Politics

Patna, November 26: Saba Zafar has become the first Muslim to be elected as a legislator from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar. The new Bihar Assembly will see an increase in Muslim representation – from 15 to 19, including two women.

Parween Amanullah and Razia Khatoon are the two Muslim women elected to the state Assembly. They belong to the ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U). It is for the first time that the Bihar Assembly will have two Muslim women members.

Way back in 1985, Bihar had a lone Muslim woman legislator.

Patna, November 26: The stage was set and thousands of people Friday started gathering at the sprawling Gandhi Maidan here to witness Nitish Kumar take oath as Bihar’s chief minister for a second consecutive term after a historic win in assembly polls.

Nitish Kumar did not want to be sworn in at Raj Bhavan – the traditional venue for such ceremonies – because he wanted tens of thousands to attend the event, said sources in his Janata Dal-United (JD-U).

Allahbad, November 26: Coming down heavily on opposition parties attempting to corner the UPA government on the issue of corruption, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today said they should refrain from adopting double standards on the problem and act strongly like the Centre.

“I would like to tell all the opposition parties that they should refrain from following double standards on the issue of corruption and take effective measures as done by the Congress and the UPA government,” she said.

New Delhi, November 25: The Bihar outcome has confirmed the pre-poll conventional wisdom about Nitish Kumar’s victory based on his successes on the development and law-and-order fronts.

But what makes the chief minister stand out from his other equally successful political colleagues like Narendra Modi, Mayawati and Naveen Patnaik is the inclusive nature of his politics.

As a result, although the three others have also led their parties to comfortable victories in their states, it is only Nitish Kumar who is being regarded as a possible prime ministerial candidate in 2014.

Patna, November 24: Stating that he respected the mandate of the people, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Wednesday congratulated Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the victory of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine in the assembly elections.

“We respect the mandate of the people, we congratulate the new government,” Lalu Prasad said, addressing a joint press conference with LJP leader Ramvilas Paswan.

However, he said he would not congratulate the BJP as he “hates” the party for its communal views.

Patna, November 24: Often called Chanakya for his political astuteness, Engineer-politician Nitish Kumar blended his secularist ideology with pragmatic politics and combined the development plank with innovative social engineering equations in Bihar to bask in glory yet again.

Doing an encore after today’s landslide victory, the 59-year-old chief minister with his trademark kurta pyjama and grey stubble has become RJD strongman Lalu Prasad’s nemesis, single handedly contributing to the electoral meltdown of RJD-led Secular Democratic Front for the second time in five years.

New Delhi, November 24: Launching a strong attack on Opposition, Congress President Sonia Gandhi accused them of targeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the 2G scam and described him as a man of integrity and a person “100 per cent above board”.

She also attacked BJP for retaining B S Yeddyurappa as Karnataka Chief Minister and compared this decision with the Congress action in making Shashi Tharoor and Ashok Chavan resign from their posts in the wake of controversies.

New Delhi, November 24: BJP today took a dig at Congress in the wake of its poor showing in the Bihar Assembly elections saying ‘Rahul factor’ did not work in the polls.

“Congressmen were blowing their trumpet and chanting Rahul Gandhi’s name. Where is that Rahul factor?” wondered senior BJP leader Ananth Kumar.

He said the ‘Rahul factor’ did not work in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat. “Rahul factor was also not there in Uttar Pradesh. And now the people of Bihar have said there is no Rahul factor,” Kumar said.

New Delhi, November 24: Congress president Sonia Gandhi Wednesday described as “shameful” the opposition attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the 2G spectrum row and warned it would learn a lesson.

“It is shameful that a person of integrity like the prime minister should be targeted in this manner,” Gandhi told reporters at her residence.

“Everyone knows he is 100 percent above board, everyone knows what kind of a person, an individual he is…”

She recalled the way Manmohan Singh had been similarly targeted during the 2004 Lok Sabha election.

Patna, Nov 24 (UNI) The initial round of counting which began a mid tight security arrangements indicates that NDA, the ruling coalition is leading in Bihar.
The trends available for 116 seats out of 243 assembly constituencies are that the ruling coalition is leading at 79 seats while the main opposition RJD-LJP coalition is leading at 28 seats.

Whereas, Congress is leading over two seats and the others on seven seats.

The prominent candidates leading over their rival candidates are – former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi is leading from both Raghopur and Sonepur assembly seats.

Patna, November 24: A Congress leader admitted Wednesday that its leader Rahul Gandhi had failed to click in Bihar, where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar led his alliance to victory in assembly elections.

“We have to admit that Rahul Gandhi failed to attract voters in Bihar,” said the party leader who didn’t wish to be identified by name. “Rahul did not click in Bihar.”

Rahul Gandhi, a Congress general secretary, campaigned extensively in Bihar, frequently accusing the chief minister of not doing enough for the state’s development.
–IANS

Patna, November 24: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shahnawaz Hussain said Wednesday that the people of Bihar had voted for development by re-electing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s ruling alliance.

“It is clear that people have voted for development and not for caste,” Hussain, a former central cabinet minister, told IANS here. “Nitish Kumar is set to return to power.”

