Offering to trade second preference votes with the Congress, Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday said his main agenda is to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the contest for fourth seat, during the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls from Karnataka.
The BJP has played the social engineering card in Rajasthan with an eye on the Lok Sabha election where the party will try and retain all the 25 seats that it had won in the 2014 and 2019 elections.
Apparently under pressure from Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, Congress on Thursday asked its candidate Abdul Mannan to withdraw from the Rajya Sabha elections in West Bengal.
The BJP councillors retaliated by raising slogans against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal as AAP members returned fire by sloganeering against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The fight would become more interesting as both candidates hail from Bihar, where the assembly elections are to be held soon, making it effectively a JD-U versus RJD contest.
'The Gogoi episode can lead to our evolving a rational way to get better people who will head our checks and balances of democracy,' says former Chief Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi.
After being outwitted by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the recent Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the ruling Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is now facing another challenge of getting all its six candidates elected to the state Legislative Council in the June 20 polls, which has once again put the spotlight on Independents and smaller parties.
With the Presidential nomination of legal luminary K Parasaran -- a decision by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh -- the Rajya Sabha has now four Iyengar Vaishnavites, beginning from Jairam Ramesh, Dr V Maitreyan and Communist Party of India-Marxist MP T K Rangarajan.
Biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha will be held on March 26 to fill the seats of 55 members from 17 states who will be retiring in April 2020, the Election Commission of India stated on Tuesday.
Speaking on his nomination to the Rajya Sabha for the first time, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday termed it as a "great honour".
'For the last two elections, the Congress manifesto has been thrown into the dustbin.' 'This manifesto will also be thrown into the dustbin.'
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu announced in the House that the election will be held at 11 am on August 9.
The BJP hopes to deepen its support among backward castes, especially the Extremely Backward Classes, in Bihar following the announcement of Bharat Ratna for former chief minister Karpoori Thakur, a leader who enjoys admiration from backward satraps of various hues.
Speaking to the media persons in Delhi on Sunday, the Rajya Sabha member said: "I have declined the offer to be the next Punjab CM. I believe Punjab CM face should be a Sikh."
'Just because the NDA has a majority and the BJP is the single largest party does not mean that this Modi government enjoys a majority in the Lok Sabha.' 'It is always possible that some members (of the NDA and even the BJP) may defect, some members may not want him to be the prime minister and they might vote differently (against Modi) in the confidence vote.'
Singh said it is the principle of BJP not to promote nepotism and fight against dynasty rule and his decision to resign is in line with the party's principles.
Mr Pradhan's understanding of realpolitik and organisational dynamics makes him the ultimate party man, notes Aditi Phadnis.
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu read out an obituary reference after which MPs stood as a mark of respect to the memory of the departed.
When Prasada joined the BJP months before the UP assembly elections, Sibal had written on the microblogging website, "Jitin Prasada Joins BJP. The question is will he get 'prasada' from BJP or is he just a 'catch' for UP elections? In such deals if 'ideology' doesn't matter changeover is easy."
Was it Uddhav's back-seat driving of Shinde's ministry Did Shinde feel slighted by Aaditya Thackeray's rapid ascent in the Shiv Sena? Was his spat with Sanjay Raut on Monday the last straw?
'Everyone knows there is no point in contesting elections from Gujarat as a Congress candidate because they know they will be wiped out.'
Activist Saket Gokhale had sought consent, a condition precedent for initiating criminal contempt proceedings, of the top-most law officer to initiate the case against the former CJI who had reportedly said at an event that the judiciary is "ramshackled" and it is quite unlikely for a person to get a timely verdict.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi could only manage 244 votes.
The activities of the two secretariats over the years have increased many folds which involve manpower planning, judicious and prudent financial management, transfer, postings of senior officials, meeting the grievances of the officials and staff, reveals Rup Narayan Das.
A provision has been made for relaxation in the upper age limit and exemption from the Physical Efficiency Test in the recruitment to the post of constable (general duty) and rifleman in the CAPFs and Assam Rifles for ex-Agniveers, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said in response to a written question.
As the deadline to withdraw nominations ended at 1500 IST, Returning Officer H R Punia anounced that there were five candidates for an equal number of seats and hence voting was not necessary.
On joining the party, the former SP leader belittled actor-politician Jaya Bachchan as someone "who used to dance in films".
It was becoming difficult for him to continue working in the Samajwadi Party, he told reporters, without elaborating.
Naidu informed the House that he had received letters from Singh and 13 other MPs seeking leave of absence on medical grounds.
The Congress was not unduly perturbed by reports that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi's application for proof of residence in Amethi was turned down by the district magistrate, stating emphatically that this would have no impact on his nomination from his Lok Sabha constituency. Anita Katyal explains why
Defectors getting tickets is causing tremendous heartburn in the BJP, says Aditi Phadnis
The deadline to file nomination papers for the IOA elections ends on Sunday. According to IOA elections returning officer Umesh Sinha no nomination has been filed for any post so far since the process began on Friday.
The Congress on Wednesday said senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was consulted several times before finalising the names in the revamped Jammu and Kashmir unit of the party, rejecting reports that the former Union minister was not on board.
The coming weeks are sure to have a lot of drama unfolding in Maharashtra, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It must be kept in mind that the LJP has never been a fan of Nitish Kumar's style of politics. He has harmed the Dalits by creating a sub-group of Mahadalits for his own political gains'
The Centre on Monday made public the rules under the recently-notified anti-paper leak law, mandating the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to prepare norms, standards and guidelines for the computer-based tests among others.
No one from the Gandhi family was present at the All India Congress Committee headquarters when the leaders filed their nominations for the election.
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the June 21 Rajya Sabha biennial elections and made EC a party to a petition challenging the new open balloting system and the decision to do away with the domicile requirements.
Claiming a heavy transfer of cash to Jaipur, Gehlot said there were reports about the BJP's plan similar to that of Madhya Pradesh and some of the party MLAs were offered Rs 25 crore in cash with Rs 10 crore in advance.
With all 29 under its belt, the BJP became the first political party to achieve such a feat after 40 years in Madhya Pradesh.
