'We don't believe in the BJP. But the Congress has no main leader who is credible.'
The BJP has often highlighted the global recognition of his leadership and India's enhanced stature at the international level in its political discourse, an issue which is likely to rise in salience following the G20 meeting.
The reshuffle is likely to take place after the ongoing Budget session ends on April 12, reports Archis Mohan.
With assembly elections just months away in Rajasthan, the Bharatiya Janata Party has been dealt a major blow with the Central Bureau of Investigation chargesheeting senior party leader Gulab Chand Kataria in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.
What some of our leaders were up to on Thursday, October 5, 2023.
Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held on Friday for 88 seats in 13 states with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot's 'Jan Sangharsh Yatra' on the issues of corruption and government recruitment exam paper leaks continued to draw support from people on its fourth day on Sunday.
The Congress needs to reorganise itself at the grassroots, infuse younger blood, and have more boots on the ground. Just offering freebies is not the answer anymore. Leadership matters, asserts Ramesh Menon.
The party fielded Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur, while Uttar Pradesh minister Jitin Prasada has replaced Varun Gandhi in Pilibhit.
At a public meeting in Jhalawar on Friday, while referring to her MP son Dushyant Singh's progress as a people's representative, Raje candidly said she felt she can retire now.
Legislator Ved Prakash Solanki, who is considered close to former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, also criticised Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for his recent remarks praising Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Vasundhara Raje, for helping him survive the 2020 revolt by some Congress MLAs.
Prasanna D Zore and photographer Rajesh Karkera set out to discover Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's success formula.
'And once someone is dead in a family the ritual is to shave your head.'
Since 2018, the BJP has failed to win a majority in any of the state polls. It lost power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in 2018 followed by Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The party managed to form government in Karnataka by winning over opposition MLAs and in Haryana by allying with a regional party.
After the resignations of three MLAs, the Congress, whose strength has been reduced to 65 in the 182-member House, had earlier shifted its legislators to three resorts in Rajkot, Ambaji in Banaskantha district and Anand in Gujarat to thwart any 'poaching' bid. However, a police complaint was on Sunday filed for alleged violation of lockdown norms against a resort in Rajkot district where the Congress had lodged some of its MLAs.
Despite the upbeat statement, the party is expected to reflect on what caused the sharp fall in its numbers. It is expected to win about 240 seats against the 303 it had won in 2019.
'The people of Kota will show Om Birla his place.'
For now, Modi's government appears singularly focussed on demonstrating that it is not in any way inhibited by the BJP's loss of a majority, and will continue along its patented path of bulldozing all opposition and doing just as it likes, asserts Prem Panicker.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said in his third tenure as PM, he will take the country among the top three economies in the world.
'Revanth Reddy mounted a spirited campaign in Telangana which turned around the fortunes of the Congress in six months.'
BSP legislators were earlier supporting the Ashok Gehlot government from outside and were in constant touch with the chief minister.
Even as the deadlock between the Gujjars and the government over the quota issue persisted for the 13th day on Saturday, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot ruled their demand for five per cent reservation in state government jobs, saying the government will work according to the guidelines of the Rajasthan high court.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced a Rs 100 per cylinder cut in cooking gas LPG price to ease financial burden on households. Non-subsidised cooking gas price will be cut to Rs 803 per 14.2-kg cylinder in the national capital with effect from midnight of Friday/Saturday, official sources said. Prices vary from state to state depending on the incidence on local taxes.
The Congress has projected unity to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly polls in Rajasthan but "core issues" between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his bete noire Sachin Pilot remain unresolved, according to sources close to Pilot.
Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Malkhan Singh and sacked Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna's wife Lila Maderna were on Saturday grilled for the second day in the Bhanwari Devi missing case by the Central Bureau of Investigation in Jodhpur. Malkhan, who represents Luni constituency in Rajasthan assembly, was grilled along with Lila at the circuit house in Jodhpur.
The BJP also wrote to the EC, urging it to postpone the date of counting as Sunday is a sacred day for Christians, and the entire day is devoted to church services throughout the state.
For someone who is such an indefatigable litigant, what is stopping Mr Saxena from using the law to depose Mr Kejriwal? Maybe we will get the answer after May 25, notes Aditi Phadnis.
Earlier, Modi was given a standing ovation at the meeting following the party's stupendous win in three assembly polls.
Terming Gehlot's "praises" for her as a big conspiracy, Raje in a statement on Sunday night said he "has made such outrageous and untrue allegations because of the rebellion happening in his own party and diminishing mass base".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday exchanged jibes over the red diary that a sacked state minister claims records financial misdeeds of the CM and his colleagues.
Singh has questioned the reliability of the EVMs on more than one occasion following the Congress' defeat in the recent assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Mentioning the chief minister's statement about people surrounding the Raj Bhawan over Mishra not summoning a session of the state assembly, the BJP said it was an attempt to "terrorise" the governor's office.
Voting was underway on Friday in 102 Lok Sabha seats spread across 21 states and Union territories in the first of the seven phases of the world's largest electoral exercise, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging voters to exercise their franchise in record numbers.
BJP candidate and minister Kunvarji Bavaliya defeated his nearest rival Congress nominee Avsar Nakiya by a margin of 19,979 votes, officials said.
Rahul Gandhi's focus will be on his Nyay Yatra, rather than the INDIA bloc's election campaign, leading to speculation among allies that the Congress leader is already looking at the Opposition's fight beyond May 2024.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said he cannot restore the river water-sharing pact with three neighbouring states that was scrapped by a unanimous vote in the state assembly earlier this week.\n\n
He also targeted the Congress government in Rajasthan, saying that had it set up a special court in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case, which happened in Udaipur last year, the accused would have been hanged by now.
The BTP, a Congress ally which supported chief minister Ashok Gehlot during the revolt in his party earlier this year, is upset that the ruling party candidates chose BJP over it.
A video purportedly of a meeting of the Congress MLAs loyal to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has surfaced.
That he hasn't done so yet, has continued to be active on the political street, in public debate and on social media, signals an important change. It will give his party hope. Maybe the achievement of reducing Mr Modi well below the majority mark will now motivate him to stay committed, observes Shekhar Gupta
