A BJP ally since the mid-90s, Kumar split with the party in 2014, only to realign three years later. In 2022, he again parted ways, vowing to dislodge the BJP from power at the Centre and bring together parties from across the country to form the INDIA bloc.
Aam Aadmi Party's Delhi state convener Gopal Rai on Thursday said his party's alliance with the Congress was only for the Lok Sabha elections and hinted that the ruling party in the city will go solo in next year's assembly polls in Delhi.
"Public does not who 'Kharge Pharge' is. Even I don't know he was the president of Congress. Nobody knows him. Masses don't know him. The public knows Nitish Kumar. Nitish Kumar should become prime minister. He is popular all over India," Mandal said.
'New Delhi is not naive about its foreign policy choices.'
'The protection of secrecy and anonymity gets lost with this linking.'
Leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) have decided to raise the NEET issue in both houses of Parliament on Friday and members will give notices in this regard, sources have said.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said her "sympathies" were with the BJP as big leaders of the INDIA bloc who are known to be good speakers have made it to the House.
The Congress party suffered a crushing defeat in the Delhi elections, failing to secure a single seat in the 70-member assembly for the third consecutive time. Key candidates, including Sheila Dikshit's son, Sandeep Dikshit, lost their deposits. The only consolation for the party was a slight improvement in its vote share, which they attribute to a vigorous campaign and a renewed focus on contesting elections independently. However, the defeat raises questions about the party's ability to compete in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, particularly in light of its performance in other recent state elections.
'America holds about 16% of IMF voting rights, giving it crucial influence over Pakistan's desperately needed bailout loans.'
The BJP's year has been marked by a remarkable ability to adapt its message and methods, rebounding from Lok Sabha election setbacks with improbable wins in Haryana and Maharashtra. The party's campaign machine, drawing on the strength of the RSS and its affiliates, has demonstrated a capacity to shift focus and respond to regional dynamics. While the BJP faces challenges, its adaptability and Modi's unchallenged leadership suggest a continued strong presence on the Indian political landscape.
Even as parleys continue in both states, the grand old party is expected to contest less than 110 seats in the November 20 polls for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly.
'CM face ko lekar NDA mein koi confusion nahi hai, Nitish Kumar hi NDA ke CM face hai'.
While the BJP went back to the drawing board to recraft its political and governance outreach and regained momentum by notching up surprisingly big wins in a string of assembly polls, the burst of fresh optimism in the main opposition Congress and other INDIA bloc parties fizzled out.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed that BRICS was established to "hurt" the US and "degenerate" the dollar as he warned that the member countries of the bloc would face a 10 per cent tariff. Trump made the remarks while talking to reporters at the sixth Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to scuttle the possibility of his party's alliance with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by his estranged cousin Raj Thackeray ahead of civic polls.
"More voters were added in Maharashtra in five months between the Lok Sabha and assembly polls than in five years," the former Congress president said.
JMM leader Hemant Soren was sworn in as the 14th chief minister of Jharkhand in a grand ceremony in Ranchi, amid the presence of a galaxy of INDIA bloc leaders. This is Soren's fourth stint as chief minister. The JMM-led alliance won a majority in the recent assembly polls, securing 56 seats in the 81-member assembly.
The opposition party reiterated the absolute essentiality of immediate diplomacy and dialogue with Iran.
The government will send seven all-party delegations to key partner countries, including members of the United Nations Security Council, later this month to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
There was such a rush that more counters were opened outside the GPO building, under the open sky, he added.
The People's Democratic Party and the National Conference -- the two Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners in Jammu and Kashmir -- will be taking on each other on the three Lok Sabha seats in the valley.
The diplomatic exercise aimed at presenting India's stance against Pakistan on terror comes in the wake of Operation Sindoor -- the Indian offensive against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
On Tuesday, 49 opposition MPs were suspended for the remaining part of the session for disrupting proceedings, taking the total tally of suspended MPs in Lok Sabha to 95.
The move of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has further reduced the possibility of the INDIA bloc alliance working in the MP elections.
Unidentified persons also wrote 'agent of Trinamool Congress' on Kharge's posters and hoardings.
However, in 950 booths, voting will end at 4 pm, though people standing in the queue at that time will be able to exercise their franchise.
The chief minister said his "fault" was providing good education to children, building good schools for them, opening Mohalla Clinics and arranging for free medicines for people.
Ahead of the crucial INDIA alliance meeting in Mumbai, AAP leader Priyanka Kakkar Wednesday pitched for Arvind Kejriwal as the opposition bloc's prime ministerial candidate but party colleagues Atishi and Sanjay Singh hastened to deny that the Delhi chief minister had such aspirations.
Using the Mahabharat reference as a leitmotif, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed that an atmosphere of fear prevails all around with a group of six trapping the entire country in a 'chakravyuh' he promised would be broken by the INDIA bloc.
In a memorandum submitted to the EC, the INDIA party leaders submitted a list of recent instances of central agencies targeting Opposition parties and alleged an absence of a level playing field for the opposition.
As the Centre announced the inclusion of caste enumeration in the next census on Wednesday, opposition parties said it is a victory for their long-standing demand and sought time-bound implementation.
Gandhi said the party will defeat the saffron party and Narendra Modi in Gujarat just the way it was defeated in Ayodhya.
Names of Rajya Sabha MPs Harbhajan Singh and Swati Maliwal are missing from the list.
Leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc are set to meet at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi on December 6 to formulate a strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Commenting on the seat sharing in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said in Ballia that a decision will be made as soon as Surya Uttarayan occurs.
'Modi's charisma may have weakened as last year's Lok Sabha poll results showed but in the eyes of the Sangh Parivar, it has not waned.' 'Minus a strong BJP government at the Centre for another decade and more, there is apprehension that an anti-Hindutva government could reverse many of the ideological gains that the Modi dispensation has achieved through its three terms,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Amid suspense over Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)'s prime ministerial face for the 2024 general elections, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said the 1977 Lok Sabha polls were fought by the opposition without projecting Morarji Desai as the PM candidate.
India and the US desire to give preferential market access to each other's businesses and teams of both the countries are working together on the proposed bilateral trade agreement, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said. In February, US President Donald J Trump and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi announced plans to negotiate the first tranche or phase of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall (September-October) of 2025.
Several BJP-backed state governments have unveiled schemes targeting the poor, women, farmers and students, following the party's setback in the Lok Sabha polls.
The committee, of which Mukul Wasnik is the convener and has former chief ministers Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel as well as Mohan Prakash and Salman Khurshid in it, held final talks and suggested the way forward to the party leadership.