Mumbai, June 15: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray refused to accept gifts or flowers from the thousands of his partymen who turned up to greet him on his 41st birthday Sunday. Instead, he appealed for cash to be donated to the party coffers.
The appeal was ‘official’ and the monies collected would be ‘fully accounted’ for, according to MNS vice-president Vageesh Saraswat.
Nagpur, June 14: Criticising the BJP for its “inconsistency” in toeing the ‘Hindutva’ policy,senior RSS ideologue M G alias Baburao Vaidya said the party should give up the policy as it has “failed” to attract commoners.
Narrating the history of the then Jana Sangh which later converted into BJP, Vaidya, in his weekly column in local Marathi daily ‘Tarun Bharat’, said BJP had adopted Gandhian socialism, but could not stop itself from being labelled as a communal party.
Howrah (West Bengal), June 14: The Indian Railways will run 66 pairs of special trains carrying pilgrims to Puri in Orissa for the June 24 Rathyatra festival, railways minister Mamata Banerjee said here Sunday.
The railways will also run special trains between Sealdah in Kolkata and Rajasthan’s Ajmer Sharif, which houses the mausoleum of sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, on June 25 and June 26 for the celebration of the Urs or annual pilgrimage.
New Delhi, June 14: The turmoil in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after its poll debacle deepened on Saturday with the resignation from all party posts of former central minister Yashwant Sinha, who joined a swelling number of senior leaders criticising the manner in which the party was functioning.
Sinha faxed his resignation as party vice president to BJP president Rajnath Singh from Hazaribagh, the constituency in Jharkhand from where he won the Lok Sabha elections this time.
Party spokesperson Shrikant Sharma confirmed that Sinha’s resignation had been accepted.
Ranchi, June 14: Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who quit as party Vice President while attacking the leadership for not taking responsibility for the electoral debacle, on Sunday said he was “happy” that his resignation has been accepted but maintained that he will remain in the party.
“I had sent my resignation to be accepted. Therefore I’m happy that my resignation has been accepted and I have no further comments to make,” the former External Affairs and Finance Minister said when his reaction was sought over the issue.
New Delhi, June 14: With eyes on ‘aam aadmi’, Congress is expected to give its wish list to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee who is expected to meet AICC office-bearers on Monday to accommodate party’s views in the upcoming Union Budget.
The budget, to be presented in the first week of July, is likely to keep the focus on the ‘aam aadmi’ (common man) who was the trump card of the party, catapulting it to power in the Lok Sabha elections.
Mahalingam’s body found in Kali river near Kaiga plant
Kaiga, June 14: The body of the missing scientist of Kaiga nuclear plant in Karnataka, N Mahalingam, has been found in Kali River near Kaiga nuclear plant.
Ending the mystery over the disappearance of the Kaiga Nuclear power plant scientist, N Mahalingam, naval divers today recovered his body from the Kali river, six days after he went missing.
Hingalganj, June 14: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday travelled in an autorickshaw to meet Cyclone Aila victims in remote areas of this North 24 Parganas block.
Bhattacharjee, who had been heckled and jeered by the disgruntled cyclone survivors owing allegiance to the Trinamool Congress during his on June 2 visit to the block, was well received by people who showered petals and raised slogans praising the state’s Left Front government.
Bihar, June 13: In a setback to RJD chief Lalu Prasad, his close confidant and party’s national general secretary Shyam Razak on Saturday resigned from the Bihar Assembly.
He is likely to join the ruling JD(U) in a day or two in the presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other senior party leaders here, a JD(U) spokesman claimed.
Razak submitted his resignation letter to secretary of the state assembly Surendra Prasad Sharma, who faxed it to Speaker Udai Narain Choudhary, currently in New Delhi.
Lucknow, June 12: Accusing the Congress-led government at the Centre for existing power crisis in the state, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today said the state was not getting its genuine share of electricity from the central pool.
“The state is not getting its genuine share of power from the central sector, as against total availability of 1,399 MW power in the central pool, only 328.2 MW had been allocated to UP, which is only 23 per cent. This has resulted in power crisis in the state,” Mayawati said during a high-level review meeting here.
Mumbai, June 12: The suspension of MP Padamsinh Patil, arrested for his alleged involvement in a double murder case, from the primary membership of NCP is a farce, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray today said.
“His suspension is a farce. Any political suspension is a drama and if those in question are either from the Congress or NCP, the drama is well-performed,” Thackeray said in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.
“People know that the suspension is a farce. NCP did not have an alternative because of the mounting public pressure and the tightening of the noose by CBI,” Thackeray said.
Bangalore, June 12: Amid reports of dissidence in its Karnataka unit, BJP today asked party leaders to maintain discipline and work unitedly and refrain from doing anything that will tarnish the image of the state government.
