Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said he will back any candidate announced by the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar as Maha Vikas Aghadi's chief ministerial face.
"If you see in the context of alliances and statistics, then this is the strongest alliance government," Modi said while addressing newly-elected MPs and leaders of the NDA from across the country following his election as leader of the ruling bloc ahead of his government's swearing-in on Sunday.
'Don't be surprised if the Census forms come with a caste box.' 'I will be surprised if it doesn't. It will be a point conceded to Rahul Gandhi and his allies,' asserts Shekhar Gupta. The BJP machine could take all 3 in its stride, but this election has changed that, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'Nitish may take such a decision because he was the first person who was with the INDIA front.' 'He went back only because he did not get proper encouragement from the Congress.' 'Nitish will take a decision provided there is a strong alternative.' 'If he feels ours is a weak coalition, he will not come.' 'Then, this government will continue for five years.'
There is little doubt that the prime minister's own charisma exceeds that of his party, but 2024 is proof that no party can ultimately depend on one person to deliver victory all the time, points out R Jagannathan.
'I have serious doubts about the longevity of the NDA government and the longevity of the 18th Lok Sabha itself.'
Ravinder Kumar was sleeping after finishing his night shift Friday morning when a call from Indira Gandhi International Airport Police Station turned his life upside down.
'The longevity of the government is a doubt for me because when the going gets tough, there could a be a point in time where there might be pressure, from within the party or from the allies.'
Banerjee said the prime minister will now have to move around the country and also abroad with two crutches.
He said the CID team of lawyers have opposed both the bail petitions on the grounds of maintainability and made submissions on the merits of the matter.
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu met P V Sindhu, who recently became the first Indian shuttler to win gold at the World Championships, at his residence, in Hyderabad, on Saturday.
There is a view that heavyweight portfolios like home, finance, defence and external affairs besides education and culture, two ministries with strong ideological hues, will be kept by the BJP, while its allies can get anywhere between five to eight cabinet berths.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
Several opposition parties have claimed that the mandate of 2024 Lok Sabha elections was against the ruling haratiya Janata Party, even though it was able to form the government with support of other parties.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will get a 'decisive mandate' in the Lok Sabha polls and may take even less than 48 hours to decide on its prime ministerial pick, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Thursday, asserting that it stands to reason that the party which gets the maximum seats in the alliance will be a 'natural claimant' for its leadership.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance was surging ahead in two southern states -- Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka -- while the respective blocs led by the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu and Congress in Kerala were on their way for another excellent show, going by the latest trends emerging from the counting of voted polled in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Congress raised the issue of alleged irregularities in land deals involving him and his family members.
The Vishwaguru who addressed the maximum rallies and boasted of being blessed with divine energy, who promised guarantees in his own name, turned out finally not invincible, points out Jyoti Punwani.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar appear to have got the maximum representation in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new council of ministers, while assembly poll-bound Maharashtra also found a significant presence.
"(Former PM) Atal Bihari Vajpayee said 'raj dharma' was not followed in Gujarat (during the 2002 riots). Now, 'raj dharma' is not being followed in case of Andhra Pradesh. We have been denied what was rightfully ours," he claimed.
'After Chandrababu Naidu's arrest on Saturday, Pawan Sir's protest is not a random happening.'
On Monday, when the marshals came wearing the new uniform together with aiguillette, some members commented if 'marshal law was being imposed'.
'If this had happened anywhere else, Indians would have been desperate to leave. But not in Israel.'
Even as Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate commences his Telangana campaign on Tuesday, there is still no concrete word from Chandrababu Naidu on whether he would withdraw the three TDP candidates he has pitched against his ally BJP.
It will be in Modi's interest to reinvent his party, read the writing on the wall that voters wrote, and move ahead. He has little choice now. The country is watching, asserts Ramesh Menon.
A senior politician Naidu respected once tried to convince the firebrand student leader to quit the Jana Sangh.
Flanked by the Trinamool Congress chief, Naidu attacked the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre alleging that institutions like the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax department, Reserve Bank of India and Comptroller Auditor General are under "severe pressure".
In the event of the BJP's poor performance in the assembly polls this year and in early 2025, Modi's hold will get further weakened because he will no longer remain the invincible electoral persona tightly controlling the machine at his disposal, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office and secrecy to Naidu.
'As a seasoned politician I know how to talk and understand the opinion and sentiments (of other political leaders).'
While Rahul Gandhi led Congress has a pan Indian presence, Naidu described regional leaders, including himself, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Stalin and Deve Gowda as strong leaders in their respective states, who are coming together against the BJP.
Along with Modi, senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, all ministers in Modi 2.0 Cabinet, took oath as cabinet ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In all, 71 ministers were sworn-in along with Modi, taking the strength of the Union council to 72.
Where do Vijay and his TVK expect to get their votes from? Vijay has a huge fan following among women, but will they automatically become his voters like they had done for MGR's AIADMK, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Granting SCS to the state has been a long-pending demand of the JD-U supremo and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, whose Bihar cabinet had even passed a resolution last year requesting the Centre to grant SCS to the state.
This case revolves around the establishment of clusters of Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with a total estimated project value of Rs 3,300 crores.
Chiranjeevi, N Chandrababu Naidu and Prakash Raj called on former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao who underwent left hip replacement surgery after he fell in his farmhouse in Erravalli on December 7, at the Yashoda Hospital in Hyderabad on Monday, December 11, 2023
Setting the stage for the revival of an united front against the BJP, Naidu claimed the mood of the nation was against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and soon an alliance would be formed with various regional parties.
The plan to relieve NSG from VIP security tasks has been in the making since 2012 when NSG commanders foresaw an event where simultaneous terror attacks could be witnessed at one time on multiple centres in the country and the commandos will have to be rushed in different directions.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies on Tuesday welcomed the Union Budget and said it focussed on youth, farmers, women, and has 'substantial allocations' for Maharashtra, but the opposition slammed the annual financial statement, claiming it neglected the western state and only seeks to please the saffron outfit's partners in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
If the concerns over risking political capital are overcome, the long-term gains for the Indian economy will be immense, asserts A K Bhattacharya.
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