Politics
Guwahati hotel turns into fortress as Shinde camp swells
While Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was urging the rebels in a Facebook live to come face-to-face or call him and express what they want, Guwahati’s Radisson Blu was witness to different scenes with the Eknath Shinde camp strategising and calculating next move. Shiv Sena strongman Eknath Shinde flew from...
EPS set to become AIADMK’s sole leader
The AIADMK — the opposition party in Tamil Nadu and the balancing force in the state to the ruling DMK — has been gripped by an internal power struggle that spilled out into the open with calls for a single leadership for the party. The first sign of fomenting...
Agnipath casts shadow on JD(U)-BJP coalition
Violent protests against the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces may have fizzled out in Bihar within a week of eruption but the discord these triggered between Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and ally BJP seems to have cast a long shadow on the coalition. The JD(U),...
Sena to wait and watch for Shinde’s next move
The Maharashtra political crisis took a turn on Wednesday night as Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray left his official residence ‘Varsha’ in south Mumbai and moved back to ‘Matoshree’, the private residence of the Thackeray family in suburban Bandra, after an impassioned appeal to the Shiv Sena cadre. It is...
CM Thackeray confident of riding out Eknath’s storm
Top sources within the Maharashtra government indicate that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is confident of being able to contain the storm in his party. Revealing the details of the meeting among top MVA leaders at Varsha, the sources told CNN-News18 that Thackeray is sure of the number game and...
Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs shifted from Surat to Guwahati
A group of Maharashtra MLAs, led by dissident Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, arrived in Guwahati on Wednesday morning by a charter aircraft and were taken to a luxury hotel on the outskirts of the city amid tight security. The MLAs were received at the airport by BJP MPs...
Z+ security to NDA presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu
The Centre has accorded a Z+ security cover of CRPF commandos to the NDA’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, officials said on Wednesday. The armed squad took over the security of Murmu, 64, early Wednesday morning, a senior officer said. BJP president J P Nadda announced the candidature of Murmu,...
BJP exploring possibility of M’rashtra govt formation
A senior BJP leader from Maharashtra on Tuesday evening said his party was exploring the possibility of government formation in the state, amid a crisis in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi due to the rebellion of Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde while party leaders held a series of meetings...
It’s Draupadi Murmu versus Yashwant Sinha
The BJP parliamentary board on Tuesday announced former Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu’s name as the ruling NDA’s candidate for the upcoming Presidential elections while the opposition parties will be fielding Yashwant Sinha. Addressing the media after holding a crucial meeting with top leaders of the party, BJP national president...
Shinde says he is with Hindutva, won’t return to Sena
After cabinet minister and Shiv Sena strongman Eknath Shinde plunged the MVA-led Maharashtra government into a political crisis by revolting against his party, he said he will not return to the party as he is “with Hindutva”. “I am with Hindutva and Shiv Sena has left Hindutva. I will...
Cong leader calls for introspection after council jolt
As Congress suffered a jolt in the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections on Monday, its senior leader and minister Balasaheb Thorat said no one can be blamed if the party’s own MLAs did not vote for its candidates. He also called for introspection by the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi after...
Opposition struggles to pick presidential race nominee
While the Opposition seems to be in a bit of a struggle to pick their candidate for the Presidential polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to hold its parliamentary board meeting in Delhi on Tuesday where it is likely to finalise its nominee for the election slated to be...
Hooda hounded by sabotage theory over RS poll fiasco
The results for the two Rajya Sabha seats from Haryana have not only raised questions over Haryana Congress satrap Bhupinder Hooda’s ability to keep the flock together but also widened the cracks in the party. Despite having 31 MLAs, and indulging in resort politics well ahead of polling day,...
Vijayvargiya blames ‘toolkit gang’ for ‘distorting’ remark
BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Sunday alleged that the “toolkit gang” twisted his comments on ‘Agniveers’ and that all he meant was the excellence of these soldiers will be utilised in whichever field they go to after completing their tenure. Vijayvargiya’s comments that “If I have to have security...
Shiv Sena to move MLAs to hotel ahead of Council poll
The Shiv Sena has decided to move its MLAs to a luxury hotel at Powai in northeast Mumbai ahead of the Maharashtra Legislative Council polls, a party leader said on Friday, as the ruling coalition spearhead treads a cautious path after being outsmarted by the BJP in the last...
Deve Gowda not in presidential contention, says son
JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Friday clarified his father and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda will not run for President. He said the 89-year-old JD(S) patriarch’s only aim is to see JD(S) forming an independent government in Karnataka, during his lifetime. “Couple of days ago...
Manish Tewari backs Agnipath; says younger forces needed
Known to not always toe the party line on contentious issues, senior Congress leader Manish Tewari has backed the Centre’s newly announced Agnipath recruitment process for the armed forces. Even as youngsters aspiring for a career in the army stage protests in many parts of the country, Tewari said...
Takht Jathedar rakes up another row over Sikh vote bank
After facing flak over his recent statement where he asked Sikh youths to arm themselves with licensed weapons, the Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh on Wednesday raked up the issue of the Sikh political prisoners. He claimed that the “fear of losing the non-Sikh vote bank” during elections...
