Sources close to the top BJP leadership tell me that Tharoor has already had secret meetings with the BJP's top brass and is waiting patiently to make his next move, reports Ramesh Menon.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday lauded the organisational power of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Bharatiya Janata Party as he shared Narendra Modi's old picture and said how a grassroots worker went on to become the chief minister and prime minister by sitting at the feet of their leaders.
'This is the urban model. This isn't just about Indore. This is happening in cities across the country'
Hindus will offer prayers from sunrise to sunset on Basant Panchami while Muslims to offer namaz from 1 pm to 3 pm on Friday.
The Congress on Wednesday expelled former Madhya Pradesh MLA Laxman Singh, who is brother of ex-chief minister Digvijaya Singh, from the primary membership of the party for six years for 'anti-party activities'.
The development comes days after the party's humiliating defeat in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, where the Congress, led by Nath, failed to replace the BJP government.
Rahul Gandhi was 'punished' with ten push-ups for arriving two minutes late to a Congress training camp in Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. The 'punishment' was part of a discipline rule set by AICC Training Department head Sachin Rao.
A diarrhoea outbreak in Indore, India, has resulted in multiple deaths, with contaminated water suspected as the cause. Authorities are investigating and providing assistance to affected families.
Former MLA Harshwardhan Sapkal has been appointed as the new president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), tasked with reviving the party in the state after its crushing defeat in the last year's assembly polls. Sapkal, a veteran politician, replaces Nana Patole, who held the position since 2021. The Congress aims to rebuild its base and prepare for upcoming local body polls, including those in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, and Nagpur. The party will also need to work with its allies, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), to strengthen the opposition against the ruling BJP-led alliance.
Six children with thalassemia in Madhya Pradesh, India, have tested positive for HIV, suspected to be transmitted through contaminated blood transfusions. An investigation has been ordered, and the opposition Congress party is demanding accountability.
Filing of nomination papers ended on Monday for the second and final phase of Bihar assembly polls, with the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) appearing fractured, as constituents would end up fighting each other in a number of seats.
Congress candidates lost their security deposits on all but three seats in the Delhi assembly polls as nearly 80 per cent of all contenders, including those contesting independently, forfeited their deposits.
With a series of Assembly elections scheduled in the next few months to be followed by the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress Working Committee met on Saturday to take stock of the political situation and discuss possible alliances to hammer out a winning strategy.More than 150 delegates, comprising party General Secretaries, Secretaries, CWC members, Pradesh Congress Committee Presidents, Congress Legislature Party along with union ministers deliberated on the political scenario.
The Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, the first between April and September 2026 and the second in February 2027, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
On speculations of Priyanka Gandhi contesting in the 2024 election, Rai said that Priyanka Gandhi will contest from wherever she wants to.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
The controversy erupted after a purported video, in which Bhubaneswar Additional Police Commissioner Narasingha Bhol was seen instructing police personnel to "break their legs and take reward from me" during a Congress workers' protest, went viral.
Asked about going with Raj Thackeray, who has spoken often against north Indians in Mumbai, Chennithala said, "We do not agree with Raj Thackeray's statement about ousting people from North from Mumbai."
Despite the Congress high command's directive to avoid discussing the 'next chief minister', supporters of both Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi continue to publicly push for their respective leaders to take the top spot. This comes amidst reports of a pact that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would lead the state for the first two and a half years and Shivakumar would take over for the rest of the term.
The BJP-led government's decision to grant Kunbi status to individuals from the Maratha community has opened a Pandora's box.
Workers from the BJP and Congress clashed in Patna during a protest march organized by the BJP against the use of abusive language towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's late mother. The protest turned violent, with stone pelting and vandalism reported. Police intervened to control the situation, and an investigation is underway.
'The question for the TMC is not whether it can hold its bastions, but whether it can expand effectively into regions where the BJP already possesses a good ecosystem.'
Abhijit Mukherjee, son of former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, has rejoined the Indian National Congress after a four-year stint in the Trinamool Congress. He was welcomed back into the party by Congress leaders in Kolkata, marking a significant development in West Bengal politics.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, handled over Rs 1,000 crore worth of proceeds from a liquor scam and used Rs 16.7 crore for his real estate project.
'I don't want to be called a new Indian voter when I am an old Indian voter.'
The Union Cabinet on Friday approved Rs 11,718 crore for conducting the Census of India, 2027, which would include the caste enumeration for the first time.
Madhya Pradesh Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vijay Shah has sparked a major controversy with objectionable comments that appeared to be directed at Colonel Sofia Qureshi, whom he tried to project as a 'sister of terrorists'.
As the smoke from the flames flared up, slogans like 'Zubeen, Zubeen' and 'Jai Zubeenda' reverberated in the air, and people were heard singing his song Mayabini Ratir Buku.
Democracy in India is too important to be left to a leader with a limited appeal. If Rahul Gandhi cares for India, he should step aside for a new crop of leaders, suggests Harishchandra.
The remark triggered sharp reactions from opposition leaders, who accused the minister of being insensitive to the plight of those affected by floods.
The Congress was fighting the elections in a pre-poll alliance with National Conference and had fielded 32 candidates, mostly in Jammu region, compared to 51 by the regional party.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday alleged that over 5,000 social media accounts, mostly operated from Islamic countries, have become active in favour of the Assam Congress.
While the party announced 144 party candidates for Madhya Pradesh elections, it announced 30 candidates for the Chhattisgarh polls and another 55 for Telangana assembly polls slated next month.
A minister and three Congress leaders, considered close to Navjot Singh Sidhu, stepped down from their posts delivering a big blow to the Congress high command that was hoping of resolving the tussle between Sidhu and captain Amarinder Singh after Navjot was appointed as Punjab Congress president ahead of the Assembly elections early next year.
The Congress party in India has condemned the seizure of assets belonging to the National Herald, a newspaper founded by Jawaharlal Nehru, and announced nationwide protests against the action. The party's general secretary, KC Venugopal, described the action as "draconian" and said it was a politically motivated attempt to silence the opposition. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, among others, on charges of money laundering in the case. The Congress has called for protests in front of ED offices across the country on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Delhi unit of the Congress unanimously adopted a resolution urging Rahul to take over as the president.
Gaurav Gogoi will head the screening committee for Rajasthan with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot included among the ex-officio members of the panel.
'Gandhi had given the call 'Do or Die'. And with all the leaders arrested, you had to be your own leader.'
The BJP's MoSha leadership are past masters in encouraging defections from their allies if it helped their party capture the chief minister's chair. In Bihar, they are not sure if JD-U MPs and MLAs would be willing to cross over to the BJP if the Nitish leadership came on top -- and the NDA crossed the halfway mark together, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Chandrappa's appointment follows the demise of KPCC working president and former MP R Dhruvanarayana.
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