Despite recent gains, the BJP-led NDA is unlikely to achieve a two-thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha in the near future, highlighting the challenges in passing key legislation requiring constitutional amendments.
Sibal said the BJP always tries to gain a foothold in states where its presence is limited and afterwards "dumps" its allies.
In a state known for high political literacy and ideological mobilisation, the Congress' inability to quickly settle on a leader after securing a massive mandate has fed a narrative that the party remains excessively dependent on Delhi, deeply faction-ridden and vulnerable to internal sabotage
If Trump wants peace with Iran, Pakistan will offer to help. If Trump seeks Pakistan's aid to spy on Iran, then too Munir will not hesitate to chip in. At the same time, the ISI will not hesitate to tip off Iran now and then, points out M R Narayan Swamy.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh criticizes the BJP's functioning, stating he is not being consulted. He rules out rejoining the Congress but expresses willingness to help Sonia Gandhi personally. He also discusses Punjab's political landscape, AAP's performance, and national security.
'Nitish Kumar previously held tight control over key ministries, but this concession (giving the home portfolio to the BJP) reflects either his weakened political position or a pragmatic acknowledgment of the BJP's growing dominance.'
The BJP Friday formally announced that it will contest the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab in alliance with Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress.
The effective strength of both the Houses together is 786 and the winning candidate will require 394 votes, considering that all eligible voters exercise their franchise.
Opposition-ruled states warn of steep annual losses; Centre assures higher consumption will offset revenue hit.
The election for the post of Vice President will be held on September 9, with the notification being issued on August 7 and the last date for filing nominations on August 21.
The ruling NDA is expected to win the upcoming election for the post of Vice President of India, following the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar.
'When you compare Bihar's poverty from its earlier times, then there is a huge difference. Things have improved a lot. And migration has played an important role in reducing poverty.'
'The government is distributing land in Ladakh as if they are selling cinema hall tickets.'
Where does Kamal Haasan stand on the issue of imposition of Hindi in the south? "I stand with Punjab. I stand with Karnataka. I stand with Andhra," is his quick reply.
Moderate turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling across five assembly constituencies across Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala where bypolls are underway on Thursday.
The Mayawati-led BSP will fight 20 of the 117 assembly seats in Punjab, while the rest will be contested by the SAD.
Punjab Minister Anmol Gagan Mann on Wednesday said her Aam Aadmi Party will fight on all 13 parliamentary seats in the state.
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 15 assembly seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand. The bypolls, however, will not have any direct impact on the respective legislative assemblies. The results will be declared on November 23. In Uttar Pradesh, polling will be held in Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur and Kundarki. Ninety candidates are in the fray in these seats with the maximum of 14 in Ghaziabad. This will be the first electoral test of the INDIA bloc as well as the NDA in the politically-crucial state after the Lok Sabha elections. In Punjab, bypolls will be held in four assembly seats - Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala. The bypolls were necessitated after MLAs representing them were elected to the Lok Sabha. Polling will also be held for the Palakkad seat in Kerala and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand.
"Akali Dal is a part of the NDA but it is a separate political outfit. They have taken this decision because of some political reasons. We have an alliance (SAD-BJP) but both are different political outfits. They (SAD) have taken a political decision," said Sharma.
Hours after, however, firing from the Pakistani side was reported in Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Drones were also seen in the Pir Panjal area.
There is also speculation within the BJP that its national president J P Nadda, whose extended tenure will end by this month and who was among the leaders meeting Modi, may also be brought back in the government.
Political parties have fielded sons, wives and daughters-in-law of legislators who quit after being elected to the Lok Sabha.
'There will be no change of seats for Delhi, Assam and Maharashtra.' 'Andhra, J&K, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Telangana will lose seats while there will be an increase for MP, UP, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.' 'It is a big mistake if you make it a north-south issue.'
The BJP is willing to offer two Lok Sabha seats, including Baghpat which is currently represented by its MP Satya Pal Singh, to the RLD and may also give it a Rajya Sabha seat, they added.
The counting of votes for the bypolls to 46 assembly seats in 13 states and in the Lok Sabha segments of Nanded in Maharashtra and Wayanad in Kerala, a crucial electoral exercise since the parliamentary polls in April-May, will begin at 8 am on Saturday.
An average voter turnout of 20 per cent was recorded in the first four hours of voting in the bypolls to 15 assembly seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand on Wednesday amid an incident of stone pelting in a village in UP's Meerapur and allegations of police personnel deterring voters from casting their ballot.
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states and Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Though these bye-elections are not going to have any bearing on the governments, they are seen as a big test for the Congress and the INDIA bloc which failed to put up a united show in the recent Haryana assembly polls. Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested the Lok Sabha elections and won while in some constituencies, the bypolls are being held due to death of the representatives. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency which he kept. Voting will be held in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Votes will be counted on November 23.
Panthic politics came easily to Parkash Singh Badal. But he was quick to abandon it when it became a problem, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Those joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers for the first time include three former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka).
The statements the separatists make, the abominable tableaux at their parades, the slogans, posters, and selfies with assault rifles are not India's problem. If they are a nuisance, it should bother their host countries, because they are armed and have their own underworld with deadly gang rivalries. Significantly, none of this happens in the US -- only in snowflaky Canada, points out Shekhar Gupta.
On the announcement of his gurantees, Kejriwal said, "I have not discussed with my INDIA bloc partners about this. I will press upon my INDIA bloc partners to fulfill these guarantees."
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accused his successor, Narendra Modi, of lowering the dignity of public discourse and the gravity of the office of the prime minister by giving "hateful speeches" during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign. In an appeal to voters of Punjab ahead of the seventh phase of Lok Sabha polls, Singh asserted that only the Congress can ensure a growth-oriented progressive future where democracy and the Constitution will be safeguarded.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday returned to power in Delhi after more than 26 years to sweep away the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party with a two-thirds majority on the back of a hyper localised campaign and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'AAP-da'(disaster) blitzkrieg.
Punjab's 117 assembly seats are going to be a keenly-watched contest with the Congress, the AAP, the SAD-BSP alliance, and the BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) battling to form the government in the state, with a probable entry of farmers' front in the form of Sanyukt Samaj Morcha.
Nadda enjoys warm relations with Modi, who was for a long time in charge of the party's affairs in Himachal Pradesh.
Close to half of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats are bracing for multi-cornered fight this time, making the contest way more interesting and intense than it was in the 2019 elections.
The rebel leader has been a vocal critic of AAP leadership since he was removed as leader of opposition in Punjab assembly in July last year.
This election will decide in what shape and form the Akali Dal will survive.
He said a tie-up between the two parties could have caused a 'damage' to the BJP-led NDA on the 23 seats.
Modi has proven to be a past master in the art of political survival. This means that learning to navigate the choppy waters of coalition government will be an art he will not take long to master, argues Shyam Parekh.
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