The party's CM choice came as a surprise for many as the low-profile, first-time legislator was not seen to be among the top contenders for the post.
However, induction in the NCP-SP will come with riders, asserted the former Union minister.
In a subtle warning to the Shiv Sena rebels currently camping in Guwahati, party leader and cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray has said the road from Mumbai airport to Vidhan Bhavan, the state legislature complex in Mumbai, goes via Worli.
With the deepening political crisis in Rajasthan over the appointment of Ashok Gehlot's successor, Congress Working Committee members have demanded from Sonia Gandhi to pull the state chief minister out of the race for the party chief and select another candidate for the top post, sources said on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to get reservation for women in legislatures promises to shape the political discourse ahead of key state polls and Lok Sabha elections, and a parliamentary approval to the long-contested proposal will be used by the Bharatiya Janata Party to burnish his credentials as a decisive leader.
Bhagwant Mann will take oath as the chief minister of Punjab on March 16 at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of iconic freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, party sources said on Friday after he met the party's national convener Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi.
As trends indicated a comfortable win for the grand old party in Himachal Pradesh, Shukla said the party was happy that it is getting an opportunity to form the government in the state and asserted that the party will do everything to fulfill the 10 guarantees made to the people of the state and would provide better governance to people.
The Sena-UB has fielded popular wrestler Chandrahar Patil from Sangli despite the Congress announcing Vishal Patil's name from the same seat.
Notably, when asked by reporters if he would take legal recourse after Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief minister on Sunday, Sharad Pawar had said he would not get into all this but will go among people.
The meetings come days after an open rebellion by Gehlot loyalists over a possible leadership change in the state, clouding Gehlot's chances of running for the presidency.
Sukhu, the 58-year-old MLA from Nadaun in Hamirpur district, was elected the the CLP leader and will take oath as chief minister Sunday, the party said.
Speaking to reporters in Panaji, the BJP's Goa desk in-charge C T Ravi said there was no discontent among the eight MLAs who joined the party earlier this year.
"Are they (JD-U) police that we have to answer them?" he shot back to another question that JD-U spokesmen have been regularly saying that Tejashwi Yadav has to come clean in the public domain.
The party will meet Governor Najma Heptullah soon to stake claim for forming government.
The veteran leader is also expected to use his good offices in unifying the faction-ridden party in the state, ahead of assembly elections just six months away.
Eighteen distinct amendments to the Constitution and other statutes would be required for the implementation of the Kovind committee's recommendations on simultaneous elections, according to the panel's report accepted by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.
After the 1962 War with China, there was a demand to forge greater defence cooperation between India and the West. One such voice was that of Sudhir Ghosh, a distinguished MP, to tie up strategic cooperation with the USA immediately after the Chinese attack on India, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
Ahead of the Parliament session, the government will hold a meeting with leaders of all parties on Sunday to brief them and hear their views, amid an intense buzz on whether it will have some surprise item up its sleeve during the five-day sitting.
Chavan said the Mahayuti and BJP's policy was Viksit Bharat and Viksit Maharashtra, as spelt out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The tit for tat actions came a day after Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government as deputy chief minister along with eight other NCP MLAs who were inducted as ministers.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday assured his government will continue the Ladki Bahin Yojana and fulfil Mahayuti's pre-poll promise of hiking the monthly stipend under the scheme to Rs 2,100 from Rs 1,500 now to eligible women.
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.
Pilot was spied on after revolt, says Gehlot's OSD
The Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has issued a whip to "all" its legislators to remain present full-time during the budget session of the Maharashtra legislature which began on Monday, in an apparent move to corner the faction headed by former CM Uddhav Thackeray.
Meanwhile, an independent MLA in Gujarat has declared his support to the BJP.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot submitted his resignation to Governor Kalraj Mishra Sunday evening after his Congress party was defeated in the assembly polls.
Congress leaders and workers from Kolar have been exerting pressure on the Congress legislature party leader to contest from there.
The Congress high command has called senior leader Kamal Nath to Delhi and he is likely to meet party chief Sonia Gandhi on Monday, sources said.
Trump spoke approvingly of his recent telephone conversation with Xi Jinping. This could indicate the possibility of America and China reaching some level of tactical accommodation, which would not be good news for India, points out Ambassador Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary.
And voters could also be asked to participate in "referendums" on issues before the lawmakers in that particular state.
A resolution to this effect was passed unanimously in a meeting of the CLP in Chandigarh.
Amid the ongoing tussle between Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole and party veteran Balasaheb Thorat in the wake of recent legislative council elections, both the leaders came face to face at the party's state executive committee meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday, with both of them later claiming that everything was fine between them.
Other Congress leaders who are learnt to have spoken with Pilot are Ahmed Patel, P Chidambaram and K C Venugopal.
According to sources in the Congress, eight legislators are likely to be sworn in as ministers along with them.
Haryana MLA Kiran Choudhry has resigned from the Vidhan Sabha and is likely to be fielded in the Rajya Sabha bypolls by the Bharatiya Janata Party, nearly two months after she joined the party after quitting the Congress.
With all eyes on the Congress's next step in Rajasthan after Sachin Pilot's fast in Jaipur on Tuesday, AICC in-charge of state Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Wednesday said he agrees with the issue of corruption taken up by Pilot but the manner in which it was raised was not right.
What India needs more than one simultaneous election is better governance both at the central and state level. Yes, we need reforms, but our priority should be to make elections less expensive, make it more democratic, do away with freebies which are actually bribes before elections, allow only those who are educated to contest, and bring in a bill to make it impossible for criminals to contest, advocates Ramesh Menon.
With Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar both staking claim to the top post, they are lobbying hard for it with supporters of each one raising the pitch in support of their leader.
The 61 year-old leader was the Minister for Home Affairs, Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Legislature in Yediyurappa's council of ministers that was dissolved on Monday and was also the Minister in-charge of Haveri and Udupi Districts.
Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar is expected to be elected as the leader at Sunday's meeting.
