The BJP is the preferred choice because it offers what the Mughals and later British offered in their time: A stable polity and an environment in which business could function, explains T N Ninan.
What some of our leaders were up to on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Efforts to forge unity in the opposition ranks gained momentum on Monday with the Congress asserting that a 'vast majority' of non-Bharatiya Janata Party outfits will meet soon, after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met its president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi.
Concealed beneath the feat, which testifies to his political acumen and survival instincts, is the fact that the 72-year-old leader could never remain at peace with his allies which also made him change partners frequently.
'We want to strengthen hands of Modiji and sure that LJP (Ram Vilas) will contest polls as an ally of NDA.'
Rio also appointed 24 MLAs as 'advisors' to various departments in his opposition less government.
'It is for the people of that state to decide whether what has happened is appropriate or not. But normally a party does not lose its support base just because of some MLAs jumping ship'
The sources said the Congress is the binding force for the opposition bloc and the stronger the Congress emerges the better for the alliance.
RJD-JD-U leaders believe Dhirendra Krishna Shastri's visit is part of the BJP's 2024 poll strategy.
The JD-U supreme leader, whose party, in Parliament, has been supporting the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe, however, did not seem impressed with the Maratha strongman's preference for an investigation by a 'Supreme Court-appointed Committee'.
'The Congress should have played a more active role to take care of the needs of regional parties. It failed.' 'Taking this into account, Nitishji took the final decision with the full support of the JD-U.'
Kumar will be administered the oath of office by Governor Phagu Chauhan at a simple ceremony inside the Raj Bhavan at 2 pm.
With the assembly poll results in three states being a disappointment for the Congress, some rumblings have begun among the constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) ahead of their meeting on December 6, with many leaders alleging that the grand old party ignored others, but was unable to win elections on its own.
Kushwaha made the exasperated remark in reply to queries from journalists about Singh's relentless, and often personal, attacks on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Chandra Shekhar's uncharitable remarks about Ramcharitmanas which triggered a controversy.
According to a senior Congress leader, the constituents of the opposition alliance intend to move forward with the theme "Main Nahin, Hum (We, Not Me)" at the meeting.
What some of our leaders were up to in the last couple of days.
A total of 517 candidates have withdrawn their candidature till on Monday, even as parties faced "rebel trouble" in several segments.
'Nitish Kumar is fooling the people of Bihar.' 'He will not probe anything because if he does so, he will be trapped himself.'
Locked in a bitter tussle with the Centre over the control of administrative services, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will meet the chiefs of the Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party this week seeking their support.
With a significant number of Opposition leaders present at the swearing-in ceremony of the Congress government in Karnataka, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday said Opposition unity requires much more than optics of this nature and stressed the need for meeting of minds, a common agenda and sacrificing partisan interests.
Bharti is apparently miffed at not being included into the cabinet after Singh was on Tuesday in the cabinet expansion inducted for the third time as minister.
Chaudhary alleged that the BJP "hates Bihar" after having lost power in the state, which is "back in the centre-stage of national politics" since the opposition meeting hosted in Patna by Nitish Kumar.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said he had decided against the Janata Dal-United joining the government at the Centre, after the Bharatiya Janata Party's refusal to his demand for four ministerial berths in 2019.
The Congress should take the lead in resolving differences of opinion within the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and show 'large-heartedness' in seat sharing to emerge as a viable alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party in upcoming elections, according to some opposition leaders.
The last rites will be performed by Sharad Yadav's son Shantanu Bundela, the late politician's nephew, Shailesh Yadav, informed.
The Lok Sabha witnessed a heated debate Friday on an Ethics Committee report recommending Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra's expulsion in the cash-for-query issue, with the Opposition demanding she be allowed to speak in the House, and the government contending her views were heard by the panel.
Opposition members of the Lok Sabha ethics committee on Thursday stormed out of a meeting along with Mahua Moitra, accusing the panel's chairperson of asking the Trinamool Congress MP personal and unethical questions.
The Congress also asserted that the opposition INDIA bloc had been formed for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at the national level and was not state specific.
Another meeting convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday with the floor leaders of the INDIA constituents in Parliament will, however, go ahead according to its schedule to formulate the opposition strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
A reference to Morbi bridge collapse of Gujarat was on Friday made inside the Bihar assembly by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who alleged that states not ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party got an unfair portrayal in the media.
They said they will raise issues related to rising prices, unemployment, corruption and caste census.
The meeting of the 14-member all-important panel of the opposition will take place at the residence of Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar in New Delhi on September 13 evening.
He was administered the oath of office by Governor Rajendra Arlekar at the Raj Bhavan in Patna.
The opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was in the grip of a crisis on Saturday with the Janata Dal-United saying the alliance was collapsing amid indications that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will switch back to the National Democratic Alliance, prompting the Congress to allege that the Bharatiya Janata Party is doing its best to cause a 'mini implosion' in the coalition.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday ducked queries about exit polls predicting wins, in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, for his former ally Bharatiya Janata Party which he has vowed to defeat with the help of a united opposition in the next general elections.
Deriving from Narendra Modi's continuing charisma, the proposed scheme, if and when implemented, can cut both ways. That is to say, if Modi can win, he can lose. Or, someone else in his place, later on, could lose as much as he could win in his time, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
According to the sources, the meeting will be held at 10 am on Thursday in the chamber of Rajya Sabha LoP.
Barring dissident MLC Rameshwar Mahto, who has an axe to grind against some ministers close to the CM, legislators and office bearers of the party chose to give the session a wide berth.
The Janata Dal-United supremo was replying to queries from journalists in Darbhanga district which he visited as part of his state-wide mass outreach programme 'Samadhan Yatra'.
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