Prime Minister Narendra Modi has boosted the representation of backward castes, dalits, tribals and women in his Council of Ministers in a big shake-up of his government with a focus on politically crucial states, including the all-important Uttar Pradesh.
Emboldened by general and state poll results, and Narendra Modi's appeal among voters, the Bharatiya Janata Party has declined former senior ally Shiv Sena's face-saving terms
Ramesh Jarkiholi got the plum portfolio of major and medium irrigation which he was eyeing. Anand Singh got food, civil supplies and consumers affairs portfolio, Srimant Patil was given textile while K Gopalaiah has been assigned small scale industries.
Among these are Labh Singh Ugoke, who defeated former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi in the Bhadaur assembly segment by a margin of 37,558 votes, and Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, who beat Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal in his traditional Lambi seat by 11,396 votes.
'They should not forget that had we decided not to rebel, they would still be chanting slogans from the footsteps of the Vidhan Sabha.'
The no-frills ceremony comes a day after Kumar snapped ties with the BJP-led NDA and joined hands with the RJD to form a 'mahagathbandhan' government.
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Bannerjee on Friday rubbished allegations of understanding between her and Bharatiya Janata Party, stating that she attended the IISCO programme along with Prime Minister Modi as it was related to the state's development.
RCP Singh alleged that Kumar "had made up his mind to betray the mandate of 2020 when people had voted the NDA back to power."
By Monday morning, a dozen dissidents were ready to leave the Pilot camp. Having found a hole at the bottom of his boat, Pilot, with dwindling numbers, in sheer desperation, connected with Priyanka Gandhi, reveals Prakash Bhandari.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday claimed that the centre imposed President's rule in the state even after the governor had asked him to continue as caretaker chief minister.
"Without the knowledge of the prime minister, is it possible to do this," Kumaraswamy asked, saying Modi should come clean on the issue.
Just as the mighty Bhim sacrificed his son Ghatotkach and Arjun sacrificed his son Abhimanyu in the battle against Kauravas, Yashwant Sinha must ask his son Jayant to sacrifice his ministerial office, says Sudhir Bisht.
With less than two months to go for the Lok Sabha election, the expected process of political realignments has begun, reports Anita Katyal.
The department of investment and public asset management is racing against time to launch the LIC IPO, which could become the largest-ever listing on the Indian bourses. This would lead to some delay in the strategic divestment of IDBI Bank.
Though EPS has sworn peace for now, or so it seems, his camp is said to be considering the possibility of calling an early meeting of the party's general council, to get a mandate in his favour before things went out of control. Ground-level indications are that OPS had lost his limited base, which alone had forced him to patch up with the other, reportedly at the instance of the BJP ally at the Centre, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday took charge as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka, ending months of speculation about the change of guard in the state.
'I left the Congress because everybody is busy in attending to their individual vested interests,' says former Union minister Krishna Tirath, who joined the BJP on Monday.
All the BJP's present leaders from UP put together cannot win the state for the party. So how about an out-of-the-box leader like Subramanian Swamy, asks Nazarwala, the man who called right the 2007 and 2012 UP elections.
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.
Kamal Nath said that the Bharatiya Janata Party was perturbed as its "corruption over its 15-year rule is going to be exposed"
Parrikar said the Congress leader had sought to create a hype over the situation in state as he was worried about losing his party post if he failed in the number game.
Will Priyanka contest against Modi in Varanasi? Will Rahul also contest from Karnataka? Rasheed Kidwai -- Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party's biographer -- reveals what is churning in the Congress.
Congress sources have said that the party is seriously considering withdrawing support to the AAP. Senior party leader Janardan Dwivedi said there was an opinion in the party that the decision to support AAP was perhaps not correct and it should have instead raised people's issues as an opposition. Renu Mittal reports.
'People incapable of becoming a sarpanch and councillor are MPs now, all because of the Modi magic.'
The 58-year-old leader will expand his council of ministers after the trust vote on Friday which he is expected to win without any hiccups.
This has been the CM's shortest stint in power -- three days.
By the next election, the Shiv Sena too may end up like Raj Thackeray's MNS.
He was a leader who enjoyed acceptance from all sections of the BJP and beyond.
As back channel talks continued between Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party to explore the possibility of a coalition government in Maharashtra, there were strong indications on Saturday that the latter may form a government on its own with the Nationalist Congress Party's outside support in keeping with the "sentiment" in the party.
The magic figure for simple majority was 105, equivalent to the strength of the BJP, which also commanded the support of an Independent.
The ruling coalition had held out the threat of using the Whip against the wayward MLAs, citing the disqualification provision under the anti-defection law.
Ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress won one seat each in the bypolls to Patiala (urban) and Talwandi Sabo Assembly seats on Monday but the Aam Aadmi Party finished a poor third.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday expanded his 17-month old cabinet, inducting seven ministers, and indicated that excise minister H Nagesh would be dropped. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan.
An analysis of the results in Haryana reveals that caste-based voting is anything but dead. It could even help the Bharatiya Janata Party win a second successive term in the state in the forthcoming assembly polls, reports Nitin Kumar.
He accused Modi of reducing the cabinet to a 'rubber stamp', 'betraying' backward classes and giving Bihar only 'jumlas'.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday demanded an additional portfolio in the new government even as the Congress was busy finalising its list of ministers
The theme of the reshuffle is to fulfill Modi's earlier promise of 'maximum governance, minimum government.' Some key ministries are likely to be merged.
'Bommai is everybody's man and nobody's man'
The RSS wants three nominees inducted: Tejaswi Surya, the young BJP MP from Bengaluru South, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, a Rajya Sabha member, and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
'I had digested all the humiliation that Fadnavisji had heaped on me, but I had never seen somebody stooping so low to prove one's dominance in any political party.'
