For the Congress to be taken seriously, it has to convince those around it that it could actually double its Lok Sabha seat share from the existing 52, and vote-share by a third more from the stagnating 20 per cent in 2014 and 2019, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Elections are due in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal that year. Early indications show Bengal holds promise for the BJP, but the party may have to recast itself to win Tamil Nadu.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of A G Perarivalan, who has served over 30 years of life term in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
What was the "locus standi" of Sonia Gandhi when she along with the then prime minister Manhoman Singh inaugurated legislative buildings in Manipur and Tamil Nadu, the Bharatiya Janata Party asked on Wednesday while countering the Congress's criticism over the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The ruling DMK has already announced it will file a review petition against the November 8 five-judge Supreme Court bench upholding the 10 per cent reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections.
DMK chief M Karunanidhi and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K V Thangkabalu signed the agreement, hammered out after hard bargaining by both sides for about a fortnight
Supporters of the bull taming sport Jalikattu on Tuesday staged protests in Tamil Nadu after SC stayed the Centre's notification lifting the ban on it.
After days of haggling, ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and its key ally Congress today finalised on the 63 constituencies to be contested by the national party for the April 13 assembly elections, amid indications by the Congress about possible power-sharing in case the combine won.
The first time the Election Commission has taken cognisance of a model code of conduct complaint against a sitting prime minister.
As the counting process into election to five assemblies reached its final phases, Senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee declared that the people have given their verdict towards both 'stability' and 'change.'
A bench of justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta admitted the appeal filed by Ravindhranath against the high court order for hearing and issued notice to P Milany, who filed the petition challenging his election from the Theni constituency.
'The BJP wants an AIADMK government so that they can implement their policies.' 'All the policies implemented in UP are being implemented in Tamil Nadu.'
Jayalalithaa presented documentary evidence to Congress members in the state Assembly to validate her minister's argument that Mahatma Gandhi wanted to dissolve the century-old political party after Independence.
Is anyone in the BJP listening -- to what Nitin Gadkari had to say, but possibly left unsaid? asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a major organisational rejig ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Saturday appointed Avinash Pande the general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, replacing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra while Sachin Pilot was made the general secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh.
The ruling All India Anna DMK bagged 37 out of the 39 seats in the state, with the Bharatiya Janata Party winning one seat and its alliance partner the Pattali Makkal Katchi winning one.
There are two such seats in Tamil Nadu and one each in West Bengal, Assam, Maharashtra, Puducherry and Madhya Pradesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has honoured Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain refugees by giving them citizenship through Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Union home minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday and maintained there is no provision of stripping of anyone's citizenship in the new law.
'Mamata needs the Congress more than the Congress needs the alliance,' says a Congress leader. 'If the Trinamool and Congress fight the election together, a party survey claims the Trinamool will get around 165 out of 294 seats, but without us, the Trinamool could get somewhere around 130. It will be a few seats less than a majority.'
Surprisingly, the BJP's nearest rival in ad spend was not the Congress, but the Bharat Rashtra Samithi.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure, the little-known Hyderabad-based firm that in recent years won the prestigious Zojila tunnel deal among other projects, forayed into city gas and acquired a media group, was the second largest donor to political parties using electoral bonds.
The marathon raids against Boudh Distillery Private Limited, its promoters and others entered the fifth day on Sunday.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Jayalalithaa on Wednesday rubbished reports that her party would have an alliance with the Congress for the coming assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.Jayalalithaa told reporters that her offer of support to the United Progressive Alliance government during the 2G spectrum scam crisis was not for alliance with the Congress.Asked why she had started criticising the Centre of late, she said, "The AIADMK has always voiced its criticism."
Tejashwi Yadav said that could not have a word with Telangana CM but rest all leaders are coming.
With the assembly polls only two years away, in 2026, any demoralising defeat in 2024, would challenge not only the party's continued relevance but also EPS's leadership, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Ousting Congress, All India NR Congress - All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam combine on Friday secured a majority winning 17 of the 26 seats for which results were declared and was leading in two in the elections to the 30-member Puducherry Assembly.
There was no immediate response from the Aam Aadmi Party over the matter.
The June 23 meeting of opposition parties, called by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar, will see anti-BJP players chalk out a strategy for the Lok Sabha polls.
The bill to amend the law governing Waqf boards proposes far-reaching changes in the Wakf Act, 1995, including ensuring the representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims in such bodies.
The biggest significance of Friday night's statement from Chief Minister Karunanidhi is that this is the first time in many months that the DMK has spoken openly about the alliance and negotiations in public.
The electoral exercise, the first since the Lok Sabha elections, will decide the fate of many veterans and some debutantes including Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur.
The Congress has decided to hunt for new allies while retaining the old ones in its bid to return to power at the Centre after the Lok Sabha elections. The grand old party's strategy revolves around getting new alliance partners like the Janata Dal-Secular in Karnataka, Trinamool Congress of Mamta Banerjee in West Bengal, Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam led by actor- turned-politician Vijaykanth in Tamil Nadu, apart from the existing partners.
'There will be significant political traction for him. But how much, we don't know yet'
Opposition leaders urged Modi to use the opportunity for the country's benefit.
Amid a row over Cauvery water sharing, Karnataka will file a review petition on Tuesday before Cauvery River Authority after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made it clear that only the authority can revisit the decision about the state releasing water to Tamil Nadu.
Reacting sharply to Banerjee's fulminations, the Congress struck back pointing out that Prime Minster Narendra Modi's and her stand were similar, with one seeking a 'Congress 'Mukt' (Free) India' and the other, an 'Opposition coalition sans Congress'.
"People ask me why I am wearing this white T-shirt, don't I feel cold. I will tell you the reason. When the yatra began... in Kerala, it was hot and humid. But when we entered Madhya Pradesh, it was slightly cold.
Rescue teams on Friday used GPS coordinates from aerial drone pictures and cell phones, including the last location of people who lived in the landslides-hit areas of Wayanad to help locate survivors, amidst accelerated search operations after the completion of the 190-foot-long Bailey bridge by the Army.
Majority of these constituencies are in Uttar Pradesh and the party that is on the third slot even as the counting is still underway on several seats is the Bahujan Samaj Party, a party neither with the National Democratic Alliance nor the opposition INDIA bloc.
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