Patna, November 24: The JD(U)-BJP alliance today appears to be heading for an emphatic victory to retain power in the Assembly elections in Bihar with the combine ahead in over 100 seats for which initial trends were available. 122 is the magic figure required for any coalition or party to form a government.

Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) is ahead in 65 seats while its partner BJP is leading in 43 seats in the elections to the 243-member House.

The RJD-LJP alliance is way behind at about 25 seats while the Congress was leading in four constituencies. Others are ahead in ten seats

New Delhi, November 22: The Samajwadi Party today moved a step closer to bringing Azam Khan back into the party fold a year after he was expelled, with party chief Mulyam Singh Yadav saying that he has accepted Khan’s “demands”.

“His return into party is final now…he could be with us within a few hours or a few days,” Mulayam Singh Yadav told reporters here.

He also offered to nominate Khan as Leader of the Opposition in UP legislative assembly.

Chennai, November 22: Describing the opposition demand for a JPC probe in the 2G spectrum scam as politically motivated, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M Karunanidhi today asked why opposition parties were against the matter being probed by the Public Accounts Committee.

Writing in the DMK’s official organ, “Murasoli”, he said if there was any malpractice in allocation of spectrum space, the opposition could place their views before the PAC, which would go into the CAG report on the issue.

Bangalore/New Delhi, November 21: Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa is likely to meet Bharatiaya Janata Party (BJP) chief Nitin Gadkari in the national capital Monday to plead against his removal over allegations of favouring his kin in the allotment of prime land.

Gadkari has been authorized by the party’s senior leaders to take the final decision on whether to allow Yeddyurappa to remain in office or ask him to quit in view of various charges against him and his two sons. One of them, B.Y. Raghavenda, is a BJP Lok Sabha member.

Chennai, November 21: Taking a dig at Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for reportedly saying that DMK never opposed a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa today asked why had he not given it in writing to the Centre.

“If there was no wrongdoing in this issue, why didn’t he give a written undertaking to the Centre that his party was prepared for a JPC,” Jayalalithaa said in a statement.

Chennai, November 21: CPI today demanded the resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa in the wake of allegations of land scam against him and said the BJP cannot have “double standards” on the issue of corruption.

Party National Secretary D Raja said in view of serious allegations levelled against Yeddyurappa, he should step down as Chief Minister immediately.

“Yeddyurappa should step down. BJP cannot have double standards on the issue of corruption. Worst-ever charges of land allocation by violating all norms have been levelled against him,” he told PTI here.

Chandigarh, November 21: BJP will continue to disrupt both the houses of Parliament until the government accepts its demand to constitute a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe into 2G spectrum scam, party’s legal chief said here today.

Asking why the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi are not ready for a JPC probe, national in-charge of the Legal and Legislative Cell of BJP Satya Pal Jain rejected the Public Accounts Committee probe, as suggested by the PM.

Sashan (WB), November 21: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today came down hard on the Congress-led UPA government, claiming it was not cooperating with the state in providing foodgrains to people at low prices.

At a time when the prices of all food materials are sky high and the state government is trying to supply food grains at a low cost to the people, the central government is not bothered about the issue, Bhattacharjee told a rally at Sashan in South 24-Parganas district.

New Delhi, November 21: Under mounting pressure to quit over alleged land scams, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa is making a last ditch attempt to convince the BJP high command that he should be allowed to continue in the top post.

Amid reports that the top BJP leadership is weighing the pros and cons of axing him to save the party’s image, Yeddyurappa will leave for New Delhi this evening on his second visit to the capital in the last three days to present his case.

New Delhi, November 21: Amid heightened speculation that Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa may have to step down, the BJP high command Sunday summoned him to the capital.

The decision came at a meeting of senior leaders at party president Nitin Gadkari’s residence to discuss the crisis in Karnataka.

Though there was no official word from the party, BJP sources said there was little option left but to remove Yeddyurappa as his continuance in office was taking the sting out of the party’s attack on the UPA government in Parliament on corruption.

Patna, November 20: An estimated 13 per cent of the 60.07 lakh electorate cast their votes in 26 assembly constituencies in the sixth and final phase of the Bihar elections till 1000 hours on Saturday, amid a poll boycott call by Maoists who triggered a mine explosion in Gaya district injuring a securityman.

Voting, which began on a dull note this morning, gradually picked up with a large number of people, including women, queueing up before polling stations.

Mumbai, November 19: NCP chief Sharad Pawar tonight met the 20 party ministers who are part of the Congress-led ministry in Maharashtra.

Prominent among those present at the meeting, held at Worli, was deputy chief minister and his nephew Ajit Pawar, daughter Supriya Sule, and senior ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Ganesh Naik.

Bhujbal was among the first to leave the venue of the meeting, which was followed by dinner.

Asked what Pawar told NCP ministers, Bhujbal, reportedly sulking his removal as deputy chief minister, told reporters, “You better ask this to saheb (Pawar) himself.”

Bangalore, November 19: Demanding inclusion of Bangalore-Mysore corridor project in the ambit of the judicial inquiry into denotification of land ordered by Karnataka government, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda today said the chief minister should step down to ensure a ‘fair probe’.