LEADER OF OPPOSITION

At the 100-seat Legislative Council, the ruling BJP has 34 members, Samajwadi Party 17, BSP four, Congress and Apna Dal (Sonelal) one each, Shikshak Dal (non-political party) two, Independent group one, independent one and Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (Nishad) one member.

While experts said it is characteristic of most regional parties to centralise power, Yadav also needs to nurture the next generation of leaders, striking a balance between adequate delegation and consolidation of power with himself. Many young leaders have won in the SP alliance, including Suhaib Ansari, Abbas Ansari, Pallavi Patel, Ankit Bharti and Abdullah Azam Khan, and they can be used to further the SP's prospects among the youth and beyond.

Five BJP MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, were suspended by West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay on Monday for their alleged unruly conduct in the House. Adhikari, along with BJP legislators Dipak Burman, Shankar Ghosh, Manoj Tigga and Narahari Mahato, were suspended by the Speaker for future sessions this year.

"MLAs are not safe even inside the assembly... At least 8-10 of our legislators were beaten up, including Chief Whip Manoj Tigga, by some TMC MLAs, as we demanded that the CM make a statement in the House on the law and order issue," Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said.

While Adityanath won the recent state polls from the Gorakhpur Urban seat, Yadav was elected as an MLA from the Karhal assembly constituency. Pro-tem speaker Ramapati Shastri administered oath to members in the House.

The FMO blamed it all on the comprehensive financial management system (CFMS) put in place by the previous TDP (Telugu Desam Party) government. "The CFMS has not been systemized. Hence, book adjustments were shown as special bills," it said. Also, the FMO evaded any reference to the observations of CAG on the financial mismanagement by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government and spending of public money to the tune of Rs 1.10 lakh crore in gross violation of the constitutional provisions.

According to party insiders, Gandhi stressed on the need for Haryana Congress leaders to hit the ground running right away to emerge stronger ahead of the 2024 polls.

The Leader of Opposition in the state assembly said he is yet to decide on the constituency from where he will contest the next election, and will abide by the party's decision regarding the Congress' chief ministerial face for the polls.

The charge against him is that he committed fraud by stealing from the Anti-Corruption Foundation, of which he is a part.

The Congress Working Committee met on Sunday to discuss the outcome of the assembly elections in five states as the opposition party reels from the latest electoral debacle. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K C Venugopal, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and P Chidambaram were among those attending the meeting.

Punjab minister and Congress candidate O P Soni was defeated from his home constituency Amritsar Central. AAP candidate Ajay Gupta defeated Soni by a margin of 14,026 votes. Congress candidate Sukhpal Singh Khaira defeated SAD candidate and former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Bibi Jagir Kkaur by 9,225 votes.

The prime minister will also inaugurate the Pune metro rail's two priority stretches of 12 km, out of the total 32.2 km project in the city. The foundation stone of the metro project was also laid by Modi on Dec 24, 2016. The entire metro project is being built at the cost of more than Rs 11,400 crore.

The meeting of the 21-member committee, chaired by Jaishankar, was attended by nine MPs from six parties and came in for fulsome praise from some leaders. "We all are united," Tharoor told reporters after the meeting that was also attended by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his party colleague Anand Sharma.

KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, is camping in Delhi for the last two days to garner support for his idea of a third front. He is likely to meet Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal this week and discuss his idea of a national anti-BJP front.

Pointing out that the joining of Congress and JD(S) leaders and workers from Bengaluru Rural and Ramanagara districts will strengthen the party in the region, a BJP release quoting Bommai said, such events of leaders from other parties joining BJP would continue in the months to come.

He said this "political conspiracy" to defame him will not be taken lightly, adding that the opposition Congress was trying to divert the attention of the people from the fact that several members of that party had crossed over to the BJP.

Addressing election rallies in Haridwar and at Kichcha in Udham Singh Nagar district, the former Congress chief alleged that Modi only cared for his billionaire friends and left the rest to fend for themselves.

In his 50-minute address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament at the start of the Budget Session on Monday, President Ram Nath Kovind said his government's policies have given top priority to the poor and marginalised sections of the society.