‘Regional parties coming closer to Congress’: Why Sharad Pawar said what he did
Sharad Pawar believes the Congress is on the upswing — whether or not it forms the government this time.
Neerja Chowdhury in political news
Sharad Pawar: ‘Many regional parties will move closer to Congress, some may merge’
Suggesting a possible reshaping of Opposition politics after the 2024 elections, Sharad Pawar has said that regional parties will move closer or, in some cases, even merge with the Congress.
Message from Rae Bareli, Amethi: Rahul Gandhi de-risks, Priyanka still in waiting
The suspense is over — it is Rahul Gandhi, not Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is contesting from Rae Bareli, the seat their mother Sonia Gandhi represented five times since 2004 until she entered Rajya Sabha a month ago. And it is party karyakarta Kishori Lal Sharma who will face BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi.
In absence of a wave, ripples in Rajasthan’s ‘Jat land’: BJP and Modi versus local factors
2024 is not 2014 or 2019. In eastern Rajasthan and the Jat-dominated Shekhawati region, many people say they will vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi but they are not as vocal or aggressive as before. Perhaps, there is a sense of acknowledgement that the BJP is here to comfortably win and there is no need to sharply define one’s position in public.
Usual poll humdrum absent, why Opposition may have missed the boat in western UP
“Yeh ekdam thanda chunaav hai (This is not an exciting election).” More than one person had this to say in west UP, where polling for the Lok Sabha elections in eight constituencies will be held on April 19.
‘A grass blade in a storm’: Arc of Manmohan Singh’s journey, from economic reform face to ‘accidental PM’
“I have nothing to be ashamed of about my prime ministership,” Dr Manmohan Singh told me when I met him in August 2023.
Supriya Sule interview: ‘It is painful … BJP, with all its might, could find no one else to fight me’
Three-time MP from Baramati and Sharad Pawar’s daughter, Supriya Sule, arrived at a local dargah in Baramati where she was to inaugurate a hall—as part of her election campaign and she had been meeting people in small groups. That day she was also billed to hold four condolence meetings with people who had lost their loved ones. Dressed in a simple, lavender-coloured cotton saree, she chatted with around 50 people gathered there in the morning. It was interesting to see the Muslim women do a “haldi kumkum” ceremony for Supriya and the Muslim men break coconuts as an auspicious gesture, ceremonies associated more with the Hindus.