Politics

Ranchi, June 19: The ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are both geared up for the election to two Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand Saturday, making all attempts to keep their flock together and seeking support of smaller parties to ensure their candidates win.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is a major constituent of the NDA, has fielded Ajay Maroo and Anup Agrawal, while for the UPA the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has nominated party supremo Shibu Soren’s son Hemant Soren and the Congress’ candidate is Dheeraj Sahu.

Lucknow, June 19: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Friday mobilised workers of her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to stage demonstrations in each of the state’s 70 districts as the Congress workers began statewide celebrations to mark the 39th birthday of their general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

Lucknow, June 19: The BSP and the Haryana Janhit Congress Party have forged an alliance to fight the upcoming Assembly elections in Haryana.

BSP chief Mayawati said the seat-sharing arrangement with former Haryana CM Bhajan Lal’s party has also been finalised. The BSP would contest 40 seats and the remaining 50 by the new ally, she said in the presence of Bhajan Lal and his son and HJCP president Kuldeep Bishnoi.

Hyderabad, June 19: The BJP will not go back on its core ideology of Hindutva in wake of the jolt it suffered in the recent general elections, a senior leader said in Hyderabad on Thursday.

“There is no question of going back on our ideology. We should not change it because of the electoral setback,” Venkaiah Naidu told reporters.

The BJP leader made the statement when asked whether the party would review its ‘Hindutva ideology’ and commitment to issues like common civil code and Article 370 in the wake of its dismal performance in the hustings.

Ahmedabad, June 18: An NGO has submitted a detailed phone call analysis report to the SIT claiming that former Gujarat ministers — Maya Kodnani and Gordhan Zadaphia, VHP leader Dr Jaidip Patel, and others had called up Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s office several times during the post-Godhra communal riots.

Both Patel and Kodnani are accused in the Naroda Patia and Naroda village massacre cases, but presently are out on bail.

New Delhi, June 18: The Congress has demanded an apology from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for making “derogratory” remarks that Mahatma was a “natakbaaz” (a fake).

“The remarks made by Mayawati about the Father of Nation are highly condemnable. The remarks have hurt millions not only in India but across the world…. I would like to advise her to take back the remarks she made about the apostle of non-violence and should apologise,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters.

olkata, June 18: Congress leaders in West Bengal on Wednesday termed as “gossip” Left Front’s allegation that the entry of Maoists into Lalgarh was facilitated by the TMC-Congress combine, and said the situation in the area was due to the state Government’s failure to ban parties like the People’s War Group and the CPI(Maoist).

New Delhi, June 18: Kept away from the Government this time, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav may still be able to keep some of his pride and position in House. The former railway minister is likely to get a seat in the front row in the Lok Sabha.

Mumbai, June 18: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today targeted BJP leaders L K Advani and Narendra Modi, attributing the saffron party’s failed bid to regain power at the Centre to the duo’s perception in the public.

“Advani’s was not a face that could be liked by people,” Pawar said at a meeting of his party’s functionaries held here to take stock of its performance in Lok Sabha polls.

“Modi’s language against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was not liked by people. Middle class voters felt Singh ably shielded India from effects of global recession,” he said.

New Delhi, June 18: The war raging in BJP now threatens to spill over to the states, raising the prospect of the satraps seeking to exploit the vulnerability
of the central leadership to have their way in their own factional battles.

The threat appeared real on Wednesday when Uttarakhand leader B S Koshiyari resigned his Rajya Sabha seat in what is seen as a precursor to a determined bid to wrest the chief ministership from his rival, B C Khanduri.

New Delhi, June 17: The ongoing violence in West Bengal, factional feud in Kerala and its worst ever electoral performance would come up for review when top CPI(M) leaders meet here from Friday.

The party top brass, who would gather here for the meetings of the Politburo and the Central Committee, may face flak on issues ranging from infighting and corruption to withdrawal of support to the UPA.

However, their major concern would be to find ways and means to tackle the Maoist violence, backed by the opposition parties in West Bengal, party sources said.

Bhopal, June 17: Former Madhya Pradesh minister Rajkumar Patel has been expelled from the Congress party for six years for allegedly giving a walkover to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj during the recently held parliamentary elections, party sources said Wednesday.

Patel was fielded against Swaraj on the Vidisha Lok Sabha seat but his nomination was rejected since he had submitted a photocopy of the Form-A (meant to inform the Election Commission of the candidate’s party affiliation) whereas the rules categorically specify that the form has to be original.

