It is in power on its own only in three states -- Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana -- with a big question mark on whether it can even stake claim to be head of the INDIA bloc.
If Kerala wants to sustain its room for independent thinking and talk back to Delhi when needed, it should put its finances in order. Or - if one takes the North East example - Kerala's political posturing may end up commensurate with its financial dependence on others, suggests Shyam G Menon.
A Maldivian minister, who was suspended in January for her derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has now mocked the Indian flag after including parts of the flag in an altered campaign poster of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), according to a media report on Monday.
Moitra's electoral triumph not only secures her seat in Parliament, but also serves as a defiant retort to attempts to sideline her from the political arena.
Sources said a 100-day agenda for immediate steps to be taken after a new government is formed in May was deliberated upon during the meeting for its quick implementation.
With Jammu and Kashmir assembly slated to discuss a resolution seeking clemency for Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, a Bharatiya Janata Party youth wing delegation on Sunday met President Pratibha Patil and said the death sentence awarded to the terrorist should be carried out or it would set a bad precedent.
He was allegedly attacked for his 'anti-Hindu' stance.
With many of his close associates leaving his side, it is virtually a lone battle for Congress stalwart Kamal Nath to help his parliamentarian son Nakul Nath win from Chhindwara for a second time amid the Bharatiya Janata Party's aggressive push to wrest the seat.
Despite declining by three percentage points in 2022-23 (FY23) compared to FY19, Odisha's unemployment rate remains higher than the average in India.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav has advised party workers, leaders, office bearers and TV panellists to refrain from debating on communal issues during discussions on TV channels, party's national secretary Rajendra Chaudhary said.
The controversial issue of Muslim girls wearing 'hijab' in educational institutions, which had hit national headlines last year with a government pre-university college in Udupi banning it inside classrooms, does not appear to be a serious campaign issue for the May 10 elections to the Karnataka assembly.
Where do Vijay and his TVK expect to get their votes from? Vijay has a huge fan following among women, but will they automatically become his voters like they had done for MGR's AIADMK, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
His statement evoked sharp reaction from opposition parties.
The best-case scenario is that the BJP will top out at around 50 seats in UP -- a drop of 12 from the 62 it had won in 2019. Taken in tandem with Maharashtra and Karnataka, this is what is likely to put paid to the BJP's ambitions of a third term for Modi, argues Prem Panicker.
The Congress is not fielding a candidate in Mandya in order to support Darshan and open the constituency up for a direct contest between the SKP and the Janata Dal-Secular which is hoping to retain its seat.
In separate incidents, automatic gunfire was reported from Kwakta in Bishnupur district of Manipur and Kangvai in Churachandpur district through the night.
The announcement from the Congress lawmaker brought fore cracks in the party, which on Tuesday lost the sole Rajya Sabha seat to the Bharatiya Janata Party and is apparently scrambling to keep its members together to prevent the fall of its government.
Sonia also described the mention of Emergency by the PM, the Lok Sabha Speaker as an attempt to divert attention from the "assault on the Constitution".
This time Modi has no emotive message to take to the stump. Muscular nationalism doesn't work against the backdrop of China's successive inroads into Indian territory. Rising prices is a sore point that cuts across class and caste barriers; unprecedented levels of unemployment has the youth in a ferment. This has reduced the BJP campaign to a laundry list of recycled grievances and thinly veiled communal appeals, neither of which are working as well as they have in the past, argues Prem Panicker.
Had someone done a deliberate mischief, security officials would file FIR and deboard the passenger.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party, has said that helming the NCP away from the shadows of his uncle and founder Sharad Pawar after the split is a huge responsibility.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday received wholehearted support from a group of women from the troubled Sandeshkhali area who met her after a Trinamool Congress rally in Kolkata, party sources said.
He, however, made it clear that his party candidates, as and when they contest elections, will do so only on MNS symbol 'railway engine'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday claimed that the Congress and Samajwadi Party will run a bulldozer over the Ram temple if elected to power, and asked them to take 'tuition' from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath 'where to run bulldozers'.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tagged a post of a person raising the issue of privacy over the prime minister's letter being received by persons living abroad.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
Antony, who headed the digital media cell of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, slammed the Congress leadership for working for a "single family" instead of working for the country.
The government also termed the alleged insult to the farmer as an infringement on "dignity and self-respect", and said it cannot be tolerated.
The BJP workers of Fort Kochi staged a protest at a ground where 'Papanji' structure was being built after the photo of 'Papanji' was shared on social media platforms saying it resembled that of Modi's face.
'The biggest festival of democracy is here! EC has announced the 2024 Lok Sabha election dates. We, the BJP-NDA, are fully prepared for elections'
'It feels like Assam is good just as a tourist spot and not a place to earn and live.'
Cricketer Yusuf Pathan will contest from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat, whereas Kirti Aazd will fight from the Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency.
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said when the elections are over, people will only remember him as the PM who indulged in 'divisive and communal speeches filled with lies' to avoid an inevitable defeat.
The elections to 32 assembly constituencies in Sikkim were held simultaneously with the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 19.
It's a different Srinagar from what Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf encountered 24 years ago. Tourists throng the Kashmir Valley post-Article 370, azaadi appears dead, and everyone says one man is responsible for this change, so what if his poster is nowhere to be seen.
The ministry felt the new WFI body was working under the complete control of its former office-bearers, which was not in conformity with the National Sports Code.
'These include economic prosperity, a promising future for youth, empowerment for women, a thriving society, robust healthcare, quality education, elevated living standards, agricultural prosperity, and robust social security coupled with effective governance.'
Also, the thin winning margins of his last two successful campaigns are proving to be thorns for the sitting MLA.
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