With the Bharatiya Janata Party deciding to move its Karnataka battleground to Delhi to parade its 105 MLAs before President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday, the Congress core committee, which met on Monday evening, decided to wait and watch the situation and not take any decision in haste.
Marking a vertical split in the Nationalist Congress Party, its senior leader Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government as deputy chief minister on Sunday.
A total 2.51 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise for the second phase of elections, including 1.29 crore men and 1.22 crore women.
Pawar said Nitish took the decision anticipating the crisis the BJP was planning to bring on.
He said Shiv Sena protected a political leadership for 25-30 years but they (the BJP) didn't want Sena and also the Akali Dal -- the erstwhile members of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
That for many of the UPA allies it will be the first time they would contest in Gujarat's mainly bipolar polity, shows how the Congress has succumbed to the pressure of its allies.
Rebel Lok Janshakti Party MP Pashupati Kumar Paras appeared to have scored a point on Thursday when he was unanimously elected as the new national president even as the faction headed by his cornered nephew Chirag Paswan dug in its heels and vowed to teach the 'traitors' a lesson.
Interacting with media persons in Guwahati, BJP president Rajnath Singh expressed grave concern over reports about Royal Bhutan Army dismantling Maoist rebels camps inside Bhutan and termed it a 'grave development' just across the border.
'...that he was in talks with the SS-UBT and would return if his ministry was snatched away and given to one of the NCP ministers.'
Earlier, a Uttar Pradesh court refused to recognise 40 rebel Bahujan Samajwadi Party legislators, plunging the state into a political crisis.
After the Shiv Sena's division in Maharashtra assembly, its parliamentary party was also staring at a split with several MPs set to petition Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to recognise them as a separate group.
Rathore, however, said he was a "true soldier" of the Congress party and it was in the public domain who had damaged the party.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said he had been suppressed for a long time and the rebellion led by him was a fallout of the unfair treatment meted out to him, an apparent reference to his old association with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
For the first time, a presiding officer was declaring in public what decision he will be taking, the Rajya Sabha member said.
Shatrughan Sinha is said to be miffed at being "sidelined" in the party and the government.
'Modi is totally isolated in the Parivar. In the coming elections, the RSS has decided not to support him. There has been no contact between Modi and the RSS leaders, not even a phone call, for years.'
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be in the state this weekend, while his colleagues Gajendra Shekhawat, Sanjeev Balyan, Prahlad Patel, Arjun Munda and Mansukh Mandaviya will be visiting in the next few days, sources in the party said on Thursday.
Giriraj Singh Malinga said he had alerted Gehlot ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls that a conspiracy was going on to topple his government.
Shiv Sena rebel Narayan Rane on Tuesday resigned from the post of the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra assembly.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has moved the Supreme Court against the proceedings of the Election Commission on the plea of the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led group for recognition as the real Shiv Sena.
Before forcing arguably the tallest Congress leader from Uttarakhand to bite the dust in the polls to make his maiden entry into the state assembly, Bisht had only won a zila panchayat poll in 2019.
Deputy Chief Minister Nitinbhai Patel will contest from Mahesana
'Maharashtra governor did not do anything that was contrary to the Supreme Court's decision.'
BJP's Devendra Fadnavis, who is expected to make a comeback as chief minister after holding the post from 2014 to 2019, is scheduled to brief media later Thursday on the future course of action, which will include staking claim to form the next government.
Mamata Banerjee's TMC and Kejriwal's AAP challenged the old order.
It was a sigh of relief for the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka on Friday, with the Karnataka high court upholding the order of Speaker K G Bopaiah which had disqualified the 11 rebel BJP MLAs.
Pilot threatened to launch a massive movement in Rajasthan if action on his demands is not taken.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis are scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda on Saturday as the new-found allies move towards constituting their council of ministers.
The BJP said it will seek a floor test in the Madhya Pradesh assembly on March 16.
Eknath Khadse, who had been sulking ever since he had to resign from the Devendra Fadnavis-led ministry in 2016 over corruption allegations, on Wednesday quit the saffron party and is set to join the Sharad Pawar-led NCP on Friday.
The Kamal Nath-led Congress government plunged into crisis after the resignations of 22 rebel MLAs of the ruling Congress earlier this month.
The Congress is blaming the BJP to deflect criticism for its inability to keep its house in order, but truth is clear before the masses, the BJP said.
I challenge the thief to come out on the field with a bow and arrow and we will counter it with a flaming torch, Thackeray said.
SAD has so far declared its candidates for 88 of the 117 seats. As in the last polls, SAD has left 23 seats for its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Modi men meet Keshubhai after Delhi trip
While the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress alleged that the killings were a fallout of the TMC's infighting, the ruling party pointed fingers at the grand old party of India.
The veteran politician accused the BJP of breaking duly elected governments in opposition-ruled states even as it boasted about providing a stable government at the Centre.
With this, 26 MLAs have quit the Congress in the state since March this year. "Lodhi has resigned and his resignation was accepted today," MP Assembly's pro tem Speaker Rameshwar Sharma said.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances