The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday named its candidates for assembly bypolls in several states, fielding six disqualified MLAs of the Himachal Pradesh assembly in the state days after they joined the party after leaving the Congress.
The Congress has 40 MLAs while the BJP has 25 in the 68-member state assembly. The remaining three seats are held by independents.
The Congress on Monday shifted all its MLAs to a hotel ahead of the biennial election to fill four vacancies from Karnataka in Rajya Sabha apparently to keep the flock together.
Some newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs met former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje at her Civil Lines residence on Sunday, amid suspense over whom the party will pick for the chief ministerial post in the state.
'I want to ask the entire nation and the opposition. Can a Chief Minister, Prime Minister, or any leader run the country from jail?'
The Delhi BJP, however, rubbished the allegation and challenged AAP to name the MLAs and the people who contacted them with the offer.
Three of these MLAs are from Chhindwara, while another three from the region are set to leave for Delhi, sources close to the veteran leader said.
The revised salaries of MPs are significantly lower than the salaries drawn by top bureaucrats in the country.
In Kerala, 95 out of 135 MLAs, accounting for 70 per cent, have declared criminal cases against themselves.
'Talking about boycotting polls is simply a move to galvanise party leaders, workers, and supporters for the big political fight.'
Rebel Himachal Pradesh Congress MLA Rajinder Rana on Saturday claimed that nine more party legislators 'feeling suffocated' due to Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's style of functioning are in touch with him as he called the chief minister 'liar number one'.
The BJP tops the list with 43 (80 percent) of 54 MLAs each having declared assets valued at more than Rs 1 crore.
Action will be taken against such MLAs, he said.
A seemingly innocuous word, "bhai" (brother), led to a 13-minute disruption in the Delhi Assembly on Thursday, with the ruling BJP and the opposition AAP engaging in heated exchanges. The incident began when PWD minister Parvesh Verma used the word during a debate on the Teerth Yatra Samiti, prompting AAP MLAs to accuse him of disrespect. Three AAP MLAs were marshalled out by the Speaker amid the uproar, which even saw BJP legislators chanting slogans of "Chhathi maiya ki jai".
'If the Mahagathbandhan ignores Mukesh Sahni's demands as it did in 2020, he will be left with no option but to join hands with the BJP.'
Marshals had to forcefully evict the BJP MLAs who had surrounded the Speaker's chair.
Artificial Intelligence-enabled cameras with facial recognition technology have now been installed in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly that will record arrival and exit time of members, as well as the duration of their presence in the House.
The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly has terminated the membership of BJP MLA Kanwar Lal Meena after he was convicted and sentenced to three years in jail for pointing a pistol at a sub-divisional magistrate. Meena's membership was terminated effective from May 1, following legal opinion from the advocate general and senior legal experts. Meena had approached the Supreme Court seeking suspension of his sentence, but the top court dismissed his plea and directed him to surrender within two weeks. The Election Commission has been informed of the vacancy, and a by-election on the Anta seat would be held within six months.
'All MLAs have the same demand -- to form the next BJP government in Manipur as early as possible.'
'The police could not save my daughter or bring her justice, but they didn't think twice about beating up women and elderly persons.'
Owaisi was appointed as pro-tem Speaker though there were other senior members in the House, state BJP president G Kishan Reddy alleged.
Legislators of the opposition BJD in Odisha sprinkled 'Ganga Jal' in the state Assembly, alleging that the House had been "spiritually polluted" by the entry of policemen. The incident follows a protest by Congress members demanding a House Committee to probe crimes against women, which led to police intervention and the eviction of Congress MLAs from the Assembly. BJD members claim the police action was unprecedented and brought shame to Odisha. The Speaker denounced the act, while the Revenue and Disaster Management Minister asserted the House's inherent purity. The opposition also alleged that police prevented BJD MLAs from leaving the assembly premises on the following day.
There is a rise in the number of women elected to the state legislatures in 2023 compared to 2018, except in Rajasthan.
A senior SP leader requesting anonymity said that the party chief had called a meeting to brief the MLAs about the voting process of the Rajya Sabha elections.
Amid slogan shouting by Congress members, the House witnessed three adjournments.
Unofficially though, it is claimed that Ajit Pawar has the support of 29 MLAs, and the number could add up within two days.
The Bhupesh Baghel government in Chhattisgarh is trying to blame its legislators for its failures as eight MLAs have been dropped by the Congress in its first list of candidates for the assembly polls, state Bharatiya Janata Party chief Arun Sao claimed on Sunday.
The Champai Soren-led coalition government in Jharkhand will seek trust vote on February 5, minister Alamgir Alam said on Friday after a Cabinet meeting.
'You know how politics is. You never know what will happen the next moment.'
The outcome of the polls to the Rajya Sabha is likely to have an impact in the politically crucial state just ahead of the general elections in the country.
In the last five years, 480 candidates with declared cases related to hate speech have contested elections to state assemblies, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the ADR said.
Narwekar has come under intense criticism from the opposition, especially the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena for recognising the Shinde outfit as the "real" Shiv Sena.
Prajwal Revanna broke down in court as he appealed to the judge for a lesser punishment.
Members from the Jayant Chaudhary's Rashtriya Lok Dal too were part of the group, their participation seen as another indication that the party is all set to switch sides from the SP to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The eighth Delhi assembly will have fewer women members but a higher number of lawmakers with graduate degrees, according to a report.
Kejriwal claimed that the BJP has ruined Gujarat in its 30-year rule. The Congress has failed as an opposition because it helps the BJP retain power, he said.
The Kerala BJP has contradicted the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's justification of the arrest of two Keralite Catholic nuns, stating they were not involved in human trafficking or forced conversion attempts and promising to help them.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) asserts that major political parties participated in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, deploying booth level agents despite opposing the exercise in the Supreme Court. The ECI defends its authority to conduct the revision to maintain the integrity of elections.
Tensions between Shelar and Raj Thackeray escalated after the latter, in a public speech, used the term khokebahaddar for some MLAs.
Confirming the development, Leader of Opposition in the legislative council Ambadas Danve of the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray said the boycott is a mark of protest against a "dishonest government".
