Infrastructure, manufacturing and telecom are understood to be among the focus sectors
'If on the back of the resentment against the Modi government, on the very outside chance that the Congress emerges as the single largest party in May 2019, will Rahul Gandhi become prime minister?' 'Or will he do a Sonia and appoint someone else?' asks T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who have extended support to the Congress to form the government in the state, were not present.
There is no mention of Kolar, the second seat from where senior party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, wants to contest, in addition to Varuna, where his name is already cleared.
Several pollsters have predicted that the Congress may have an edge in Karnataka, which is BJP's southern citadel, in a hung assembly with a couple of them even projecting that the grand old party may get a majority on its own.
"The BJP has four Bs -- 'Badhta Bharat' and 'Banta Bharat'. Those who are forming an alliance have four Bs -- 'bua' (aunt), 'bhatija' (nephew), 'bhai' (brother) and 'behen' (sister)," Shah said, accusing the opposition parties of dynastic politics.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday charted out a bigger role for his son and Bharatiya Janata Party state vice-president B Y Vijayendra to make a dent into the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular citadel in old Mysuru region.
Counting of votes will take place on May 15.
With Eranna Bhimappa Kadadi and Ashok Jasti -- one Lingayat and one from the OBC -- named as BJP's candidates for the upper house, bypassing the recommendation of the state unit chief Nalin Kumar Kateel and Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, as well as the core committee of the state, BJP leaders in Karnataka say the move is calculated to diminish the stature of the CM and create conditions for him to be eased out.
According to reports Sumalatha, an independent MP, is likely to announce her decision to join the BJP in a press meet at Mandya on Friday.
Both the BJP and the Congress have their share of challenges, with finding winning horses on top of this list.
Among the bigwigs are Union ministers Amit Shah (Gandhinagar), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra).
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa is also undergoing treatment for coronavirus infection at the same Manipal Hospital.
A day before counting of votes polled in the Karnataka assembly elections, both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress on Friday went into a huddle and held strategy sessions on ways to keep their flock together.
Narendra Modi on Sunday dubbed the United Progressive Alliance government as "remote controlled" and "lame" as he raised the pitch for a strong and stable government at the Centre.
Raut said that the country is in such a state of mind that it can accept the Congress or Deve Gowda, but does not want the Modi- Shah duo
Modi said that the JD-S was going to finish a "poor, distant third".
The 65-year-old passed away at around 8 pm at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences trauma centre which has been converted into a dedicated COVID-19 facility, sources at the hospital said.
With the removal of Singh's SPG cover, the top notch security cover will now be given only to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Gandhi family -- Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her children, Rahul and Priyanka.
Leaders from the Opposition celebrated after the BJP strong man resigned on the floor of the assembly.
' Modi is for the entire country, not just for Karnataka. He had come for campaigning here. The Congress might have won in Karnataka but has seen defeat across the country. Is it the win of local leaders or state leaders?'
The prime minister's one-and-a-half minute video comes nearly a month after he accepted the fitness challenge thrown by Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli.
The stakes are significant for the BJP in this round as the party had in 2019 won an overwhelming majority of these seats, including all in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, that will go to polls on May 7.
Officers from various departments including the finance ministry to be part of rehearsal event
In a joint letter to the prime minister, the opposition leaders, including some chief ministers, have also demanded providing foodgrains to the needy, and giving Rs 6,000 per month to the unemployed.
Can Nitishbabu create an anti-BJP phalanx like Jayaprakash Narayan did in 1977 or will his efforts come undone by Opposition leaders' political ambitions and, of course, the BJP's agency-aided campaign of intimidation?
The PM is seen as slipping up in confidence levels as aired by his 'exposure' of the BRS on a crucial issue as alliance negotiations, which is not done under normal circumstances, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday sought to give credit to his party for the women's reservation bill but Home Minister Amit Shah refuted his claim, saying that the legislation brought by the Manmohan Singh government had lapsed following the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
Siddaramaiah exuded confidence that the Congress would get an absolute majority.
The new CM said the coalition government will work for the people and was not here to fulfil personal interests.
Shivakumar has got the all-important Major and Medium Irrigation and Bengaluru City Development, including the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bangalore Development Authority, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited.
The party bagged 11 of the 25 seats, from 20 Local Authorities' constituencies in the state, for which the biennial election was held on December 10, and counting was taken up today, poll officials said.
Deve Gowda indicated on Sunday that they were ready to compromise.
More than 20 national leaders will attend the meeting, TMC sources said. Most of them have already arrived in Kolkata.
The ruling Congress was on Tuesday ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the taluk panchayat and zilla panchayat elections in Karnataka as the two parties were locked in a keen contest.
Nikhil, son of former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, tied the nuptial knot with Revathi, the grand-niece of former Karnataka housing minister M Krishnappa. The marriage was solemnised at Kumaraswamy's Kethaganahalli farmhouse at Bidadi in the neighbouring Ramanagara district, a JD-S stronghold.
In the latest medical bulletin issued by AIIMS, the hospital said that he 'continues to respond well to treatment'.
A demand was also made that the Election Commission take appropriate action over the alleged money deal.
Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, said political parties should not ignore their senior leaders.
More than 39.8 lakh people in 27 of the 33 districts in the state were affected by the deluge on Thursday.
