"There are clearly two sides. On one side, there is an organisation of patriots in the form of BJP and on the other side, tukde-tukde gang have come together under the leadership of the Congress. It is for the people of Karnataka to decide now whether they are with the patriots or those who support people who want to divide this country," he added.
In yet another jolt to the Bharatiya Janata Party, the party's Alipurduar district president, Ganga Prasad Sharma, joined the Trinamool Congress on Monday, as senior leader of the state's ruling party Mukul Roy, who also switched sides two weeks ago, claimed that this was the 'beginning of the saffron party's end' in the state.
The special judge of MP/MLA court at Bidhannagar directed that Shah is "required to appear in person/by pleader" at 10 am on that day.
Addressing a protest rally at Bankura against rising fuel prices and the proposed privatisation of trains on Saturday, Kalyan Banerjee demanded Sitharaman's resignation.
With the all-party meetings called by Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla producing no breakthrough to end the deadlock in Parliament, Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Pralhad Joshi accused opposition parties of repeatedly 'insulting' Dhankhar.
The apex court, which dismissed the pleas filed by the West Bengal government and the State Election Commission (SEC) challenging the high court order, said the tenor of the high court order was ultimately to ensure free and fair election in the state.
What some of our leaders were up to on Monday, December 12.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mukul Roy's return to the Trinamool Congress evoked mixed reactions in the saffron camp on Friday, with its state unit president Dilip Ghosh asserting that the move will have no impact on his organisation, and former MP Anupam Hazra claiming that 'lobby politics at play is adversely affecting the party'.
'They have a voracious appetite.' 'But there are many places where they go and they lose.'
Conrad Sangma on Friday evening submitted the letter of support to Meghalaya Governor Phagu Chauhan at Raj Bhawan signed by 32 MLAs of NPP, BJP, Hill State People's Democratic Party and two Independents.
Actor-turned-politician Nusrat Jahan had herself married a person of another religion, businessman Nikhil Jain last year.
Parliament on Monday passed The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, to repeal the three contentious agri laws against which farmers have been protesting for over a year, with its passage in Rajya Sabha.
The BJP released its first list of 57 candidates for the West Bengal assembly polls and fielded Suvendu Adhikari from his home turf of Nandigram, from where Trinamool Congress president and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already announced her candidature.
Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: Jayanta Dey/Reuters The Congress also said demonetisation has come a full circle and added that the Rs 2,000 note was a "band-aid to cover up the foolish decision of demonetising" Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Centre and others to a plea challenging the third extension granted to Enforcement Directorate (ED) chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra.
'Two years ago I told Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi that we have traitors in the Congress.'
"I say I am a 'big donkey' (Ami ekta boro gadha) for having failed to recognise them. I dont know (about it), but people say their 'empire' is worth Rs 5,000 crore and they will use money to buy votes. But don't vote for them," Banerjee told the rally.
Adhikari, a former Trinamool Congress minister and MLA, quit all posts and had switched over to the saffron camp last week.
Addressing a public rally in Sabroom in poll-bound Tripura, Shah said that the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist had put the Ram Mandir issue in the jurisdiction of the court for long, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for it after the Supreme Court's order.
'I have interacted with Muslim women in rural Bengal, they are scared of the BJP.'
Five people were killed, including 4 in the firing by Central Industrial Security Force personnel, during the fourth phase of polling
Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced Adhikari's name as leader of the BJP legislature party in the assembly after a meeting of the legislators at the party's Hastings office.
CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary D Raja said the top leadership will not attend the meeting called by the TMC chief.
By comparing I.N.D.IA. with banned terror outfits, Modi has exhibited the kind of nervousness never ever associated with him even at the height of the Gujarat riots, and certainly since his prime ministerial days, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Mamata Banerjee fended off a spirited challenge by a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal with a landslide victory for her Trinamool Congress on Sunday for a third consecutive term and the saffron party and the Left Democratic Front were poised to form government again in Assam and Kerala respectively while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam stormed back to power in Tamil Nadu after a gap of 10 years.
Bhutia, one of the legends of the game in the country, said he did not understand why a central minister would spend so much time with the voters the night before the AIFF elections, though he did not accuse law minister Kiren Rijiju of canvassing against him.
Railway officials also indicated that possible 'sabotage' and tampering with the electronic interlocking system, which detects the presence of trains, led to the Friday accident.
Security measures have been heightened in view of the violence in the previous phases, particularly the death of five people in Cooch Behar in the fourth phase of polling on April 10, an Election Commission official said.
In the Rajya Sabha, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu could not read out his customary closing remarks that sum up the business conducted in the House during the session, as Shiv Sena and other opposition MPs created a ruckus.
A large voter turnout of more than 80 per cent despite sporadic incidents of violence and allegations of vote fraud on Thursday marked the second phase of West Bengal assembly polls.
Six non-BJP ruled states -- West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Kerala and Jharkhand -- have not reduced the VAT on petroleum products, leading to higher prices of petrol and diesel there, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday. Puri said in Lok Sabha that the central government has reduced excise duty on petroleum products and some other states, following cues, reduced their Value Added Tax (VAT). Six states -- West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Kerala and Jharkhand -- have not reduced the VAT, he said amidst vocal protests by the opposition members.
In a far-reaching verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the election commissioners will be done by the President on the recommendation of a committee, comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the CJI, to maintain the "purity" of the electoral process.
More screenings are expected to take place in some colleges in Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram later Tuesday, a senior police officer said.
The Oxford Union Debating Society, citing unforeseen "circumstances", on Wednesday sought to postpone a scheduled virtual address by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the last moment, drawing flak from the ruling Trinamool Congress, which sniffed "political pressure from the highest level" in the matter.
If only the Congress could rebuild on its strengths and develop a modern enough ideology, we could again be moving towards a clearer two-party political landscape, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Employees of public sector banks (PSBs) on Thursday went on two-day strike against the move to privatise public sector banks impacting normal banking operation across the country. Many branches across different parts of the country were shut as the United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine bank unions including All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) had given two day strike call. As a result, services such as deposits and withdrawal at branches, cheque clearance and loan approvals might be affected due to the strike. But ATMs are expected to function as usual.
'Didi' became the real 'Dada' as she got past the post, on a wheelchair and a foot in cast, a souvenir from the Nandigram battle against former protege-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari.
The Shiromani Akali Dal skipped the meeting, besides the Aam Aadmi Party, the TRS and the BJD.
A designated MP/MLA court on Monday forwarded a case of defamation brought against Union Home Minister Amit Shah by Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee to the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Kolkata over jurisdiction issues.
