The dinner was followed by a meeting in which nearly two dozen allies facilitated Prime Minister Modi.
Buoyed by the exit polls projections, the party has sent its senior leaders including general secretary Randeep Surjewala and Avinash Pande, chairman of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee screening committee, to Patna for proper coordination with the allies and possibly also to keep its flock together after the results are declared.
Parliamentarians and legislators across the country voted on Monday to elect India's 15th president, choosing between opposition pick Yashwant Sinha and National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu who is favoured to win the battle to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The numbers, however, appear to be in favour of the ruling dispensation to get these bills passed from Rajya Sabha, while the lower house has already cleared them despite a key NDA member Shiromani Akali Dal vehemently opposing them.
Asserting that "the BJP first set Hindus against Muslims", Badal said the party has "become the most powerful divisive force", out to "replay its evil game in Punjab".
Badal said the farmers are waging a bitter struggle in the severe cold just to secure their fundamental right to life.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Khan, 70, was arrested from his home in Lahore on Saturday shortly after an Islamabad trial court found him guilty of 'corrupt practices' in the Toshakhana corruption case and sentenced him to three-year imprisonment.
With Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal reportedly pitching Arun Jaitely as the deputy prime minister if the National Democratic Alliance comes to power, the senior BJP leader on Saturday played down the suggestion, saying he was not looking for positions.
The decision of its two oldest allies to walk out means that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is also president of the Janata Dal-United, is now the oldest BJP ally besides being the most powerful.
Confrontation between the Sikh bodies of Punjab and Haryana has become more political than religious, says Rediff.com contributor Upasna Pandey.
Andhra Pradesh posted 8.14% consumer inflation in October.
"As part of NDA, we look forward to joining forces with you in Maharashtra to help secure victory in upcoming Lok Sabha elections & beyond. @nitishkumar," Kishor tweeted while tagging JD-U president Nitish Kumar.
The move comes days after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi asked states under party's rule to enact legislations to bypass Centre's three farm-related laws that have triggered protests by farmers.
Did Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu pay the price for locking horns with National Democratic Alliance partner Shiromani Akali Dal?
Journalist Chandan Mitra, who passed into the ages on Wednesday night, will be missed for his courage to go against the grain, mourns Dr Sudhir Bisht.
When elected on July 18 -- which is almost a certainty, given the NDA's numbers in the electoral college -- Droupadi Murmu will be the first President born after Independence.
Leaders from 26 opposition parties, in power individually or in alliance in Delhi and 10 states, are meeting in Bengaluru to discuss strategy to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
'Hopeful of a seat arrangement with BJP in polls if farmers protest is resolved in farmers' interest'
There's no doubt that now Captain Singh has no choice: A succession plan has been forced on him. He can sulk, or he can fight back. But the playing field is no longer as level as it was.
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram is Congress nominee from Maharashtra for the biennial elections to Rajya Sabha while senior leaders Kapil Sibal and Jairam Ramesh have been named from Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka respectively.
SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal announced the decision to snap ties with the NDA on Saturday night, amid stepped up agitation by farmers in Punjab over the three legislations which were recently passed by Parliament amid Opposition protests.
Narendra Modi's ministry expansion makes disdain clear for others who are supposedly allies, quite unlike the Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance.
There will be no second term for President Kovind and no elevation for Vice President Naidu.
'Those who are part of the NDA, like the JDU and LJP in Bihar, should also think. Polls are approaching in Bihar, people will seek answers from them'
She resigned soon after her husband and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal strongly opposed the bills in Lok Sabha on Thursday night, claiming these proposed legislations will "destroy" the agriculture sector in Punjab, and announced that Harsimrat Kaur Badal will quit the government in protest against these three bills.
The Shiromani Akali Dal chief said the passage of the Bills marks a 'sad day' for the 'country's millions and for democracy'.
Unlike the past when G V G Krishnamurthy, J M Lyngdoh, R Peri Sastry, H S Brahma, and V S Sampath held positions in the ECI representing all corners of India, this ECI will be North India-centric.
Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not keeping the promises made to voters ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that the National Democratic Alliance government was working only for the "rich" while the poor and weaker sections continue to suffer.
The chief minister pointed out that prompt action had been taken by the Punjab Police and the accused had been caught without delay, unlike in the Hathras incident. "That was why Rahul Gandhi had to rush to Hathras, to secure justice for the victim's family, and did not need to visit Hoshiarpur," he said.
India has called the remarks by foreign leaders and organisations on protests by farmers as "ill-informed" and "unwarranted", asserting that the matter pertains to the internal affairs of a democratic country.
"I do not mind if attacks are made on me but what pains me is that Modiji snatched the food park from Amethi...it was meant to transform Amethi and Raebareli," he said.
Construction work for Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya would start "soon" and be "completed during this tenure" of the present National Democratic Alliance government, controversial Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sadhvi Prachi said on Friday.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said Mumbai and Amritsar will witness "fireworks" if BJP loses Bihar assembly polls, alluding to its strains with allies.
Accompanied by Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala and other leaders of the Grand Alliance, Yadav made a scathing attack on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi, asking who gave permission to the Munger police to act like 'General Dyer'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Wednesday that his government's action against corruption has made some people angry but he will not turn back in this fight against graft and nepotism, however big an alliance his rivals form against him.
If the Congress came to power in MP, those responsible for the deaths of the six farmers would face strict action within 10 days.
State BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa said the people of north-east in general and Tripura in particular have rejected the "corrupt and divisive" politics, practised by the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist.
In her four-page resignation letter addressed to the prime minister, she said, 'In view of the decision of the government of India to go ahead with the Bill on the issue of marketing of agricultural produce without addressing and removing the apprehensions of farmers and decision of my party, Shiromani Akali Dal, not to be a part of anything that goes against the interest of farmers, I find it impossible to continue to perform my duties as a minister in the union council of ministers.'
The Congress is of the view that firming up of proper opposition alliances in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra is crucial.
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