Punjab assembly polls

Colonel (retired) Ajay Kothiyal, who had been the Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial candidate in the Uttarakhand Assembly polls held in February, joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on May 24 in the presence of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and State party president Madan Kaushik. Col Kothiyal had resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party on May 18. The AAP had aimed big in Uttarakhand this time and fielded candidates from all the 70 Assembly seats and promised a slew of freebies to woo voters. Also Read Kejriwal promises unemployment allowance, job quota for Uttarakhand people if voted to power However, the party drew a blank in the State despite doing well in neighbouring Punjab. Its chief ministerial face Mr. Kothiyal even lost his deposit in the Gangotri constituency. Also Read BJP’s victory in Uttarakhand demolishes several myths Mr. Kothiyal is said to have been not happy with the way he was being treated by the AAP post its … [Read more...] about AAP CM face in Uttarakhand polls Colonel Ajay Kothiyal joins BJP

Whatever the failings of Maharashtra’s political class, and these are many, a lack of optimism is not among them. Even after the last date for the withdrawal of nominations to the Assembly elections, there are more fronts, real and imagined, alive and still in the making. More candidates, lots more spending. And a rebel-to-candidate ratio that can only be described as entertaining. The chaos and confusion are bewildering. A senior Shiv Sena figure, discarded by his party, contests the election as a Congress candidate. His nephew leaves the Sena to join the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena of Raj Thackeray. And that’s one of the easier moves to follow. Yet, the key question in the race to control Maharashtra’s 288-seat legislature boils down to: who will the fragmentation benefit? Will the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party gain from a multiplicity of fronts which could dissipate the anti-Congress vote? Or will the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party benefit from the Third Front’s cutting … [Read more...] about Maharashtra polls: all fronts and no back

With the nomination process for elections to four Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan having started on Tuesday, the ruling Congress and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are looking for suitable candidates to be fielded amid an intense lobbying by the aspirants. Speculations were rife about the MLAs of both the parties being sent to the camps for securing their votes. Chief Election Officer Praveen Gupta said no nomination papers were filed on the first day of the process for the biennial elections. The last date for filing of nominations is May 31, while the polls will be held on June 10. Each candidate in the State will require to have 41 first preference votes to win. The Congress is likely to get a clear victory on two of the seats in view of its majority in the 200-member Assembly, where it has 108 seats. Of the 10 Rajya Sabha members from the State, the terms of BJP’s Om Prakash Mathur, K.J. Alphons, Ramkumar Verma and Harshvardhan Singh will end in July, necessitating … [Read more...] about Rajasthan Congress, BJP looking for suitable candidates for RS polls

Home minister Amit Shah arrived in West Bengal on Thursday on a two-day trip after the 2021 state assembly elections in which Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) won massively, bagging 213 seats out of 294. Shah will participate in events including the foundation stone laying event of Maitri Museum and Prahari Sammelan at BOP Haridaspur. West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar had said yesterday that Shah will arrive in Kolkata in the morning, and visit a BSF camp in North 24 Parganas. On Friday, he will visit the India-Bangladesh border area of Teen Bigha, where he is scheduled to interact with BSF personnel. The Union minister, after attending a programme at Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata later on Friday, will hold a meeting with office-bearers at the state BJP headquarters. “In Siliguri, Amit Shah Ji will garland the statues of legendary Gorkha mountaineer Tenzing Norgay and Rajbanshi leader from Cooch Behar Thakur Panchanan Barma. He will address a public … [Read more...] about As Amit Shah Arrives in Bengal for First Time Since 2021 Polls, BJP Leaders Hope for State Unit Revival

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee won the Bhawanipore bypoll by a huge margin of 58,835 against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rival Priyanka Tibrewal on Sunday. Banerjee’s victory just five days ahead of Durga Puja brought festive cheer among Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters. They celebrated her victory with green-coloured ‘gulal’ and danced to drum beats. Rajib Banerjee, who had joined BJP after leaving the ruling TMC before the West Bengal Assembly elections has also congratulated the TMC supremo for her victory in the crucial poll. Rajib, a former West Bengal Minister congratulated Mamata for her “landslide victory.” Congratulations to @MamataOfficial for this landslide victory. — Rajib Banerjee (@RajibBanerjeeWB) October 3, 2021 Earlier, Rajib met TMC national General Secretary, Abhishek Banerjee. Soon after his meeting, several reports of his expulsion from the BJP came to light as he was already cautioned twice for anti-party activities. BJP has … [Read more...] about Turncoat Rajib Banerjee Congratulates Mamata Banerjee for Her Victory in Bhawanipore Bypoll

