Union Minister Praful Patel and Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is the Nationalist Congress Party's OBC face, are among 18 candidates announced by the party on Thursday for the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra.
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.
While Nationalist Congress Party chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today reiterated that he would not be contesting the Lok Sabha election this time, some senior party leaders would have to brace up for moving out of the state.
Vijay Rupani, the fourth chief minister to demit office in BJP-ruled states during the coronavirus pandemic, was sworn in as chief minister -- his second stint as CM -- in December 2017.
The BJP has nominated Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal as its candidate from Maharashtra for Rajya Sabha election.
Seven candidates are in the fray for six Upper House seats from Maharashtra that will go to polls.
Pawar also announced a panel of senior party leaders to draw a future course of action. Party workers and leaders, however, demanded that Pawar withdraw his decision.
'I want to warn Ajit dada and all those who have stabbed Pawar saheb by joining hands with the BJP.' 'Don't write saheb's obituaries so soon.'
Bhujbal said Sharad Pawar announced support to the BJP in 2014 after it formed government following the Assembly polls without the Shiv Sena's backing.
Sources in various parties suggest that two lakh votes of the Patel community, locally known as OBC kurmi, for which mother-daughter led Apna Dal (S) and Apna Dal (K) are competing and over one lakh of OBC Rajbhars would be crucial in deciding the outcome of the assembly seats in Varanasi.
The "venom" that the Congress leader has been spewing against the prime minister in his "political frustration" has now turned into an insult to the country, Irani alleged.
BJP president J P Nadda on Wednesday announced an alliance with Apna Dal and Nishad Party, two parties that draw their support primarily from sections of backward castes, for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
As the man raised a finger at Patel while talking, an irked minister gestured him to lower his finger, and said, "If you spoke in this manner, you will get two slaps. (Aisa bolega to do khayega)."
What some of our leaders were up to on the weekend.
During a cabinet meeting earlier in the day, Modi lauded both Naqvi and Singh for their contributions to the country during their ministerial tenure, sources said.
Patel, whose name is doing the rounds for the top post in the state, told reporters in Gandhinagar that he will not speak about any individual's name at this stage and the BJP's central leadership will decide on the new chief minister.
Modi, attired in traditional dhoti and gamcha (stole), entered the sanctum sanctorum of the Lord Mahakal temple at around 6 pm.
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.
Bhima Koregaon represents what the government can do in India against well meaning people who speak up against atrocities, who stand up for the weak and the dispossessed and for this reason alone as seen as enemies of the State and kept in prison for as long as the government can manage. So long as the rest of us do not speak up against this misbehaviour by the State, so long as we forget about those who have been made its victims, this behaviour will continue, asserts Aakar Patel.
'The war of 1962 exposed the hollow intellectual foundations of Nehruvian foreign policy, especially vis-a-vis China and that is why it was such a shock.'
Some of the prominent United Progressive Alliance ministers on Sunday came under fire from Team Anna at the fast venue of Anna Hazare with the activist's close aide Arvind Kejriwal claiming that cases could have been registered against 14 ministers if there was a Lokpal.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said he aspired to become the CM of the state and also took a jibe at his 83-year-old uncle asking when will the Maratha strongman retire from active politics, as he appeared to be ahead in the numbers game for control of the Nationalist Congress Party after its vertical split.
AAP could make its presence felt. But Gadhvi may have to wait for a chance to get the top job.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Thursday said his decision to step down from the post was taken for the future of the party and to create a new 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.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on Lakshadweep Administrator Praful Khoda Patel's policies which have angered and upset the majority Muslim population of the Union Territory.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday dedicated to the nation the Mahakal Lok corridor at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.
A total 2.51 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise for the second phase of elections, including 1.29 crore men and 1.22 crore women.
Sharing Yadav's tweet, Giriraj Singh, who has often been critical of Kumar, on Wednesday said, "The snake has entered your home."
Sharad Pawar on Friday evening announced that he was not stepping down as the president of the Nationalist Congress Party.
If only the Congress could rebuild on its strengths and develop a modern enough ideology, we could again be moving towards a clearer two-party political landscape, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Particularly the small and independent Web sites that have developed a following in the recent past because the mainstream is seen as totally aligned with the government, points out Aakar Patel.
'In the long run, I don't foresee major ramifications [about Trudeau's allegations].' 'There's just enough hypocrisy among Western nations for India to douse the outrage.'
'The bad dream can turn into a ghoulish nightmare for the BJP if the Gujjars in Rajasthan and the Patels in Gujarat, both BJP-ruled states, were to fish in troubled waters and relaunch their respective agitations for quotas in government jobs,' warns Rajeev Sharma.
The Global Indian Award is given to a person who has had an impact on and contributed in some way to the growth of the Indian and global economy.
The BJP-led NDA's nominee Droupadi Murmu on Friday filed her nomination papers for the July 18 presidential election, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi handing over the set of papers to Returning Officer P C Mody.
Seventy two years ago, a newly independent India ventured to hold the the first Asian Games in Delhi with meager resources.
'Number two' in the cabinet Nitin Patel has emerged as a strong contender.
A joint venture of the Indian conglomerate Vedanta and Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn signed a memorandum of understanding with the Gujarat government on Tuesday to set up a semiconductor and display manufacturing unit in the state.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation is planning to start flights connecting about 120 cities in the country from the current 81 cities, said Praful Patel, Union Minister for Civil Aviation.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances