The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday sought disqualification of 10 of its legislators in Uttar Pradesh on charges of indulging in cross-voting during the confidence vote won by Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Keeping in mind the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections, President Pranab Mukherjee and the Centre have decided to extend by a week the deadline to discuss the Telangana bill.
C P Joshi pips Ruchir Modi to become RCA president
Pratibha bagged votes with a value of 3,25,180 while her rival 'independent' candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat got votes worth 1,67,050.
Rawat also said a legal framework is needed to be in place for holding simultaneous polls.
The biennial elections for five Rajya Sabha seats from West Bengal began in Kolkata Tuesday morning as six candidates put up fight for berths in the Upper House.
NCP MLA Kandhal Jadeja said his party has decided to support BJP candidate.
This will be his second term at the helm in the Indian cricket board, more than a decade after his first term ended.
Mayawati was outmanoeuvred by the BJP in the race for the Rajya Sabha in Uttar Pradesh just days after she helped the Samajwadi Party snatch two Lok Sbaha seats from the saffron party in bypolls.
The Congress had sent the 44 legislators to the resort to fend off 'poaching' attempts by BJP.
The party, banking on the legacy of former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh, had no MP and its lone MLA had switched to the BJP.
The BJP is still short of the halfway mark of 123 in the 245-member House, but can now muster a 'working' majority with help of allies, friendly parties, some Independents and nominated members.
The Congress won three seats, Shiv Sena won two, while the Nationalist Congress Party, Bharatiya Janata Party and an Independent bagged one seat each.
While Azad, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, has been made in charge of Uttar Pradesh, Nath will look after Punjab and Haryana, party General Secretary Janaradan Dwivedi said.
The saffron party is assured of victory in eight of the ten seats in UP going by its dominant numbers in the state assembly.
The elections to the Upper House from the state, where assembly polls are due later this year, have received greater attention with BJP president Amit Shah and Union Minister Smriti Irani entering the fray and the Congress putting up its heavyweight Ahmed Patel.
The desertion of MLAs is worrying for the party which has fielded its senior leader Ahmed Patel for the Rajya Sabha election.
The resignation of Balwantsinh Rajput (who was also the chief whip), Tejashreeben Patel and Prahlad Patel reduced the Congress's tally to 54 in the 182-seat assembly.
Banerjee said the TMC would file a defamation case against the CBI and other central agencies for 'harassing and defaming' its leaders.
Under the Supreme Court-monitored proceedings, the result of the vote will be given to the court on Wednesday morning.
The Congress is finding it tough to accommodate defeated senior leaders in the Rajya Sabha as it does not have the numerical strength in various assemblies to win the seats.
"The BJP tried every trick to defeat the BSP candidate and indulged in malpractices," the BSP supremo alleged.
Stung by cross-voting of seven dissident Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam members of Legislative Assembly in Thursday's Rajya Sabha polls, party founder and Leader of the Opposition Leader in the assembly Vijayakant on Friday charged them with betrayal as they were given a political identity by him.
Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav, his party colleague Pawan K Verma in Bihar and senior Congress leaders B K Hariprasad and Rajiv Gowda of Karnataka were among the 12 candidates who filed their nominations on Monday on the last day for June 19 elections for Rajya Sabha berths in 4 states.
As the elections appear closer, the nervousness in the Congress party has become more visible. Each one is frantically concerned about his own position rather than wanting the Congress party to get ready for a spirited fight.
Another MLA Rekha Arya, who was also supposed to join the BJP on Wednesday, is visiting the Simhasth Kumbh in Ujjain, but has sent her acceptance to the party.
Elections in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will see the BJP and Congress in direct contest.
'We have got our permutations and combinations in place.' 'We are also trying to garner support from some NDA allies.' 'Every section of society has suffered during the four years of Modi rule.'
Four Janata Dal-United legislators were disqualified on Saturday from the Bihar assembly under the anti-defection law for anti-party activities, including cross voting in Rajya Sabha election.
The All Assam Students Union on Wednesday launched statewide protests against Assam Congress' decision to field a candidate from outside the state, Sanjay Singh in Rajya Sabha election in Assam bowing to the dictate of party high command.
'The party had opposed FDI when it was in the Opposition. Now, its government has allowed FDI in all sectors.' 'Modi had opposed GST when he was chief minister. Now, he is strongly advocating it.' 'The BJP must come clean and inform its supporters and the people why it is diverging from its basic agenda.'
Nine Congress MLAs, most of them Bahuguna loyalists, rebelled against Harish Rawat and supported BJP's claim to form a government.
A down-to-the-wire contest is likely in some of the seats in the high-stakes Rajya Sabha elections in seven states, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana, where the fate of candidates including senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal and senior lawyer R K Anand is being decided on Saturday.
A lot is riding on the Rajya sabha polls that are scheduled for Saturday. Major parties are whisking away candidates of other parties, while protecting their own, MLAs are being sent to 'camps' in the final countdown to the polls for 57 seats. Here is a state-by-state look:
If you can have caste and faith based parties, why can't there be a gender based one as well, asks T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
The deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Friday afternoon.
With reports suggesting a rift between the Congress and its ally Nationalist Congress Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday dubbed the United Progressive Alliance as a "sinking ship" which is being deserted by its allies.
Even without Shah's TN visit and the rest, the increasing bonhomie between the BJP and the AIADMK factions in the state have become more visible than ever in the post-Jaya era, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
If the AIADMK falls short of the 117-mark required to form a government in the 234-member assembly, will it strike a post-poll deal to form Tamil Nadu's first coalition government? N Sathiyamorthy analyses.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's quest to strengthen its base in north India starts from Bihar, says Bharat Bhushan.
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