The government says MPs will be busy campaigning in Gujarat. The Opposition counters this, saying campaigning for elections in 5 states was held in the midst of the Budget session earlier this year.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot, who was recently appointed the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief, says people are disenchanted with the Vasundhara Raje government.
Asaduddin Owaisi opens up to T S Sudhir on his party's plans for the elections in Uttar Pradesh next year and why he thinks both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party have vitiated the secular atmosphere in the state.
The move would help the PM Modi shape a women-centric narrative.
Congress gets into the opposition groove but still has miles to go, says Saroj Nagi.
'If the Modi government does not waive farm loans, we guarantee to waive farm loans if voted to power in 2019'
Smriti Irani will reprise her electoral battle with Rahul Gandhi from Amethi.
"There is no doubt we are fighting with our backs to the wall but these political bonfires in the BJP will help to consolidate our position to some extent," a senior Congress leader tells Rediff.com's Anita Katyal.
Presiding over the meeting of the Congress Working Committee in the absence of party chief Sonia Gandhi, the party vice president charged that, "hiding behind the cloak of national security, civil society is being intimidated for asking questions."
Banaras Hindu University on Saturday suspended 14 students for their alleged role in inciting violence on the campus two days ago.
The Congress expressed its 'whole-hearted' support to the 'Bharat bandh' called by farmer unions against the new agri-marketing laws and announced that it will hold protests that day at all district and state headquarters in solidarity with the demands of the farmers. TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the party rank and file would actively participate in the bandh to ensure it was a success.
Two state ministers have also come out in the open to demand a detailed assessment by the top leadership.
'This is India, bhai. This kind of country does not exist anywhere in the world.'
The court granted bail to Advani, Joshi and Bharti after they appeared before it.
'The 2019 battle is a battle for the kind of India that we want to live in.' The Congress's long history is pockmarked with sins great and small, but Mr Gandhi has the advantage of representing a new generation with a relatively clean slate, and a chance to redefine contemporary perception,' says Mitali Saran.
'Had these three farm laws existed it would have become a huge election issue.'
The task for RS Rawat to enter the assembly might not be easy, especially with the ongoing situation arising out of Covid-19, lack of vaccines and allegations of poor hospital facilities, reports Shishir Prashant.
For the first time, Akhilesh is leading the SP almost single-handed into a major election, but he is not the only one running the show Shikha Shalini reports.
Alleging that there had been politicisation and criminalisation of government officers in the state, the BJP leader, who was on a two-day visit, said the TMC government had stopped sending crime statistics to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) after 2018.
Participating in the discussion on the Motion on Thanks to President's Address to the joint sitting of Parliament, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress member Ghulam Nabi Azad suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself should make the announcement on repeal of the laws. Modi was present in the House at the time.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging the "distressing rise" in incidents of Dalit atrocities.
The home minister also said that the government is committed to protecting the sovereignty and security of the country.
Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency, which was represented by Shankar Dayal Sharma in 1971-77 and 1980-1984, has been held by the Bharatiya Janata Party since 1989.
Following the address by President Ram Nath Kovind, the economic survey will be tabled in the two Houses.
Former Coal Secretary H C Gupta, who resigned as member of Competition Commission of India, was on Thursday questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with coal blocks allocation from 2006 to 2009 during his tenure.
Thousands of farmers have reached the national capital on their tractor-trolleys and other vehicles, responding to the 'Delhi Chalo' call against the agri-marketing laws enacted at the Centre in September. On Saturday morning, it wasn't clear if they will agree to move to the Burari ground on the outskirts of the city, where police said they can continue with their protest. Many protesters were demanding a better venue in the centre of Delhi. Originally, the protest was meant to be on November 26 and 27.
'At this moment, the Trinamool has an edge.'
Vadra was directed by a Delhi court to cooperate with the investigation being carried out by the central probe agency after he knocked on its door seeking anticipatory bail in this case.
The kisan is as integral a part of the BJP's master plan for the 2019 polls as the Dalit because it surmised that the farmers and Dalits were as restive in UP as in much of the country, and if it had to cut its losses, its reflexes must kick in fast. Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Biju Janata Dal members had staged a walk-out while NDA ally Shiv Sena did not participate in the voting.
The home ministry's notice to Gandhi was sent in response to a complaint filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy.
Unlike the LDF and NDA nominees who are at ground zero and campaigning hard every day, the Congress candidate's campaign is undertaken in absentia, dependent on an army of local and imported from the rest of Kerala Congresswomen and men.
Former Home Secretary R K Singh and two Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders, who recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, figure in the third list of 97 Lok Sabha poll candidates released by the party on Thursday.
With almost all opposition parties and several trade unions backing the 'Bharat Bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing all the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure COVID guidelines are followed.
The Karnataka BJP core committee had proposed only Tejaswini's name for the Lok Sabha seat, but Tejaswi Surya emerged the dark horse.
The BSP is planning to bring the second line of leadership from among the cadres.
Farmer leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan said told reporters after the meeting that the unions urged the government to repeal the three laws, but the Centre was unwilling to do so. "We decided to meet again on January 19 at 12 pm," he said.
The government is learnt to have described the Union Budget as an annual constitutional exercise covering the entire country and not just a few states.
Congressmen are watching carefully how Rahul positions himself and manage the grand old party, reports Aditi Phadnis.
With the political class coming under severe attack for undue interference in the functioning of the bureaucracy, the United Progressive Alliance government has decided to amend the Model Code of Conduct for ministers to include a reference to the need for upholding the impartiality of the civil service.
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