The members of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Wednesday met to declare Narendra Modi as the leader of the alliance, with Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde sharing the dias with Modi.
The leaders of the NDA will meet again on June 7, when a parliamentary party meet of all the leaders of the alliance will lend their support to Modi.
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Both in 2019 and 2022, pre-poll allies quit the SP-led alliance in search of greener pastures. Akhilesh Yadav, thereafter, made a tactical shift in his approach by bringing on board battle-hardened leaders from the BSP who were seeking to anchor around alternative political formations in the face of general drift in the BSP.
Nagendra's name has cropped up in a multi-crore 'scam' that came to light after a government official died by suicide and left 5-page death note, in which he mentioned names of his superiors as well as a "minister", who he alleged orally instructed him to carry out the transfer of funds to the tune of Rs 90 crore - of the Rs 187 crore meant for ST welfare - to multiple bank accounts.
Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of attempting to subvert the 2024 mandate, I.N.D.I.A. bloc on Wednesday decided to "take appropriate steps at the appropriate time" to realise the "people's desire not to be ruled by the BJP government" but will not stake claim at this moment as numbers do not favour them.
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"The two leaders emphasized their commitment to deepening the U.S.-India Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership and to advancing their shared vision of a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region," the White House statement added.
"You have reestablished an old ideal in today's politics - that public issues are paramount, the price of ignoring them is heavy. Elections are of the public, it is the public who fights and it is the public who wins," Priyanka said in a post on X.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who has offered to step down from the government and work for the party, is expected to be in Delhi post-noon.
Speaking to PTI, SP's Udayveer Singh said, "...At least he [Chandrababu Naidu] understands issues of regional parties. He has been the convenor of the third front. They know how important cooperative federalism, secularism are. I believe there will be a brake on BJP's autocratic ways."
When Modi was elected with a no less startling majority in 2014, the victory was seen both inside and outside the country as a welcome shift after years of coalition governments hamstrung by the need for extensive consensus-building. India would finally change, the narrative went, if one man had the power to make decisions.
For investors in the rest of the world — and for many friendly governments — Modi appeared to be that man: a leader who could deliver a complicated country.
Anyone surprised at the crumbling of this narrative has not been paying attention. Mountains of contrary evidence had rendered it unsupportable years ago.
The NCP will hold a meeting at 11 am on Thursday at the residence of Maharashtra Deputy CM and party chief Ajit Pawar in Mumba, news agency ANI reported. All the ministers from the party will attend the meet.
JD(U) leaders on Thursday morning started arriving for a meeting at the residence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, amid speculation of a potential switch. Earlier on Wednesay, however, the JD(U) had declared support for PM Modi.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday called a meeting of all MLAs of Delhi at CM Arvind Kejriwal's residence at 5 pm.
The meeting has been called over the Lok Sabha election results. All senior leaders of the party likely to be present at the meeting.
"Chandrababu Naidu's oath ceremony [as Andhra Pradesh CM] will probably be held on 12th June. PM has been invited, other leaders will also come..," added TDP national spokesperson Prem Kumar Jain.
Apart from NCP president Ajit Pawar, party working president Praful Patel, senior leaders and ministers in the state government - Hasan Mushrif, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil and Dhananjay Munde were among those who attended the meeting.
Senior BJP leaders, including Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, held deliberations on Thursday as the ruling National Democratic Alliance set in motion its government formation efforts under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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Janata Dal (United) leader K C Tyagi on Thursday said that there is "anger" in some section of the voters regarding the Agniveer Scheme and the parts wants a review of the Agniveer Scheme.
Speaking to presspersons, he said, "Our party wants that those shortcomings should be removed about which people have raised questions. We are not against Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the CM (Nitish Kumar) has written to Law Commission chief. All the stakeholders - be it various CMs, different political parties, different sects - there should be a discussion with all, and the issue should be resolved. There is no pre-condition, there is unconditional support (to NDA)."
With PTI Inputs
On being asked whether he will be made the cabinet minister, LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan told news agency ANI, "...My goal was clear - to make my Prime Minister the PM of the country for the third time. Today, the biggest reason for me to rejoice is that we are going to achieve this goal... Who becomes a part of the government and who doesn't, who becomes a minister and who doesn't is not the priority of any of the allies. I hear on media channels that he demanded this or demanded that - but nobody did. In NDA meeting yesterday, we once again accepted the leadership of PM..."
The Congress has called a meeting of its working committee on June 8 at party HQ to discuss the Lok Sabha results. The meeting will be presided over by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, news agency ANI reported on Thursday.
