Voting begins for Nagaland assembly polls
By IANS
Kohima : Voting began Wednesday in the northeastern state of Nagaland for the 60-member assembly amid tight security with the Congress party and the Nagaland People's Front (NPF) led regional combine as the main challengers.
An election official said people in large numbers attired in their traditional tribal costumes lined up polling booths much before voting began at 7 a.m.
"Voting has begun with people turning up in large numbers already," a state election official said. The polling ends at 4 p.m.
Storm in UNPA over Congress-Samajwadi ties
By IANS,
New Delhi : India's already shaky Third Front was in ferment Thursday over the decision of one of its key members, the Samajwadi Party, to prop up the Congress-led government.
Leaders of the Samajwadi Party, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) were locked in seemingly stormy discussions at the residence of Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh over the future of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), which came up last year to take on both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
India’s Left withdraws support to government
By Xinhua,
New Delhi : India's Left parties announced to withdraw support to the ruling United Progressive Alliance government Tuesday after failing to resolve their differences over the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat made the announcement at a press conference at the party headquarters here.
Karat said the decision would be formally conveyed to the President Pratibha Patil on July 10.
Somnath in Hyderabad for eye check-up
By IANS,
Hyderabad : Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee arrived here Wednesday night for an eye check-up at a city hospital.
Chatterjee, who arrived from Delhi, headed straight to the Raj Bhavan from the airport. He refused to speak to mediapersons.
After a night halt at the Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the state governor, the Lok Sabha speaker will visit the L.V. Prasad Eye Hospital Thursday for the check-up. He underwent an eye surgery at the hospital last month.
Andhra Pradesh assembly Speaker K.R. Suresh Reddy called on Chatterjee at the Raj Bhavan.
BJP will support UPA if it introduces terror law, says senior party leader Venkaiah
By NNN-PTI,
Mumbai, India : Senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said the party will extend support to the UPA Government if it came up with a stringent law against terrorism.
"They (UPA) repealed POTA and TADA... But an extraordinary situation needs an extraordinary law.... If the UPA could muster the political will to introduce a stringent law, we will extend support," he said on Wednesday.
BJP’s Babul Supriyo determined to repay his admirers
By Anurag Dey,
Asansol (West Bengal) : He left a lucrative job at a multinational bank to pursue his first love - singing. And after...
Modi ‘wave’ at India TV Studio, Editorial Director resigns in protest
By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
New Delhi: Qamar Waheed Naqvi, Editorial Director of India TV has resigned in, purportedly in protest of a “staged interview,” with the BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Rajat Sharma’s famous programme “Aap Ki Adalat.”
Lok Satta’s alliance with BJP: Gandhi and Ali Brothers?
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
BJP supporters are proud to tell the fact that BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is a coalition of 30 parties. Consider the...
BSP bags six of eight declared seats in Uttar Pradesh
By IANS,
Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh's ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was on a roll Tuesday bagging six of the eight assembly by-elections for which results were declared. Counting was still under way in the other three.
Of the other seats for which results were declared, one went to the Congress and the other to an Independent.
Amid Telangana protests, governor stresses on peace
By IANS,
Hyderabad : Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan Monday called for conducting struggles based on the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence even as Congress party legislator from Telangana tried to disrupt his address to the joint session of the state legislature.
The legislators who supported the demand for a separate Telangana state continued to shout "Jai Telangana" slogans throughout the governor's 45-minute speech and later walked out of the assembly.
Suspended MPs physically evicted from Rajya Sabha
By IANS,
New Delhi : Seven opposition members of the Rajya Sabha, suspended for their unruly behaviour, were physically evicted from the house Tuesday after they continued to squat on the floor for more than three hours.
When the house reassembled at 3 p.m. after three adjournments, the seven MPs belonging to the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) continued shouting slogans against the women's reservation bill, even as Chairman Hamid Ansari called on leader of opposition Arun Jaitley (BJP) to speak.
