POLITICS

INDIA alliance on the verge of disintegration

The INDIA alliance formed by the opposition parties before the Lok Sabha elections is now on the verge of breaking up. Apart from Congress, leaders of many other parties in this group have accused the Congress of taking a unilateral decision and advocated handing over the leadership of this alliance to other leaders. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has expressed her desire to lead the group by keeping it united. Sharad Pawar and Arvind Kejriwal have also given statements in her support, but still no formal announcement has been made by important parties like RJD, SP and JMM. While the Congress is still silent. It is being said that the Congress strategists are keeping an eye on the statements of the leaders of various parties as part of a well-thought-out strategy, but are not giving any formal statement to prevent a possible disintegration.

Maharashtra: Now fracas over Leader of Opposition post

After the crushing defeat in Maharashtra Assembly polls and Samajwadi Party (SP) walking out of the alliance, Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) house is still not in order. Two of its key allies,  Congress and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) are sparring over the post of the Leader of Opposition. The roots for the fracas over the Leader of Opposition post lie in the Maharashtra Assembly election results. None of the MVA allies can claim the Leader of Opposition as a party with 10 percent of 288 seats (29 seats) can only claim the post. The Shiv Sena (UBT) won 20 seats, the Congress 16, and the NCP (SP) 10 seats. The BJP’s Rahul Narwekar was elected as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly unopposed.

BJP to woo Christian voters in Kerala

The Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) core committee meeting in Kochi has decided to step up its outreach to the Christian community ahead of the Assembly elections in the state in 2026. The unit has also initiated a discussion on re-structuring its district committees based on the region-wise population count. A proposal to form nearly 31 district committees was discussed. The move is a part of the pattern followed at the party national organisational level, where a region having around 8 to 10 lakh population is considered as an individual district.