India Politics

By IANS,

By IANS, New Delhi : The new leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, Thursday launched a scathing attack on the government for its failure to curb food inflation but Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar seemed unperturbed, smiling throughout the speech. "Let him (Pawar) smile. Don't look at his smile. Just look at the tears of the poor who are suffering due to the government's wrong policies. Let him smile," an angry Sushma Swaraj said after she opened the debate on rising food prices.

By IANS,

By IANS, New Delhi : There were no hiccups in the Congress' alliance with the DMK and there were no possibilities of the party tying up with the AIADMK ahead of elections in the state next year, a party spokesperson said here Wednesday. "Our alliance (with the DMK) is strong," Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed told IANS. He clarified that the alliance continued and "there were no hiccups or misunderstanding between the two parties". He also stressed that the DMK was part of the United Progressive Alliance government.

By IANS Raipur : Brisk voting was underway at 150 voting centres in the Maoist-infested Keshkal assembly seat in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district amid tight security Monday. Voting began at 7 a.m. and about 20 percent of the 146,796 voters exercised their franchise till 11 a.m. Officials said nearly 5,000 policemen, including 24 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), have been deployed at Keshkal as the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has a stronghold in the forested interior regions of the constituency.

By Nityanand Shukla Ranchi : Tala Marandi's sacking as Jharkhand BJP chief just 13 weeks after his appointment has a lot to do with his...

By IANS, Ranchi : Jharkhand Friday withdrew many facilities, including free housing for lifetime, provided to former chief ministers as it spent millions of rupees on them every year, a senior official said. The decision was taken in a Jharkhand Governor Advisory Council meeting. "Now ex-chief ministers will get free house facilities for one month only. For the next two months, the ex-chief ministers can avail official housing by paying rent at par with the market rate," Jharkhand cabinet secretary Aditya Swaroop told reporters after the meeting here.

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday said both houses of parliament needed to be made free of tainted members and added that...

New Delhi : Actor-turned MP Rekha was seen in Rajya Sabha for brief period on Wednesday, attending the house for the first time in...

By IANS, New Delhi : In an indirect reference to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat said Sunday that Left parties will work towards making a Lok Sabha member the country's next prime minister.

By IANS, New Delhi : With the Left Front withdrawing support to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government Tuesday, India Inc. hopes the slow-moving economic reforms will now be put on the fast track. From key decisions pertaining to the financial sector to further opening up of the Indian economy to foreign investors, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government had its hands tied down by the crucial support from Left parties.

New Delhi : Indirectly attacking the BJP, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the practitioners of "politics of hatred" may have deprived the...

New Delhi : Stepping up its attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his jibe at the party on a land deal concerning Congress...

New Delhi : BJP leaders at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally here Sunday were caught by surprise when the party's chief ministerial candidate Kiran...

By IANS,

By IANS, Lucknow : In an apparent attempt to re-build her party's image, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Sunday blamed the opposition for "infiltrating" criminals into the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Having already taken a decision to expel as many as 500 activists on account of their criminal antecedents, Mayawati told a press conference here Sunday morning that more expulsions would follow on the same lines.

New Delhi : “It is not my defeat, it is a defeat of the BJP." With this telling statement following her humiliating defeat in...

By IANS,

Kolkata : Attacking the BJP for hiking fuel prices and railway fares, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday said the two seats the...

TwoCircles.net News Desk लखनऊ : ‘12 दिन की कस्टडी में यूपी एसटीएफ ने रिमांड में 5 लोगों के साथ लिया और बराबर नौशाद और जलालुद्दीन...

By IANS,

By IANS, Chennai : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Thursday greeted Viswanathan Anand for winning the World Chess Title for the fifth time.

New Delhi : Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday constituted a screening committee to scrutinise party candidates for the upcoming Punjab assembly elections, and...

By IANS, Patna : Four prominent criminal-turned-politicians of Bihar were barred from this Lok Sabha contest by courts. They put up their wives instead. Counting trends Saturday showed all four wives were trailing. Jailed RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin's wife Heena Sahab, contesting from Siwan constituency as an RJD candidate, was trailing behind independent candidate Om Prakash Yadav.

Kolkata : BJP president Amit Shah Sunday took a jibe at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday, and stopped his speech mid-way following...

By IANS,

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter, Barpeta (Assam): Elections occur on regular intervals since independence with so many faces at the helm but what does not change is the fate of deprived people. Take the example of thousand odd people of Barpeta district’s remotest area called Gomfulbari and its neighboring locations. Even now when the country is electing the Members of Parliament these fateful people are confused and rather worried whom to vote and what to expect.

By IANS, Ahmedabad : Former Gujarat minister Mohammad Surti of the Congress party was sentenced to 20 years in jail Saturday for his role in the 1993 twin bombings in Surat. The special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court also sentenced five others to 20 years in jail. The court convicted Surti, along with 11 others, in connection with the April 1993 grenade blast at Surat Railway station aimed at the Gujarat Express stationed there. Nearly 40 people were injured in the explosion.