No post-resignation tweets from Tharoor
By IANS,
New Delhi : For a voracious tweeter, Shashi Tharoor has not tweeted anything since the final run up to his resignation as minister of state for external affairs.
Tharoor was quite regular at updating his statements, work or visits with over 725,000 followers. However, there has been no update from him since Friday.
Tharoor quit Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government Sunday after being linked to an Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket row.
He last tweeted Friday at 11.16 p.m. -- when it was thought he was trying his best to weather the political storm.
Buddhadeb scoffs at Mamata’s claim of advancing polls
By IANS,
Kolkata : Scoffing at Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee’s claim that the West Bengal assembly polls would be advanced to October, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Sunday said only the state government has the right to decide on whether to hold the elections earlier.
The state will go to the hustings as scheduled next year, Bhattacharjee told media persons here.
YSR’s son defers ‘yatra’ on Sonia Gandhi’s directive
By IANS,
Hyderabad : Finally bowing to the Congress leadership, Lok Sabha member Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy Monday postponed his 'odarpu yatra' by a month.
The late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's son said he will now launch his yatra in Srikakulam July 8. The young MP announced this in a statement a day before he was scheduled to set out on the controversial tour.
The yatra is aimed at consoling the family members of those who either committed suicide or died of shock following the death of his father in a helicopter crash last year.
Language barrier disrupts Lok Sabha
By IANS,
New Delhi : There was peace in the Lok Sabha Friday with no protests from opposition MPs, but a technical problem that hampered English translation led to a minor commotion and disruption of the house.
Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the house for 15 minutes at 11.30 a.m. when some MPs from southern states complained that they were not receiving the English translation of Minister of State for Power Bharatsinh Madhavsinh Solanki's speech in Hindi.
Babri Masjid: ‘Sangh parivar should take the first step towards reconciliation’
By Shafee Ahmed Ko, TwoCircles.net
Bihar assembly results diminish Modi’s position in national BJP
By TCN Special Correspondent,
BJP finds Obama’s Kashmir statement ‘dangerous’
By IANS,
Jammu : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership in Jammu and Kashmir Thursday described as "dangerous" US president-elect Barack Obama's statement about sending a special envoy to resolve the Kashmir dispute.
"Obama's statements on Kashmir, especially about sending a special envoy to Kashmir, is a dangerous thing," Chaman Lal Gupta, a former minister of state for defense and BJP's most senior leader in the state, told a press conference here.
Congress removes Makwana as head of Scheduled Castes cell
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress Thursday removed former union minister Yogendra Makwana from the chairmanship of the Scheduled Castes Department of the All India Congress Committee on the charge of publicly criticising the policies and functioning of the party.
An official statement from the party said: "Makwana has been publicly criticising the policies and functioning of the party for a long time, which amounts to gross indiscipline."
Lady luck deserts Soren once again
By Nityanand Shukla, IANS,
Ranchi : When Shibu Soren took oath as Jharkhand chief minister in August, many wondered if he would be able to remain in power. On Thursday, luck deserted him again as he lost an election he needed to win.
When the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief took oath as chief minister Aug 27, replacing Madhu Koda, he was not a member of the legislative assembly and needed to be elected within six months.
Samajwadi Party names 17 more Lok Sabha candidates
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Samajwadi Party Saturday announced the names of 17 more candidates to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh while underlining it was "not violating any coalition dharma" with the Congress.
Party general secretary Amar Singh released the second list of candidates at a press conference here. The Samajwadi Party had Thursday announced the names of 29 candidates from the state.
NCP plans to contest 45-50 Lok Sabha seats
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), a constituent of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), plans to contest 45-50 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, party general secretary D.P. Tripathy said here Wednesday.
The party plans to field candidates across the country, including in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar and Goa, Tripathy said after the party's working committee meeting here.
Presidents of the state NCP units also attended the meeting.
BJP demands removal of Jharkhand governor
By IANS,
Ranchi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday demanded the removal of Jharkhand governor Syed Sibte Razi, accusing him of sending a wrong state expenditure report to the central government and of retaining key portfolios.
