However, it fell nine seats short of a majority.
Besides law and order, the long standing demand for junking Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, economic woes of the land-locked state which has hardly any industries, are expected to figure high on the agenda of the unfolding electoral battle between the two main parties with smaller local parties such as National People's Party and the Naga People's Front chipping in with their own demands.
The Congress has convinced at least eight Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLAs to join them.
Tipra Motha has decided to go solo and hopes to sweep the 20 tribal-dominated seats that hold the key to power in the northeastern state that has a 60-member assembly.
There may be those who could want to go slow, citing the large pendency of follow-up action and court cases that they would have to process and/or proceed with, before raiding more politicians, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
In an interview with PTI, Chidambaram also stressed that no Congress MLA elected in the upcoming assembly polls can be poached by the Bharatiya Janata Party in Goa this time, saying 'our house is well-guarded' and though the 'thief' is still out there, the people 'will teach him a lesson'.
A democracy is one, only if it has a robust Opposition. And as its actions show, the Modi-BJP combine gives two hoots for that. So, the Opposition must learn to convince people why the BJP must go. Else, it can count down to 2029, points out Shyam G Menon.
Stalin still enjoys a lot of sympathy and empathy as someone wishing well for the state, but not full-throated support as in 2019 and 2021, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
They are the contenders, the leaders of parties that will finally form a government in Karnataka.
The Sena also took a dig at NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who last week rebelled against his party and supported the BJP to form government in the state.
With this kind of coinage, the Opposition seems to be readily conceding the point that Modi is taller than all of them put together. So they need something bigger than themselves, collectively or not, to capture the voter imagination when it is about taking on Modi and the BJP in 2024, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The former Union minister said it is 'quite heartening' to see that Gandhi has taken up the initiative to involve Kishor to come out with a strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and the party's revival plan.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday received a shot in the arm when Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari on Monday lauded her work for the minorities in West Bengal, and said she would make a better prime minister for secular India than others.
Leaders in both Sena and BJP feel that the parties will fare better if they contest on their own, and, if needed, they could go for a post-poll tie-up for the Asia's biggest civic body -- the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
Such a course would require a Constitutional Amendment, requiring a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament. Even assuming that the INDIA combine comes to power at the Centre next year, a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha could way off the mark for them, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
With the assembly polls only two years away, in 2026, any demoralising defeat in 2024, would challenge not only the party's continued relevance but also EPS's leadership, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
After facing a difficult election, the Congress top brass including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi are expected on Monday evening to deliberate on the strategy ahead. The Congress core group, headed by Gandhi, will be holding consultations at a time when exit polls would be out, giving indications of the shape of things to come when results are declared on May 16.
Sena has challenged the Governor's June 30 decision to invite a coalition of the Shinde faction and the BJP to form government in Maharashtra.
But, Haasan said he one could not rule out an electoral alliance between the two.
'Chirag Paswan's game plan would be to push out Nitish Kumar from this alliance, but that is only possible if the BJP wins about 90 seats and the LJP wins between 25-30 seats.'
All talks regarding an alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Telugu Desam Party came to an abrupt end on Saturday with the Telangana unit of the BJP putting its foot down against a tie-up.
The BJP, which is toying with the idea of forming the next government at the Centre feels that it does not want the headache of bifurcating a state, where a majority have expressed a negative view, says Vicky Nanjappa.
Kumaraswamy made the stunning claim that the BJP offered the MLAs of his party Rs 100 crore and ministerial berths.
The TMC has won in 34,560 gram panchayat seats, besides leading in 705 seats, according to the SEC as of 11.30 am on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit attended the swearing in ceremony as did BJP president J P Nadda.
"I have been given BJP ticket from Mandi and the party has informed me about this," he said.
In true Congress style, the party has once again delayed a decision on the Telanagana statehood issue by referring the matter to its Working Committee.
As the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena refused to blink, the opposition, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party are keen to take the benefit, reports Sanjay Jog.
The Congress questioned the Maharashtra governor for the "arbitrary" allotment of time to the Nationalist Congress Party, the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party to prove support for government formation.
'The leaders of the two parties, the rank and file, and even their respective vote banks are passionately opposed to each other.' 'At the top, between the leaders, it is personal, bitter and hostile.' 'This was not going to work. Everyone knew it.'
To a question whether his party will not forge a coalition with any political party, Azad said, "If any political party is willing to accompany the Congress, and the Congress feels that it can fight the BJP, then it will be definitely accommodated."
Will Annamalai's attacks on the DMK revert the anti-BJP feeling in Tamil Nadu, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
By keeping the Sanatana Dharma row alive and adding the Ayodhya temple consecration scheduled for January 22 and adding the free darshan promise from four polled states to the entire country, the BJP may have a self-fulfilling concoction, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Modi must co-operate with "younger brother" Uddhav, the Shiv Sena said in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
"You are seeing my face everywhere," the Congress leader added while addressing a press conference to release the party's 'youth manifesto' along with her brother and former president Rahul Gandhi.
'What happens in case the party joins a post-poll alliance with another party whose ideology the legislator is opposed to?' 'Should s/he let down her/his voters merely because her/his party leadership has taken a decision in that direction?' asks Aakar Patel.
By changing the nation's name from India to Bharat, would this landmass overnight lose the emotional and cultural linkage that had been built over generations, centuries and millennia, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
He said discussions are still going on with various parties over forging an opposition alliance.
Congress' Sowmya Reddy secured 54,457 votes against her nearest rival from the BJP.
Taking a dig at former ally Bharatiya Janata Party for announcing that Narendra Modi would hold poll rallies in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said the prime minister would not have been invited to address the public if his party was confident of winning on the "Modi wave."
