Embroiled in a controversy over his 'slip of the tongue' on Lord Jagannath, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and party's Puri Lok Sabha candidate Sambit Patra apologised and announced he will undertake penance by observing fast for three days from Tuesday after being criticised from different quarters.
Terming the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD as 'B' team of Congress, opposition BJP slammed the chief minister who recently said he was not "comfortable" with the idea of Narendra Modi as the prime minister.
In what analysts are terming as a political masterstroke, the ruling Biju Janata Dal President Naveen Patnaik Friday decided that his party will field candidates from Other Backward Castes (OBC) for 27 per cent of seats in the forthcoming three-tier panchayat elections in Odisha.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded special category status for his state as well as other assistance from the Centre but remained evasive on allying with National Democratic Alliance.
Hinting that the ruling Biju Janata Dal might be a part of the proposed Third Front in the 2014 general elections, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday 1dubbed the Congress "corrupt" and the Bharatiya Janata Party "communal".
With numbers on its side -- the ruling NDA has about half the votes of the electoral college -- and the possible support of fence-sitters like the BJD, the AIADMK and the YSRCP, the NDA candidate will likely sail through the contest.
The third phase of polling will take place on May 7, 2024.
Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, International Hockey Federation president Tayyab Ikram and Hockey India chairman Dilip Tirkey were present at the glittering ceremony to welcome members of all the 16 participating teams.
January 22, 2024 has passed into history. Scenes from a day of religious fervour in many parts of India.
'Many veteran leaders in the Odisha BJP had met them, but their problems were never sorted out.'
Three of the fence-sitters rule fairly large states Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha that together send 63 members to Lok Sabha -- where the Congress or other opposition parties have been pushed to the margins.
Odisha's Health Minister Naba Kishore Das, a confidant of the chief minister, was shot and grievously injured when he got out of his car on Sunday, allegedly by a police officer who was captured, officials said.
Of 3,719 acres of land required for Posco project, the minister said the state government had already acquired 2,000 acres in the illegal possession of the people in Gadakujang and Nuagaon gram panchayats.
As the Opposition on Wednesday held its first meeting on the presidential election, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice for the top constitutional post with senior party leader Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Naveen Patnaik, sources said.
In separate petitions submitted to the Odisha police, both parties alleged that the victim approached multiple police stations -- Puri Ghat, Sadar, and Barang --before her FIR was accepted by the Badambadi police station.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Chief Ministers Nitish Kumar and Naveen Patnaik were some of the high-profile names to get vaccinated on Monday, as the second phase of the nationwide Covid drive began. Here's a look at just some of the bigwigs who took the anti-Covid jab.
The incident took place when around 50 passengers hailing from Kharsia area in the neighbouring Chhattisgarh were returning in the boat after visiting a temple in Patharseni Kuda in Odisha's Bargarh district.
Ruling out withdrawal from the Presidential fray, the Nationalist Congress Party leader P A Sangma on Monday said if necessary he would contest as an Independent and "not let down" Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who have backed him.
"Now it is a ground zero situation. The people of Orissa would hit back and give a befitting reply to Patnaik and his party for the betrayal. The BJP occupies the non-Congress space in Orissa," Javedekar added.
The second match will be played on June 12.
Narendra Modi on Tuesday tore into Naveen Patnaik government over lack of development in Odisha and mocked the fledgling Third Front, of which Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal is a member, saying its only job is to "save" Congress.
The incident took place as a large number of people congregated on Badamba-Gopinathpur T-Bridge on the occasion of Makar Mela, a police officer said.
President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and several other famous faces were seen at polling booths, exercising their franchise in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
Mr Pradhan's understanding of realpolitik and organisational dynamics makes him the ultimate party man, notes Aditi Phadnis.
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.
Odisha's Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das died of bullet injuries on Sunday, Apollo Hospital officials said.
The Biju Janata Dal will support the bill replacing the Delhi services ordinance and oppose the no-confidence motion proposed by various opposition parties against the government, the party's Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra said on Tuesday.
Given the possibilities that next year's assembly elections could throw up, Stalin told the state assembly that an interim report had to be submitted by January 2026. The outcomes may well find its way into the DMK's poll manifesto, thus seeking to keep the electoral focus still on the BJP-ruled Centre and Prime Minister Modi, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Senior Vatican officials were pleasantly surprised at the number of Indians who had come to witness the ceremony.'
Jena said that 205 bodies of the total 288 have been identified so far and handed over to their families.
The 69-year-old leader had a fall inside her Kalighat home in south Kolkata after she returned after attending a programme, her family said.
A day after TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu held deliberations with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda, Kumar told PTI that preliminary discussions have taken place for the 'purpose of alliance' for the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls, which are held simultaneously in Andhra Pradesh.
A weak presence in the Rajya Sabha has forced the NDA to try and rope in 'weak links' in the Opposition ranks to pass key legislation in the Upper House.
"Very shortly we will come out with a concrete plan," Rao told reporters after meeting the Trinamool Congress president.
What some of our leaders were up to this weekend.
Following the win, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced a cash reward of Rs 1 crore for the team, from which Igor Stimac's wards have "collectively" decided to donate Rs 20 lakh.
A sitting MLA and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate allegedly broke an electronic voting machine (EVM) and attacked a polling officer inside a booth during voting in Odisha which recorded a voter turnout of over 60.97 per cent in six Lok Sabha seats and 42 assembly segments, officials said.
At a felicitation function, in Bhubaneswar, to honour the men's and women's Olympics hockey teams, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, an ardent supporter of the game in the country, announced that the state will continue to sponsor the national hockey teams for another 10 years.
Patnaik, won his his home turf Hinjili by over 60,000 votes, while he was leading from Bijepur till early on Friday morning.
Many ethical, competent corporate leaders aspire to join public life today. However, the transition to politics is far from easy, observes Indrajit Gupta.
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