"Razi is the first governor in India who has kept key portfolios despite appointing three advisors. The governor has also sent a wrong report to the central government regarding the expenditure of the state," Raghubar Das, state BJP president told IANS.
Omar Abdullah breaks convention set by his father
By IANS,
Jammu : Jammu and Kashmir's newly elected Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has broken the convention set by his father Farooq Abdullah of having the principal secretary attend all cabinet meetings.
While Chief Secretary S.S. Kapur, who is also the cabinet secretary, took his place at the first cabinet meeting of the new administration Wednesday evening, Principal Secretary K.A. Ganai was not invited to join in.
After being elected chief minister in 1996, Farooq Abdullah invited his principal secretary B.R. Singh to all cabinet meetings.
Congress hindering raising of Narmada dam, says Modi
By IANS,
Himmatnagar (Gujarat) : The Congress-led central and Maharashtra governments are creating hurdles for raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam to 138 metres, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said here Thursday.
"The central government and the Congress-led Maharashtra government are halting the installation of gates of the Dam and restricting work to attain a height of 138 metres. The obstructions are being laid in the name of rehabilitation (of the project affected people)," he said.
Congress re-admits former Maharashtra unit chief
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress party Friday revoked the expulsion of former Maharashtra state Congress president Ranjit Deshmukh after a nod from party president Sonia Gandhi.
"Congress president Sonia Gandhi has accepted the suggestion for withdrawing the expulsion of Ranjit Deshmukh from the party with immediate effect," Congress general secaratary Janardan Dwivedi said in a statement here.
Deshmukh was expelled in 2007 after he rebelled against the party and formed the Kisan Vikas Aghadi in the state. He also contested the Lok Sabha elections as a rebel candidate.
BJP pits women’s wing chief against Mamata in Kolkata South
By IANS,
Kolkata : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday fielded a woman candidate against Mamata Banerjee for the Lok Sabha's Kolkata South seat after Trinamool Congress snapped ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to team up with the Congress in West Bengal.
BJP sources here said the party's state Mahila Morcha (women's wing) president Jyotsna Banerjee has been nominated for the prestigious constituency.
Left parties responsible for BJP’s growth, alleges Congress
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress Tuesday challenged the Left parties claim to being secular and cited their aligning with the Bharatiya Janata Party to back the V.P. Singh government in 1989 to say they were "responsible for the BJP's electoral growth".
"The Left parties and their present partners pride themselves on being secular. On the contrary, it may be recalled that they had actively aligned with the BJP in the past. They are, in fact, responsible for the electoral growth of the BJP," the Congress manifesto, released at its national headquarters here, stated.
‘Moral policing’ rankles voters in Mangalore
By Maitreyee Boruah, IANS,
Mangalore : At the sprawling campus of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) near this Karnataka town, students are now discussing moral policing rather than their syllabus. While one wants to give a "befitting reply to communal forces", another wants to make Mangalore "safe for everyone".
Mamata demands Buddha’s resignation
By IANS,
Kolkata: After handing West Bengal's ruling Left an electoral drubbing, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee Monday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, saying it was democratic ethics to respect and accept the people's verdict.
"The Left is left out from the people. They have lost credibility," Banerjee said when asked to comment on speculation that Bhattacharjee had offered to resign after the ruling Left Front's poor showing in the Lok Sabha polls.
Great walls of states restrict regional satraps’ ambition
By Soroor Ahmed, TwoCircles.net,
Thackeray wants Aamir show telecast in Karnataka
By IANS,
Mumbai : Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray Tuesday asked the Karnataka government to allow the telecast of Bollywood star Aamir Khan's maiden television show "Satyameva Jayate".
