This year promises to offer ample opportunities on the electoral turf to the SP, BSP and Congress to get their act together and play the "semi-final" of sorts before the "final match" two years later, reports Virendra Singh Rawat
A day before the Bharatiya Janata Party takes the reins in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena on Thursday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister-designate Devendra Fadnavis, saying the state can expect acchhe din (good days) under them, but cautioned its former ally against accepting Nationalist Congress Party's support.
She has been appointed general secretary for Uttar Pradesh (East), while Jyotiraditya Scindia holds charge of UP West.
42 MLAs, including leader of Opposition Charanjit Singh Channi, went to the assembly and submitted their resignations.
'The Speaker has to act in an impartial way and in accordance with what the Supreme Court has laid out in its judgment.'
The MLAs of the three ruling parties and the BJP have reached Mumbai ahead of the elections.
Although his left hand is paralysed, Bijay Kumar Shahu dressed in stylish biking gear has cycled over 1,500 kilometres across 11 districts and 25 Vidhan Sabha constituencies to campaign for the BJP.
Modi talks of development but he is harming them," the Congress vice president adding that projects that could have changed the lives of people.
'Both sides were so embittered by what had happened last year that I didn't know what to expect.'
'The BJP would not have brought him into the party if they did not appreciate him.'
'You don't win elections on the basis of borrowed players.' 'There is a great crisis of leadership for the BJP in Bengal'
The party insisted that a fair probe was not possible without removal of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and alleged that he had protected the guilty.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Wednesday that police officer Sachin Vaze will be removed from the Crime Branch and posted in some other department.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is facing revolt from within in Bihar on a day when the Election Commission announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls to be held in April, May.
Finance ministers from Congress-ruled states say they have alerted the Centre about the problems in GST for several months, but it is only now with the Gujarat assembly election around the corner that the Modi regime has started heeding these suggestions.
Days after the Aam Aadmi Party appointed a new Lokpal panel replacing him, former Navy chief Ramdas has questioned the decision, claiming his term was to end in November 2016.
The BJP polled over 56 per cent of votes, more than the combined vote share of the Congress (22.5 per cent) and the AAP (18.1 per cent).
The Congress, which had fought nine, lost all but managed to retain Kishanganj.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said the state should stand firmly behind people in the Marathi-speaking areas of neighbouring Karnataka and appealed to political parties not to behave in a way that would hurt them.
Against the backdrop of the opposition closing ranks on the CAA issue and the BJP faring poorly in several state elections recently, the 2022 electoral battle is unlikely to be a cakewalk for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
'What are the circumstances at that time? Had you thought Modi will come after Vajpayee?'
'Our numbers were less (than BJP's) but PM Narendra Modi blessed us. Modi Saheb told me before the swearing-in that he will extend all possible help to me. Amit Shah Saheb said he will stand behind us like a rock,' Shinde said. 'But the biggest kalakar (artist) is this one,' Shinde said, pointing to Fadnavis sitting to his right on the treasury benches.
'The local administration is working overtime to improve voter turnout and take it beyond the 50% to 60% mark. This is evident from the massive advertising being done to propagate the same. Not a single government building is left standing without it being plastered with the Election Commission's posters and banners.'
'Narendra Modi might not have made 145 in Maharashtra, but it is definitely true that the Congress, and other dynastic parties, are well and truly stumped.'
Shiv Sena on Sunday made it clear that it won't make any more concession for BJP, offering to cede it only 119 out of the total 288 seats in Maharashtra Assembly for the next month's polls, and said this was "the final attempt" to break the logjam over seat-sharing.
The renovation of the property is underway, encompassing painting of walls, cleaning, and other necessary repairs befitting the new entrant's stature and requirements. The bungalow, spread over about 1.5 acres, belongs to the family of veteran Congress leader the late Sheila Kaul, who was the sister-in-law of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Virendra Singh Rawat reports.
What these elections prove beyond any doubt (if ever there was one) that Modi's hold over public mind and Shah's mastery of election management are unparalleled. It doesn't seem likely that they will be matched any time soon in the Indian political scene, reaffirms Shreekant Sambrani.
Several newly elected MLAs including Navjot Singh Sidhu, Manpreet Singh Badal, Brahm Mohindra, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Rana Gurjit Singh, Pargat Singh, Razia Sultana, O P Soni are in the race for becoming ministers, party sources said.
'If a politician asks the policeman to do something which is not correct, then why blame the politician?' 'If you do it, then you are equally liable.'
The Congress president addressing women students at the Stella Maris College said that the law must apply to everybody and not be applied selectively.
Congress on Tuesday said it will not support the Jan Lokpal bill if it is brought by the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi without following "constitutional norms".
The Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other evil and Aghori practices Act, which faced immense opposition for over seven years, was passed in the Maharashtra State Vidhan Sabha (lower house) on Friday.
Haryana government said it is committed to construction of Satluj-Yamuna Link and has urged the Centre to seek early hearing on the matter.
If the Congress manages to upset its dominant rival, the BJP, in these assembly polls, then it will be a big boost to the opposition for the Lok Sabha polls, while a good show by the BJP will energise its cadres and give a fillip to its hopes of retaining the power at the Centre in 2019.
Parliamentarians and legislators across the country voted on Monday to elect India's 15th president, choosing between opposition pick Yashwant Sinha and National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu who is favoured to win the battle to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The Indian National Lok Dal had split following differences between Ajay Singh Chautala and his younger brother Abhay Chautala.
It was a day of mayhem for the main opposition party as S M Qamar Alam, a national general secretary of the RJD, walked to the chamber of Vidhan Parishad Acting chairman Awadhesh Narain Singh along with four others to tender their resignation. The other MLCs who resigned are Sanjay Prasad, Radha Charan Seth, Ranvijay Kumar Singh and Dlip Rai.
'AAP's next target will be Punjab.'
Ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress won one seat each in the bypolls to Patiala (urban) and Talwandi Sabo Assembly seats on Monday but the Aam Aadmi Party finished a poor third.
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