Questions are being raised on the future of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) as differences among its constituents come to the fore and several parties call for serious introspection by the Congress after a string of debilitating electoral losses.
Kharge also hit back at the BJP for criticising his party colleague Rahul Gandhi over a copy of the Constitution with a red cover. He showed a picture of PM Modi gifting a similar copy to former president Ramnath Kovind.
Maharashtra recorded a voter turnout of 58.22 per cent till 5 pm on Wednesday in the elections to the 288-member state legislative assembly, with Gadchiroli district logging more than 69 per cent voting, poll officials said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance on Saturday retained power in Maharashtra, pocketing a whopping 230 of the 288 assembly seats, as the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi's dream of wresting power fizzled, with the opposition combine managing to garner just 50 seats.
Ahead of assembly polls, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasahev Thackeray president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday declared he will support any chief ministerial candidate announced by allies Congress or Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar to 'save' Maharashtra, repeating a demand for the second time since August.
The massive victory of Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra indicates a tactical course correction post the Lok Sabha debacle, with factors like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's active role in the poll campaign, Ladki Bahin scheme, rise in women voting, and subtle message of Hindutva playing a crucial role.
Shinde rubbished reports that he was disappointed for not getting a second term as CM despite the ruling Mahayuti alliance winning a thumping victory under his leadership.
Devendra Fadnavis, a seasoned politician with deep roots in the RSS, is set to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the third time, after his party, the BJP, won a landslide victory in the state assembly elections. Fadnavis' political journey has been marked by resilience and strategic maneuvering, as he has navigated through challenging times, including political upheavals and controversies.
'If you stay out of power for long, you become irrelevant, your party members become restless and start looking to jump ship.'
The firing took place outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddiqui's office.
Shiv Sena leader and former MP Rahul Shewale said around 2 lakh people are expected to attend the rally at Azad Maidan to hear the CM.
As Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal pitches for early assembly polls in Delhi, experts on Sunday said the city government may have to write to the Election Commission giving reasons behind the demand. The term of the Delhi assembly ends on February 23 next year and the polls are expected to be held sometime early February.
Four more Shiv Sena legislators were on Thursday suspended from the Maharashtra assembly for a year for creating ruckus in the House. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Patil said they insulted the Constitution during their noisy protests and moved a resolution to suspend them for a year. The resolution was approved by a voice vote amid pandemonium, leading to the Speaker adjourning the House for the day.
Zirwal and the others were protesting against the inclusion of the Dhangar community in the quota for tribals.
Thackeray said there was no certainty that people will vote for the ruling alliance even after schemes like the Ladki Bahin Yojana.
In doing so, it further cemented the community's determination to support the opposition. But at the same time, it consolidated its Hindu vote bank like never before.
Against the strength of 288, the effective strength is 287, as there is one vacancy due to the death of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke last month.
The Congress has tried to inflict capital punishment on true secularism, he claimed, asserting that the Waqf law has no place in the Constitution.
Fissures have emerged in Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti over the 'Ladki Bahin Yojana' with a Shiv Sena minister raising objection against ally Nationalist Congress Party and its president Ajit Pawar for 'omitting' Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's name from advertisements and promotional material of the scheme.
The juggernaut of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, which triumphed in three of the four east and north-eastern states that went for assembly bypolls on Saturday, was halted yet again in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress registered a six-on-six clean sweep.
Besides disclosing in their affidavits, candidates have to prominently declare criminal cases they are facing, if any, thrice in newspapers in print as well on television, he said, adding that political parties too have to publish within three days of nomination why a candidate with criminal background was selected. "You (political parties) have to tell the public whether you did not get any (other) candidate and why was it necessary to select them (those with criminal background)," he said.
Biman Basu, the senior-most Marxist leader in the country, pays homage to a comrade he has known and admired since the 1980s.
Nationalist Congress Party MLA Saroj Ahir from Nasik district attended the Maharashtra state assembly's winter session in Nagpur with her new-born baby on Monday.
Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party on Tuesday faced a major setback as over 600 party workers and officials from the Pune city unit resigned.
'Young people say they know all this emphasis on Hindu-Muslim differences is politically motivated.' 'If you stop watching TV and turn off social media, you'll find the situation on the ground different.'
A Mumbai court on Monday remanded the third person arrested for the killing of Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique to police custody till October 21.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar chief Sharad Pawar turned the heat on his estranged nephew and deputy CM Ajit Pawar on Tuesday, virtually accusing him of breaking the family for his political ambitions.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's reverses in Maharashtra in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls were due to poor vote transfer from the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have intensified their investigations against Gaurav Mehta, a suspect in a Bitcoin Ponzi scam, following allegations that politicians may have been involved in using cryptocurrency to influence Maharashtra assembly polls. The ED searched Mehta's residence in Raipur and seized computers and digital devices. The CBI summoned him to appear before investigators. The ED is probing Mehta's potential links to politicians, politically exposed persons, and bureaucrats as part of its money laundering probe. The allegations came after BJP released purported voice notes suggesting that Congress and NCP leaders were attempting to use cryptocurrency for election campaigning. Both parties denied the claims, calling the voice notes fake.
'Whenever the hike in voting percentage is more, the NDA gains more, and when the hike is negligible, the NDA falls.' 'I have established this in UP, Haryana and Jharkhand.'
The Congress has lodged complaints with the Election Commission against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing them of making 'false, divisive, malicious and slanderous' statements during their recent election campaign.
He did not divulge any further information on what is going to be an intricate issue and hard bargaining.
'As we enter 2025, it must be acknowledged that there is a convergence of capital, influential people (from business and politics) and technology deciding the destiny of others in the name of pride, patriotism, nationalism, nation building, all of it thinly veiled disguises for personal profit and glory,' asserts Shyam G Menon.
The delay in finalising a seat allocation agreement among the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections has ignited concerns among smaller constituents as the nomination process commenced on Tuesday.
'No political party can antagonise Ambedkarite voters, particularly the neo-Buddhists.'
A Mumbai court on Sunday remanded one of the two alleged shooters in the Baba Siddique murder case in police custody till October 21 and ordered a bone ossification test on the other after he claimed he was a minor.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asserted that Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will not be restored even if Congress stalwart and late PM Indira Gandhi comes down from heaven.
'Ajit Pawar is trying to sideline us; he is trying to be in the BJP's good books at our cost.'
'When I see people's faces I can see that there is a certain sadness in their eyes which makes me unhappy as a person.' 'I want to see people happy in their lives.'
Chief ministers of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha on Wednesday evening condoled the demise of Tata Group's chairman emeritus and veteran industrialist Ratan Tata, and said his legacy will live on forever.
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