Politics

Mumbai, June 09: In yet another indication of further widening of the rift between Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), senior Congress leader and union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Tuesday retreated that his party should go to polls alone in the state in the upcoming Assembly polls.

Deshmukh’s, who was formerly the CM of the state, remarks came in the wake of a controversy over the arrest of NCP MP Padamsinh Patil accused in the murder of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar.

Hyderabad, June 09: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president T Chandrasekhar Rao is expected to make efforts to contain persisting dissidence in his party which broke out in the wake of the debacle in recent elections.

The TRS President, against whom a police case has been registered in his Lok Sabha constituency of Mahaboobnagar for tracing his whereabouts, arrived here last night from Delhi.

Rao is expected to hold confabulations with senior party leaders on ways to revive the party in the aftermath of the drubbing it suffered in the elections.

New Delhi, June 09: Senior BJP leader L K Advani Tuesday cautioned the party’s newly-elected MPs against falling to any “temptation” and asked them to maintain “purity in conduct”.

Addressing the BJP parliamentary party meet here, Advani asked the 58 first-time MPs to maintain “purity in their conduct”.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha also cautioned them against falling to any kind of “temptation” offered to them.

New Delhi, June 09: As the RSS lumbers along examining the course for Sangh Parivar at its meet, it is facing attacks from those closely associated with prominent BJP leaders including LK Advani.
This is the latest in the acrimonious blame game in the BJP, sparked off by its defeat in the Lok Sabha election.

New Delhi, June 09: As the RSS lumbers along examining the course for Sangh Parivar at its meet, it is facing attacks from those closely associated with prominent BJP leaders including LK Advani. This is the latest in the acrimonious blame game in the BJP, sparked off by its defeat in the Lok Sabha election.

New Delhi, June 08: Samajwadi Party on Monday opposed the proposed Women’s Reservation Bill, terming it as a “conspiracy” against the leaders who have reached the Lok Sabha through “hard struggles” and warned of people’s movement if the UPA pushes the legislation.

New Delhi, June 08: Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde today demanded that NCP leader Padam Singh Patil, arrested in the murder case of a Maharashtra Congress leader, should either resign as MP or his party expel him.

Criticising NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s reported statement that Patil is a respectable leader, Munde said, “This is a matter of sorrow that a person accused in murder cases is a respectable person in Pawar’s eyes”.

“I expected Pawar to take action against him. He, however, chose to defend him. Ten crore people of Maharashtra are watching the entire episode,” he added.

Mumbai, June 08: The arrest of senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Padamsinh Patil rocked the Maharashtra Assembly on Monday with the Opposition parties demanding resignation of state Home Minister Jayant Patil and Information Minister Rana Jagjitsinh Patil, who is also the son of the accused.

The entire Opposition was on its feet minutes after the House assembled for the day and raised slogans accusing the state government of allegedly attempting to shield Padamsinh Patil.

New Delhi, June 08: Samajwadi Party, which bailed out the previous UPA government on the Indo-US nuclear deal, on Monday said that the support has cost it dear.

“We supported you. We faced losses while you gained,” SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav told the Congress leadership in the Lok Sabha, evoking peals of laughter among the members.

He said the SP has not only lost at the hustings but still has to face abuses from people.

New Delhi, June 08: In contrast to predecessor A R Antulay who maintained a studied silence on the the issue of reservation, newly-appointed Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has called quota for Muslims a “double-edged sword” which could create “envy, hostility and resistance”. He has instead advocated affirmative action as a tool to “inject an ability to compete” rather than make them “constant beneficiaries of additional help”.

New Delhi, June 08: The BJP was “enfeebled” by so much “disarray” at the top never before witnessed in its history and its prime ministerial candidate L K Advani himself “failed” to assert his leadership at “crucial points”, says a key party strategist while analyzing its poll debacle.

Sudheendra Kulkarni, who is also a close aide of Advani, while giving an insight into the factors behind BJP’s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections cited confusion about Hindutva, failure to overcome the party’s limited social base, negativism in its campaign and a leadership in disarray.

Mumbai, June 07: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Padamsinh Patil, who was nabbed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) early Sunday, has been charged with the murder of his cousin and Congress leader Pavan Raje Nimbalkar in 2006, a law official said.

Senior Public Prosecutor Ejaz Pathan said that Patil has been charged under the Indian Penal Code Section 302 and 120-B, dealing with murder and conspiracy to murder, respectively.

New Delhi, June 05: Upbeat over its victory in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress on Friday took potshots at the BJP saying that its ideology of “hate speeches” and “raking up” religion have been rejected by the people.

