Bhaichung Bhutia, India's iconic former football captain, is set to try his political luck again, this time in his native state of Sikkim, as he plans to contest the assembly elections due this year.
The central government has asked public sector undertakings to dissuade their employees from participating in the bandh.
The ruling Congress in Assam is way ahead in respect of preparedness for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls compared to its arch rivals, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the regional Asom Gana Parishad.
Bharatiya Janata Party state president P K Krishnadas and Nationalist Congress Party state president and former Member of Parliament, K Muraleedhran, who are contesting from Thiruvananthapuram and Wynad respectively, may prove to be the proverbial dark horses in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Veteran BJP leader Eknath Khadse says he will expose Devendra Fadnavis in a forthcoming book.
The Asom Gana Parishad on Monday announced the names of its candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls and vowed to give a tough challenge to the ruling Congress in the state.Announcing the name of the party candidates, AGP president Chandra Mohan Patowary said, "An united AGP armed with a seat sharing arrangement with the Bharatiya Janata Party will form a formidable force against the Congress, which is already jittery over our tie up with the BJP."
'If Antony hopes he can continue to rule Kerala by intimidating my followers and me it is a futile hope,' says former state chief minister K Karunakaran.
In an interview with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, senior Andhra Pradesh Congress leader Madhu Yaskhi, who has been battling for the cause of Telangana, speaks in great detail about how Jagan's arrest could affect his political fortunes in the time to come.
Imarati Devi, Tulsi Silawat, Govind Singh Rajput, Mahendra Singh Sisodiya, Pradyumn Singh Tomar and Prabhuram Chaudhari were removed from the cabinet with immediate effect on Friday, said a Public Relations Department official.
The party's most important electoral challenge lies in whether it can meet the aspirations of the youth who were drawn by the promise of gainful work.
The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party, which has already crossed swords with the Congress, is all set to launch its campaign for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections from the bastion of Gandhi family -- Amethi and Rae Bareli -- on February 9. The party, while announcing its plan to organise Brahmin Sammelans across the state, has decided to organise its first convention in Amethi, parliamentary constituency of All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
Within two or three days, a Congress team would discuss seat sharing arrangements with the NCP. The task is to be finished by the end of August.
Rather than lose direction with the Karnal protest, farmers decided to focus more on UP to defeat the BJP in the forthcoming assembly elections there, reports Nitin Kumar.
A fresh controversy has erupted after Maharashtra Congress President Manikrao Thakre announced formation of a 21-member 'Coordinating Committee' to work out electoral strategy for the forthcoming civic polls here, with the anti-Kalmadi faction within the party alleging that the panel was dominated by loyalists of the tainted MP who brought disrepute to the city which he represented in Parliament.
Kejriwal said the AAP would not have 'dreamt' of forming an alliance with the Congress but agreed to save the country.
"As part of NDA, we look forward to joining forces with you in Maharashtra to help secure victory in upcoming Lok Sabha elections & beyond. @nitishkumar," Kishor tweeted while tagging JD-U president Nitish Kumar.
At the rally in election-bound Rajasthan the Gandhi scion stressed on the collective dream for a prosperous nation, reports Shahnawaz Akhtar
AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday asked the leaders and party workers to bury their internal differences and ensure victory of Congress candidates in the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections.
Brushing aside speculation about a leadership change in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan virtually confirmed on Thursday that he is not going to be replaced.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has pleaded ignorance about claims made by rebel state minister Narayan Rane regarding assurance of chief ministership by the Congress when he left Shiv Sena nine years ago.
Women politicians do not always receive adequate representation in Indian legislature, in spite of a law that dictates 33 per cent of the elected representatives should belong to the fairer sex. The situation is not very different in Karnataka politics.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Friday sought to strike an optimistic note saying his party was in touch with the Congress over the tie-up for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections which was "bound to lead to a positive outcome very soon".
'If they think they can silence us by suspending us, then they don't know what BJP MLAs are made of.'
Trinamool Congress candidate and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce And Industry secretary general Amit Mitra, pitted against Communist Party of India-Marxist candidate and West Bengal Finance minister Ashim Dasgupta, is confident that his party is heading for a victory at the forthcoming Assembly elections.
The victory of the Bodoland People's Front, the Congress's coalition partner since 2006, in all the 11 assembly constituencies in the Bodoland Territorial Council areas will be crucial for the ruling party's win in the forthcoming assembly elections.But for the support of the BPF, which is headed by the former leader of the now disbanded Bodo Liberation Tiger Hagrama Mohilary, the Congress, which had only 53 seats in its kitty, would not have been able to form the state govt.
Ruling out merger with any political party currently, Democratic Indira Congress (K) president K Muraleedharan Tuesday clarified that the party would contest all the 140 seats on its own, in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti on Wednesday gave divergent versions on the issue of merger even after their leaders have held a series of meetings since Parliament gave its nod for creation of Telangana last week.
According to sources in the Congress, Krishna will be contesting the elections from his home constituency at Maddur. The list of candidates from the Congress is ready and is awaiting the approval of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at New Delhi. This sudden move by the Congress is seen as a measure to check mate the Janata Dal-Secular, which is trying to capitalise on the Vokkaliga vote bank.
The Congress and the Samajwadi party continued their search for an agreement on sharing of seats from Uttar Pradesh in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls at a meeting between their top leaders on Sunday, but the gap between Congress demand for 25 seats and SP's offer of 15 remained unbridged.
Former United Nations diplomat Shashi Tharoor said on Friday that he will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls if he was given a chance and gave indications that his preference was Congress.
Reacting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent comment -- that he was not ruling out a future alliance with former partner Trinamool Congress -- party Member of Parliament Derek O'Brien on Sunday said they would prefer to go it alone in the next Lok Sabha polls as the people of the state were firmly behind them.
Already handicapped by a brand new party known as the YSR Congress party and the lack of a permanent election symbol, his opponents have decided to make things worse for Jagan by putting up 9 namesakes against him in the Kadapa LS bypoll
The interim Budget has attempted to tick all the boxes that could help the Modi government return to power, reports Archis Mohan.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said the United Progressive Alliance government will not last beyond the forthcoming winter session of Parliament, but the Congress ridiculed the claim. Addressing a BJP protest, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said, "The allies of the government are slowly leaving them and it is not going to last after the winter session of Parliament."
Their resignations came after the Congress high command gave Gogoi the go-ahead to carry out the reshuffle exercise. Three of the ministers faxed in their resignation letters to the chief minister's residence.
Congress governments at the Centre and in Bihar were responsible for the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and Bhagalpur riots in 1989 while BJP government in Gujarat was accountable for the 2002 riots in that state, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in Patna on Tuesday.
Caste composition is going to be a huge determinant for winning the constituency where Vokkaligas and Lingayats constitute a vast majority, which puts Siddaramaiah in a weaker turf given that he belongs to the Kuruba community.
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