With the date for the Goa assembly poll results nearing, the Congress has said it is open to a post-poll alliance with parties other than the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the next government, if it does not get a majority on its own.
Amid growing chorus from Siddaramaiah's camp in Karnataka Congress to project him as the chief ministerial face of the party for the 2023 assembly polls, his son and Varuna MLA on Wednesday asserted that his father has a chance to become CM once again.
Given the dismal show of the Congress in the recently concluded assembly polls and the JMM eating into its vote bank, the possibility of Congress MLAs switching sides is not bleak, reports R Krishna Das.
Left with just three MLAs, the Congress does not have the required one tenth of the legislative strength in the 40-member House to claim the Cabinet minister-level post.
A central BJP minister claimed that the split in the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra will also have an impact in the Lok Sabha as at least a dozen Lok Sabha members of the outfit, out of the total 19, were ready to switch sides.
'Uddhavji will face the no confidence motion on the floor of the House whenever it happens.'
Senior Congress leader and former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot arrived in the national capital on Tuesday amid a buzz of a likely meeting with the party high command that is grappling with the high political drama in the state.
"I will work day and night to offer relief to the people in distress due to COVID or the recent floods. I will initiate all steps to improve the economic condition of the state in the coming days," he told reporters.
As per a letter sent to the MLAs by the assembly secretariat, the chief minister has expressed his willingness to move a motion of confidence to prove his majority.
'People of the state who bless me will give a befitting replay to the Congress.'
The Congress on Saturday made a stunning comeback in Karnataka ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party from its lone southern citadel with a comfortable majority in a morale booster win that will be key for reviving its electoral fortunes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Days after a crisis erupted in Rajasthan Congress, former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot met food and civil supplies minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas at the latter's residence in Jaipur on Monday night.
Amid the ongoing political turmoil in the Congress in Rajasthan, the party's chief whip in the state, Mahesh Joshi, on Tuesday said a meeting of the MLAs loyal to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was not called to mount pressure on the party high command.
Vijay Rupani, the fourth chief minister to demit office in BJP-ruled states during the coronavirus pandemic, was sworn in as chief minister -- his second stint as CM -- in December 2017.
Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar is expected to be elected as the leader at Sunday's meeting.
The swearing-in ceremony of Pramod Sawant as Goa's chief minister will be held on March 28 and prominent Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will attend the event.
Shettar alleged that he had been humiliated by the BJP by denying him a ticket and that party is today in the control of "very few people."
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.
At the meeting scheduled at 11.30 am, the MLAs will choose the AAP's Legislature Party leader, Rai told PTI on Tuesday. Another AAP leader said the party was considering two dates for the chief minister's oath-taking ceremony -- February 14 and 16.
Speaking to reporters after meeting the family, he said, as MLA of the locality, Arvind Limbavali is said to have tried to settle things.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has tested positive for Covid-19.
The 48-year-old Mann was elected the AAP Legislature Party leader at a meeting of the party MLAs in Mohali on Friday.
In a similar move in July 2019, 10 Congress MLAs had switched over to the BJP.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of some BJP-ruled states were among those present at the Raj Bhavan ceremony.
Supporters of the two leaders are competing in Hadoti to highlight their dominance, which is visible from the hoardings in the region. This has also led to blame games between leaders of the two factions.
The 79-year old veteran leader, who has already announced his retirement from electoral politics, said there is no question of him sitting at home, and after the assembly session he will tour the state and campaign for the party and its candidates.
He said he will be soon taking a decision on his political future and wants to contest the assembly polls from Kunigal seat.
'I assured them I will not back away. I will not betray those who have supported me till now. Their confidence in me is what gives me the strength to move forward'
Other Congress leaders who are learnt to have spoken with Pilot are Ahmed Patel, P Chidambaram and K C Venugopal.
On the other hand, another minister, Rajendra Singh Gudha, once again endorsed senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot's name for the chief minister's post.
Yuri Alemao, Altone D'costa and advocate Carlos Alvares Ferreira, the three Congress MLAs who didn't join the eight of their former party men in jumping ship speak up about their decisions and their motivations to stay with the 137-year-old Congress.
BJP president Amit Shah will not attend the meeting of the newly-elected BJP MLAs to pick the legislature party leader.
While Opposition MLAs in other states are dumping their parties to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, Tripura is seeing a reverse trend.
Before the ceremony, Yogi Adityanath, who led the party to a thumping victory in the just-concluded elections, will be elected as the leader of the legislature party, party sources said.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Sunday said that the Centre has decided to institute a five-member committee to look into withdrawal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 from the northeastern state.
"Given the constitutional crisis, I felt it was right for me to resign," Rawat said.
Despite his statement that the word 'Hindu' is Persian and it has a 'dirty' meaning drawing widespread criticism, Karnataka Congress Working President Satish Jarkiholi on Tuesday sought to defend himself saying he was only referring to what has been written and published.
Battling the political crisis faced by the party-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has filed a petition before the Deputy Speaker of the state assembly seeking the cancellation of membership of 12 rebel MLAs including Eknath Shinde for 'not attending' legislative party meeting held on Wednesday.
Pilot said rules and discipline of the party apply to all, adding that he hoped Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge would take a decision in the matter soon.
While none of the five 'rebel' MLAs were available for comments, sources in the BJP claimed the legislators were in touch with them.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances