Siddaramaiah will be the next CM of Karnataka and D K Shivakumar his deputy, Congress sources in Delhi said on Thursday after the party arrived at a consensus on government formation in the state following hectic parleys.
A video released on Monday, the second in two days, shows the two leaders presenting a united front in the polls and exchanging notes on the Congress campaign.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rulers in New Delhi and their political aides in sensitive states like Tamil Nadu have to be doubly careful not to provoke a situation whose consequences may be much more than visible now to the naked eye, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
It's great to win election after election on the strength of Modi's charisma and voter appeal, but the larger the Modi myth grows, the more the BJP diminishes, notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'The group commands 85 per cent of the global GDP, and if you are able to convey your point of view effectively to this group then you have reached more or less all the important players that matter.'
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Women politicians bring to politics and policy a sensitivity that most of their male counterparts, at least until a generation back, lacked.
A bench of Justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundresh asked the UGC to furnish the details of steps taken on a plea by the mothers of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi.
Anti-Congress regional parties may have felt the possible impact of Rahul's South-North yatra, pending a second East-West padayatra, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday promised to restore the old pension scheme for government employees in Himachal Pradesh if the Congress was voted to power in the assembly elections.
Gehlot expressed his sadness over the turn of affairs in the state.
'Judges have families; they have their future to worry about.' 'In an atmosphere of fear, the judges are constantly under some kind of psychological pressure.' 'I have seen this is happening across the board in the country today.'
The Congress needs to reorganise itself at the grassroots, infuse younger blood, and have more boots on the ground. Just offering freebies is not the answer anymore. Leadership matters, asserts Ramesh Menon.
The message for 2024 is that the man on the street is not going to be euphoric if the G-20 crowns Modi as king-emperor for 2023, or if India sends its first man to space just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Even a 'temple consecration' in Ayodhya, or a Uniform Civil Code, or both of them together, may not have enough electoral purchase if fuel and commodity prices are not rolled back, and money-in-the-pocket does not fatten, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
If only the Congress could rebuild on its strengths and develop a modern enough ideology, we could again be moving towards a clearer two-party political landscape, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Former judges of the Supreme Court and high courts and some senior advocates have written a letter to the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana requesting the top court to take suo motu cognisance of the detention of protestors and demolition of their houses by the Uttar Pradesh authorities following protests against objectionable remarks made by BJP spokespersons.
Of the total cash outgo Rs 40,000 crore is towards enhanced expenditure under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program and Rs 33,771.48 crore have been sought for direct benefit transfer under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and National Social Assistance Programme.
Singh, an executive committee member of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, also called Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut 'manchali (crazy)' for her remarks about the country's independence.
'Even if a dog dies, a condolence message is sent by Delhi leaders. But I am hurt that 600 farmers have died but no resolution was passed in Parliament'
Vice President Dhankar's and Law Minister Rijuju's recent interventions have the danger of destabilising the Constitutional equilibrium, cautions N Sathiya Moorthy.
Among the key demands of agitating farmers has been a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP). The protest reached a crescendo when thousands of farmers from Punjab and elsewhere marched towards Delhi late last year and decided to block the main entry points once they were denied entry. The Centre, on its part, held 11 rounds of discussions with the protesters and even offered to amend some of the provisions without much success. With now one of their chief demands met, farmers have now moved on to force the government to concede on MSP.
Sharad Pawar reckons that the NCP has value as a united, going concern, not as a gaggle of leaders in search of followers, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
'BJP loses a democratic election, then buys MLAs from the ruling party's flock and rides to power in these states.' 'Do you think Atalji would have tolerated this?'
Sharing his experience of the yatra so far, the Congress leader said he felt sad while talking to farmers, youth, and tribals.
Not only has the Mudra loan mela generated no jobs, it has frittered away trillions of taxpayers' money and it's time to bury the scheme, argues Debashis Basu.
'At this age we all know that death is inevitable, but everyone wants to die with dignity.' 'The judges have given the answer.'
Loans for Indian airlines have dried up as banks have become cautious to lend to the sector.
Would Ukraine be such a pushover if it had that nuclear stockpile?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
The apex court also issued notice, including to the Centre through the office of the attorney general, on Ranjan's plea seeking clubbing of FIRs and protection from coercive action.
In a bid to woo villagers to benefit from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Orissa government on Tuesday decided to offer health insurance and a house under the Indira Awas Yojana to each labourer who completed 100 days work in a year, official sources said.
The law may be good politics, but politics without grounding in basic economics is the surest guarantee of economic disaster.
'When did Mr. Sibal fight an election to get into any position in the party'
'I have to treat patients and there they don't like Indians.' 'The patients don't like me, they are not going to come to me, then what is the point of studying there?'
In May, Satpal Singh, who runs a dairy business with three buffaloes in Jewar, near Noida, was worried about the steep spike in input costs. Singh said dry fodder rates, which cost Rs 1,500-2000 per tractor trolley last year, were quoting at Rs 4,500-5,000. The price of other cattle feed ingredients (that include mustard meal and similar mixes) had also gone up from Rs 2,000 per quintal to Rs 3,100-3,200 per quintal.
The apex court, which dealt with the submission advanced by Kumar's counsel that the former MP be allowed to undergo treatment at a private hospital at his own cost, observed that he cannot be treated as a 'super VIP patient'.
Gandhi added the minimum income guarantee would be implemented across the country.
Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Salman Khurshid on Wednesday hit back at their party colleague Kapil Sibal and other leaders of the G-23, alleging that they were trying to break the party by continuing to hold meetings even after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had discussed 'all' issues during its recent meeting.
A day after the Congress brainstormed over its electoral reverses, senior leader M Veerappa Moily on Monday said Sonia Gandhi should take "full control" of the party with a free hand to change non-performing leaders, and asserted that a "mere culture of tweets and social media propaganda" would not take the organisation forward.
While protesters wait for the farm laws to be repealed in Parliament, everyone at the Singhu echoes one sentiment: That they will remember this one year spent in protest at Singhu till their dying day. Nitin Kumar reports