TDP’s ‘Muslim declaration’ has placed the community on cloud nine
10% quota in job and education; 8% quota in assembly; Rs 2500Cr in annual budget
By Mohd. Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net,
Andhra high court dismisses Jagan’s bail plea
By IANS,
Hyderabad : The Andhra Pradesh High Court Thursday rejected YSR Congress Party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy's bail petition in an illegal assets case.
Cop beating: Court to hear legislators’ bail plea Monday
By IANS,
Mumbai : A court here Friday adjourned, to Monday, the bail plea of two Maharashtra legislators, who were arrested for beating up a policeman three days ago.
Karnataka government to unveil its policies Monday
By IANS,
Bangalore : The three-week-old Congress government in Karnataka faces the state legislature for the first time Monday with Governor H.R. Bharadwaj outlining its policies for the year.
Discussion on voting patterns in India and ‘tactical’ voting of Muslims
By TCN News,
New Delhi: Institute of Objective Studies organised a discussion on “Voting Patterns in India with Reference to Tactical Voting by Muslims” on February 27 in the Capital.
EC probing BJP’s ‘communal party’ tag in Tripura school books
Agartala : The Election Commission of India is probing the BJP being tagged a "communal party" in the textbooks of government schools in Left-ruled...
AAP’s Bhopal candidate Rachna Dhingra finds support at MIT
By TCN News,
Boston, USA. Supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) from the Greater Boston area gathered to screen award winning documentary (on the Bhopal disaster) Bhopali on Sunday April 6th at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The event was organized by the Boston chapter of University Students for Aam Admi Party (us4AAP), an organization with chapters in more than 100 campuses, and AAP - New England who have been actively working on supporting AAP candidates in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in India.
Ruckus in Lok Sabha over slur by Trinamool MP
By IANS,
New Delhi: A slur by Trinamool Congress member Sudip Bandyopadhyay against veteran CPI-M leader Basudeb Acharia triggered noisy opposition protests disrupting the Lok Sabha Tuesday.
Left party MPs staged a sit-in near Speaker Meira Kumar's podium demanding an apology from Bandyopadhyay, who was not present in the house when it resumed at 5.30 p.m. after two disruptions earlier over the Mumbai train strike.
The slogan-shouting MPs refused to return to their seats despite the speaker repeatedly trying to pacify them and requesting them to allow the house to function.
BJP resolutions a bundle of lies: Congress
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress Wednesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of making false charges against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in resolutions adopted at its national executive meeting at Patna, saying "its averments were a bundle of lies".
Congress spokesman Manish Tewari, referring to points made in the BJP resolutions, said here that it was wrong to say the central government was pauperizing the states.
JPC demand on nuke deal stalls parliament
By IANS
New Delhi : Opposition demands for constituting a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) on the India-US civilian nuclear deal stalled proceedings in the Lok Sabha Monday, forcing the adjournment of the house till 12 noon.
The opposition raised the demand as soon as the house met and in the din, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi was heard saying that the government could not form a JPC to discuss a bilateral agreement as the constitution did not provide for this.
Pan-India coverage for rural job guarantee scheme
New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS) Call it the Rahul Gandhi effect - the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme will cover the entire country and not just the 330 districts where it is currently operational, it was announced Friday.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and attended, among others, by Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, an aide in the Prime Minister's Office said.
"The government has approved the extension of the scheme to cover the entire country," the aide added.
Congress probes leaders caught with sex workers
By IANS
Bhopal : The Congress has initiated a probe following a TV channel showing footage of a birthday bash of its Madhya Pradesh leader with sex workers as guests that led to the suspension of two key party officials.
Two state Congress leaders, general secretary Govind Goyal and legal cell convenor J.P. Dhanopia, were suspended from the party after they were caught on camera with Bedia dancers at Goyal's birthday function held at a party office Nov 12.
Bhajan Lal, son and their ‘tea party’
By Jaideep Sarin, IANS
Chandigarh : It is a move that could impact the course of Haryana politics in the coming days.
As 'dissident' father-son duo - former chief minister Bhajan Lal and his MP son Kuldeep Bishnoi - prepare the ground for their rally in Rohtak town Dec 2, speculation is rife in the state's ruling Congress on whether the duo will finally call it quits from the party.
