that you should consider someone for some task, it is very difficult for the others to ignore it.'
Thousands of protesters are out on the streets of Istanbul after the arrest of the city's mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
'Modi's charisma may have weakened as last year's Lok Sabha poll results showed but in the eyes of the Sangh Parivar, it has not waned.' 'Minus a strong BJP government at the Centre for another decade and more, there is apprehension that an anti-Hindutva government could reverse many of the ideological gains that the Modi dispensation has achieved through its three terms,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Pawar will not restrict himself to the Rashtrapati Bhavan," the minister from the NCP said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday slammed Rahul Gandhi for his 'surrender' barb at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying it is not only a grave insult to the armed forces and country but also no less than treason.
The NDA's combined parliamentary and state-level committed Presidential votes number around 12,000 fewer than a majority.
The point to note for India is that we must not panic. The United States may be our largest export destination, but high tariffs will not exactly mean gloom and doom. Sure, we can throw some morsels as we continue negotiating, but we must be firm that some red lines cannot be crossed, no matter what, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
The Trinamool Congress will abstain from the upcoming vice presidential election as it does not agree with the way the Opposition candidate was decided without keeping the party in the loop, senior leader Abhishek Banerjee said on Thursday.
Members of Parliament will vote on Saturday to elect the next Vice President of India in an election where National Democraitc Alliance candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar is pitted against Opposition pick Margaret Alva.
The party's political affairs committee "unanimously" decided to support Alva after a meeting chaired by its national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, AAP's spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said on Tuesday.
The Opposition is putting up a symbolic fight for the presidential polls as it knows that the BJP has the numbers to get its candidate elected to the top post.
If there is unity in the Opposition, it is only about regional parties other than the DMK not wanting Rahul Gandhi or any other Congress leader for prime minister, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
While India today is vastly different from the India of 1975, the need for vigilance against authoritarianism remains the same, asserts Utkarsh Mishra.
"More voters were added in Maharashtra in five months between the Lok Sabha and assembly polls than in five years," the former Congress president said.
With the Opposition seeking to put up a united fight in the presidential poll, some leaders have reached out to former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi as a possible choice, sources said on Tuesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's parliamentary board on Tuesday named Droupadi Murmu, the party's tribal leader from Odisha, as the ruling National Democratic Alliance's candidate for the presidential election.
The Bharat Mata controversy in Kerala shows how political and symbolic fights between the state and the Centre have taken attention away from education, throwing the state's oldest university into confusion and disorder, observes Shyam G Menon.
'The presidential poll would decide the direction of the country as to whether democracy will remain or not'
Glimpses from Sri Lanka's presidential election, the first polls since the island's economic crisis, in Colombo and Jaffna, September 21, 2024.
'Parties which supported me were all threatened. This could hardly have been called a fair election.' 'This is Modi's India.'
The development comes a day after clashes broke out in Parliament on Sunday between pro-government MPs and opposition lawmakers over differences over the approval of four members of the pro-China President's cabinet.
Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has reserved the Bill pertaining to four percent reservation for Muslims in government contracts for the President's assent, citing constitutional concerns. The Bill, which has been a subject of controversy in Karnataka, was passed by both houses of the state legislature amid protests from the opposition BJP. The Governor's decision to reserve the Bill highlights the ongoing debate over the constitutionality of religious-based reservations in India.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has announced that the state's Assembly resolution seeking NEET exemption, which was sent for Presidential assent, has been declined by the Centre. Stalin termed the rejection as a "dark chapter in federalism" and accused the Centre of disregarding the will of the Tamil Nadu people. He also announced an all-political party meeting on April 9 to discuss the issue further.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Left leaders met Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar separately on Tuesday to try and convince the veteran leader to be the joint opposition nominee for the presidential election.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in the assembly polls on Thursday has put the party on a stronger wicket for the election for the post of President expected later this year.
Jaishankar said that Rahul Gandhi's lies damage India at an international level.
Raut also highlighted that the party had goodwill toward the opposition's Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha.
Rajiv Kumar, the 25th chief election commissioner of India, has demitted office after a nearly three-year tenure marked by both electoral successes and allegations of bias from opposition parties. Kumar oversaw the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls, among other major elections. During his tenure, he implemented reforms across various aspects of the Election Commission's functioning, including structural, technological, capacity development, communication, international cooperation, and administration. However, he faced criticism from opposition parties and activists on several issues, including the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines, alleged fudging of voter data, and being "lenient" on the ruling BJP. While the Commission responded to the allegations, Kumar often defended himself and the poll authority through poetry. In his farewell address, Kumar expressed concerns about the timing of petitions raising doubts over poll processes and the impact of freebie promises on the fiscal health of the state. He also criticized the practice of showing early trends on counting day by news channels, calling it "nonsense". Kumar's tenure was marked by numerous controversies, with opposition parties and activists alleging bias and irregularities. While the Election Commission defended its actions, the allegations cast a shadow over his time in office.
Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha on Thursday congratulated Droupadi Murmu on her win in the presidential polls and said every Indian hopes that as the 15th President she functions as the "custodian of the Constitution" without fear or favour.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Saturday withdrew his name as the potential joint opposition candidate for the upcoming presidential elections, saying he has a 'lot more active politics' ahead of him, and that he wanted to contribute in navigating the Union Territory through the current 'critical juncture'.
At the end of the day, for many worldwide, the ongoing mutual attacks between Israel and Iran would seem a contest devoid of any moral high ground and only a bout between two ordinary adversaries, one that nevertheless risks spinning out of control into a larger conflagration, notes Shyam G Menon.
The Supreme Court of India has agreed to hear on May 6 the pleas of the Kerala government against the governor over the delay in approving bills passed by the state assembly. The court will consider whether the issues raised in the Kerala petition are covered by a recent judgment on a similar plea by Tamil Nadu, which set timelines for governors and the President on granting assent to bills.
The situation in Syria remains a focal point for all the neighbouring nations after Syrian rebels on Sunday entered the capital Damascus, forcing Assad to flee, ending his over two-decade rule in the country.
With the Congress presidential polls round the corner, party leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said decisions, including that of one-man, one-post, taken at the Chintan Shivir at Udaipur in Rajasthan earlier this year are expected to be followed.
Kumar, who will contest against National Democratic Alliance's Ram Nath Kovind for the post of president, described the presidential poll as a "battle of ideologies" and not a "Dalit versus Dalit" fight as was being out made out by some.
'Granting the country's highest civilian honour to Prime Minister Modi was surprising as it indicated the government was going out of its way to have India as a close partner.'