By IANS, Itanagar : Moderate to brisk polling was recorded by noon Tuesday for assembly elections in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh held amid heightened security measures, officials said. "By and large voting is going on peacefully with an estimated 30 percent polling conducted till midday," an election official said. Voting began at 7 a.m. in 57 seats with three candidates already declared elected unopposed.

New Delhi : The ruling BJP Sunday hit out at the Congress for seeking a probe into the alleged Pakistani "terror boat" incident and...

By IANS, New Delhi : A coalition of regional parties including the Samajwadi Party Thursday raised "doubts" on the India-US nuclear deal and sought a national debate on the issue, dealing a blow to the Congress-led government's bid to stay afloat in the wake of an imminent withdrawal of support by the Left. After nearly four hours of animated discussions, leaders of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) insisted that the persisting doubts about the viability of the controversial nuclear deal needed to be clarified by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

By IANS, Chandigarh: The Election Commission (EC) Thursday deferred the disbursement of relief funds in Punjab till the election process is over in the state, a senior election officer said here.

Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday got an open endorsement from the Samajwadi Party for his brief stop over in Pakistan. Samajwadi Party's national...

By IANS, Gandhinagar : The Congress is unlikely to demand imposition of president's rule in Gujarat even if Chief Minister Narendra Modi's involvement in the 2002 post-Godhra riots is proved, senior party leader Shankersinh Vaghela said Monday. "The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government at the centre would only abide by apex court's orders in case the chief minister and his colleagues are found guilty in the post-Godhra riots but is unlikely to demand imposition of president's rule," he told reporters.

By IANS, Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati clarified that protest demonstrations her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had organised across Uttar Pradesh Friday were not connected with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's birthday. "We selected June 19 to launch an awareness campaign about the casteist approach of opposition parties and to attack the central government for its anti-Dalit policies but that had nothing to do with Rahul Gandhi's birthday, which I am told also falls today," she told a rally here.

By TwoCircles.net staff reporter

Jaipur: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state has decided to reintroduce the anti-conversion bill in the Assembly on 20th March, ignoring the fact that a similar bill is awaiting the President of India’s assent.

By IANS, New Delhi : The Rajya Sabha was adjourned Thursday morning when a question on what the government was doing in the four 'bimaru' states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh escalated into a full fledged row. The opposition seemed to get riled when Satyavrata Chaturvedi of the Congress got up to say that Bundelkhand region, which is spread over Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, was being ignored by both states. At this, a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP took umbrage and asked what was the basis of the statement.

By IANS,

Kolkata: Sixteen Left parties Sunday decided to observe Dec 6 - the day when the 16th century Babri mosque was destroyed in 1992 -...

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday said the NDA government's first budget converts hopes and aspirations of the people into trust, and...

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said he was pained by the sufferings of the farmers and farm workers and vowed...

Patna:Nearly half of the electorate in six Lok Sabha constituencies of Bihar cast their ballot Thursday even as two troopers headed for poll duty...

By IANS, Kolkata : West Bengal's ruling Left Front will begin mobilising cadres for the general elections this year with a rally here Feb 8, hoping it will not suffer the reverses of the panchayat polls last year. The rally will be held at the sprawling Brigade Parade Ground, state Left Front chairman Biman Bose announced Thursday. "We will hold a rally at the Brigade Parade Ground Feb 8 to make our party cadres gear up for the coming Lok Sabha elections,” Bose told reporters at the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) headquarters on Alimuddin Street here.

Kolkata: In a veiled attack on the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said a political party was smuggling in firearms...

New Delhi: VIP politicians, who were exempt from screening of their baggage at Delhi airport here, will now have no relaxation after a decision...

By IANS, New Delhi : More brickbats than bouquets came the government way during the budget session of parliament which came to an end Tuesday with the Rajya Sabha adjourning sine die. The upper house Tuesday witnessed near scuffles between the Congress members and those of the Samajwadi Party (SP) even as Law Minister Hans Raj Bharadwaj was tabling the session's politically most sensitive Women's Reservation Bill, 2008.

Hyderabad: Congress leader and former minister Galla Aruna Kumari and her industrialist son Galla Jayadev Saturday joined Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Aruna Kumari along with...

By IANS,

By IANS,

Kolkata : Condemning RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's comment on Mother Teresa, a forum of minorities organisations in West Bengal Saturday said the leader's "malicious"...

By IANS, Hyderabad : Congress leaders from Telangana seeking a separate state Monday left for New Delhi for talks with party general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Imphal : Several tribal groups began a 10-day economic blockade of Manipur from Thursday midnight. This caused fuel shortage and a spike in prices...

By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday appreciated the good work done by the central government secretaries in the past 10 months,...

New Delhi: A court here on Friday rejected the bail application of Delhi University's former professor S.A.R. Geelani, arrested on charges of sedition for...

By Jaideep Sarin , Chandigarh: Having a skewed sex ratio, one of the worst among Indian states, is not the only blot on Haryana. The...

Mumbai : The Maharashtra government Tuesday declared total prohibition in Chandrapur district from April 1, making it the third in the Viddarbha region to...

