Hundreds of members of the Aam Aadmi Party, including office-bearers, joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat at the party headquarters in Gandhinagar on Wednesday, days ahead of AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and newly-appointed Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann's visit to Ahmedabad where a roadshow is planned.
His remarks come amid BJP ministers and legislators quitting the party in UP ahead of the crucial Assembly polls in the state.
The BJP also promised Rs 25,000 to girls from economically weaker sections under the 'Rani Gaidinliu Nupi Maheiroi Singi Scheme' if voted back to power.
Security was beefed up at all BJP offices throughout the state following the violence which erupted after the candidate list was announced, official sources said.
The BJP is beating the development drum this time more loudly to overcome many other hurdles besides anti-incumbency. While the party is claiming it is looking for a much bigger victory than in 2017, BJP observers are not too sure about it, reports Shishir Prashant.
State agriculture minister R C Faldu and Union minister Purshottam Rupala's names are also being considered a front-runners.
The BJP leader said the demand for reducing the level of security forces in Jammu and Kashmir was being made by anti-national forces and those who did not want to anger Pakistan.
Senior Congress leader Rajani Patil is set to be declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra after the opposition BJP on Monday withdrew its candidate from the next month's bypoll.
"I was never a politician and do not wish to. I am 90 now and hence do not want to be in politics. I need not be a politician to serve people which I am doing through three trusts," he said, speaking at a private function in Ponnani near Malappuram.
Modi, who was travelling by road in Punjab, was stuck on a flyover for 15-20 minutes due to blockade by some protesters, an incident the Union home ministry described as a 'major lapse' in his security.
'When they completely surrender to the BJP or the BJP has completely taken over the party, what's the point in the AIADMK surviving and doing business in the state?'
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Karnataka minister for rural development and panchayat raj KS Eshwarappa on Wednesday claimed the Bhagwa dhwaj (saffron flag) may become the national flag some time in the future.
Addressing party workers at the state headquarters after the poll results and trends showed a clear BJP majority, he said the 'misleading' campaign run by the Opposition over the past 2-3 days have been set aside by the people who reposed faith in the good governance of the BJP.
Police are probing various angles, including the assailants coming from neighbouring Kerala.
Earlier, there were speculations that the party may nominate Pankaja Munde, the daughter of late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, for the MLC polls, to be held on June 20.
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.
'My quest to be a meaningful participant in democracy & help shape pro-people policy led to a 10yr rollercoaster ride! As I turn the page, time to go to the Real Masters, THE PEOPLE, to better understand the issues & the path to Peoples Good Governance,' Kishor said in a tweet.
Angry over Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's comments to allegedly "demean" Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party unit on Sunday said its workers do not want any further seat-sharing talks between the two alliance partners for the next month's assembly polls.
A railway station and a police vehicle were torched and several law enforcers injured in stone-pelting incidents on the fourth consecutive day of protests against Agnipath scheme on Saturday when a bandh was also called to press for the demand for rollback of the new scheme for recruitment in armed forces.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said she had suggested to the Congress that an advisory council comprising prominent personalities from civil society be set up to give a direction to the opposition, but rued that the plan did not materialise.
Senior Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Roy on Friday stirred the hornet's nest by saying that the party will not accept the use of violence and muscle power by its candidates during the upcoming civic polls in West Bengal.
According to a senior Election Commission official in Chandigarh, Panwar got 36 votes, while Sharma got 23 first preference votes and six transferred from the BJP, taking his tally to 29.
Eknath Shinde has been made chief minister to crush the Shiv Sena totally, completely, wholly, point out Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
A day ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls for four seats from Karnataka, Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday wrote an open letter to Janata Dal-Secular MLAs requesting them to cast their 'conscience vote' in favour of his party's second candidate Mansoor Ali Khan, stating that his win will be a victory of 'secular ideology' followed by both parties.
While the ruling party blamed unnamed forces behind the arson, all opposition parties hit out at the Jagan Mohan Reddy government over its "gross failure" in controlling the situation.
Hectic political activities continued for the second consecutive day in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka on Thursday, as party's national general secretary in-charge of the State Arun Singh started meeting leaders and legislators individually, in the backdrop of speculations over replacing Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.
Gujarat Aam Aadmi Party leader Mahesh Savani was hospitalised after his health deteriorated during hunger strike against the ruling BJP in Gujarat over the alleged leak of examination paper for the recruitment of head clerks in government departments.
He also lashed out at veteran Congress leader Ambika Soni for her statement on the "repercussions of having a Hindu chief minister in Punjab".
Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party president Nalin Kumar Kateel has dismissed as fake an audio clip that hints at possible leadership change in the state, and said it was not his voice.
'Why do you want to use the might of swords to make your point?' 'Why do you use force to scare people who don't subscribe to your views?'
The BJP is soon likely to announce new positions for the senior former Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar, sources said.
Refusing to attach much importance to the series of defections plaguing the saffron camp in the last few months, Majumdar said those committed to the ideology and cause can never leave the party.
Pawar's daughter and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule tried to placate the protesters outside the house, saying she was ready to talk to them but she must ensure first that her parents who were inside were safe.
"I am also quitting as member of Legislative Council," Thackeray said in a webcast.
As the countdown begins for the Durga Puja festival, a section of Trinamool Congress supporters have put up a hoarding in Kolkata bearing various photographs of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee with a caption in Bengali -- 'Modishahsurmardini', punning with 'Mahisasuramardini' (demon slayer).
Ignoring the recommendation of the state unit to field Vijayendra for the June 3 biennial elections to seven seats of Karnataka Legislative Council, the party central leadership on Tuesday announced names of four candidates, hours before the deadline for filing of nominations ended.
The BJP deputed Shah as observer to Uttar Pradesh, where Yogi Adityanath powered the party to an impressive victory and where there are no hurdles in the way of the priest-politician's second stint in power.
B Y Vijayendra said power and position itself are not the ultimate objectives in politics.
The aftermath of Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan has led to an argument that there was no religion as Hinduism in Chola times.
Instead, there was only Saivism, Vaishnavism, etc, and that the Cholas were Saivites, and hence not Hindus, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Roy said he would wait to see the municipal poll results in Bengal. According to sources close to him, the term 'farewell' doesn't mean that he is leaving the party.
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