Putting up a brave face, former Member of Parliament and suspended Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi said on Saturday that he is not yet retired from politics and will become active at an appropriate time. He also said that it is too early to evaluate the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
Indicating that regional parties will play a major role after the elections, the NCP leader said, "My own thinking and assessment is that ultimately it will be a state-wise position. There might be states like Tamil Nadu, where the number one party will be Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and other non-BJP parties will have to accept it."
Addressing a rally at Nanded as a part of the BJP's outreach campaign to mark the completion of nine years of the Narendra Modi government, Shah said the BJP didn't bring down the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government last year.
The Centre may pass any law undermining the Constitution and on the back of its majority, but once the common man and farmers rise, they will not keep quiet until the new farm acts and the ruling party are destroyed, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar said on Monday.
Several leaders arrived at the former PM's residence and remembered his contribution to the country.
Filing of nominations for the post of Congress president is scheduled to begin on Saturday with a contest between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Union minister Shashi Tharoor on the cards.
Senior BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that a section of farmers has fallen in the grip of a few people with "vested interests" and asserted that the government was working to address their misgivings about the reforms, which have drawn strong protests from a section of cultivators.
'Over the years he has been getting a feeling of being sidelined by his uncle.'
Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties on Saturday announced that they will participate in the exit poll debates on television on Saturday evening after the grouping's top leaders met and deliberated on the issue at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said he had been suppressed for a long time and the rebellion led by him was a fallout of the unfair treatment meted out to him, an apparent reference to his old association with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.
Now, irrespective of who supports whom, only a floor test in the assembly will decide if this government can continue or not.
A Maharashtra Commission for Women member from the Nationalist Congress Party kicked up a major controversy by suggesting that a woman's clothes and her behaviour are also responsible for rape.
Senior Congress leader M Mallikarjun Kharge is not averse to running for the AICC president's election if party chief Sonia Gandhi asks him to contest, sources close to the veteran leader said on Wednesday.
Exit polls on Sunday forecast another term for Modi, with some of them projecting that the NDA will get over 300 seats to comfortably cross the majority mark of 272 in the Lok Sabha.
Take a look at the famous faces who exercised their democratic right.
The BJP, which has allied with a few smaller parties, has sought to upend the state's conventional politics, which has so far been indifferent to Hindutva politics, by taking the ruling DMK head-on for its alleged insult of Sanatan Dharma besides involvement in corruption.
Paswan, one of the most prominent Dalit leaders of the country who had been a part of several governments headed by rival parties, died on Thursday at the age of 74.
Azad said it will affect all religions.
The Congress on Sunday demanded a thorough probe into Siddique's murder and said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, who holds home portfolio, should take moral responsibility for law and order "failure" and resign.
Addressing a press conference, Pawar, a Rajya Sabha member, also bemoaned the conduct of Deputy Chairman Harivansh and the Modi government's decision of "bulldozing" the Opposition in the House.
Firing a salvo against Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has alleged that the senior BJP leader is in a rush to take over the country's top post.
'But the coldness between the two is definitely melting.'
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has expressed concerns about the Congress party's leadership role within the INDIA bloc, raising questions about their ability to justify their position. Abdullah highlighted a sense of disquiet among some allies, who feel the Congress isn't doing enough to earn its leadership position. While praising Sonia Gandhi's leadership, he also criticized the alliance's lack of consistent engagement and called for more structured communication to address potential disagreements. Abdullah's comments suggest underlying tensions within the opposition alliance, particularly regarding the Congress's electoral performance and seat distribution strategies.
'The Congress must be given its due in the decision-making process of the government'
Newly-elected ICC Chairman Jay Shah on Tuesday said he will look to ensure that Test cricket forms the "bedrock" of the game in his tenure during which he will also try to "dismantle barriers that have hindered cricket's progress".
Jay Shah will take over as the next chairman of the ICC in December after he emerged as the sole nominee for the high-profile job
Congress ally NCP chief Sharad Pawar said weak leadership on part of the ruling party had given rise to "pseudo activists" who are not connected with the ground reality, in an apparent dig at emergence of political greenhorn Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi Assembly polls.
'The BJP has killed public anger. They have killed people's self-respect.'
Earlier in the day, rich tributes were paid to Yechury at the Communist Party of India (Marxist) headquarters at the AKG Bhavan here, where his mortal remains were brought from his residence in the morning.
Rumblings in the Maha Vikas Aghadi camp came to the fore on Wednesday with Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole accusing ally Nationalist Congress Party of being a "backstabber", a day after the Sharad Pawar-led party joined hands with rival Bharatiya Janata Party in Gondia zilla parishad elections to keep the Congress from power.
V Singh said that "actual farmers are very happy with what has been done in last six months."
Among the bigwigs are Union ministers Amit Shah (Gandhinagar), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra).
The Bharatiya Janata Party will not contest the November 3 bypoll to Andheri East assembly seat in Mumbai, Maharashtra party chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Monday.
Former Board of Control for Cricket in India chief Sharad Pawar could make a sensational return as president. There is talk that the Maharashtra politician could emerge an unlikely candidate to take on the suspended Narayanaswami Srinivasan.
This will be the second all-party meeting called by the government to discuss the COVID-19 situation since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party will provide a strong government which will work for farmers.
The Congress continued its losing spree on Saturday posting its worst-ever show in Maharashtra and ending up a distant junior partner to the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand, further diminishing its role in the opposition bloc as other allies perform better.
Praful Patel said all the MLAs of the NCP, the Congress, and the Shiv Sena voted as per the party line.
The Centre has convened a three-day conference of directors general of police from December 19 to draw a road map for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
