Five months into office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will expand and reshuffle his Council of Ministers on Sunday, bringing in new faces and is likely to drop a few.
Miffed at being ignored in the ministry expansion, Sena had on Tuesday said it was 'hurt' at the way the exercise was carried out and questioned the prime minister's "selection criterion".
It, however, made it clear that this was as per the account of the relatives of the deceased.
Though the Cabinet reshuffle on July 5 has a clear stamp of the Prime Minister's Office, the changes have also increased the coherence between the Bharatiya Janata Party, the government and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Opposition parties feel the need for a vote of confidence in the wake of Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Loktantrik Dal's decision to withdraw its ministers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who inducted 19 new ministers into his Cabinet on Tuesday has carried out major changes in the portfolios of his top ministers.
In a counter offensive after 13 MLAs resigned on Saturday dealing a blow to the 13-month-old government, a delegation of Congress leaders met Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar and submitted the petition seeking, under the anti-defection law, disqualification of the rebel legislators in line with the decision taken at a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party on Tuesday.
After the historic win of Bhartiya Janta Partyin Uttar Pradesh elections on Saturday, the talk about the face of chief minister candidate is the next question.
Devanik Saha wonders if saffronisation of India is on the rise
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday began a stock-taking exercise following the party's debacle in assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra even as a clamour for "course correction" grew within its ranks in the wake of the dip in electoral fortunes.
The MPs from Uttar Pradesh who may be given ministerial portfolios are: Anupriya Patel, leader of Bharataiya Janta Paty's ally Apna Dal; Shahjahanpur MP Krishna Raj and Chandauli MP Mahendra Pandey.
The 84-year old veteran Congressman, who died from post-COVID complications on Monday, was a Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist.
Navjot Sidhu has been given power and new and renewable energy sources, and his tourism and cultural affairs portfolio has been given to Charanjit Singh Channi.
Prime Minister Modi will continue to take the nation by surprise, catching his political opponents offguard, says Shreekant Sambrani.
'The Modi Model we see now is still the old Gujarat Model.' 'But with an acknowledgement that governing India is more challenging than governing Gujarat,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
Cracking the whip, Congress on Thursday night suspended rebel party MP from Haryana Chaudhary Birender Singh and former CWC member Jagmeet Brar for "gross indiscipline" and "deliberately lowering the prestige of the party".
In the event of a triangular contest the winning party will need about 40 per cent of the votes polled. And it is here that the votes of the numerically smaller communities will come into play.
Over the past week, Rahul Gandhi has replaced office-bearers in charge of party units in Gujarat and Karnataka and Goa, and brought in young leaders as secretaries. These changes are unlikely to be a one-time exercise and poll-bound states would get the primary attention.
The BJP calculates that simultaneous polls to Parliament and TN assembly could help it, intent as it is on making the state break from its Dravidian past, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
She says her priority areas would be military preparedness, defence indigenisation, and the welfare of soldiers.
Modi may bet on old faces and new to boost reforms
While Azad, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, has been made in charge of Uttar Pradesh, Nath will look after Punjab and Haryana, party General Secretary Janaradan Dwivedi said.
Failure to deliver on governance, corruption allegations, preoccupation with Lok Sabha and gram panchayat polls and factionalism have weakened Siddaramaiah's government in Karnataka. This may well hand the BJP a chance to make a comeback in the state, says Raghu Krishnan.
Rediff.com lists a few instances when BJP leaders and ministers shot their mouth off.
'Modi swept the 2014 elections for two main reasons: First, the disgust with the Congress government with a non-functional prime minister, and second, more importantly, his promise of performance and hope.' 'He cannot expect to win 2019 on these planks again. His own success in finishing the Congress will take away one plank, and with five years of reign on his CV, he will need to flaunt performance more than promise.'
CM Siddaramaiah announced the CID probe and warned of action against the seniors accused of harassing Ganapathy.
In the third reshuffle since coming to power, Prime Minister Modi raised the strength of his Council of Ministers from 73 to 76.
A brief report card on Modi's ministers.
Assam minister Dr Himanta Bishwa Sarma who on Monday quit from the Tarun Gogoi cabinet said that he had been forced to take the step after the Congress leadership had repeatedly ignored the representations made by the rebel MLAs about the 'inefficient' handling of affairs by the chief minister.
After Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, discontent is brewing among Congress MLAs in Manipur.
With the Aam Aadmi Party fighting for survival, Congress struggling for an identity and the BJP seeking to hold on to its political capital, these elections will be one of the most interesting India, says Aditi Phadnis
Following is the chronology of events in the Arunachal Pradesh crisis in which the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered restoration of the dismissed Congress government by quashing all orders and decisions of the governor taken since December 9, 2015:
From planning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign trips to playing a key role in the Jammu and Kashmir elections, former RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav is become increasingly important in the BJP
Hours after 21 ministers took the oath of office and became a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ministry, speculation began on which minister would be handed which portfolio. However, all speculation ended after the list was announced.
'If the leadership gets wrong information, what results you can expect?'
The Congress, notwithstanding its depleted bench strength, failed to corner the government on a range of crucial issues during the just-concluded Parliament session, says Kavita Chowdhury
While many promises remain unrealised, power reforms and the creation of tens of millions of new bank accounts have helped Modi maintain his popularity
A week in the office and the Uttar Pradesh chief minister was at it in full throttle.
'You have a chance to use this massive mandate to push through life changing reforms, transform India into a superpower because our nation's biggest strength are its people, and we the people are the most hardworking industrious and entrepreneurial the world has ever seen.' 'Arm us with a society which lives without fear, a governance where business can be conducted smoothly without greasing palms, instill in this great nation a sense of pride once again. Let this nation be bigger than you and the party.' Suparn Verma's impassioned appeal to Narendra Modi.
An inchoate anger is brewing within the party against the central leadership after the poor show in the assembly polls.
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