When asked about a new party being floated by Bhajan Lal, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda joked, "My information is that a tea party is being formed!"
Rabri dares Thackeray, says will perform Chhath in Mumbai
By IANS
Patna : Daring Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, Bihar's Leader of Opposition Rabri Devi Monday said she will join her husband Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in performing the Chhath Puja in Mumbai.
"I will join my saheb (Lalu Prasad) in performing Chhath Puja in Mumbai," Rabri Devi told newspersons here.
Lalu Prasad last month said: "If possible, I will go to Mumbai to perform Chhath Puja."
Bombay Should Be Changed To Mumbai: Sena
By Bernama,
Mumbai : Issuing a stern warning, Shiv Sena Party Chief Bal Thackeray Wednesday asked the all the institutions in the city with the name Bombay as prefix to change it to Mumbai, failing which the party would target them, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
"If the supporters of Bombay keep harping their tune, then the 'Bombaywallahs' will be forced to flee," Thackeray said in an editorial in the political party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
BJP to demand trust vote if Left withdraws support: Advani
By IANS,
Kanpur : The main opposition BharatIiya Janata Party (BJP) will demand a trust vote in parliament if the Left parties withdraw support to the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the India-US nuclear deal, the party's prime ministerial aspirant L.K. Advani said here Friday.
"We would press for the government to seek a confidence vote in the event of the Left withdrawing its support," he declared while kicking off the BJP's Lok Sabha poll campaign from the historic Phoolbagh Maidan in this Uttar Pradesh town.
Polls for 5 Assemblies: A mid-term ‘referendum’ for UPA-II?
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
‘Right to recall’ elected politicians only hope for Muslim community
By Aziz A. Mubaraki,
Do Muslims ever follow ‘Imams’ in elections?
By Ashfaque Khan,
Self-proclaimed tellers of the imagined Muslim Vote Bank are not going to influence voting behaviour in any significant way.
CPI-M opposes binding pact with EU
By IANS,
New Delhi : The CPI-M Wednesday urged the Indian government not to conclude any binding agreement with the Europen Union before discussing them with Indian stakeholders.
TRS set to join TDP-Left alliance in Andhra Pradesh
By IANS,
Hyderabad : The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) appears all set to join the 'grand alliance', headed by Andhra Pradesh's main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and including the Left parties, for the ensuing elections to the assembly and the Lok Sabha.
Congress to sing ‘Jai ho’ on campaign trail
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress is seeking to ride on the popularity of the Oscar-winning song "Jai ho" and released campaign CDs Friday set to its catchy music whose rights it has purchased.
The CDs focus on the country's development under the Congress. The lyrics, set to the song from the film "Slumdog Millionaire" that won eight Oscars, end with a catchline - "Aam admi ke badhtey kadam, har kadam par Bharat buland (With every step forward that the common man takes, India will reach its pinnacle of glory)".
Gogoi under pressure to drop non-performing ministers
By IANS,
Guwahati : Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is facing a rebellion of sorts from within his ruling Congress party with legislators seeking a reshuffle in the cabinet and dropping of "non-performing" ministers.
"A group of 27 legislators submitted a signed memorandum to the chief minister requesting him to effect a cabinet reshuffle by dropping inefficient ministers and inducting new faces," Raju Sahu, a Congress legislator representing the Chabua assembly constituency in eastern Assam, told IANS Thursday.
Trinamool MP tries to cross PM’s convoy
By IANS,
New Delhi : A heated argument Thursday broke out between Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee and security personnel when he tried to cross the security cordon laid for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh near parliament.
Highly placed security sources told IANS that Banerjee was in his car and wanted to go to parliament at the same time when the security cordon for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's convoy had already been laid. The incident occurred at the Vijay Chowk around 12.25 p.m.
UP Muslims reject Congress’ ‘farce’ on Batla, reservation
By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,