Anti-incumbency against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's 15-year-old rule in Bihar is stronger that what Lalu Prasad Yadav-led RJD regime faced in 2005, LJP president Chirag Paswan said on Monday, asserting that he walked out of the ruling alliance in the state so as not to have any 'guilt' of playing a role in continuation of the current dispensation.
Springing a surprise, Vijayakanth-led Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam on Wednesday struck an alliance with the four-party People's Welfare Front for the May 16 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu with the actor-turned-politician being declared as the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar and Balbir Punj on Saturday met a sulking L K Advani to discuss the elevation of Narendra Modi as prime ministerial candidate, a move the party patriarch is opposed to.
The party is less forthcoming about who the chief minister will be if it stays in power.
Rediff Labs analysed the 2013 assembly election results to develop a Sentiment Meter for the 2018 electoral battle.
'We pressurised him (to accept the deputy chief ministership).' 'Being out of power would have made him weaker.'
Claiming that a wave was blowing across the country in favour of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Paswan said, "Secularism aur communalism sirf chunaavi hathkande hain (secularism and communalism are poll ploys)."
It was in January 1988 when Delhi Police arrested an advocate named Rajesh Agnihotri, after he was apprehended by the students of St Stephen's College for allegedly stealing from a ladies common room.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "Gifted to us by the BJP president, our campaign in Karnataka is off to a fabulous start. He says Yeddyurappa ran the most corrupt Government ever... True."
Delhi has emerged as the youngest assembly in terms of age of elected legislators from the four states, with an estimated average age of about 43 years for members of Legislative Assembly elected in the national capital.
In a bid to put down party men airing views on its prime ministerial candidate, Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh on Monday issued a virtual gag order on the issue, which was breached by two leaders from Bihar pitching for Narendra Modi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday apologised to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and those hurt by the collapse of the warrior king's statue in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district, an act coming in the backdrop of a huge row over the crash which provided ammunition to the opposition to target the Mahayuti government ahead of assembly polls.
With this, the Cabinet will reach its full strength of 34.
Terming Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's yatra a "political gimmick", Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday said the exercise was aimed to promote himself as the party's prime ministerial candidate.
The Congress leader said he believes that democracy is derailed and "we are becoming too authoritarian". "It's all about one-man show," he said.
A new entrant, whether a popular actor or not, has not been able to sweep the polls, as their fans had hoped for. Given a proven pattern, it should hold true for Vijay as well. Or, something drastically has to happen between now and 2026, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the party will go into the Punjab assembly polls with a CM face and the decision on it will be taken soon after consulting party workers.
PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif is still in the race for the prime ministerial slot despite his party not securing a simple majority in the Feb 8 general elections in Pakistan, some PML-N leaders said on Monday.
Mudslinging and verbal attacks will definitely surge once the poll dates are announced, but as with any state, there are some crucial issues which will play a significant role in influencing voters in Assam too, says Devanik Saha.
Amid a debate on the Bharatiya Janata Party projecting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said the party would only take a call on the issue before the 2014 general elections.
Channi slammed the AAP government over his date of appearance date being advanced and alleged it was part of the dispensation's "vendetta politics".
Over 920 candidates are in the fray for the February 7 big-ticket Delhi Assembly elections which include BJP's chief ministerial nominee Kiran Bedi, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leader Ajay Maken, who filed their nominations on Wednesday.
With crucial assembly elections round the corner in four states, Congress leaders are currently debating whether to project chief ministerial candidates in the poll-bound states.
Insiders said Akhilesh's warring uncle Shivpal Yadav and Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh were not present at father-son meeting.
In a bid to break the impasse on government-formation, Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Wednesday night spoke to Harsh Vardhan, Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial candidate and leader the largest single party in assembly polls, for discussion on Thursday on the issue and Vardhan is likely to point out that he does not have the numbers.
Gandhi said he has respect for BSP patriarch Kanshi Ram for articulating the Dalit voice of Uttar Pradesh, even though the Congress had suffered during that phase.
Pawar said it will complete its full five-year term and ruled out going with the BJP, in case the state government falls.
Breaking with past practice, the Congress on Thursday released its first list of 24 candidates for the Delhi assembly polls repeating all its eight members of Legislative Assembly and 12 others who were runner-ups in the 2013 assembly election in which the party had suffered a setback.
"Next challenge for us is to win elections, neither individuals nor statements matter, those are bygones," he said.
National Democratic Alliance allies on Monday put up a united front amid vocal demands being made by some parties on their share of seats in Bihar polls but the crucial issue of seat-sharing was not discussed at their maiden joint meeting chaired by Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah.
The Bharatiya Janata Party may further delay the announcement of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate till the assembly elections to Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan are over.
Former Union minister Sharad Pawar on Monday said that he and nephew Ajit Pawar are together as a family, but made it clear that the latter was heading a different political party.
Haasan said several parties have initiated discussions for a possible alliance with the MNM and he "shook hands" with the All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi.
Nupur Sharma, 30, has been picked by the BJP to go up against be going up against Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal for the New Delhi seat in the upcoming Delhi elections.
Nath also said that no one in the history of the world has undertaken such a long 'padayatra'.
Despite the BJP emerging as the largest party in the ruling alliance with 74 seats, 31 more than the JDU, the top leadership of the saffron party, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has emphatically endorsed Kumar as the next chief minister.
Nadda's visit assumes significance as it came ahead of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje's planned 'dharmik yatra' next week, seen as an attempt to re-assert her influence in the state unit after maintaining a low profile since the BJP's defeat in 2018 assembly polls.
She expressed confidence that a three-way alliance is very much possible in West Bengal between her Trinamool Congress, Congress and the Left.
Besides the picture of Akhilesh Yadav, the poster also carries the picture of party state spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan 'Chand', who earlier in July on the birthday of the SP chief had put up a similar banner outside the SP office.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has already 'accepted defeat' by requesting him not to stop schemes initiated by the Congress in Rajasthan, and gave a guarantee that the Bharatiya Janata Party will not stop any scheme but only try to improve it.
