Even as Gujarat polls are underway, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated a two-day meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in New Delhi to review the party's preparations and chalk out strategy for the next round of elections in states and the all-important Lok Sabha contest in 2024.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders presided over a meeting to discuss strategy for the remaining period of Parliament
'This time, triumph will belong to the brother who promises a brighter future, not the one who merely remembers his sisters during elections and then vanishes.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party will have an understanding with former prime minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal-Secular for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Friday, an announcement that shot up political temperature in Karnataka.
"This fight is against the hatred that the BJP and RSS are spreading throughout the country. They have tried to create conflicts between Hindus and Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, and Hindus and Christians just to hold onto power. But they are failing and their strategy is not working," he said.
The tribal vote in Madhya Pradesh is crucial in any election. The BJP's loss in the 2018 assembly election has prompted it to take remedial action.
In a bid to nullify anti-incumbency sentiment, the ruling party dropped 45 MLAs including former chief minister Vijay Rupani.
With Atishi at the helm it will not be easy for the BJP to continue using the LG's office and the bureaucracy as political instruments to hinder governance and thereby provoke the electorate's ire against the AAP, expects Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The BJP and the AIADMK are unable to sort out ideological differences, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Modi can abandon the path of Hindutva only at risk to his position within his own fraternity. But if he pursues a hard line, he faces the risk of being hauled up by his coalition-partners. For the first time in a decade, Modi is not in enviable situation, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'Only time will tell how difficult it would be for the BJP when Mr Modi may not be in a position to actively run affairs of the party and be its biggest vote catcher.'
'Then the BJP could even split.'
As the Bharatiya Janata Party grapples with a potential shortfall in its Lok Sabha tally, its ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has unequivocally pledged allegiance to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), dismissing any speculation of a pivot towards the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
'Modi is imposing himself as the face of Gujarat to send a message that people should not forget that a Gujarati is prime minister.'
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.
Announcing its first list of 189 candidates on Tuesday, the BJP pitted senior Minister R Ashoka against Siddaramaiah in the Varuna Assembly segment, while V Somanna would take on Shivakumar in Kanakapura.
RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale met with the leadership of the UP BJP, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, state BJP President Bhupendra Chaudhary and state BJP General Secretary (Organisation) Dharmapal.
'The reason I am not anxious about the opponent facing me in the front (Ajit Pawar) is because of who is standing behind me like a rock (Sharad Pawar).'
With the strategy working in its favour, the BJP could be encouraged to undertake similar steps in states, including Karnataka, where elections are due next year, to counter factors that might work against it.
With an eye on 2024 general elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party has identified 73,000 polling booths where it is weak and has constituted a committee to strengthen the party's position on them.
Party MLA Bhupat Bhayani, who had initially hinted that he may go with the BJP to 'resolve several key issues' of his constituency but later set aside all speculations, saying he was not unhappy with the AAP, was also present during the meeting.
Sources said the opposition parties would look to avoid the prickly leadership question as of now and emphasise on building a common ground.
In future if the party wins, people would say 'INDIA has won,' but if the party loses, then people would say 'INDIA has lost'
The BJP core group met in New Delhi on Thursday to discuss the strategy for ensuring that all party legislators in the states and in Parliament vote for P A Sangma in the Presidential poll and decided to use this opportunity to highlight failures of the United Progressive Alliance government.
'By design or default, the BJP's election strategy militated against the very essence of Karnataka politics and the idea of Karnataka.'
Headed by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, the JD-S has long been a strong third player in the southern state where the Congress and the BJP have been the two main parties.
'If someone fiddles us on our religion then we will pay back five times more to that person. We have proved that time and again.'
While Dilip Tirkey is the ruling Biju Janata Dal candidate for the Sundergarh (ST) Lok Sabha constituency, his junior and former India hockey captain, Prabodh Tirkey is the Congress candidate from the Talsara (ST) assembly segment also in Sundergarh district.
As many as 14 Maoists were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region on Friday, a senior police official said. However, ANI has put the toll at 30.
'If they harp on it again, they will begin to lose votes.' 'They have not lost this time, but they will lose next time.' 'Your committed votes will never be enough to guarantee victory for you.'
'If you want to have fair elections you should have an officer, who is appointed as per the rules laid down for such appointments, which is based on seniority.'
'Rahul is a seasoned player of politics and chess. He makes his moves after careful consideration.
The meeting is believed to be called to chalk out the strategy of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Among the national parties, the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist opposed the proposal, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National People's Party supported it.
Despite the rally in equities over the last few years, India, according to Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, is still in early stages of an equity cult. Any changes to the capital gains tax for equities - both long-term and short-term - in Budget 2024 scheduled to be announced on July 23, he believes, can trigger a bigger correction that what the markets witnessed post the Lok Sabha election outcome on June 4 that saw the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lose majority, though it was able to form the government with the help of coalition partners.
Elections may be a few months away, but the government may get into election mode much earlier than that, predicts A K Bhattacharya.
With less than a year left for the general elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party top brass on Tuesday deliberated upon its strategy in run up to the polls during which it intends to highlight the "failures" of the government as well as the scams that afflicted the United Progressive Alliance's nine-year tenure in power.
'They want to win 45 out of 48 seats in Maharashtra in the 2024 general elections and joining hands with Ajit Pawar is in that direction.'
Armed men barged inside a Rajasthan Roadways bus on Wednesday and shot dead a murder accused who was being escorted by a police team for a court hearing in Bharatpur, officials said.
KC Venugopal mentioned that the Congress's goal is to diminish the BJP's representation in Uttar Pradesh by securing half of the seats in the state.
