Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday indicated that the annual meeting of chief ministers on April 16 may be extended to discuss setting up of National Counter Terrorism Centre as demanded by some of the non-Congress ruled states.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani, who is on an anti-corruption yatra, on Friday fired a fresh salvo at the United Progressive Alliance government claiming that it was following 'discriminatory' policies against non-Congress ruled states.
Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa brings forth the different contours of the proposed NCTC, and also explains the raging debate over its formation.
While this being the debate, rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa spoke to three people who have widespread experience in dealing with security, legal and state issues.
Rao had recently said a non-Congress and non-BJP front should be formed in the country
Arvind Kejriwal's party will need around 50 seats to make a pitch for the Left's space in national politics. For that, it will have to contest more than one third of the Lok Sabha seats, points out Saroj Nagi.
'Don't try to impose anything on us.'
'Raman Singh will certainly be defeated by the alliance we have created," says Chhattisgarh's first chief minister Ajit Jogi.
According to a Congress minister, who is handling the party's floor management in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress party, as on 5.30 pm on Thursday, does not have enough votes to pass the Lokpal bill in the Upper House of Parliament.
Blaming non-Congress governments for the prevailing backwardness in Uttar Pradesh, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday urged the youth of the state to get into politics to transform the country's most populous state.
India is mushrooming with Deve Gowda wannabes because being a former prime minister is better than being a former chief minister, says Shekhar Gupta.
In the latest medical bulletin issued by AIIMS, the hospital said that he 'continues to respond well to treatment'.
A latest expose involving gross impropriety on the part of a government servant who has been dealing with sensitive issues and government institutions in New Delhi, is set to once again embarrass Manmohan Singh's government.
Sarma added that the oath-taking ceremony would take place on March 6.
Few had imagined the BJP would be able to travel this far when it was founded on April 6, 1980.
A notice issued on Monday to the Andhra Pradesh government to put on hold the government project is, in fact, meant to help out the Opposition-ruled states of Orissa and Chhattisgarh whose land is threatened to be submerged because of the project.
Amit Shah's fall has dented his boss Narendra Modi's eligibility to some day lead non-Congress centrist parties at the Centre. Here lies the real win for the Congress, as this will play as an advantage for its future leadership, says Sheela Bhatt.
The July 5 'Bharat Bandh' to protest fuel price hike is unlikely to get the support of all non-Congress non-United Progressive Alliance parties with Bahujan Samaj Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal so far maintaining a silence on which side of the political divide they are.
'In the world she was being described as a dictator and she wanted to prove she wasn't,' says Mohan Dharia, the former minister who she jailed during the Emergency.
The finance ministry has advocated an increase in auto and cooking fuel prices only after the Budget is tabled in Parliament on February 26 in an effort to avert possible united protests from the United Progressive Alliance's non-Congress allies and opposition parties ahead of a busy opening week of Parliament.
Rama Rao's appointment was necessitated as Chandrasekhar Rao will have to concentrate on national politics and also focus on various developmental activities in the state, a release from the chief minister's office said.
Slamming as "fascist" Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's pitch for a "Congress Mukt Bharat", Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Monday reached out to all non-BJP parties on the plank of secularism.
Amid reports that Naidu is seeking cabinet berths for his MPs, the TDP met Modi in Gujarat Bhawan in the national capital and the meeting lasted for over 30 minutes after which chief minister-designate of Andhra Pradesh left without talking to media.
In the 40-member Goa assembly, Kamat government enjoys the support of 26 MLAs-- Congress' 18 MLAs NCP's 3, Maharashtra Gomantak Party's 2, United Goa Democratic Party's one and two independents and if the 12 MLAs withdraw support, the Kamat ministry will be reduced to a minority.
There was shock within the non-Congress Members of Parliament to see how the government remained inactive within the Rajya Sabha when the Women's Reservation Bill was tabled on Monday.
Born in 1924, Vajpayee entered politics during the Quit India movement in 1942. He was also the first external affairs minister to deliver a speech in the UN Assembly in Hindi. Vajpayee was elected to Lok Sabha from Lucknow in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004. He is the first and the only non-Congress leader who completed his full term as prime minister.
Predicting a hung assembly in Haryana after the October 13 polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday did not rule out a post-poll alliance in the state to keep Congress out of power.
The Communist Partyof India-Marxist perhaps for the first time admitted to differences in the party over withdrawal of support to the United Progressive Alliance government on the Indo-US nuclear deal, though the central committee said it was "correct".
Without staking claim to form the government, the Indian National Lok Dal on Friday requested the governor to provide an opportunity to other political parties or groups to form the government in Haryana, saying people have not given a clear verdict to the Congress."As an alternative to the Congress, which has failed to get the mandate, the other parties/groups should be given a chance to form a non-Congress government," INLD president Om Parkash Chautala said.
The BJP has been inducting leaders from the NCP and the Congress since the last few months to expand its footprint in the regions where the party lacks organisational base.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday made his prime ministerial ambitions known, saying he is more qualified and experienced than those "roaming around" for the top job.
The ruling party seems in far better shape than the Congress, which is yet to finalise seat-sharing agreements in several states.
Once in power, status and style matter and in this the politicians are not to be found wanting. Not at all, they like to flaunt it.
Left's role in formation of next government seen crucial.
The mandate will help further the development agenda in these states, with good governance and policy reforms taking centrestage
Left parties in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday made it clear that they were no more allies of the AIADMK and their joining hands for Lok Sabha elections was just a poll-time arrangement.
Accusing the government of 'violating Parliamentary propriety', BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said the move to hike petrol and diesel prices "raises suspicion as to which companies will be benefited by this decision." "The government has been saying that the public sector oil companies have been making profits and giving dividends to it. Then why this secrecy," she asked. Swaraj attacked the Congress for 'betraying' the common people.
The CPI(M), which has finalized 80 Lok Sabha seats, is in talks with other like-minded parties to forge electoral alliances on some more constituencies in its bid to forge an alternative against Congress and BJP.
As the party moves forward into the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it not only needs to strengthen the state units and reach out to the grassroots level, but also forge alliances with like-minded parties.
Anything can happen, says a young Congress leader.
