Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, chief ministers of Nationalist Democratic Alliance-ruled states and prominent personalities from industry and Bollywood on Thursday attended the grand swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister in Mumbai.
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has predicted that JD(U) president Nitish Kumar will contest the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar in alliance with the BJP but may switch sides later, with hopes for another term as the chief minister. Kishor, founder of the Jan Suraaj Party, also asserted that Kumar's popularity has declined and he is unlikely to win a fifth consecutive term. He challenged the BJP to declare Kumar as the chief ministerial candidate, arguing that they would struggle to win seats if they did so. Kishor also criticized Kumar's leadership, accusing him of being "physically tired and mentally retired" and of "bringing disrepute to Bihar" by touching Prime Minister Narendra Modi's feet. He said his new party will enter the fray to pull Bihar "out of the political rut" and that the state's much-touted prohibition policy is an example of the BJP's duplicity.
Asked whether the Congress will go it alone on all the 403 assembly seats in the state or align with some political party, the party general secretary told reporters in an informal meeting here, "It is too early to say."
An Uttar Pradesh government spokesperson said a formal order for all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route in the state was likely to be issued soon.
The TMC also announced it would hold talks with other regional parties in their bid to take on the BJP in the crucial 2024 elections but at the same time denied that it was planning a third front, separate from the Congress-led front.
The Exit polls for the Lok Sabha 2024 elections were way off the mark this time with the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc whose rout they had predicted touching nearly 230 seats on the counting day with good showing in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh as per the current trends.
The health condition of two Bharatiya Janata Party MPs, who suffered head injuries in a face-off between opposition and National Democratic Alliance members in Parliament premises, is much better now and they remain under observation in the ICU of the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, authorities said on Friday.
Angry with the Congress for unilaterally announcing 24 candidates in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls, the Samajwadi Party on Friday declared that its alliance with that party was "broken".
Azad said Akhilesh does not want Dalits in this alliance, he just wants Dalit vote bank.
Violators will have to pay a Rs 2,000 fine for the first offence and Rs 5,000 if they defy this order for the second time, Ujjain Mayor Mukesh Tatwal said on Saturday.
In the past five years, UP's Opposition remained passive and defensive against the BJP, a trend that does not augur well for the impending battle.
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Monday expressed concern over the law and order situation in the state and said if he was the state home minister, 'things would be different', remarks seen as direct criticism of Vangalapudi Anitha, who is holding the department currently.
Targeting the Congress, the PM said those who ruled Madhya Pradesh for a long time did nothing else other than corruption and crime.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday met ministers from the state at his residence in Lucknow to discuss the upcoming assembly bypolls in 10 constituencies.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Chandrabhanu Paswan was leading by 3,991 votes over the Samajwadi Party's (SP) Ajit Prasad after the first round of counting for the Milkipur assembly bypoll on Saturday, according to the Election Commission website.
Shah pulled no punches in lambasting the RJD supremo for alleged nepotism, accusing him of making his wife the chief minister, getting his daughter elected to Parliament and "now both his sons want to become the CM".
The government and opposition parties on Monday reached an agreement to break the impasse in Parliament with dates announced for discussions on the Constitution in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Amid intense speculation over whether he would contest the Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh's Amethi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he would abide by his party's decision on it.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said in case a situation arises in Uttar Pradesh that there is a hung assembly, the AAP will enter into a post-poll alliance to keep incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party out of power in the state.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has attributed the recent state assembly election victory to the role of Hindutva and counter-polarization. He described BJP's Hindutva as a way of life and said it played an important role in mobilizing voters. Fadnavis also alleged that the opposition alliance had an agreement to withdraw riot cases against Muslims. He further commented on PM Modi's inclusive Hindutva and the increased voter turnout in the election.
Former Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of an alliance with any political party for the formation of government in Uttar Pradesh. "There is no question of going with any party in Uttar Pradesh to form an alliance," said Singh. "All the senior leaders of the party have been saying so. We will not give or take support in Uttar Pradesh," Singh said.
The Congress, which wanted to contest as many as 121 seats, has reportedly now settled for 105 seats.
Just eight months after its good showing in the Lok Sabha polls, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) seems to be running out of steam with internal bickering and conflicting ambitions resulting in diminishing electoral returns that have once again put the Bharatiya Janata Party in the driver's seat in national politics.
'Prashant Kishor is a businessman before he is a politician, and given that the expected average turnout for JSP candidates is 5,000 to 6,000 votes and since Bihar has a significant number of seats where the margin between the winner and runner-up falls within that range he will capitalise on exactly that to showcase his presence.'
There are states that could swing either way and change the results of the 2024 general election.
The suspense over whether Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest the polls from Amethi and Raebareli respectively continued.
This negated the gain of more than a dozen seats in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala.
Akhilesh Yadav confirmed in a television interview that the press conference is on the alliance in Uttar Pradesh, while parrying questions on the Congress.
Yadav asserted that he has always maintained that seat distribution should be decided considering which alliance partner is the strongest in a particular state.
Congress jolted by SP move in Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP got the benefit of a split in Muslim votes in some seats of western UP, and its candidates registered wins from Muzaffarnagar, Kairana, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Baghpat and Aligarh Lok Sabha seats.
Without ruling out the possibility of working with the Congress after polls, Akhilesh said he has good relations with the party and would be 'happy' if the next prime minister was from his home state.
Uttar Pradesh BJP president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, sources said, and is believed to have briefed him on a host of issues related to the party's organisational matters in the politically crucial state.
The SBSP can impact around 10 Lok Sabha seats and 40 assembly seats in 7-8 districts in Uttar Pradesh, according to poll analysts.
"I am fighting a big battle to save my country from the corrupt. That is why they are behind bars today and not getting bail even from the Supreme Court," Modi said.
Images from the IPL 2025 match between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
Besides the national capital, polling for the sixth round of the marathon seven-phase elections will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir.
The BJP's year has been marked by a remarkable ability to adapt its message and methods, rebounding from Lok Sabha election setbacks with improbable wins in Haryana and Maharashtra. The party's campaign machine, drawing on the strength of the RSS and its affiliates, has demonstrated a capacity to shift focus and respond to regional dynamics. While the BJP faces challenges, its adaptability and Modi's unchallenged leadership suggest a continued strong presence on the Indian political landscape.
Over the medium and long term, the BJP hopes to devour the AIADMK, they having identified the party as 'ideologically not as sound as the DMK', predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Newly elected Samajwadi Party MP RK Chaudhary, one of the founders of the Bahujan Samaj Party, has claimed BSP chief Mayawati has been ignoring the Bahujan movement which has led to her party's rout in these Lok Sabha polls.
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