Union Defence Minister and senior leader of the Congress party AK Antony said on Thursday that no force can stop the Congress-led United Democratic Front from coming to power in Kerala and forming a government in the state.
With the Congress still pruning its final list of candidates and the Kerala Congress - Mani and the Socialist Janata Dal sulking over seat sharing arrangements, the United Democratic Front is yet to finalise its list of candidates."There are several issues in the Congress party and the party is now reduced to a pocket organisation of Oomen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala.These two leaders have become so powerful that nobody can challenge them" said a source.
Opposing the contention, the state government had argued that the Railways Act was only applicable to Special Railway Projects and SilverLine did not fall in that category.
More than 750 constituencies spread across four states and one union territory will go to the polls on Tuesday
The SilverLine project, which is expected to considerably reduce travel time from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram, cannot be implemented without approval from the Centre which appears to be giving it a second thought in view of the United Democratic Front and Bharatiya Janata Party's opposition to it, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday.
The incident occurred during the inauguration of a 'madrassa' building in the district, where students were felicitated recently.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the assemble elections results were "a setback".
It may be for the first time that any leader in any political party in Kerala had taken such a step to register their protest against the party leadership for denying poll ticket.
Vijayan, in his detailed speech, said his government wanted to resolve the issue amicably within the framework of law and sought the support of everyone to participate in the process to settle the 140-day-long agitation.
The CBI also submitted another referral report in the court exonerating Bharatiya Janata Party leader AP Abdullakutty in the sexual exploitation complaint by the woman.
In a boost to the United Democratic Front ahead of assembly polls in Kerala next year, the Congress candidate K S Sabarinadhan on Tuesday won the Aruvikkara assembly by-poll by a margin of 10,128 votes defeating his nearest rival M Vijayakumar of the Opposition Left Democratic Front.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday submitted his resignation following the defeat of the ruling Congress-led UDF in the assembly election and attributed "false propaganda" against his government among the reasons that led to the debacle.
The Trinamool Congress registered a decisive victory in West Bengal on Sunday, contrary to results of most exit polls which predicted a tight race between the BJP and the TMC with an edge to the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
UDF, LDF raise voice against cow slaughter ban backed by BJP leadership.
Tamil Nadu and Kerala are voting in single-phase for 234 and 140 assembly constituencies respectively.
With elections elsewhere in India showing that multi-pronged contests usually work to the BJP's favour, the party can gain if it hangs on stubbornly. In the meantime, any additional support helps. That is why the archbishop's comment attracted political traction in Kerala, observes Shyam G Menon.
'We know a day will come very soon when people will realise our fight was for the environment and not against the nation.'
'It was my own decision to resign as governor.' 'I felt the party needed my services and presence during the election.' 'I did not resign to contest the election, but when the party asked me to contest from Thiruvananthapuram, I agreed.'
Many non-NDA parties have extended support to the nationwide 10-hour strike on Monday called by farmers protesting against the three agri laws under the aegis of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM).
It has been lowered to 'IND BBB+' from 'IND A-', besides placing the rating on 'Rating Watch Negative' (RWN).
He also said that the focus will be on developing infrastructure in a big way and bring the state out of the debt trap if the BJP wins the assembly polls that are likely to be held in April-May this year.
He also said a total of Rs 38.75 crore, deposited by people in the Karavannur Cooperative bank in this district, which is now facing charges, had already been returned.
Shah also said Kerala used to be known for development, literacy and for promoting tourism, but "with the ruling LDF and opposition UDF coming to power alternately has resulted in making the state a platform for political violence."
As per the latest data available on the Election Commission's website, the BJP got 38.09 per cent votes while TMC which swept the assembly elections polled 47.97 per cent votes.
For Pinarayi, a victory in Thrikkakara would have come as public endorsement of his development initiatives, including controversial K-Rail project, which has witnessed widespread protest
The veteran Kerala Congress leader had been a dominant player in Kerala's coalition politics, serving under six chief ministers.
'Metro man' E Sreedharan, a much-admired technocrat who is credited with changing the face of public transport system in the country, will join the Bharatiya Janata Party giving a boost to the saffron party ahead of the assembly polls in Kerala.
Emerging Kerala Global Connect Summit, a government initiative to attract overseas capital to the state, is set to begin from Tuesday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurating the summit.
Kerala Minister Saji Cheriyan on Wednesday announced his resignation amidst mounting criticism from various quarters, including the Opposition, over his controversial remarks against the Constitution recently.
'If Pinarayi Vijayan gets another term, Kerala will be a state where everybody has a house.'
A college student and a Communist Party of India-Marxist member, she was administered the oath of office by collector Navjot Khosa at the corporation council hall.
Firming up plans to drastically reduce availability of liquor, the Congress-led United Democratic Front government on Tuesday decided to issue notices to hoteliers below the five-star category to shut their bars by September 12.
Unlike previous days, the House even saw Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front members standing up from their seats and locking horns with opposition members, prompting the Speaker to warn both sides.
'We just cannot accept the interference of the government in matters concerning religion and faith.'
The future challenger to Narendra Modi would be somebody who can bring the Hindus and Muslims together again. The Hindus as Hindus, not broken caste groups, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The BIAL proposes to levy a UDF of Rs 675 on domestic passengers and Rs 955 on international passengers. This would mean that every passenger flying out of Bangalore will have to cough up this additional amount.
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.
'Continuity in a common agenda is essential, not to disrupt the progress achieved so far,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
While the Congress was a unifying force, the Left front was divisive, he said adding "wherever we go, we unify everybody. We are a unifying force. Wherever we go we identify everybody and unite them and make them strong".
'Oommen Chandy may well prove to be the Teflon chief minister whose reputation cannot be tarnished,' predicts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
