POLITICS

Speaking to reporters, Tanavade also said that the state unit had already submitted profiles of winning candidates to the central BJP leaders and added that it was the central leaders who would take a call on whom to pick as chief minister. He also added that the name of the state's new chief minister could be announced after Holi, even as party sources claim that Pramod Sawant, who served as chief minister from 2019-22 and is the current caretaker CM.

After issuing a statement on "collective" and "inclusive" leadership, Congress dissenters in the group have stated that they are not averse to Sonia Gandhi's leadership but removal of those responsible for party's loss is a must. This is contrary to what Kapil Sibal had said about Gandhis stepping aside. Many have called it his personal view. The statement issued on Wednesday by the group does not mention removal of the Gandhi family which indicates that both the parties want an amicable solution to the problem.

"It is true that violence took place in Kashmir valley during the 1990s. The militants and separatist organizations had carried out a violent campaign against Kashmiri Pandits and forced them to flee the valley. But wasn't their safety the responsibility of the then government of Jammu and Kashmir? At that time, Sheikh Abdullah was the chief minister and the governor was D. Jagmohan, a BJP leader and RSS sympathizer." Tiwari said.

The agency has asked Banerjee and his wife to join the investigation on March 21-22. Abhishek Banerjee had on September 6, 2021, recorded his statement before the ED officials. He was interrogated for around six hours. But the probe agency was not satisfied and hence summoned him again along with his wife.In September 2021, the couple, via their counsel, had moved a plea before the Delhi High Court against the ED's summon.

Akhilesh's comment came in response to a question by reporters on the sidelines of a function in Sitapur on Wednesday. "Your Sitapur is a neighbouring district of Lakhimpur Kheri. If a movie has come upon Kashmir, then a film can be made on Lakhimpur Kheri incident also," Akhilesh said.On October 3, 2021, violence erupted in Lakhimpur Kheri district after an SUV allegedly belonging to son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra 'Teni', mowed down four farmers and a journalist.

Sawant, who appeared to have been facing competition from Vishwajit Rane, the Health Minister in Sawant's previous stint as CM from 2019-22, met Prime Minister Modi in the national capital on Wednesday, along with state BJP chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade and the party's national General Secretary in-charge of Goa, C.T. Ravi.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is leading the 'G-23' group demanding sweeping organisational changes in the party, is likely to meet party interim chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday to address the grievances of the group sources said. Its likely that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will also be present at this meeting. On Wednesday, 'G-23' leaders met at Azad's residence to chalked out their strategy ahead of the meeting.

Congress dissenters, or the 'G-23' group seeking a sweeping overhaul in the party's functioning, met at senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence and over Kashmiri food, discussed their strategy to take their point to the party leadership, specially the Gandhi family. Shankarsinh Vaghela and Sandeep Dikshit were also taking part. Vaghela has been in the Congress in the past but his present status is not clear.

Though the BJP won four states in the recent Assembly polls but winning the Presidential election will not be an easy task for it because they don't have even half of the legislators of the country, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday. The Presidential election is conducted through an electoral college with Parliament and legislative assembly members casting their votes in order of preference for the candidates in fray.

Six days after the Congress' near washout in five Assembly elections, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday appointed five senior leaders to assess the post-poll situation in these states. The leaders would suggest organisational changes after interacting from MLA candidates and important leaders. Rajya Sabha MP Rajani Patil will oversee Goa, Jairam Ramesh Manipur, Ajay Maken Punjab, Jitender Singh Uttar Pradesh and Avinash Pandey Uttarakhand.