New Delhi, June 17: Showing discipline whip is common in the Bharatiya Janata Party. Ironically, the senior party leaders forget the discipline when it comes to them. Resignation by two senior leaders, including Arun Jaitley and Yashwant Sinha, within a week shows that there is rift in the party.

Overconfidence led to the party’s debacle in the general election 2004 while internal bickering cost dear to the party in 2009 LS polls.

West BEngal, June 16: Railways Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee Tuesday termed the law and order situation in West Bengal as ‘dreadful’ and asked the administration to speed up the process of securing illegal arms from areas that have witnsessed political violence.

Ahmedabad, June 16: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has alleged that Gujarat police is tapping the phones of its office-bearers including Dr Pravin Togadia, general secretary of the body.

“The Home Department had threatened our activists that thier phones are being tapped including that of Dr Togadia and other VHP and RSS leaders’ phones,” VHP leaders Dinesh Navadia and Utkarsh Patel said in a statement.

New Delhi, June 16: Two years after its historic victory in Uttar Pradesh riding on a rainbow coalition of the low and high castes, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of Chief Minister Mayawati is caught in a dilemma — whether to continue its inclusive agenda or revert to her core Dalit base.

New Delhi, June 16: After a skewed representation of states and castes in the Union cabinet, the Congress is reportedly working towards a balanced reshuffle in the AICC.

While Team Manmohan had only a token representation of Congress’s young faces, the AICC is expected to have a stamp of the party’s poster boy Rahul Gandhi.

New Delhi, June 16: `Kunwar’, `Raja’, `Rani’, `Begum’, `Srimant’ will soon stand deleted from the AICC’s listings and records some 40 years after Indira Gandhi did away with privy purses in what was then meant to signal the arrival of a post-colonial egalitarian age.

While the titles of maharajas and ranis were abolished, habits did not die out and rather showed a capacity to not only survive but flourish in the Congress’s own lexicon. Not only did the royal references linger in conversations but the royal and feudal honorifics remained prefixed to names of leaders in party records.

Lucknow, June 15: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Maywati has come under severe criticism from opposition leaders for having made derogatory remarks about
Mahatma Gandhi.

While addressing a meeting of MPs and legislators of her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) here Saturday, Mayawati called the Father of the Nation a “natakbaaz” (fake). She also distributed pamphlets condemning both Mahatma Gandhi and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi for being insincere about the improvement in socio-economic status of Dalits.

Patna, June 15: Two of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s close confidantes Shyam Razak and Ram Nihora Yadav, who had quit the party recently, on Monday
joined JD(U), led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Welcoming them into the party fold, Kumar said his party has received a shot in the arm as “committed and efficient politicians like Razak and Yadav have come together to join us”.

Lucknow, June 15: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday held a meeting to review its poor Lok Sabha poll performance in Uttar Pradesh but top leaders like party president Rajnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, Maneka Gandhi, her son Varun were conspicuous by their absence.

Nearly 50 party members attended the meeting chaired by state BJP president Ramapati Ram Tripathi and senior leader Kalraj Mishra.

Ranchi, June 15: Two days after he resigned from all party posts, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha Monday sought a probe into how the contents of the resignation letter were leaked to the media.

“It would be in the interest of the party to investigate how the letter was leaked to the media,” Sinha, former external affairs minister, told reporters in Hazaribagh, his parliamentary constituency.

Panaji, June 15: The Roman Catholic Church in Goa Monday said it stands by its earlier statement that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the past came to power in the state as Catholics voted for it, and reiterated that the church never gives any preferences but asks the people to vote by their conscience.

Patna, June 15: In view of a spate of desertions of leaders from RJD and other Opposition parties, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday said he would welcome them “with open arms” if they wished to switch over to ruling JD(U).

Setback to Lalu, close confidante Nihora resigns”Choice of joining the JD(U) is open to all, including those who recently left RJD and other Opposition parties,” Kumar said when his attention was drawn to his arch rival and RJD boss Lalu Prasad’s trusted aides Shyam Razak and Ram Nihora Yadav parting ways with the former railway minister.

Nagpur, June 14: Mired in bitter infighting after the poll debacle and questioned for lack of clarity on Hindutva by its leaders, BJP today came under attack from RSS which accused it of “inconsistency” on the issue and warned that shunning the core ideology will “automatically snap” its “umbilical cord” with the Sangh.