Known for weighing his options carefully before making any move, Kumar, upon a closer look, comes across as a risk taker who has not shied away from going against the tide.
Sena MP Sanjay Raut, however, said his party was firm on a written assurance from the senior alliance partner over power sharing, including rotating CM's post for 2.5 years.
The Congress has also asked the prime minister's office to co-ordinate better with various ministries over the issue of inflation.
'Being authoritative is one thing -- Nehru was that -- but being authoritarian is quite another -- the current prime minister is clearly one.'
Skirting the issue of a pre-poll alliance with Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday kicked off her party's campaign for the October 13 Maharashtra assembly polls, with a call to workers to reach out to the people with renewed vigour.Sonia reaffirmed her party's irrevocable commitment to protecting the interests of the 'aam admi', which was the focus of the Congress' policies and programmes.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who has issued a diktat to his partymen to greet Rahul Gandhi with black flags for his "Mumbai for all Indians" remark, on Friday attacked Marathi ministers at the Centre for "not protesting Rahul's anti-Mumbai statement".
However, it was Narendra Modi's 27 rallies that attracted maximum attention.
"The fact is a Maratha from Maharashtra has become slave of a foreign lady. At least Maratha leaders should not do that,' he said.
Earning goodwill of the people of Jammu & Kashmir was necessary before such a move, the former prime minister said.
Deshmukh at a press conference in Mumbai on Sunday had threatened to sever ties with the NCP if it continued to raise the issue of Sonia Gandhi's foreign origins.
Campaigning has reached a fervent pitch in Bihar with senior political leaders wooing the voters, one last time before the state goes to the polls.
The Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal MPs, including his daughter Misa Bharti and Manoj Jha, also staged a protest at Mahatma Gandhi's statue inside the Parliament complex and contended that despite being the chief opposition party in Bihar and the single largest party in the Assembly, it was not invited.
Sources said the Congress leadership is also in talks with AAP leaders and senior leaders within the party are trying to convince Delhi Congress leaders for an alliance.
Most of the parties supported 'one nation one election', says defence minister Rajnath Singh.
The NCP chief said the Congress leader has 'done a service to the Congress and the nation' by not assuming the post of prime minister.
Singh made these comments at the launch of Mukherjee's book -- The coalition years.
In a not-so-veiled remarks targeted at Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, senior leader A R Antulay has squarely blamed the Congress high command for the situation the party finds itself at present
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has now moved to the newly created Madha constituency in the state leaving his pocketborough of Baramati to daughter Supriya Sule, currently a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Political differences blurred as Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote a personal letter to Union minister Gopinath Munde's family condoling his death and Rahul Gandhi visited the Bharatiya Janata Party office to pay respects to the departed leader.
In a bid to embarrass Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, Nitish Kumar has invited 'bujurg' Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani to attend his oath-taking ceremony.
Sources said Rahul's meeting with Pranab follows the former's participation in the Congress Core Group meeting for the first time on July 12.
With the United Progressive Alliance starting to get its act togther ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar had a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday over seat-sharing in Maharashtra and some other states.
As the 15th Lok Sabha assembled for the first time on Monday, it was all in the family for many members. The House, which possibly has the highest number of members related to each other, saw fathers, daughters, sons and cousins assembling together under one roof as representatives of people. Leading the list were Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, elected from Rae Bareli and Amethi respectively.
There was a "broad agreement" on five issues over which the 18 parties will target the government
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior Congress leader A R Antulay passed away on Tuesday.
Ram Jethmalani passed away a few days before his 96th birthday on September 14.
'The BJP may well be his ultimate destination.' 'In the process, he has probably shot himself in the foot.' 'It is unlikely that either Scindia or Pilot will be anything other than a No 3 or a No 4 in the Modi-Shah dispensation,' predicts Amulya Ganguli.
"It was a casual remark...I had not taken Sonia Gandhi's name. You don't talk everything serious in public meetings...some jokes and lighter things are also necessary," Pawar told reporters.
The development came a day after the Jammu and Kashmir government issued a statement asking political leaders not to visit the Valley.
Sanjay Kakade, while speaking to a television channel, also said he does not think that the Shiv Sena will sit in the opposition.
The opposition parties also alleged that the gangster was killed to protect the UP government.
The advertisement highlights NCP chief Sharad Pawar's accomplishments as Union agriculture minister and thanks the UPA government for its support. While the Congress said it was unaware of the advertisement, the NCP claimed it was not issued by the party.
The PBD this year functions as a political stage for the BJP government at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh. Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi have been wooing the Indian diaspora through widely publicised events across the country. At the PBD, the mood was either largely pro-Modi, and when not, apolitical.
The Congress general secretary was joined by leaders like Ahmed Patel, A K Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Randeep Singh Surjewala, besides hundreds of party workers at the India Gate on Monday in a show of solidarity with the students from Jamia Millia Islamia and several other universities across the country protesting the contentious amended citizenship law.
"I understand your pain," Singh, who rushed to the city from Delhi, said during his meeting with some of those injured in the terror attacks that have left 125 dead
Political observers feel that the outcome of the elections weighs in favour of the BJP which had won a massive mandate in the Lok Sabha elections, held earlier this year.
But last weekend when Bhujbal appeared in a Mumbai court to withdraw a 1997 defamation case against the Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray with Uddhav Thackeray keeping him company in front of cameras it ruffled many a feather despite both Bhujbal and NCP playing down the development seen by many as pregnant with possibilities of realignments in the state.
"The Congress is on cloud nine after a little success of the United Progressive Alliance government. It was achieved not on its own but with the help of its alliance partners. As a result, they are trying to create a leadership like Indira Gandhi with all the powers centred around one person," said an editorial in Marathi 'Congresscha Nakli Atmavishwas aani Agami Nivadnuka' (The fake confidence of Congress and the forthcoming elections) in NCP's mouthpiece Rashtrawadi.
A day after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi backed Manmohan Singh's candidature for prime ministership after the Lok Sabha polls, two United Progressive Alliance allies on Sunday said that they would not be averse to accepting the top job if given a chance."Right now, we have Manmohan Singh as the leader. But in case Sharad Pawar gets a chance or Mulayam Singh gets a chance, they will not oppose each other," Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh said.
