Dealing another hit at the Congress, 55 ex-corporators of the Nanded-Waghala City Municipal Corporation here joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of two-time ex-Chief Minister Ashok S. Chavan, here on Saturday.
The Congress strongman of Nanded, Chavan joined the BJP just 10 days ago, was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha ticket and declared elected unopposed.
The NWCMC elections of 2017, held under Chavan's stewardship, saw the Congress make a clean sweep by bagging 73 of the 81 seats to control this important civic body.
In his brief address to 55 ex-municipal corporators, Chavan said that they have chosen the BJP for their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and vision for development.
"They also want to be a part of the political mainstream and contribute towards progress," said Chavan.
Local party leaders hinted that besides the lot of 55 which quit Congress, many other important district leaders are likely to throw their lot with BJP in the coming weeks.
The Congress suffered three big 'leaks' in the past couple of months starting with Milind S. Deora who joined the ruling Shiv Sena, ex-Mumbai MLA Baba Z. Siddique quitting for the ruling ally Nationalist Congress Party, and Chavan who entered the ruling ally BJP, with speculation of more switch-overs in the near future.
Agartala MBB Airport gets new domestic air cargo terminal
The state transport minister Sushanta Chowdhury on Monday inaugurated the domestic air cargo terminal here at Agartala MBB Airport and said that the airport will soon receive the tag of international airport.
Court sentences four Bihar residents to 10 years RI
Six years after four persons from Bihar were detained for smuggling 29.5 kg of cannabis from Agartala in the Humsafar Express, the Additional Sessions Judge Court, Dharmanagar, North District of Tripura, on Monday convicted them and sentenced them to ten years of rigorous imprisonment.
Pradyot calls for respect to traditional heads amid temple land dispute
Tipra Motha Party founder and royal scion, Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma, has urged the government to acknowledge and respect the authority of Samajpatis (traditional heads) and Chantai (priests) in matters concerning temple development projects.
29 Bangladeshi nationals, seven touts held in Tripura
The Border Security Force (BSF), Tripura, has enhanced vigil and intensified its domination along the international border and detained 29 Bangladeshi nationals and seven Indian touts in last four days.
J.P. Nadda holds meeting with Tripura BJP leaders; discusses party-related issues
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president J.P. Nadda on Sunday held an important meeting with Tripura's state unit leaders including Chief Minister Manik Saha and discussed various party affairs.
One body recovered from Telangana tunnel on day 16 of rescue operation
Rescue workers on Sunday - the 16th day of the operation - pulled out the body of one of the eight missing persons from the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district after the cadaver dogs from Kerala identified the spot for presence of human remains under the rubble.
FM says GST rates to be reduced further, rationalised; Congress demands overhaul
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates will be reduced further as the process of rationalising tax slabs is nearing completion.
'Anti-incumbency is an issue of the past now': J.P. Nadda hails PM Modi's leadership in Tripura rally
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president J.P. Nadda on Sunday said that the political culture in India has changed after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, adding that people earlier used to talk about the anti-incumbency factor against the government.