This will be the first time that the Congress, since its ouster from power in 2014, will get the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. It failed to get the position in the past 10 years as its tally was below the requisite 10 per cent of total seats in the House, both in 2014 and 2019.
Addressing a press conference, Pawar said the trends of the assembly polls (in five states set to be held in November) suggest the situation is favourable for the opposition, but added he had no authentic information to comment on whether there would be a change (in government) at the national level.
Their joining is likely to come as a big boost to the BJP in Haryana with a few months remaining for the polls.
The Congress has 40 MLAs while the BJP has 25 in the 68-member state assembly. The remaining three seats are held by independents.
'Union Budgets are often used as political instruments and that was the intention of this government too.' 'But while the exercise has settled two fronts, it has left open several others and this has the potential to aggravate with time,' predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'What matters is policies, not personalities like Priyanka, Rahul or Modi.'
Khattar, who represented the Karnal seat, said newly appointed Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini will take care of the constituency now.
The Congress leader also lamented the exclusion of current Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from the committee
'The Opposition will continue to be attacked through misuse of agencies, civil society will be force-marched towards extinction and India's plummeting on global indices will continue.' 'Minorities and especially Muslims will continue to have open season declared on them. Institutions will continue their decline,' predicts Aakar Patel.
Sudhakar Badgujar, the leader in question, denied the allegations while speaking at a news conference in Nashik.
'Not just Maharashtra, the Congress has not fielded even one Muslim candidate from Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa.'
'It is evident that the BJP govt in Haryana no longer commands a majority,' former Deputy Chief Minister and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala said in his letter to the governor on Wednesday.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Friday that he would first speak with Nawab Malik to understand the former minister's position about his political affiliation before explaining his Nationalist Congress Party group's stand on the matter.
Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Jitan Ram Manjhi on Friday alleged that "poisonous substances" were being mixed into the food served to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, by those "coveting his chair".
Modi's inability to make peace with a renewed Opposition will only embolden his coalition partners and it is just a matter of time before they begin asking probing questions besides politely disagreeing with his tactics, predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said the session of the state assembly will be summoned on September 27.
AAP has nominated former cricketer Harbhajan Singh as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Punjab
An eighth BJP candidate on Thursday filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, setting the stage for a contest with the Samajwadi Party on February 27.
Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday thwarted the Aam Aadmi Party government's plan to summon a special assembly session to bring in a confidence motion.
Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United on Sunday exuded confidence that its national president, who was sworn in as Bihar CM for a record ninth time after forming a new government with the Bharatiya Janata Party, will win Monday's trust vote.
Kerala had the highest number of average sitting days at 48 days a year, followed by Odisha (41) and Karnataka (35).
A notification in this regard was issued on Thursday evening which further said that these six MLAs ceased to be members of Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly with effect from February 29.
'The BJP is not as mighty a political force in Odisha as it is made out to be.'
A BJP leader in Bihar on Thursday died while taking part in a 'Vidhan Sabha march' against the state's Nitish Kumar government, evoking allegations from senior party leaders that he was "killed in a brutal lathi charge".
The Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly secretariat on Friday announced the disqualification of Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan from the House, a day after a court sentenced him to three years in jail in a hate speech case.
Lenders in India, comprising banks and finance companies, anticipate robust growth in retail credit during the upcoming festival season, stretching from September to December 2023. This expectation is based on resilient demand, government initiatives, and elections in key states.
'If people don't see you, they might be hesitant, but once they see you, they are confident that this is the person they will vote for,' says political debutant Shambhavi Choudhury, 25, alumnus of the Lady Sriram College and the Delhi School of Economics.
Amid a growing tussle between the two sides, Kejriwal claimed the LG had called a series of meetings with government officials despite having no powers to do so.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said R C P Singh, whom his Janata Dal-United has denied another term in the Rajya Sabha, does not need to resign as a Union minister ahead of the expiry of his Rajya Sabha tenure.
The education department official said that the administration did not inform the employees about this rule.
"A call, 'No Vote to BJP', will be given during the Vidhan Sabha elections if assurances made by union leaders, including the Prime Minister, are not fulfilled shortly," samiti national president Yashpal Malik on Thursday said.
Fraudsters in Himachal Pradesh minted a series of a cryptocoins -- two of which were KRO and DGT -- to cheat thousands of investors of more than Rs 200 crore over a period of five years, beginning in 2018 -- the year the crypto reached fever pitch.
Under India's laws bigamy is disallowed and those in breach of the law don't submit affidavits testifying to this status.
The chief minister further informed that an FIR has been registered following the incident and a probe has been ordered to nab the culprits.
'Gehlot made it a Modi versus Gehlot contest. It was for the first time in a northern Indian state where the prime minister had to confront a chief minister.'
The BJP is far more prepared than the Congress as their pool of prospective candidates is much bigger, reports Prakash Bhandari.
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.
He said the RPI-A will also demand tickets to contest at least two Lok Sabha seats (out of the total 48 in Maharashtra) and 10 to 15 assembly segments in the 2024 elections from the NDA quota.
'For the last two elections, the Congress manifesto has been thrown into the dustbin.' 'This manifesto will also be thrown into the dustbin.'
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