The BJP's strategy seem to be to wean away allies from the Congress, in Dravidian Tamil Nadu, and maybe later in UP, Bihar and elsewhere, though in slow doses, but without wooing them into a new alliance. The idea seems to be only to weaken the INDIA bloc from within -- and leaving it at that, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
National Democratic Alliance allies on Monday put up a united front amid vocal demands being made by some parties on their share of seats in Bihar polls but the crucial issue of seat-sharing was not discussed at their maiden joint meeting chaired by Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah.
The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party have resolved most of the issues on seat-sharing for the Maharashtra assembly polls but there was no clarity on whether there would be a joint campaign and manifesto.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who arrived in New Delhi after marathon talks with party leaders in Mumbai on poll preparations, said Congress has to take the initiative for the seat-sharing talks.He told reporters that "instead of wasting time in delaying the issue, let us accept the number (of seats) as last time".
'Everyone is unhappy with the lieutenant governor's administration, which is ignorant, high-handed, and inaccessible.'
On the Opposition's poll promise of statehood restoration, Shah said, "I want to ask Farooq Abdullah and Rahul Gandhi, who is going to restore the statehood. You cannot give it back. Why are you misleading the public?"
Sources within the INDIA bloc said appointing Nitish Kumar as convenor would lend credibility to the INDIA bloc's demand for conducting a nationwide caste census.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Wednesday announced a three-member committee headed by state secretary N Varadarajan to discuss seat-sharing with its new ally All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Taml Nadu.
Congress leader Kumari Selja ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the AAP for the Haryana assembly polls.
Amid reports that he is likely to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi soon to thrash out the contentious seat-sharing issue, Yadav said "I have complete faith that we will arrive at a settlement with the Congress very soon."
BJP-led NDA gave five seats to the Chirag Paswan-led LJP (Ram Vilas).
The Bharatiya Janata Party began seat-sharing negotiations with its National Democratic Alliance allies in seven states so that it can finalise its candidates soon. Three senior leaders have been empowered to conduct the negotiations: M Venkaiah Naidu in Maharashtra, Assam and Orissa, Arun Jaitley in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and Sushma Swaraj in Punjab and Haryana.
After four rounds of negotiations, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party have agreed to contest from 40-41 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra while a decision on the remaining eight seats will be taken soon. The two parties agreed on seat-sharing for 41 of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra. Sources in the Congress-NCP alliance said the two parties have agreed to contest 19 seats each out of the 40-41 seats.
Delhi and Punjab are ruled by the AAP and these are the only two states that have free electricity supply, he said.
BJP backed to the hilt Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as its leader in the state and rebuffed a rebellious Chirag Paswan, while acknowledging his Lok Janshakti Party as an ally 'at the Centre'. At a press conference which was attended by top leaders of the JD-U headed by Kumar and the BJP, it was made clear that 'only those who accept the chief ministers leadership will be deemed to be a part of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar'.
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien Thursday held West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury responsible for an alliance not working out between the two parties in West Bengal.
The Congress is contesting 328 seats in the ongoing elections -- the lowest since Independence.
Fissures appear to have emerged in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) as its two key allies, the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, on Thursday clashed over seat sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal.
The BJP will contest on 73 seats out of the 80 in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections as per the seat-sharing agreement reached between the saffron party and the Ajit Singh-led RLD.
Manjhi's son Santosh Suman, who is a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet, made the statement a day after reports emerged that a seat-sharing formula has been arrived at in the National Democratic Alliance, and the HAM was likely to get only one of the state's 40 constituencies.
Amid some Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) constituents switching sides to the National Democratic Alliance, Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Sunday said the opposition alliance is 'strong' and the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting a 'frantic rejig' of the political landscape as it is worried over the collective strength of the coalition.
Debacle in four states prompts party to step up efforts to fare well in general elections, reports Sanjay Jog.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA won 64 seats -- 62 bagged by the BJP and two by Apna Dal.
The sources said the opposition leaders would now plan joint rallies that were put on hold due to the assembly elections.
To seek approval for about 2,084 political advertisements in the city, the BJP submitted nearly 517 applications to the poll body from March 13 till May 8, data accessed by PTI showed.
A day after the Congress accused Uddhav Thackeray of unilaterally announcing his party's candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra legislative council polls, the two parties finalised a deal on Wednesday under which the Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest three out of four seats, while the grand old party will fight one.
The opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition in Maharashtra on Tuesday announced its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray securing a substantial portion with 21 seats, while the Congress will contest 17 seats, and the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar 10 seats.
A powerful lobby of BJP leaders -- mostly from the upper castes -- want to give no more than 70-80 assembly seats to its three allies.
The SP has offered 11 seats to the Congress and seven seats to the RLD for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The Nationalist Congress Party is livid as Shivtare continues to criticise Pawar, whose wife Sunetra is likely to contest from the Baramati Lok Sabha seat, even after meeting Shinde in Mumbai recently.
Mumtaz Patel said that she will continue to work to make the party stronger along with the party cadre in Bharuch.
Shinde also said a party grows when leaders reach out to the grassroot worker rather than sitting at home.
Leaders of the West Bengal Congress unit, which has an alliance with the CPI-M-led Left Front in the state, were seen welcoming the Left leaders.
'The moment a new election comes, new guarantees are announced.' 'The BJP is adept at diverting people's attention.'
The move comes days after Akhilesh's party said he would join Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra only if its seat-sharing proposal for the Lok Sabha polls is accepted.
This will be the first time the BJP has got more seats than Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led JD-U in Bihar, underscoring the change in their equations after they joined hands a few months back.
Deve Gowda indicated on Sunday that they were ready to compromise.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar stressed the need to finalise seat-sharing arrangements by January at the recent meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a key aide disclosed on Friday.
The Congress is hopeful of soon finalising the Lok Sabha poll seat-sharing arrangements with the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) allies Aam Aadmi Party and Trinamool Congress, sources said on Friday, days after the principal opposition party arrived at an understanding with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh.
Announcing the first list of candidates, Left Front chairman Biman Bose said that of the 16 names announced, 14 are new, of whom three are women.
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