Initiating the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President for her address to the joint sitting of Parliament, Congress leader Girija Vyas also accused the BJP of stealing the issues of development of the Congress.

New Delhi, June 05: Describing the Mumbai attacks as an “invasion of India” launched from Pakistan, Leader of Opposition L K Advani on Friday demanded setting up of an inquiry commission at central level to determine what went wrong and suggest steps to prevent recurrence of such terror strikes.

Speaking on the Motion of Thanks to President’s address in the Lok Sabha, he also asked the government to share with the House the evidence given to Pakistan on 26/11, especially in the wake of release of Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed apparently on the grounds of insufficient proof.

New Delhi ,June 05: For many of us in school, it was all about sitting next to our friends or best friend in class. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders it seems haven’t outgrown that stage.

It’s not such an innocent thing for BJP leaders in Parliament. They just want to sit next to the boss, Lal Krishna Advani.

First he failed to make it to the ruling benches in the Lok Sabha, and then his juniors fighting to take over his place in the party. And now L K Advani has a new headache – the BJP’s GenNext leaders desperate to succeed him – are now fighting for the right seat in Parliament.

New Delhi, June 05: Union Government on Thursday declared that it will pursue a policy of “zero-tolerance” towards terrorism from whatever source it originates and seek to reshape relationship with Pakistan which should confront terror groups inimical to India.

Outlining 10 broad areas of priority for the next five years, President Pratibha Patil said in her address to the joint session of the Parliament that the internal security and preservation of communal harmony, stepping up of economic growth and agriculture, manufacturing and services are among those areas.

New Delhi, June 04: President Pratibha Patil on Thursday unveiled the new government’s agenda that includes reviving the economy through more investments in sectors such as infrastructure, a blueprint for national security and a host of social welfare programmes focused on creating a more inclusive society and economy.

“In 2004 my government had set before the country a vision of an inclusive society and an inclusive economy. My government sees the overwhelming mandate it has received as a vindication of the policy architecture that it put in place,” Patil said.

Advani is believed to have offered is resignation as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha but the party persuaded him to stay on. He was the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in the elections and was projected as a strong and decisive leader.

The BJP lost no occasion to compare Advani, “the iron man”, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was accused of being weak and ineffectual. Advani himself accused Singh of taking his cues from Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

New Delhi, June 01: In a significant remark, which could embarrass the BJP further after its poor performance in the recent general elections, the leader of its biggest ally on Sunday questioned the manner in which the
NDA had fought the elections.

Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav said here that though the NDA fought the elections as a group, the “grip was missing”.

New Delhi, May 30: After completion of govt-formation and distribution of portfolios, Congress would soon embark on a change in its organisation and a reshuffle in work allocation in the AICC.

“Changes will be brought in the organisation soon,” AICC media department chief Janardan Dwivedi told reporters at New Delhi on Friday.

Dwivedi parried questions on how soon the reshuffle would take place.

Chennai, May 30: With her two politician brothers having a role cut out for them, Kanimozhi is the only member of the family on whom M Karunanidhi has not bestowed any political benefits. But the youngest daughter (from his third wife Rajathi Ammal), is willing to bide her time.

New Delhi, May 29: Expanding his six-day-old Council of Ministers by inducting 59 ministers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made Anand Sharma the Commerce Minister and allocated the portfolio of HRD to Kapil Sibal, Law to M Veerappa Moily and Road Transport and Highways to Kamal Nath.

With this induction, the size of Council of Ministers went up to 79- 34 Cabinet Ministers, 7 Ministers of State with Independent Charge and 38 Ministers of State.

Mumbai, May 25: Irked over Mumbai Congress leader and former state minister Kripashankar Singh’s criticism of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, the Sena has warned that it would “paint the map of Maharashtra beneath Singh’s ears”.

“If Kripashankar continues to insult the Sena chief, we will paint the map of Maharashtra beneath his ears,” Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said after Singh yesterday attributed Thackeray’s outburst against him to ‘frustration over loss of all six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai’.

Mumbai, May 24: The Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have both been electorally routed in Mumbai and in parts of Maharashtra in the recent General Elections, but this has not stopped the Thackeray family from bringing its internal bickering out into the open.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has blamed his cousin and MNS chief Raj Thackeray for the Shiv Sena’s poll debacle. But Raj has wasted no time in hitting back at Uddhav.

Gangtok, April 30: Long queues were seen outside polling booths in Sikkim, where elections were underway Thursday for the one Lok Sabha and 32 assembly constituencies.

The situation was peaceful with no reports of any untoward incidents, police said.

There were more women than men in the queues which started forming even before the polling centres opened at 7 a.m. Young voters, many of them exercising their franchise for the first time, were also seen lining up with great enthusiasm.