BJP leader Tathagata Roy on Sunday asserted that he will continue to play the role of his party’s “conscience-keeper”, a day after the saffron camp national vice-president, Dilip Ghosh, told him that he was free to leave the camp if he was “upset and ashamed” over its style of functioning. Roy clarified that he has no plan of quitting the organisation. He took to Twitter on Sunday and said, “I am being deluged with phone calls since yesterday. Let me assure you that I am not voluntarily leaving the party.” The former Meghalaya governor had recently been critical of the decisions taken by BJP’s ex-West Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargiya, Ghosh, and senior leaders Arvind Menon and Shiv Prakash, ahead of March-April assembly polls, and blamed them in a series of tweets for the saffron camp’s poor show in the state. Earlier, too, he had flayed the senior leaders for “indiscriminate” induction of TMC leaders into the party without taking their experience and chance of winning into … [Read more...] about ‘No Plan to Leave BJP, Will Play Role of Conscience-keeper’, Says Tathagata Roy

Samajwadi Party ally Om Prakash Rajbhar on Tuesday offered to quit as MLA if proved guilty in an assault case lodged against him during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief said in the state Assembly that he was falsely implicated and demanded a magisterial probe. “Speaker sir, I am today saying that the matter be probed by a magistrate. If I am proved guilty, I will resign from the House,” he said. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna assured Rajbhar of an impartial probe. “The probe is going on and I would like to assure the House that everything will be clear (‘doodh kaa doodh, paani kaa paani hoga’),” he said. Recalling the incident, Rajbhar said he had gone to a village in his constituency Zahoorabad when some people came there with sticks. Rajbhar said he informed police and when the Karimuddinpur police station incharge came there, the men were “adamant on beating” the police officer. “After this, the SP (Rural) and other officials … [Read more...] about Assault Case: Rajbhar Says Will Resign as MLA if Proven Guilty, Seeks Magisterial Probe

Over 100 activists belonging to ousted Pakistani premier Imran Khan’s party have been arrested in the country’s Punjab province for a planned mega-march to the federal capital, Islamabad, demanding early elections. The police, who later confirmed that the arrests were made at the behest of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) ruling coalition, launched the clampdown on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activists late on Monday night. PTI chief Khan has demanded the government to dissolve the Federal Assembly and call for elections. To press these demands, the PTI protests have grown louder with each passing day. The agitators were scheduled to assemble in Islamabad on May 25. “Police have so far arrested over 100 PTI activists, including a lady lawmaker Rashida Khanum, from different parts of Punjab province to stop them from reaching Islamabad to take part in the ‘Azadi March’,” said PTI Punjab information secretary Mussarat Cheema. She said most of the PTI office bearers … [Read more...] about Pakistan Arrests More Than 100 Activists Of Imran Khan’s PTI Ahead Of Islamabad Mega-march

Even after losing the Bhabanipur bypoll to Trinamool Congress’s Mamata Banerjee on Sunday, BJP leader Priyanka Tibrewal termed herself ‘Man of the Match’ as she managed to secure 26,500 votes in the chief minister’s citadel. “In many booths, TMC workers indulged in rigging but there was no action. I would like to request ‘didi’ (Mamata Banerjee) … please don’t send your party leaders (in future) to rescue ‘booth riggers’ in future,” Tibrewal said. “I welcome people’s mandate but I must say that today I will call myself the ‘Man of the Match’. The reason is — I contested from such a seat (Bhabanipur) which is known as a stronghold area of Mamata ji and despite being a citadel of the Chief Minister, people (out of 57% vote polled) gave me more than 25,000 votes. This means a lot to me. I whole heartedly commend people’s support towards me,” she said. I am overwhelmed by the affection of people and commitment of my party leadership and workers who put in many times more effort … [Read more...] about ‘I Am Man of The Match’, Priyanka Tibrewal Says Even As Mamata Wins Bhabanipur Bypoll

A division on caste lines is holding up the AIADMK’s process to select a nominee for the Rajya Sabha from south Tamil Nadu, according to a section of party leaders. The party sources said of the two seats that the AIADMK could win in the June biennial polls given its strength in the Assembly, an understanding had been reached between its coordinator O Panneerselvam and co-coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami to nominate their preferred candidates for one seat each. However, talks held in Chennai over the last two days on the choice of nominee (from south TN) were “inconclusive” as the four-member committee including the two top leaders were unable to arrive at a consensus. Sources said there is intense competition among members of different communities in the south to grab the seat. While Mukkulathors, the dominant community in the AIADMK are keen to have their nominee, there is also competition from members of the Sourashtra, Yadava, Vellalars and Scheduled Castes communities in … [Read more...] about Caste divides choice of AIADMK’s Rajya Sabha nominee in south TN