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.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak said on Tuesday night that all the eight candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party have won in the Rajya Sabha elections from the state.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress's alliance in Uttar Pradesh came under scrutiny as both parties did not hold a single joint campaign for the bypolls to nine assembly seats. While both parties maintained that the alliance is strong, BJP ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) claimed a crack in the alliance. The Congress opted out of the bypolls and announced coordination committees for all nine seats to support the SP. However, the absence of joint rallies raised questions about the alliance's strength. The SP campaign was spearheaded by its chief Akhilesh Yadav, while the Congress cited its leaders' busy schedules in Maharashtra and Jharkhand for the lack of joint campaigns. The bypoll results will be announced on November 23.
Bhandari, a three-term Congress legislator who was also a minister in the state in the past, joined the BJP in the presence of its senior leaders, including Union Minister Piyush Goyal and the party's national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam.
'100 per cent, the BJP will form the government in Madhya Pradesh and Shivraj Singh Chouhanji will be once again chief minister.'
The residence of Samajwadi Party (SP) Rajya Sabha MP Ramji Lal Suman was attacked in Agra by alleged workers of the Karni Sena, days after his remarks in Parliament on Rana Sanga triggered a row. The attack comes as the latest instance of violence in India stemming from historical figures and caste-based tensions. The Karni Sena demanded an apology from Suman and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav for "insulting" their hero, while Akhilesh Yadav criticized the Uttar Pradesh government for its claims of "zero tolerance" against crime.
Incidentally, 164 of the total 356 candidates in the fray from the 43 assembly seats of Jammu region got less votes than none of the above, which gives an option to voters to reject all candidates in a constituency.
Infighting within West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) came to the fore after a video of an alleged verbal spat between party MPs and screenshots of heated exchanges from its official WhatsApp group for parliamentarians went viral. The incident reportedly involved a public altercation at the Election Commission headquarters, followed by a heated exchange on the party's WhatsApp group, leading to accusations of misconduct and leaked screenshots. The controversy has triggered calls for action against the party chief whip, Kalyan Banerjee, who is accused of misbehavior and tarnishing the party's image.
Lok Sabha constituencies that sprung a surprise in the 2024 polls.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday dared the Bharatiya Janata Party to defeat it in the ensuing Mumbai civic polls, saying his party's bond with the city was unbreakable, and also hit out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over his rebellion and for laying claims to his late father's legacy.
'The ceaseless process of privatisation is shrinking the space of reservation.' 'Where will reservation go if you keep privatising?'
Sources said the party has also tasked its senior leaders to be observers at the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party in Haryana to elect its new leader.
The juggernaut of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, which triumphed in three of the four east and north-eastern states that went for assembly bypolls on Saturday, was halted yet again in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress registered a six-on-six clean sweep.
The rout of Sharad Pawar-led faction has raised questions over his political future with a potential risk of a further slide in the party flock in future.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed 14 rallies in Madhya Pradesh during campaigning for polls and reached out to young voters by reminding them of the failures of previous Congress governments on various fronts as he doubled down on development of all sections.
A democracy is one, only if it has a robust Opposition. And as its actions show, the Modi-BJP combine gives two hoots for that. So, the Opposition must learn to convince people why the BJP must go. Else, it can count down to 2029, points out Shyam G Menon.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party falling short of a majority in the Lok Sabha and needing the National Democratic Alliance partners to form the government at the Centre, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United head Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party's N Chandrababu Naidu have emerged as potential kingmakers.
Reacting to MLA Rameshwar Sharma's statement, Singh said, "I don't want to talk anything new about it. They don't have any issue other than this. The statement is being examined by my lawyers and they will take action accordingly."
The Kamareddy constituency attracted attention ever since KCR announced his decision to contest from there and the contest hot up as Congress fielded Revanth Reddy to take him on.
'Rahul Gandhi has done nothing for the constituency'
'There will be no compromise with someone who has betrayed the party at this stage even if she is my sister,' Congress MP K Muraleedharan told reporters.
The ISI strategy has been to use its proxies to target Hindus in India. They want an outrage and counter-targeting of India's minorities. Further, even the whiff of it restores the Pakistan army's popularity, especially when it's in the dumps, like now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
After the Congress' shock defeat in Haryana, the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties flexed their muscles on Wednesday, accusing the grand old party of ignoring them.
The Congress has 40 MLAs while the BJP has 25 in the 68-member state assembly. The remaining three seats are held by independents.
'One needs to understand what kind of means the BJP use to bring other party leaders in their party.' 'They are unscrupulous politicians and money plays an important role.'
The AAP suffered a humiliating defeat in Haryana with most of its candidates set to lose their security deposit.
Against predictions by most exit polls that the ruling Congress had an edge in the state, the BJP banked heavily on the charisma of the PM.
With such announcements grabbing the voters' attention, critical issues like pollution, especially the smog that chokes Delhi every winter, remain largely unaddressed. Many residents have raised concerns over the lack of concrete action plans to combat air pollution, which continues to pose a severe health risk to Delhiites.
Hitting out at Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar for indulging in a blame game over the MVA's defeat in the state assembly, Raut said those who don't believe in consensus and compromise have no right to be in an alliance.
Sule said the intra-family duel in the Lok Sabha polls will not waver her respect for Sunetra Pawar as she is her "elder brother's wife and like a mother".
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said talks are on with "like-minded parties' to jointly oust the Bharatiya Janata Party from power in next month's assembly elections in the coastal state.
'The Congress cannot speak the BJP's words while targeting Kejriwal.' 'What is the difference between the two? Where is the unity of INDIA then?'
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by Arvind Kejriwal, suffered a major setback in the Delhi Assembly elections, losing to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The loss marks a significant blow to Kejriwal's national ambitions and raises questions about the future of the party. The AAP had been in power in Delhi for the past 10 years and had also formed a government in Punjab. Despite the defeat, the party still holds 13 MPs from Punjab and Delhi. The article examines the factors that contributed to the AAP's defeat, including allegations of corruption, poor civic facilities, and the BJP's relentless attacks. It also explores the impact of the loss on Kejriwal's national aspirations and the party's future.
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.
During Emergency Indira Gandhi acquired absolute power. Lakhs of political opponents, students, activists were arrested.
The grand old party alleged that these namesake candidates are backed by the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bharatiya Janata Party to confuse voters.
This strategy was discussed when Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently visited Mysuru to discuss the BJP's Lok Sabha plan, reports Aditi Phadnis.
'In the BJP I realised they are a different people with different mindset. They had a different ideology which was more rigid, and somewhere I was not comfortable.'
Asked why she is not taking the charge of the bloc, given her credentials as a strong anti-BJP force, Banerjee said, "If given the opportunity I would ensure its smooth functioning."
The Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Friday made a pitch for unity among opposition parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, stating that the Bharatiya Janata Party can be defeated if all key leaders of these political outfits keep aside their ego and stick to their current stance of not keen on becoming the next prime minister.
