The Congress under a 'no surrender' policy evolved by Rahul Gandhi has decided to play tough in all the states where the party is negotiating with prospective and even existing alliance partners. The aim is to bag the largest number of seats possible.
Nath, 72, will take the office of chief minister for the first time in a distinguished career in politics.
Congress Legislature Party leader Ashok Gehlot will be sworn in as Chief Minister of Rajasthan on December 13, a Raj Bhavan spokesman said on Thursday.
Dikshit was elected at a meeting of 42 party legislators in New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon. The meeting was attended among others by All India Congress Committee General Secretary Mohsina Kidwai, Minister of State for Finance P K Bansal and Delhi Pradesh Congres Committee chief Jai Prakash Aggarwal.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah, who took over the stewardship of the state amid a campaign by supporters by late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to give his son the top post, said on Saturday that a meeting of Congress Legislature Party would be held before year-end.
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy held discussions with Congress leaders after the meeting.
A blame game has begun within the Congress, even as legislators of the newly formed Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) decided to stake their claims to form the government in Meghalaya. The Congress, which emerged as the single largest party, has fallen short by just six seats to cross the majority threshold in the 60-member Assembly.
Singh's choice came after AICC observers Vilasrao Deshmukh and P M Sayeed had a telephonic talk with Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Karnataka, by reposing its faith in BSY, remains a Hindutva stronghold, reports R Rajagopalan.
"Rajasthan is the only state where no demand was raised to change the PCC president in seven years. We knew that nothing is happening here. We knew he is 'nikamma' (worthless) and 'nakara' (idle), still we did not question this in the interest of the party," Gehlot told reporters.
That YSR completed five years in power with out a whimper of dissidence and led the party single-handedly back to power speak volumes about the hold he now enjoys over the party in the state and the backing from the high command.
The 19 MLAs were sent notices Tuesday by the Speaker after the Congress complained that they had defied a party whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings.
Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang resigned on Wednesday just before the trust vote in the assembly, saying his government was unable to muster a majority. "Congress could not get the requisite support, so the Congress Legislature Party decided to resign," Lapang told reporters shortly after a CLP meeting on Wednesday morning. He said he was going to Governor S S Siddhu to submit his resignation.
The Himachal effect could be replicated in Narendra Modi-run Gujarat, where the PCC chief Bharat Solanki and CLP leader Arjun Modwadia could meet a similar fate, party sources said.
However, the MLA, who was upset at not being made a minister, said he will go by the instructions of his voters and supporters on accepting the saffron party's offer.
A crucial meeting of the Congress Legislature Party to choose Goa's next chief minister got underway in Panaji on Thursday.
Shortly after his predecessor J D Rymbai resigned earlier in the day, Lapang called on Governor M M Jacob and staked claim to form the ministry stating that he was elected the new Congress Legislature Party leader.
The decision to change the leadership in faction-ridden ruling Congress in Meghalaya came just five days ahead of the budget session of the assembly.
The decision to appoint Rymbai was taken during the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party held in Shillong.
Senior Congress leader D D Lapang was on Monday sworn in as Meghalaya chief minister by Governor S S Sidhu, who rejected the demand of the newly-formed Nationalist Congress Party-led Meghalaya Progressive Alliance saying the decision was aimed at preventing horse-trading. Stung by the Governor's decision, the MPA led by former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A Sangma decided to move the Supreme Court on Tuesday against installation of the Congress government.
The Congress leader alleged that BJP-appointed governors have violated the Constitution and have in the process "gravely impaired" parliamentary democracy, its conventions and traditions.
Ajay Maken was unhappy with her handling of the power situation in New Delhi.
Singh said the farmers opted for 'unusual deeds' to draw media attention as they belong to organisations with only a few thousand members.
He will meet Governor R L Bhatia on Tuesday morning and will be sworn in later in the day, CLP sources said.
The Janata Dal [Secular] is expected to make a last ditch effort to persuade the Congress to accept its demand that it should lead the coalition government with Siddaramaiah as the chief minister.
The 37 MLAs supporting him in the 60-member House, include 30 from his party, the Congress, four of the Communist Party of India and three from the Rashtriya Janata Dal, party sources said.
The CLP will meet at 11 am at Vidhan Bhavan, party spokesman Anant Gadgil said.
In a notice issued to Congress MLAs, CLP leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah warned that absence of MLAs at Friday's meeting would be viewed 'seriously'.
Police on Thursday registered a case of murder into the deaths of two teenage girls whose bodies were found in a field in Unnao even as a post-mortem revealed no injury marks.
Opposition parties said it was a move to appease the party leader.
JD-S leader Siddharamaiah will be the deputy CM.
The Congress on Sunday named Baghel, a five-time MLA from Patan, to head the state Congress Legislature Party. Baghel, who took charge as Congress state president Congress after the 2013 assembly polls, was credited for the massive victory of the party in the recent assembly polls where Congress won 68 seats in the 90-member House.
Azad had, on Sunday, called on the Governor to stake claim to form the new government in Jammu and Kashmir, replacing Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as the chief minister.
One of the Congress members said two more legislators would join the group.
The coming weeks will be a tightrope walk for Gehlot who has 100 loyalists MLAs waiting to be rewarded on one side and the dissidents who wanted to be rehabilitated on the other, observes Prakash Bhandari.
The team, comprising Vayalar Ravi, Pranab Mukherjee and Ghulam Nabi Azad, is right now meeting party legislators at Sahyadri Guesthouse at Malabar Hills.
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