Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan on Sunday said the UDF will take part in all the rehabilitation efforts and work towards restoring normalcy in the lives of the survivors.
After the resignations of three MLAs, the Congress, whose strength has been reduced to 65 in the 182-member House, had earlier shifted its legislators to three resorts in Rajkot, Ambaji in Banaskantha district and Anand in Gujarat to thwart any 'poaching' bid. However, a police complaint was on Sunday filed for alleged violation of lockdown norms against a resort in Rajkot district where the Congress had lodged some of its MLAs.
In the last five years, 480 candidates with declared cases related to hate speech have contested elections to state assemblies, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the ADR said.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) asserts that major political parties participated in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, deploying booth level agents despite opposing the exercise in the Supreme Court. The ECI defends its authority to conduct the revision to maintain the integrity of elections.
The ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh will hold a three-day training camp for its leaders from June 14 in Pachmarhi in Narmadapuram. The move comes amid the party facing flak for some statements from its leaders post Operation Sindoor. BJP president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have been invited to the camp to lecture the party cadre. The BJP said the event was pre-planned and was a routine affair, but the camp is seen as an attempt to discipline party leaders who have been making controversial statements.
Soren also claimed that his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma indulged in "purchase" of Jharkhand MLAs.
Unofficially though, it is claimed that Ajit Pawar has the support of 29 MLAs, and the number could add up within two days.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar denied on Monday making any comments regarding changing the Constitution to accommodate four per cent reservation for Muslims in the state. He claimed he was "misquoted" and warned of moving a breach of privilege motion. Shivakumar's remarks came after the BJP forced repeated adjournments in the Lok Sabha over his alleged comments on the matter. The BJP has accused Shivakumar of seeking to change the Constitution for political gain, highlighting the ongoing controversy surrounding reservation policies in India.
'The Congress government is on its way out in Himachal Pradesh.'
The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha is preparing his excuses for future defeats in the upcoming assembly elections, including Bihar, Fadnavis said in his articles published in the Indian Express and Marathi daily Loksatta.
Amid cross-voting, BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan on Tuesday won the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh, defeating ruling Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi, officials said.
Singh's suspension came days after he questioned the manner in which a vigilance bureau team raided the residence of Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia in Amritsar in a disproportionate assets case.
To keep their MLAs together, political parties are organising dinner meetings and arranging hotel stays for them ahead of the council elections, which are taking place just three months ahead of the assembly polls in the state.
Here is a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday claimed that Uddhav Thackeray planned to make Eknath Shinde the chief minister of Maharashtra after the 2019 polls, but first the Bharatiya Janata Party and later Maha Vikas Aghadi allies including Sharad Pawar played a spoilsport.
The Congress party in India has condemned the seizure of assets belonging to the National Herald, a newspaper founded by Jawaharlal Nehru, and announced nationwide protests against the action. The party's general secretary, KC Venugopal, described the action as "draconian" and said it was a politically motivated attempt to silence the opposition. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, among others, on charges of money laundering in the case. The Congress has called for protests in front of ED offices across the country on Wednesday.
A group of Congress leaders have written to Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to warn party leaders and state ministers, who are weighing in for the chief minister's post, in the event of leadership change in Karnataka.
The legislators will be staying at a luxury resort there and likely to visit the Somnath temple, sources said.
The austerity bug seems to have bitten the Delhi Government also with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit asking her ministers and Congress MLAs to voluntarily take 20 per cent less salary, on Tuesday.
Lokesh Sharma, the former OSD of Rajasthan's ex-chief minister Ashok Gehlot, has turned approver in a phone tapping case that happened during the political crisis in the state in 2020. Sharma was accused of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and unlawfully intercepting telephonic conversations. He has alleged that Gehlot was involved in tapping of phones and gave evidence to support his claim. Sharma claims that he was directed by Gehlot to circulate recordings of phone calls to the media.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren expanded his cabinet on Thursday, inducting 11 new ministers, including six first-timers and two women. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi. The new ministers include six from the JMM and four from the Congress. One minister is from the RJD. The expansion comes after the JMM-led alliance won the recent assembly elections with a comfortable majority. The cabinet expansion is expected to give the government a fresh impetus to push its agenda and accelerate development in the state.
'After the 2020 Bihar assembly polls when our party got only 43 seats and our ally the BJP got 73 seats, Nitish Kumar refused to become chief minister and assured the BJP that he will support the government led by anyone.' 'But the BJP's top leaders told Nitish Kumar that as the NDA contested the polls under his leadership, the next government will be headed by him.'
The apex court had on July 12 restrained Karnataka Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar from taking any decision till July 16 on the resignation and disqualification of 10 rebel MLAs of the ruling Congress-Janata Dal-Secular coalition.
Brijesh Merja is the third Congress MLA to have resigned since Wednesday and the eight since March.
"No MLAs will be going anywhere," DK Shivakumar said.
The newly-elected MLAs of Telangana would take oath during the first session of the Legislative Assembly scheduled to be held on Saturday.
Action will be taken against such MLAs, he said.
While the two MLAs will abstain in the event of a trust vote in the assembly, it is, however, not a withdrawal of support.
Six rebel Congress MLAs, including Rana, who were disqualified for defying the party whip asking them to be present in the assembly and vote in favour of the state government during cut motions and the budget, moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday against their disqualification.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has denied allegations it was trying to wean away MLAs from other parties.
Some MLAs (from Shinde bloc) have been sending messages that they want to "seek forgiveness from 'Matoshree'.
Both the eight-time MLA Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah have made no secret of their ambition to become CM and had been involved in a game of political one upmanship in the past.
In a letter to all MLAs, Gehlot sought their cooperation in fulfilling the promises of development and prosperity of the state.
Following his resignation, the second this week, the Congress' strength further slipped to 13, while the opposition has 14 MLAs in the 33-member house which has five vacancies.
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said like other states, the BJP started the game of using money power, power of the government and muscle power to destabilise the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh but has failed.
The Supreme Court of India has invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and other staff in West Bengal's state-run and state-aided schools, deeming the selection process "vitiated and tainted." The court ordered the state government to conduct a fresh selection process within three months. The decision comes after a Calcutta High Court verdict in April 2024, which also annulled the appointments. The apex court, while upholding the high court's order, made some modifications, including exempting disabled employees from returning their salaries. The case stemmed from alleged irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC), involving OMR sheet tampering and rank-jumping. The Supreme Court had previously termed it a "systemic fraud." Former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and Trinamool Congress MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha are among the accused being investigated in the recruitment scam.
'Parrikar died twice...once on March 17 physically while today it is the death of his political legacy'
The upcoming Delhi Assembly elections will see around 20 candidates who have switched parties, with the AAP, BJP, and Congress fielding former foes in a bid for political gains. While these candidates aim to prove themselves in their new political homes, they face challenges including apprehension among members of their adopted parties. The article provides details of prominent leaders who switched sides, including those who joined the AAP, BJP, and Congress.
Tensions ran high in Gubbi taluk on Saturday as the farmers' protest against the Hemavati Link Canal project escalated into violence, prompting police to register FIRs. It is said that more FIRs are likely to follow.
In the 2017 state assembly polls, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party by winning 17 seats.
