Politics

Patna, July 05: Over a month after the reverses in Lok Sabha polls, the opposition RJD on Sunday urged the Election Commission to inquire into allegations about ‘largescale tampering’ of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) by ruling NDA in Bihar.

“The EC must take the complaints of large-scale tampering of the EVMs seriously and set up an inquiry team to examine,” former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi and senior RJD leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan told reporters after participating in the party’s 13th foundation day function.

Nandigram, July 05 : Trouble broke out at Nandigram’s Sonachura on Saturday when Trinamool Congress supporters allegedly damaged a vehicle belonging to the member of a rebel faction of the Bhumi Uchchhed Protirodh Committee (BUPC).

The incident happened near a place where wives of two arrested BUPC supporters are on a hunger strike since Saturday morning to demand their husbands’ release.

New Delhi, July 05 : Strong attempts are being made to engage civil society in pushing the proposed bill on police reforms in the Parliament. In a seminar
titled `Making our police effective and people-friendly’ held on Saturday, eminent speakers, including former Chief Justice of India J S Verma and ex-CEC N Gopalaswami, talked about ways of improving policing and urged for a change in the law and order system at grassroots level.

New Delhi, July 05 : If everything goes as planned by the city government, Delhi and its suburbs would get trained domestic helps in the next few years.
Launching the skill development of domestic workers programme a joint initiative of the Centre, state government and International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Saturday, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit also advocated for fixing minimum wages for domestic workers and said this could be worked out based on the number of hours they worked for.

New Delhi, July 5: BJP leader L K Advani today found support from rivals CPI(M), JD(S) and LJP for his suggestion for re-introduction of ballot papers in place of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Advani has not cast any doubts on the results of the Lok Sabha elections but feels the country should revert to ballot papers starting with the Maharashtra Assembly elections in October and some more states later unless the Election Commission was able to ensure that EVMs were fool-proof and every possibility of malfunctioning has been taken care of.

New Delhi, July 05: The Mamata Banerjee-Lalu Prasad faceoff triggered by the Railway Budget 2009-10 seems to be suiting Congress fine, with it appearing that there may be an apparent bid to needle the RJD chief out of the ruling camp.

Prasad’s hostile reaction to Mamata’s barbs about his tenure in Rail Bhavan has been received with anticipation by Congress leaders who feel a message of distancing from him is necessary for the party’s revival in Bihar.

Lucknow, July 05: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national general secretary Satish Misra may continue to remain her confidant, but Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has no intentions of letting him don the mantle of her successor as she on Saturday said only a Dalit will succeed her.

New Delhi, July 05: In a startling revelation, BJP leader Varun Gandhi on Sunday claimed that he was facing threat from the underworld.

Varun’s claim came just a day after the Delhi Police arrested in the national capital six sharpshooters of the Chhota Shakeel gang, who during the interrogation reportedly revealed that the Gandhi scion was their target.

New Delhi, July 05: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Varun Gandhi today claimed that underworld criminals arrested in Delhi a day earlier were plotting to kill him and urged the home minister to take urgent action.

Dharamsala (HP), July 05: Ailing veteran JD(U) leader George Fernandes says he is “fed up of politics” and is now spending time penning his memoirs.

“I am now fed up with politics,” the 79-year-old former defence minister, who is undergoing traditional Tibetan treatment here for a clot in the brain, told PTI.

“I am spending my time writing a book to refresh memories of my life-long journey,” said Fernades, who unsuccessfully contested parliamentary polls as an Independent from his traditional Muzaffarpur seat in Bihar after being denied a party ticket.

Phulbani, July 05: BJP leader and a prime accused in last year’s communal riot in Kandhamal, Manoj Pradhan, was released from jail here on Sunday, a day after being granted interim bail to be able to take oath as an MLA.

Pradhan, who was lodged in jail since his arrest in October 2008 on charge of murder, riot and arson, was set free after furnishing required documents, a day after a fast track court here granted him conditional bail for 15 days in two cases. He had earlier got bail in 12 other cases.

New Delhi, July 05: The ruling Congress party Sunday dismissed as a ‘stretch of imagination’ Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani’s comments that India should revert to the ballot paper for elections unless adequate safeguards are in place against malfunctioning Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Advani told The Sunday Express that ballot papers should be reintroduced in the state assembly elections scheduled later this year unless the Election Commission is able to ensure foolproof functioning of EVMs.

