The BJP game-plan: Take the top slot, or a close second, either for the 'Lotus' or the larger NDA, if it can and push the AIADMK to the third place, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agrawal said Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was offering 100 seats, but the Congress was not ready for less than 120 seats.
A banner describing senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as the '2024 prime minister' has appeared outside the party office in Lucknow, days after the Samajwadi Party office put up a similar poster calling its party chief Akhilesh Yadav the country's 'future prime minister'.
The three major parties will use the next 15 days for housecleaning. But what price must they pay for keeping their allies happy? As things stand today the Congress and the BJP are hard put to summon even a simple majority in the Lok Sabha. When the new House reconvenes in summer could we see a situation where not two but even the three largest parties will be pressed to reach the magic number of 272?
According to DMK, the voters are already consolidated on ideological lines, hence the impact of anti-incumbency, whether against the BJP Centre or the DMK state may not be too much, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The seat equation for the opposition alliance will become a matter of debate as UP Congress state president Ajay Rai mentioned that Congress is prepared for all 80 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and is ready to contest on all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
The alliance leaders are getting together for the third round of the brainstorming session in Mumbai, after Patna and Bengaluru, to chalk out their common campaign strategy to take on the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
With the assembly poll results in three states being a disappointment for the Congress, some rumblings have begun among the constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) ahead of their meeting on December 6, with many leaders alleging that the grand old party ignored others, but was unable to win elections on its own.
The constituency is being represented by senior BJP leader and Union minister Raosaheb Danve, who has won this seat five times on the trot.
'The consecration of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya has demoralised them.' 'And, now it is reflecting in their individual reactions as they are losing hope to take on the BJP in 2024.'
Without revealing details of the proposed programmes, the leader of the Janata Dal-United, a constituent of INDIA, said that a decision in this regard was taken at the just concluded conclave of the opposition alliance in Mumbai.
'BJP's ultimate ambition is to control Bihar independently.'
Arvind Kejriwal warned the media that "very big forces" would try and break the INDIA alliance by showing that there was a lot of acrimony among them.
Senior Janata Dal-United leader Dhananjay Singh pitched for Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and said party workers in Uttar Pradesh want Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to contest the elections from the state's Phulpur constituency.
'The biggest change that the BJP can initiate in the run-up to 2024 is appointing new faces as chief ministers.' 'In doing so, it will send a message well beyond 2024.'
The Tamil film industry won't forget Vijayakanth's large-heartedness, how he took care of fellow industry persons, male or female, rich or poor, young or old...recalls N Sathiya Moorthy. How he sent money quietly for the family of a stunt artiste to meet his funeral expenses, how he always ensured that all female co-stars, including junior artistes, had secure accommodation on outdoor shoots, and how he would always the first to rush help if anyone from the fraternity was in distress.
Banerjee made it clear that she expected the seat-sharing formula to give priority to regional players in areas where they were strong.
The alliance -- Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) -- has resolved to save the character of the republic 'being severely assaulted in a systematic manner by the Bharatiya Janata Party' and safeguard the idea of India as enshrined in the Constitution.
Chief Minister Manik Saha said that the BJP will contest in 55 constituencies in its bid to return to power in the northeastern state which has a 60-member assembly for the second time in a row.
Ahead of the crucial third round of discussions, the opposition INDIA bloc on Wednesday exuded confidence that it would provide a formidable alternative to bring political change in the country and asserted that it has several prime ministerial faces against BJP's only one.
The outcome of the general elections, the Morgan Stanley note says, has enough firepower to sway the markets on either side.
Opposition parties will hold the next meeting of their 26-member INDIA coalition in Mumbai on August 25 and 26, sources said on Thursday.
Sources said the opposition parties would look to avoid the prickly leadership question as of now and emphasise on building a common ground.
The Congress and NCP are partners for a decade but both share the same political and ideological space but compete for growth. That implies one trying to grow at the expense of the other partner. Which, in turn, means identifying seats which can be assuredly won, improving the hit-rate so that when the final tally comes in, claims can be made about the which of the two is leading the other.
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.
'Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bengal can be the game changers of 2024.'
A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party announced its first list of 41 candidates for the Rajasthan assembly polls, at least seven disappointed ticket aspirants -- or their supporters -- on Tuesday protested against the party.
The Congress under a 'no surrender' policy evolved by Rahul Gandhi has decided to play tough in all the states where the party is negotiating with prospective and even existing alliance partners. The aim is to bag the largest number of seats possible.
'...the Congress tally in 2028 would further plummet under 50.' 'A fresh face as CM would further strengthen the BJP and weaken the Congress in Madhya Pradesh.'
The grand old party is looking to retain power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while seeking to come to power in the other three states going to polls -- Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram.
Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas leader Chirag Paswan has decided to return to the National Democratic Alliance, Bharatiya Janata Party chief J P Nadda announced on Monday, hours after Paswan met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, a day before the crucial meeting of the ruling coalition.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Chandrakant Khaire on Monday said the Congress cannot stake claim to the Aurangabad constituency in Maharashtra for the next Lok Sabha polls as Shiv Sena (undivided) had won this seat multiple times in the past.
Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira was arrested by the Punjab Police in connection with a 2015 drugs case on Thursday morning, official sources said.
All political parties were asked at the dinner meeting on Monday night to suggest names for the alliance and the same would be discussed and consensus would be arrived at during the deliberations.
Accompanied by his son Santosh Suman, Manjhi met Shah at his residence in New Delhi.
The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP)-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance won 37 seats in Nagaland Assembly election, retaining the power in the state with Neiphiu Rio set to assume office as chief minister for a fifth consecutive term.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies are well on the way to power in two north-eastern states, and is almost certain to be part of the ruling dispensation in the third.
Kumar's comments at the party's national executive meeting came amid a strain in his ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party and appears to be a message to his ally, some of whose leaders have been linked to alleged communal tensions and violence in the state.
Noting that the Bahujan Samaj Party had held a dialogue with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the past, Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said no decision on the Mayawati-led party's inclusion in Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc can be taken until there is clarity on whose side she is on.
The JMM would contest 35 seats and the Congress 33. The remaining 13 seats in the 81-member house have gone to the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Left parties.
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