PM Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony may take place on June 9 at 6 pm. It was earlier scheduled for 8th June. However, official confirmation on the final date is awaited, news agency ANI reported on Thursday.
NCP President and MP Sunil Tatkare on Thursday denied rumours that 10-15 MLAs of Ajit Pawar's NCP faction in Maharashtra are in touch with the Sharad Pawar camp.
"Rumours are being spread deliberately that our MLAs are in touch with Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP...All our MLAs are with us and we are one team. Such rumours and fake videos were being circulated even during elections," he said.
He further said that a NCP MLAs will hold meeting to review the preparations for Maharashtra assembly elections in the evening.
"Core Committee meeting (of the party) was held today. Review over the Lok Sabha election results was held. In the upcoming Vidhanb Sabha elections we will work aggressively...A meeting of all NCP MLAs will be held in the evening. Discussions will be held with them regarding elections," Tatkare told news agency ANI.
The TDP MPs met party chief Chandrababu Naidu during the Parliamentary Party meeting at Undavalli on Thursday. In the meeting, it was decided that all the TDP MPs will attend the meeting of NDA partners tomorrow. The MPs will reach Delhi tonight. Chandrababu will also be going to Delhi tomorrow, news agency ANI reporte.
JD(U) lends unconditional support to BJP but wants 'rethink' on Agniveer scheme & special status for Bihar
LoP, Raebareli or Wayanad: Two decisions Rahul has to take in a few days
Will PM fulfil his promise of giving special status to Andhra & Bihar, asks Congress
Chandrababu Naidu directs TDP MPs to attend NDA meeting in Delhi on June 7
"The usage of my phone has increased...I cannot give an answer today but I am telling you that things are different. The right decision is taken at the right time."
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray will not switch to BJP-led NDA, said Maharashtra NCP (SP) president Jayant Patil on Thursday.
Karnataka Minister B Nagendra has announced his decision to step down on Thursday.
He’ll hand over his resignation to CM Siddaramaiah at 7.30 pm.“I’m resigning on my own accord so that i don’t cause embarrassment to my party,” Nagendra said.
"For the first time we noted that during the elections, the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister and the Finance Minister commented on the stock market. The Prime Minister said that the stock market is rising at a great speed. the Union Home Minister said that on June 4 the stock market will be on the rise and you all should invest and similar was said by the Finance Minister...Amit Shah says buy shares before June 4, 19 May PM Modi says the stock market will break records on June 4...," Rahul Gandhi said.
Rahul Gandhi has alleged a biggest stock market 'scam' during his press conference on Thursday.
Addressing the presser, he said, "On May 31, massive stock activity - more than double what was there on May 30, more than double what was there on May 29... Who are these people? These are those who were aware of a scam happening. Foreign investors invested thousands of crores and who was at loss...? Retail investors lost 30 lakh crore rupees. This is the biggest scam in the history of Indian stock market."
Addressing a press conference, Rahul Gandhi said, "This is a broader issue than just the Adani issue. It is connected to the Adani issue, but this is a much broader issue. This is directly the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister, who is privy to data on actual election results, who has IB reports, who have their own data, who are advising retail investors to buy stock. This has never happened before. The Prime Minister has never commented on the stock market before. This is the first time the Prime Minister has commented very interestingly and multiple times, one after the other, saying that the stock market is going to boom. At the same time, he has information that the exit polls are wrong. He has information that he knows what is going to happen because he has IB data and he also has his own party data."
BJP leader Kangana Ranaut arrived at Delhi airport after she was allegedly slapped A constable-rank CISF officer at Chandigarh airport during a frisking argument.
An inquiry committee comprising senior CISF officers has been set up to conduct a further investigation.
"It is clear from the beginning that the INDIA alliance was formed for the Lok Sabha Elections. We fought Lok Sabha elections together but in Delhi Vidhan Sabha Elections, there is no alliance in the country. We will fight the Vidhan Sabha elections together with the people of Delhi..."
Responding to Rahul Gandhi's allegations that Prime Minister and Home Minister manipulated the stock markets, Senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal said, "Rahul Gandhi has still not overcome the loss in the Lok Sabha Elections. Now, he is conspiring to mislead the market investors. Today, India has become the fifth-largest economy..."
Senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal said, "In the last 10 years of Modi Govt, for the first time our market cap has crossed over 5 trillion dollars. Today, India's equity market has entered the market cap of the top 5 economies of the world...We know that the market cap of PSUs listed in the market has increased 4 times under the Modi Govt..."