The BJP's challenge is whether it can again deflate a Congress, which now looks reinvigorated and has adopted sharper messaging around its 'guarantees', and several regional parties, especially in Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
With Lok Sabha elections months away, the visits are vital politically as these would showcase Modi's standing as a world leader to the home electorate.
'It is not just about numbers. Sometimes coalitions and alliances have symbolic value.'
The BJP would want that by March 2022, when UP votes, the economy starts looking up and it heads into the polls with no other issue distracting from its main poll plank of the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
It is likely that the party's allies in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, two of the five states going to the polls in April-May, might insist on allocating fewer seats than they did in 2016, reports Archis Mohan.
Insiders say the BJP is now concerned the LJP putting up a good fight against the JD-U would mean benefitting the MGB in those seats. Moreover, Chirag and Tejaswi are known to be friends, and the former is battling for his political survival.
While it made sense for Capt Amarinder Singh to support the Gandhis since none of the 23 'rebels' had any mass base, the truce was important for his ambition to lead the party in the February 2022 state elections. Archis Mohan reports.
Court orders probe into Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat's role in a complaint linked to Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society, in which thousands of investors allegedly lost Rs 900 crore a year ago.
The plan involves the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha seating half of their members in their respective chambers, reports Archis Mohan.
The firm, headed by Sunil Kumar Gupta, was appointed auditors of the PM's National Relief Fund in 2019, reports Archis Mohan
Officials have said the national capital lacked a convention centre big enough to seat so many MPs and adhere to social distancing norms. Additionally, holding a 'virtual session' looks slims as any change in the rules requires a motion to be carried in both the Houses of Parliament.
The government was going in the "wrong direction" and it was "highly condemnable" that it did not discuss the proposed changes with trade unions and other stakeholders, says BMS, trade union arm of the RSS.
Many feel that the money from their MPLADS should go directly to a district hospital in their respective constituencies rather than a central fund like PM CARES. Archis Mohan reports.
Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan are the other three states to pass a resolution opposing the contentious legislation, reports Archis Mohan.
Sources said much has been done to ease the tax burden of the middle classes in the last five years, and that such a measure affects only a limited segment of people when the focus should be to put money in rural areas. Archis Mohan reports.
States are planning to pass resolutions in their legislative assemblies; however, such tactics will be used as the last resort if the Centre continues to stall allocations.
Opposition parties, though resigned to the fact that they lack the numbers to defeat or stall the bill in the two Houses, have decided upon different tactics that they would employ to highlight their reasons for opposing it.
Unsure about having the numbers in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and other parties have decided they will create awareness about the "divisive" nature of the proposed legislation, reports Archis Mohan.
In a resolution passed at its national assembly in Haridwar, the SJM said the Modi government's proposed strategic divestment of PSEs was an "imprudent business decision" and "against national interest".
As the Congress party prepares to launch protests against the economic slowdown, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel tells Archis Mohan that his state has escaped its effects as his government has pursued policies that have put money in the pockets of workers, farmers, housewives and tribals, which has helped spur demand.
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