The launch of a new party by former Karnataka minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy has spiced up the poll scene in parts of state.
The wife of slain former Bharatiya Janata Party minister Haren Pandya, Jagruti, on Thursday announced that she will contest polls from Ellisbridge constituency of the city on Gujarat Parivartan Party ticket to get "justice for her husband from people's court."
The Gujarat Parivartan Party, led by Bharatiya Janata Party rebel and former chief minister Keshubhai Patel, will contest the forthcoming assembly elections on the symbol of a cricket bat. In a major relief to the new entrant in the election fray, the Election Commission of India on Wednesday rejected BJP's complaint for disallowing GPP from using this symbol.
A central BJP minister claimed that the split in the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra will also have an impact in the Lok Sabha as at least a dozen Lok Sabha members of the outfit, out of the total 19, were ready to switch sides.
The groups led by Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Monday expressed satisfaction after the Election Commission allotted them new names which mention 'Balasaheb' (Thackeray).
In a veiled attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Tuesday claimed rebel leader Eknath Shinde was pressured to go against the Uddhav Thackeray-led party and also alleged that at least two MLAs accompanying the minister in Surat were beaten up by the police and goons under the BJP's "Operational Kamal".
Besides the MLAs, there were two other people in the SUV, which carried a board mentioning "MLA Jamtara Jharkhand" along with the Congress' election symbol, police said.
Sources said the BJP is expecting Sena rebels, who include 39 MLAs and have been joined by at least 10 independents in a Guwahati hotel, to make the first move by approaching Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
Chirag Paswan cryptically added that he was not ruling out the possibility of siding with the RJD.
He said, according to the party constitution, a 3-member enquiry committee would be set up, which after going through their (suspended MLAs) replies to the notice.
Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party member H T Sangliana and rebel Janata Dal-United leader Ramswaroop Prasad, who voted in favour of the United Progressive Alliance government in the July 22 confidence motion, were disqualified on Tuesday from the Lok Sabha under anti-defection provisions of the Constitution.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka on Friday made a clean sweep in the bye-elections held on April 9, winning all the three seats by comfortable margins. The BJP wrested Bangarapet and Jagalur seats from the Congress and Chennapatna from the JD-S
The Sanganer MLA alleged Raje was "misusing" her political power for "personal gains" and that the state government is a group of those who "extort" money.
Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20. Counting of votes will be held on June 4.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
The Congress government in Uttarakhand on Monday cleared a major hurdle with the election of its candidate Govind Songh Kunjwal as the Speaker of the Assembly by a good margin of eight votes over Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Harbans Kapoor ahead of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna's trust vote.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed 14 rallies in Madhya Pradesh during campaigning for polls and reached out to young voters by reminding them of the failures of previous Congress governments on various fronts as he doubled down on development of all sections.
Facing protests from a section of the Rajput community over Union Minister Parshottam Rupala's remarks, the Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh -- a Rajput-dominated seat -- is hoping that the 'Modi factor' and the development work undertaken by his government will help it retain the Lok Sabha constituency.
BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya that he believed the rebel leader was committed.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the fire incident near the venue of a function addressed by him near Surat could be the handiwork of either the Opposition or the Bharatiya Janata Party rebels in the state.
'Since the last ten days our own people were spreading canards and propaganada against me and my family.' 'I was upset by this behaviour and I decided that I should not contest this Lok Sabha election.'
Newly-inducted minister Sanjay Rathod, who also served as a minister in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led state government, had resigned last year after he was linked to a woman's death in Pune.
Ram Kripal Yadav, who resigned from the Rashtriya Janta Dal after being denied a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in New Delhi on Wednesday.
In a stern message to the powerful Reddy brothers, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka on Friday slapped show cause notices on three members of Legislative Assembly and a member of Legislative Council loyal to them for alleged anti-party activities in backing rebel candidate B Sreeramulu for the bypoll to Bellary rural assembly segment.
'There is a hunch that BJP's 'Chanakya' is trying to create some confusion by sending Ajit to meet senior Pawar'
He sought to nix speculation that the Congress and the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray were working on a 'Plan B' to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls without his faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has tested positive for Covid-19.
'I fear that Karnataka is going to the polls next year and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has staked claim to Akkalkot and Solapur'
Singh said nobody anticipated that Scindia would quit the party.
The coalition government is on a shaky wicket with 16 MLAs -- 13 of the Congress and three of the Janata Dal-Secular -- resigning their assembly membership. Besides, two independent legislators, who were made ministers recently to provide stability, have quit the ministry and withdrawn support.
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy held discussions with Congress leaders after the meeting.
The governor's move comes following Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's letter to the governor seeking the withdrawal of MLCs.
In a jolt to the Bharatiya Janata Party, its candidate on Thursday lost the mayoral election in the Jalgaon Municipal Corporation as 27 party corporators cross-voted.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has referred petitions submitted by the Trinamool Congress and the YSR Congress under the anti-defection law against their respective leaders Sisir Adhikari and K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju to the privileges committee.
Buoyed by the high court verdict upholding the disqualification of 11 rebel Members of Legislative Assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday stepped up its attack on Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj, demanding his immediate recall for 'illegal and unconstitutional acts' if he does not step down on his own."The governor of Karnataka, if he has got any respect for the Constitution and standards in public life, should quit forthwith," said Venkaiah Naidu.
The Congress is acting against its own candidate in Amravati and President's son Raosaheb Shekhawat, Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Gopinath Munde said on Monday.
As many as 833 candidates are in the fray across 93 constituencies which will go to polls on December 5. Votes will be counted on December 8.
The two rival Senas took over each other a day after the party's 57th foundation day celebrations which saw Thackeray and Shinde holding separate events in Mumbai and trading charges.
Suspended MLAs and party workers have also attended functions of the rival Congress party where they have urged people to vote for the Congress.
MVA allies Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress on Thursday asserted that they will continue to support Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, whose party Shiv Sena is facing a rebellion in its legislative ranks, threatening the stability of his government.
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