Several legislators in states on Monday said they have cross-voted in favour of National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu by not following their respective party lines in the presidential election.
The Congress said it does not want to indulge in speculation and slugfest for TRPs.
Now, every state election -- first up, Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand later this year, then Delhi in January and Bihar in September next year -- will be seen by his followers for evidence of his recovery, and by rivals of sharpening decline, points out Shekhar Gupta.
NDA on Wednesday boycotted Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's all-party meeting aimed at defusing the stalemate over the Opposition demand to dismiss Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
The RJD said that it is boycotting the swearing-in ceremony of Kumar as the mandate is against the National Democratic Alliance.
Sheikh Hasina, who was elected for a record fourth consecutive term and fifth overall term this year, was always admired by her supporters as "Iron Lady", before the dramatic development that abruptly ended her 15-year-rule in Bangladesh.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said that there was no case for National Democratic Alliance's call to boycott Home Minister P Chidambaram in Parliament and hoped that the opposition political parties would desist from any such temptation.
"I'm taking all responsibility (of the country). Please cooperate," he said in a televised address amid reports that Hasina has left the country.
The main opposition Pakistan People's Party today decided to boycott next week's presidential election, saying it was left with no other option after the Supreme Court ordered the advancing of the poll.
'At this moment you cannot give her asylum because if you do, then you are directing public anger against India.'
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera called the order "state-sponsored bigotry".
The Naxal ambush on a Congress convoy near Darbha on Saturday has kicked off a war between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Opposition Congress in Chhattisgarh. The attack had left 28 dead, including state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and former leader of the Opposition Mahendra Karma.
Sharif also urged other parties to boycott the elections.In the event of a collective response, the credibility of the January 8 elections could be seriously called into question. Sharif said that after three days of mourning, he would chalk out a strategy to challenge Musharraf's rule but he rebutted suggestions that he could gain political mileage from her demise.
The Supreme Court on Monday imposed an interim stay on directives passed by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments that eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route must display names of owners.
The Leader of the Opposition L K Advani wants the government to 'amend' the condemnation statement made against the opposition in the House.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday alleged that the Congress displayed disregard for Hindu traditions by calling the sacred 'Sengol' a "golden stick gifted" to former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and tucking it away in a museum.
Every trick in the trade is being tried unabashedly.
In simple arithmetical terms every possible 'arrangement' is being made to deny a majority to its rivals. A split verdict would hand a vital advantage to the BJP which is adept at extracting the best out of such a situation, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott feels cricket-playing countries should unite to outvote the Board of Control for Cricket in India's opposition to the Decision Review System in the ICC even though most of them are 'frightened to death of India's financial power'.
Nasreen, who served as the director of the Indian Cultural Centre at the high commission of India in Male, Republic of Maldives, from 2019 to 2023, shared insights into the growing influence of China and Pakistan in countering India's soft power.
What was the "locus standi" of Sonia Gandhi when she along with the then prime minister Manhoman Singh inaugurated legislative buildings in Manipur and Tamil Nadu, the Bharatiya Janata Party asked on Wednesday while countering the Congress's criticism over the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Asserting that statement of the Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde is "insult" to the House and people of Jammu and Kashmir, Opposition PDP announced a boycott of the remaining budget session of the state Assembly.
Reflecting escalation of confrontation with the government, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday decided to boycott meetings to be called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath or Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as it accused Congress President Sonia Gandhi of not allowing the opposition to air their views in Parliament.
'We want the prime minister to express public regrets over his attitude,' BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.
Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje will hold a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Legislature Party in Jaipur on Wednesday, to chalk out the strategy for the upcoming state assembly session.According to sources, the issue of electing a new Leader of Opposition as per the direction of the party's high command is not likely to figure in the meeting. Raje has been asked by the BJP's central leadership to resign.
This is in protesting against the 'confrontationist' approach of the United Progressive Alliance government.
Thennarasu said that while the governor had to grant his approval to the bill, he informed them it was still under his consideration.
For India to view the new Sri Lankan leadership only through the prism of the past or through their narrow view on China, is fraught with possibilities that should be avoided, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
"We have come to realise that these elections are being held to facilitate only one party -- ruling party," Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir said.
Sonia patted the UPA government at the centre for its performance considering limitations of coalition politics.
Bangladeshis on Sunday began voting in the general elections expected to be won by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the absence of the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) which is boycotting it.
Ruptures in the opposition unity emerged barely a week after 17 parties joined hands to put up a joint candidate against the ruling National Democratic Alliance nominee for the July 17 presidential election.
Anand Sharma said the PM 'does not have humility' and has not indicated that he will reflect and correct the course by either withdrawing his words 'insulting' Indira Gandhi based upon a 'fabricated report'.
Opposition People's Democratic Party on Thursday said it will boycott the entire summer session of the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly to protest the deteriorating law and order situation in the Valley, in which over 100 people have died and thousands have been injured."We will not attend the rest of the session of the assembly as a mark of protest against the killings and solidarity with the people," PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said in the assembly.
BJP President and Leader of Opposition L K Advani on Tuesday conceded that the National Democratic Alliance's boycott of the Budget session of Parliament had created a 'wrong perception' in the public.
'Are we expected to merely sit outside and applaud when the prime minister installs the idol of Ram Lalla?
The avoidable stresses and strains in ties helped in one way. It showed for the entire region how a matured India handled diplomatic relations, especially with a smaller and suspicious neighbour, with practised dignity and patience, unruffled by provocations in word, deed and action, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rahul Gandhi's focus will be on his Nyay Yatra, rather than the INDIA bloc's election campaign, leading to speculation among allies that the Congress leader is already looking at the Opposition's fight beyond May 2024.
Top leaders of the alliance met at Vajpayee's residence in the morning and decided to extend the boycott to the entire session.
The main Opposition BNP of former premier Khaleda Zia, 78, who is under house arrest, is boycotting the elections amidst violence.
