Congress President Sonia Gandhi Thursday evening met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the backdrop of speculation of a cabinet reshuffle.
BJP sources said a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance is expected to take place soon to highlight its growing strength and to dispel the impression that the departure of some of its oldest allies such as the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Shiromani Akali Dal and the Janata Dal-United have the left the saffron party without a major partner.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar was given the finance and planning portfolio on Friday, nearly two weeks after he broke away from the original party and took oath as Maharashtra's deputy chief minister.
Vala, known to be close to Modi, had succeeded Rajendrasinh Rana as party president on May 13 and had been holding both the posts since then.\n
Despite Dharavi being located in the Mumbai North Central constituency and Mahalaxmi Racecourse in South Mumbai, the issues have caught the attention of all parties and their candidates.
Tuvarakere Bharatiya Janata Party MLA A S Jayaram (Masala Jayaram) on Thursday accusing his own party of 'betraying' him, threatened to quit it, if he is not appointed as the head of a 'better' board or corporation in the state, by the end of this month.
'Modi knows the people here are opposed to this project, but he is using the might of government to push this port down our throats.'
After the expansion, the second by the coalition government, the strength of the ministry rose to 30.
The suspense over the possible composition of the National Democratic Alliance cabinet is nearly over.
Faced with in-house demand for change of leadership, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Monday said he will expand his cabinet soon.
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and other ministers took charge of their respective offices on Thursday, a day after taking oath at a ceremony held in the Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The CM met M B Patil, a prominent Congress leader under whose leadership a section of dissatisfied MLAs have been holding meetings.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Uttarakhand are disappointed over the state not getting a representation in the Union Cabinet with most of them maintaining that the party's impressive performance in the Lok Sabha polls in the hill state should have earned it a seat or two in Narendra Modi's council of ministers.
A day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the talks with Shiv Sena over power sharing were 70-80 per cent complete, a senior Sena leader on Tuesday said both the parties have "buried" their differences and agreed on a "suitable" formula.
Narendra Modi's new team includes a former cabinet colleague from his days as Gujarat CM, an academic and a sadhvi.
Despite the ongoing rift in the Punjab Congress, party leader Harish Rawat on Tuesday said that all is well in the state and expressed confidence in its victory in the forthcoming assembly polls.
The exclusive club that dominates the global semiconductor fab scenario is about to get a new member. Taiwan, South Korea, and China control nearly 70 per cent of the global capacity. SEMI, the global industry body for semiconductor and electronics design and manufacturing, projects all fabs collectively will churn out 30 million wafers a month this year.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Chandrakant Khaire on Monday said the Congress cannot stake claim to the Aurangabad constituency in Maharashtra for the next Lok Sabha polls as Shiv Sena (undivided) had won this seat multiple times in the past.
Moving ahead with the economic reforms, the Cabinet tonight cleared the long-delayed proposal for raising FDI limit in defence to 49 per cent and fully opened up the railway infrastructure segment, like high-speed trains, for foreign investment.
The refresher course will help participants complete ongoing projects in their respective departments via close coordination with other departments and the bureaucracy.
Billionaire Gautam Adani to two Union Ministers and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis among others on Sunday hailed India crossing $4 trillion mark though there was no official confirmation if the country has achieved the landmark. The finance ministry and the National Statistical Office did not immediately comment on the viral social media post on India's GDP crossing $4 trillion. Highly placed sources said that the viral news was incorrect and India was still shy of that landmark.
'Besides Ayodhya, the BJP lost in nine other constituencies with a Ramayana imprint; it tasted success only in Thrissur.' 'In Rameswaram, K Navaskani of the Indian Union Muslim League won with a 44% voteshare in a 84% Hindu constituency.' 'In the 21 seats in the Ayodhya and Varanasi regions, both crucial to the Hindutva project, the BJP won just 7.' 'It won just 3 out of 12 seats around Modi's constituency,' points out Krishna Prasad.
Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh will be inducted as a Union Cabinet minister on Sunday in a minor expansion of the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Amid hectic discussions on formation of the new government, indications emerged on Saturday that Narendra Modi would have a "small and compact" Cabinet that will take oath along with him on May 26 in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to expand his council of ministers on Sunday with top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders maintaining that at least six new faces, including Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar are expected to be inducted.
In a big organisational rejig, the BJP named Union minister G Kishan Reddy, Sunil Jakhar and Babulal Marandi as party presidents in Telangana, Punjab and Jharkhand respectively.
'Whether I turn 75 or 85, I will remain active in politics and contest the next election. I like politics very much'
The much speculated expansion of the Uttar Pradesh cabinet will take place on Thursday. Chief Minister Aklhilesh Yadav, who gave indications to that effect on Tuesday, is all set for enlarging the size of his 56-member council of ministers.
Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office to Tulsiram Silawat and Govind Rajput, who returned to the cabinet after a gap of more than two months.
While 7,500 of the 7,880 candidates allegedly tampered with the results in the exchange for money to show themselves "eligible" in the results of the final exam, 293 candidates secured forged/fake certificates projecting themselves as eligible candidates after the final results.
His visit comes close on the heels of the party holding a series of review meetings in Lucknow, which had fuelled speculation of a ministerial reshuffle in the state.
Ajit Pawar has the support of more than 40 MLAs of the NCP, according to sources citing a letter submitted to Raj Bhavan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reshuffle and expand his council of ministers on Tuesday
A day after a group of Congress MLAs met Sachin Pilot, another party legislator on Friday expressed support for the dissident leader as trouble brewed again in Rajasthan's ruling party.
Aaditya said the state had a "temporary" CM as the Shinde government was bound to fall soon.
The SBSP can impact around 10 Lok Sabha seats and 40 assembly seats in 7-8 districts in Uttar Pradesh, according to poll analysts.
The government has merged the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) with the finance ministry to give it a better control over state-owned firms and facilitate its ambitious privatisation programme. Finance ministry will now have six departments while DPE's hereto parent ministry, the ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises will now be called the ministry of heavy industries. Previously, the disinvestment ministry - created under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government - was merged with the finance ministry and is now a department under it. Also, Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was abolished and administration of foreign investments was given to the finance ministry (FinMin).
The ruling party legislators have expressed serious reservations about MLCs not elected by the people being made ministers, lack of representation to certain regions, with most ministers still from Bengaluru and Belagavi districts and also on their 'seniority or sacrifice' not being considered.
'Why do the English-speaking class feel they are the only ones who are efficient in work?' 'My own mother was from a village and she was more efficient than me. She used to handle crises better than me.' 'We will have to come out of our elite perception of governance.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday alleged that the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar was under threat from its own legislators, who are getting "restless" due to the delay in state cabinet expansion.