New Delhi, July 05: The ruling Congress party Sunday dismissed as a ‘stretch of imagination’ Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani’s comments that India should revert to the ballot paper for elections unless adequate safeguards are in place against malfunctioning Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Advani told The Sunday Express that ballot papers should be reintroduced in the state assembly elections scheduled later this year unless the Election Commission is able to ensure foolproof functioning of EVMs.

New Delhi, July 05: Senior BJP leader LK Advani has expressed apprehensions about the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in elections, saying they are prone to rigging.

Advani, who was BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in the recent Lok Sabha polls, further demanded that the ballot papers be reintroduced, starting with the Assembly Elections in Maharashtra scheduled for October, and three other states later this year.

New Delhi, July 05: Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee can hardly have missed the irony of his situation. Twenty five years ago, when he presented his last budget for Indira Gandhi, he played the cautious reformer, taking baby steps to open up a tightly-controlled socialist economy without upsetting the political sensibilities of his Left-leaning party.

New Delhi, July 05: The Vijayan vs Achutanandan issue might be settled on Sunday with the CPM politburo expected to decide on infighting within the Kerala state unit on the concluding day of its two-day meet in New Delhi.

The CPM on Saturday had delayed its decision on infighting within the Kerala state unit till today.

New Delhi, July 05: The government said that creating more jobs, not reservation, is needed for the uplift of weaker sections of society.

“I am not a great votary of reservation. I don’t believe reservation is the answer for the future,” Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said in New Delhi at a function organised by industry body Confederation of Indian Industry.

New Delhi, July 05: Senior BJP leader LK Advani has expressed apprehensions about the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in elections, saying they are prone to rigging.

Advani, who was BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in the recent Lok Sabha polls, further demanded that the ballot papers be reintroduced, starting with the Assembly Elections in Maharashtra scheduled for October, and three other states later this year.

New Delhi, July 05: DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has asked his party colleague and IT and Communication Minister A. Raja to respond to allegations that he pressurised a judge to give bail to two men accused in a criminal case.

“Kalignar (as Karunanidhi is referred to) has sought a clarification from Raja. He (Raja) has given a reply. I don’t know what his reply was,” a top DMK functionary said.

Lucknow, July 05: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national general secretary Satish Misra may continue to remain her confidant, but Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has no intentions of letting him don the mantle of her successor as she said only a Dalit will succeed her.

Ranchi, July 04: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh Saturday said the central government should bear 75 percent premium of the crop insurance cover for farmers to help them overcome drought conditions in many parts of the country.

‘The small-scale farmers are unable to meet the crop insurance premium. We demand that the central government should bear 75 percent of it. Due to delayed monsoon, drought like situation is prevailing in many parts of the country,’ Singh told reporters here.

Singh was taking part in the two-day BJP state executive committee meeting.

New Delhi, July 04: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad today said the Delhi High Court had done a “very dangerous thing” by decriminalising gay sex, though Janata Dal-United (JD-U) chief Sharad Yadav believed “homosexuality is not an issue in India”.

“It is a very dangerous thing the Delhi High Court has said that it (homosexuality) is not a crime and the law must be amended. I will raise this topic in parliament and the amendment (to the law against it) should not be done,” Lalu Prasad told a news channel.

Darbhanga (Bihar), July 04: RJD president Lalu Prasad along with other leaders suffered a fall when the dias erected for the party’s Panchayat conference at Chandanpati village near here collapsed.

However, Prasad escaped unhurt along with former union minister Ali Ashraf Fatmi and state RJD president Abdul Bari Siddiqui, police said.

While RJD leader Devendra Prasad Yadav received minor head injuries, Ram Lakhan Mahto fainted.

Later addressing the conference, Lalu opposed the Women’s Reservation Bill in its present form.

Lucknow, July 04: Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati today expelled former Rajya Sabha member Balihari Babu from the party for alleged anti-party activities.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister announced Balihari Babu’s expulsion at a meeting of senior party functionaries including MPs, MLAs and MLCs, a party release said here.

Babu, who was elected to the Upper House of Parliament from Azamgarh, resigned from the membership of the Rajya Sabha on June 12, this year before the expiry of his term which was to end in April, 2012.
–PTI

Ranchi, July 04: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh Saturday said the central government should bear 75 percent premium of the crop insurance cover for farmers to help them overcome drought conditions in many parts of the country.

‘The small-scale farmers are unable to meet the crop insurance premium. We demand that the central government should bear 75 percent of it. Due to delayed monsoon, drought like situation is prevailing in many parts of the country,’ Singh told reporters here.

Singh was taking part in the two-day BJP state executive committee meeting.