Chief ministers of non-Congress states on Monday accused the Centre of not consulting states on key security issues wherein the state's powers are "abrogated" while United Progressive Alliance ally Trinamool Congress opposed National Centre for Counter Terrorism as it "upsets" the federal structure.
'Sharad Yadav was deeply hurt by Nitish Kumar's decision, taken without consulting the senior party leaders at a time when opposition unity was to be strengthened against the BJP. He felt ignored and is likely to take a final stand soon.'
If the BJP wins by getting Hindu voters to consolidate, its opponents can't beat it by bundling together the Muslims and some of the 'others', observes Shekhar Gupta.
With India under pressure from Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu to support a United States-sponsored resolution in the United Nations Human Rights Commission against Sri Lanka for alleged war crimes, United Progressive Alliance's key constituent Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Saturday announced the convening of its high-level committee on March 20 to discuss the issue. Party chief M Karunanidhi will chair the meeting on Tuesday morning at its headquarters in Chennai.
Expressing gratitude to Bharatiya Janata Party for supporting his Presidential bid, P A Sangma on Thursday appealed to National Democratic Alliance allies Janata Dal-United and Shiv Sena, which are opposed to his candidature, as well as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to back him in the July 19 poll.
'Let me stick my neck out and say that Tamil Nadu will keep alive its reputation for landslide election verdicts, with the DMK front winning at least 30 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats going to the polls in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
While the start may have been rocky, with renewed syllabus and coaching, students and teachers are largely in favour of the exam.
Wary of how its alliance with the BJP in the past had cost it votes, the party is determined to steer clear of any harm by association, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Sonia Gandhi hit out at the BJP for being determined to destroy constitutional values.
With Vijayakanth rebuffing both the DMK and the BJP Tamil Nadu will witness a six-cornered fight, which can only benefit Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, says R Ramasubramanian.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday attacked the United Progressive Alliance government for "reducing states to glorified municipal corporations" by turning a deaf ear to their reasonable demands and described central proposals like the Communal Violence bill as "fascist".
The revived factionalism in the AIADMK, if not curbed now, has the potential to split the party vertically, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.
Known as an astute strategist whose non-political interests range from playing chess and watching cricket to stage performances and listening to classical music, 54-year-old Shah is often hailed as the BJP's most successful president for crafting its way to power states after states.
Surjewala made the case for state-specific alliances while arguing for a larger coalition with like-minded parties in 'national interest'.
Seeking a "decisive shift" in the Centre's stance vis-a-vis Sri Lanka on the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to secure the release of 33 fishermen, arrested by the island nation's navy, and ensure a lasting solution to the issue.
With Rahul showing a significant lead over Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi in opinion polls across southern India but lagging in the north, the Congress believes his contesting from the south will help galvanise cadres.
The Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam is all set to withdraw its five Union ministers from the United Progressive Alliance-2 by the weekend to express solidarity with the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. The step is expected to be taken to put UPA-2 on notice if India voted in favour of Sri Lanka in Geneva where the United Nations Human Rights Council is currently in session.
Rajini's call may now force other political parties, including the DMK and the Congress, who are in alliance talks already, to come up with water proposals of their own in their poll manifesto. In a way, this may be a 'tactical victory' for Rajinikanth, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The DMK has Stalin and Stalin alone as the key campaigner. The rest of them all, including half-sister Kanimozhi, are tied down to their own constituencies while those like party treasurer and former minister S Duraimurugan, to those of their children's constituencies.
While the DMK dubbed the meeting as only a 'courtesy visit', Rao did not meet the waiting reporters.
It is likely that the party's allies in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, two of the five states going to the polls in April-May, might insist on allocating fewer seats than they did in 2016, reports Archis Mohan.
'The Modi-Shah duo won't leave the war zone without putting up a tough fight.' 'Modi's slogan for 2019 could well be, "I have done much. Give me one more chance to do even more".' '2019 will be tough for the BJP.' 'But it will be even tougher for the Opposition -- united or otherwise,' says R Rajagopalan.
Tamil nadu Chief Minister and All India Dravida Munetra Kazhagam supremo J Jayalalithaa on Monday sacked three ministers and six district heads in the backdrop of her party's defeat in three Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
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.
During the hearing, the 92-year-old senior lawyer had told the apex court that it must do 'full and complete justice' in all matters before it and that his last wish before he died was to finish the case.
His second term as solicitor general was renewed recently.
By presenting the battle in Bengal as one between Mamata on one side and Modi-Shah on the other, the saffron camp has projected the former as a larger-than-life figure, a portrayal which has the potential of turning her into Modi's main competitor in 2024, predicts Amulya Ganguli.
Data from Tamil Naduindicates that NEET favours likely CBSE students. CBSE students took every third seat available in government medical colleges in the state.
BJP strategists know it may not repeat its 2014 performance in its traditionally strong bases in the north and the west. This is where the success in the north east and east is so important.
If the AIADMK falls short of the 117-mark required to form a government in the 234-member assembly, will it strike a post-poll deal to form Tamil Nadu's first coalition government? N Sathiyamorthy analyses.
He laid stress on workers' connection with the ground and cited his own example when he was party in-charge for various assembly elections in the past.
Allegations of strains on democratic and constitutional institutions across the board, security threats from outside, a greedy Opposition inside, were all a part of the package then as now, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Though EPS has sworn peace for now, or so it seems, his camp is said to be considering the possibility of calling an early meeting of the party's general council, to get a mandate in his favour before things went out of control. Ground-level indications are that OPS had lost his limited base, which alone had forced him to patch up with the other, reportedly at the instance of the BJP ally at the Centre, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a state where Hindu social identity continues to remain in the overarching Dravida umbrella, the 'Hindutva' political identity does not have the same, or even near-similar electoral purchase, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'That secularism in India is at risk is alarming for someone like me. I'm born secular,' Anjolie Ela Menon, the well-known painter, tells Pavan Lall.
The BJP's hobnobbing with M K Alagiri and ally Vaiko's controversial demands has the potential to rock the BJP's boat in Tamil Nadu, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress may say that Sonia Gandhi's call to new Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa was a courtesy call. But there was a clear message that the Congress president wanted to send, says Neerja Chowdhury.
Seeking the Centre's "hand of friendship" in solving inter-state water disputes, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has said his party's alliance with the Congress was for national integrity and harmony.
Obviously, the not-so warm vibes between the two during the recent election season is a thing of the past, with Jaya scheduled to offer the Tamil angavastram as a mark of respect to Modi in his South Block office.
With Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections, results for 51 assembly and two Lok Sabha bypolls spread across 18 states were declared on Thursday. Here are state-wise results of the bypolls.
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