The Bharatiya Janata Party has entered into post-poll alliances with rivals Congress and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen in some municipal councils in Maharashtra, even as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday rejected the tie-ups and warned of action against party leaders involved.
Himachal is first state in the country to pass such a bill under which "A person shall not be entitled for pension under the Act, if he has been disqualified at any point of time under the tenth schedule of the Constitution".
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday named its candidates for assembly bypolls in several states, fielding six disqualified MLAs of the Himachal Pradesh assembly in the state days after they joined the party after leaving the Congress.
The returnees also included three independent MLAs, who too had landed in Panchkula on Tuesday after casting their votes in the Rajya Sabha election.
"Time will also take account of those registering cases and those getting them registered. Stopping the business of MLAs and allowing friends to loot, is this a change in the system?" he posed.
A case of criminal conspiracy, corruption practices and undue influence on election has been registered on the complaint of two Congress MLAs, police said on Sunday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership in Himachal Pradesh is making efforts to mollify party leaders who are disgruntled over distribution of tickets to six Congress rebels for the assembly bypolls, former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said on Tuesday.
These Congress rebels, who had voted in favour of the BJP nominee in the Rajya Sabha polls, later abstained from voting on the Budget, defying a party whip.
In a jolt to the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, state party chief and Mandi MP Pratibha Singh on Wednesday announced that she has decided not to contest the Lok Sabha elections as the ground situation was "not favourable" and workers were disheartened.
Bypolls are due in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
Though Sukhu has been putting up a brave face and there appears to be no immediate threat to his government, the BJP is looking to bring down his dispensation with bypoll wins amid a view that it may draw more legislators of the ruling party into its fold.
The political crisis arose in Himachal Pradesh during the recently held polling for the Rajya Sabha elections as nine MLAs, including six Congress rebels and three independents, voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan.
The disqualified MLAs are Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhutoo, Ravi Thakur and Chetanya Sharma.
Rebel Himachal Pradesh Congress MLA Rajinder Rana on Saturday claimed that nine more party legislators 'feeling suffocated' due to Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's style of functioning are in touch with him as he called the chief minister 'liar number one'.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the Himachal Pradesh assembly speaker's order disqualifying the six Congress rebels who had cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in the state.
A notification in this regard was issued on Thursday evening which further said that these six MLAs ceased to be members of Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly with effect from February 29.
Amid cross-voting, BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan on Tuesday won the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh, defeating ruling Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi, officials said.
Saurashtra's middle-order batter Sheldon Jackson followed in senior teammate Cheteshwar Pujara's footsteps, completing his century on day two of their Ranji Trophy Group A tie against Rajasthan to guide the defending champions to a 300-plus total in Jaipur on Saturday.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi also appointed Harsh Mahajan, Rajender Rana, Pawan Kajal and Vinay Kumar as the new working presidents of the Himachal Pradesh PCC.
Reader Ravi Thakur sends us a photograph.
The Himachal Pradesh Assembly election results declared on Thursday saw 22 candidates, including five independents, making their maiden entry into the House.
Mumbai trounced Himachal Pradesh by 200 runs in their final Elite Group D game to remain unbeaten in the league stage
Shreyas Iyer's 51-ball 86 run blitzkrieg helped Mumbai sail past a tall Vidarbha total to notch up a five-wicket win in the Super League phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Group A match in Mumbai. Chasing Vidarbha's score of 181 for four, built mainly around opener Jignesh Sharma's punishing knock of 56 off just 30 balls, Mumbai cantered home in 18.5 overs to register their second straight victory in as many days in the tournament, at the Wankhede Stadium. Iyer and skipper Aditya Tare (41 in 24 balls) steadied the Mumbai innings after the early loss of left-handed opener Akhil Herwadkar (4) through a brisk second-wicket partnership of 71 runs in 7.2 overs.
A summary of Friday's Super League matches in the Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament.
A summary of the second day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches played at various venues across the country.
Ashish Hooda scalped four wickets for 39 runs in an impressive pace bowling spell as Haryana came back into their Ranji Trophy Group 'A' match against Bengal on the third and penultimate day, in Lahli, on Sunday.
Round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches being played in different parts of the country.