With Rahul Gandhi having stepped down as Congress president and the party expected to choose a new leader the following week, an opinion column has argued that the Congress has a chance to change the way political parties are run in India. The writer links the turmoil in states such as Goa and Karnataka to the leadership vacuum, and says some of it will settle once a new chief takes charge, though other challenges will remain for years. How the Congress may choose The column notes that the selection processRead More

An opinion column has argued that Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu is his own worst enemy, and that unless he changes course his political career may end the way his cricket career did, out hit wicket. The piece was written after Sidhu tweeted his resignation as a minister to Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The column’s case The writer contends that Sidhu has become a victim of his ambition, pride and a habit of sulking at the slightest provocation. In cricket he faced an opposing team, the column says, whileRead More

The BJP on Sunday promoted BL Santhosh, its low-profile joint general secretary (organisation), to the post of general secretary (organisation). The party said in a statement that the appointment would take effect immediately. His influence in the southern states, where the BJP is trying to expand, is seen as a major reason for his elevation. Who is BL Santhosh Santhosh, who is in his early fifties, was chosen ahead of several senior contenders. BJP and RSS sources describe him as a tech-savvy, English-speaking pracharak who spent several years active inRead More

Girish Mahajan, a senior BJP leader and Maharashtra’s Water Resources Minister, has reportedly said that the state’s assembly election could take place on October 10 or October 13. He also suggested the model code of conduct could take effect from September 10 or September 15. What Mahajan said The remarks were attributed to Mahajan by a Nashik district official who attended a district planning committee meeting the minister addressed. Mahajan is the guardian minister for Nashik. “The assembly elections might be held on October 10 or 13,” the official quotedRead More

Leaders of Karnataka’s ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition held intense discussions in Bengaluru on Sunday on how to save their government, which was close to collapse. Their efforts suffered a setback when rebel Congress MLA MTB Nagaraj, whom they had tried to win back, flew to Mumbai to join the other rebels. The opposition BJP said the coalition no longer had a majority and asked Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy to either resign or face a trust vote on Monday itself. The numbers Sixteen MLAs, 13 from the Congress and three from theRead More