“I have directed all senior leaders to maintain discipline and do nothing that would dent the image of the government and the party,” senior party leader Arun Jaitley told reporters at the end of his two-day trouble-shooting mission.
New Delhi, June 12: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday ruled out taking action against veteran leader Jaswant Singh for voicing in the media criticism of the party after the poll debacle but it said the leadership does not approve of such issues being discussed publicly.
“There is no proposal (for action) against Jaswant Singh (and so) there is no question of taking any action,” BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
“Interpreting his words as charges against some party leaders is wrong. The media is wrong in saying that action will be taken against him,” he told reporters.
Lucknow, June 12: AICC president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday attributed Congress’ spectacular performance in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections to the hard work by her son and party MP from Amethi Rahul Gandhi.
“Rahul ke yogdan ke karan Congress ko achcha parinam mila (the Congress got good results owing to the contribution by Rahul)”, Ms Gandhi said while addressing party workers in her Lok Sabha constituency of Raebareli.
New Delhi, June 11: Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh has called for making it a “current party” and admitted that it had failed to effectively convey its message to the masses, leading to its election debacle.
“There is a need for ideological distillation of thought. The BJP has to be a current party. It can’t be a party of yesterday. I think there’s lack of clarity on what Hindutva means,” the former central minister told a news channel in an interview on Wednesday.
Gandhinagar, June 11: As is the prevalent practice, all newly elected members of parliament from the state were called to attend a meeting here on Wednesday before they go back for the parliament’s monsoon session. The meet discussed pending issues of the state before the central government.
New Delhi, June 11: Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh has called for making it a ‘current party’ and admitted that it had failed to effectively convey its message to the masses, leading to its election debacle.
‘There is a need for ideological distillation of thought. The BJP has to be a current party. It can’t be a party of yesterday. I think there’s lack of clarity on what Hindutva means,’ the former central minister told the NDTV news channel in an interview Wednesday.
New Delhi, June 10: A complimentary pass for life to travel in a first class air-conditioned coach for self and three companions. This was, perhaps, the last largesse doled out to Lalu Prasad during his final days as railways minister.
And this controversial order issued May 19, a copy of which has been obtained by IANS, has been challenged.
The largesse also extends to former ministers of state for railways – nut in their case, a sole companion and one attendant can be issued free tickets in the same categories of coaches as for their senior former colleague.
New Delhi, June 10: She came, she chatted up journalists, spread her charm, had a spartan lunch topped with seasonal fruits, said her goodbyes and left with the media relishing each word she uttered.
It was a happy day for Congress president Sonia Gandhi as she hosted a ‘thanksgiving lunch’ for the media after her party posted a stunning electoral win last month.
In a rare gesture that warmed the hearts of over 200 journalists at the conference hall of Ashoka Hotel, a beaming Gandhi, in a maroon sari, went around each table and spent a couple of minutes conversing with them.
New Delhi, June 10: Minister of State for Minority Affairs Salman Khurshid says his ministry is “not only about Muslims” but will have all of India’s minority communities covered by it.
The implementation of the Sachar Committee recommendations for the development of Muslims would also be a priority for his ministry, Khurshid said.
“This ministry is not only about Muslims but has all minority communities under its ambit. It needs a proper direction, minority affairs has a lot of potential.”
Patna, June 10: Former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad’s kins are feeling the heat with the authorities ordering them to return the amount that they had received from railways as compensation for lands acquired for construction of Phulwaria railway station in Gopalganj dustrict.
New Delhi, June 10: Even as Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee takes up the issue of post-poll political violence in the state and partisan relief distribution with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi, her senior leaders and MLAs met Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi and demanded promulgation of Article 355 of the Indian Constitution to stop state-sponsored terrorism.
New Delhi, June 10: Most media pundits and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters were surprised with the party’s performance in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. It was always in doubt whether the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance would reach the magical figure of 272, but optimists believed that post-electoral alliances could help.
New Delhi, June 09:RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Tuesday joined SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav in opposing women’s reservation bill in its present form, alleging that it was a “big conspiracy” to prevent the backward sections from coming up and to “finish” the regional parties.
Prasad, who was joined by former Uttar Pradesh CM Kalyan Singh, warned of a major movement if quotas for the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, OBCs and minorities was not included in the legislation.
New Delhi, June 09: After Sharad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, another Yadav leader, Lalu Prasad, today added his opposition to the women’s reservation bill, terming it as a conspiracy against regional parties to keep their leaders away from power.
Rebel Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh too termed the bill, which proposes to reserve 33 percent seats in parliament and the state legislatures for women, as a conspiracy against regional parties.