Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar raised doubts about its commitment to the UPA after NCP senior leader, Praful Patel, urged the political class to accept the clean chit given to Narendra Modi by a magistrate court in Ahmedabad. This also indicates the openness of the NCP for a possible pre or post-election alliance with the BJP.
Bappi Lahri has officially joined the BJP, and indications are that he may contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Bengal.
Senior AAP leader, Yogendra Yadav, has confirmed that Khap panchayats have no legal sanctity thereby clarifying the party’s stand on the Kangaroo courts. Earlier, in Haryana, Yogendra Yadav had said that Khap Panchayats are “not that bad” invoking sharp criticism from feminist and liberal groups.
BJP prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, has hit back at Congress President Sonia Gandhi for her “zeher ki kheti” remark, by saying that it was the Congress, not the BJP, which was “sowing seeds of poison”. This war of words was in reference to the Muzaffarnagar riots between Hindus and Muslims, which took place in northern Uttar Pradesh last year.
Senior Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi urged an end to caste-based reservations, by arguing that it only promotes casteism, and not social justice. He asked Congress Party Vice-President, Rahul Gandhi, to introduce reservations for financially weaker sections from all social groups. However, his pitch against quota has stirred anger within the Congress Party, especially in the run-up to the general election where ‘reservation’ has become the buzzword.
Former BJP veteran, and the current head of Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP), Kesubhai Patel has decided to quite active politics. He also indicated towards a merger of his new political party with the BJP.
The Congress Party passed the Telangana Bill, which seeks to divide Andhra Pradesh, in the parliament. This caused chaos and din in the parliament by those parliamentarians opposing and favouring the division of the state. Amidst the chaos, parliament saw a new low when a MP used pepper spray in the house. The chaotic scene in the parliament compeled speaker Meira Kumar to suspend 18 MPs belonging to Andhra Pradesh including Congress member, Vijaywada L. Rajagopal, who used the pepper spray.
The US officially ended its ‘boycott’ against Modi. US ambassador, Nancy Powell met Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar. The US justified Ms. Powell’s request for a meeting with Mr. Modi as being part of Washington’s “concerted approach” to senior political and business leaders that began last November.
BJP prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, launched its interactive programme, Chai pe Charcha, which seeks to interact with people causally over tea. Mr. Modi is trying to capitalize on his modest beginning, as a tea vendor, to woo the upwardly mobile lower-middle classes.
Arvind Kejriwal resigns as the Chief Minister of Delhi after he was thwarted from introducing the Lokpal Bill in the Delhi State Assembly.
The 15th Lok Sabha passed its interim budget, prompting reactions from Janata Dal (U) leader Nitish Kumar over neglecting backward states like Bihar.
The BJP has offered to apologize to Muslims in an attempt to woo Muslims voters. The apology was interpreted by the political class as a direct reference to the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Eleven regionally-based parties have united in a bid to form an alternative to the Congress and the BJP for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, the alternative did not include Mamata Banerjee’s TMC and Mayawti’s BSP. Their exclusion could indicate their openness to form possible alliance with two of the major political parties.
There was considerable upheaval in Bihar politics when 13 MLAs decided to quit Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). However, nine of the ‘rebel’ MLAs returned back to the RJD, as they were seen in a confidence rally organized by Yadav in Patna.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has claimed that over 11.45 lakh people in Bihar enrolled themselves as party members during its “Mein Bhi Aam Aadmi” campaign which began in early January. The party is trying recruit more members ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, which will be held in April-May.