By IANS,

By Shafeeq Hudawi Kozhikode: Four Muslim students feature in the top 10 list of Kerala Medical Entrance Examinations results jointly announced by the Minister for...

By IANS,

By IANS New Delhi : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajnath Singh says since beauty is a gift of nature, it does not merit contests. Addressing a Virangana Sammelan organized by the BJP Mahila Morcha here on Friday on the eve of International Women's Day, Singh recalled how as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh he had banned beauty contests there and suggested the same be done throughout India. He said, "Beauty is a gift of nature. How can there be a contest?" he told the assembly of women foot soldiers of the party.

By IANS, Pune : A Shiv Sena leader was killed by unidentified assailants as he was returning home from the party office on the outskirts of the city, police said here Tuesday.

By IANS,

By IANS,

By IANS,

By IANS, New Delhi : Minister of State for Home Affairs Shriprakash Jaiswal Tuesday favoured a probe into the corruption charges against Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) secretary-general K. Jothikumaran. “The matter should be probed,” Jaiswal told reporters within the parliament premises when asked to comment on the alleged bribe sought by Jothikumaran from a private news channel reporter.

By IANS, Raipur : Several Congress leaders have targetted party leader Ajit Jogi for his alleged role in the defeat of candidates during the recent Chhattisgarh assembly elections. At a meeting to review the probable causes of Congress' failure in the November elections, several party candidates accused Jogi for their defeat. The meeting was held Saturday and was presided over by Congress general secretary and in-charge of Chhattisgarh state V. Narayanasamy.

New Delhi : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday filed a progress report of investigation it has conducted in coal block allocation case...

By IANS,

By IANS New Delhi : Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned Thursday as MPs belonging to opposition parties and the Left disrupted proceedings, alleging that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had misled the house on the India-US nuclear agreement. While the Lok Sabha was adjourned for half an hour at 11 a.m. due to disruptions by members of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) and the Left, Rajya Sabha was adjourned for an hour.

By IANS, Agartala : A Left-sponsored protest against hiked diesel prices and FDI in multi-brand retail trade crippled life in Marxist-ruled Tripura Thursday.

By IANS,

By Ram Puniyani, Last week (March 2014) Rahul Gandhi in an election campaign meeting said that ‘RSS people killed Gandhiji and today their people and BJP talk of him…They opposed Sardar Patel and Gandhiji.” In a reaction to his statement RSS has lodged a complaint with election commission. This is not the first time that Rahul Gandhi has made such a statement; on an earlier occasion also he had made similar statement. What is the truth of Gandhi murder; did RSS as an organization had any role in it? Were members of RSS involved in it? What was the reaction of RSS followers in the wake of Gandhi murder? What was the response of Sardar Patel, the then Home minister in Union Cabinet to this ghastly murder?

By IANS, Thiruvananthapuram : The Kerala assembly witnessed chaotic scenes Monday as opposition leaders strongly criticised Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan's remarks "belittling" former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Achuthanandan had at a press conference Friday shown Kalam in poor light, while defending the Communist Party of India-Marxist's (CPI-M) opposition to the India-US nuclear deal.

Chandigarh : Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was "bullying and pressurising" electorate in Punjab...

New Delhi: Delhi's AAP government on Wednesday launched its flagship scheme which allows students to avail education loans of up to Rs.10 lakh. Education Minster...

By IANS, Patna : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Friday said he fully supported Gandhian Anna Hazare's demand for a comprehensive and effective anti-corruption law.

Patna : Even as Bihar suspended 25 police officials in the wake of hooch tragedy that claimed 16 lives, authorities were also planning to...

Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan): India and Kyrgyzstan on Sunday inked four agreements, including those on deepening defence cooperation and working jointly in the field of elections. The...

By IANS, Ranchi : Karia Munda, 72, named Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha by his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has come a long way from being a farmer. The calm-looking and soft-spoken tribal leader from Jharkhand is known for his honesty and simplicity and is accessible to his workers. Munda was born in a farmer family and loves farming. He has been elected to the Lok Sabha six times from Khuti. He has never changed his constituency. He was central minister in 1977 in the Morarji Desai government. He again became central minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 2001.

Kolkata : Despite the sweltering heat, brisk polling was recorded with over 63 percent of the electorate exercising their franchise in the first six...

By IANS,

By IANS, New Delhi : The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day Thursday after repeated disruptions over Telangana and attacks by the Sri Lanka...

New Delhi : After undergoing naturopathy treatment in Bengaluru for 10 long days, a "fit and fresh" Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal resumed work...

By IANS,

By IANS, Mumbai : Aam Aadmi Party leader Anjali Damania Sunday alleged that NCP chief and union minister Sharad Pawar and spokesperson Nawab Malik were...

By IANS,

By IANS, Jammu : A senior Congress leader Saturday demanded the removal of Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra citing his alleged failure to control the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. Former minister and a lawmaker Raman Bhalla alleged Vohra had failed to instil confidence among the people and that the situation had deteriorated under his rule. Jammu and Kashmir is under governor's rule since July 9 when Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was heading the Congress-led coalition government, resigned from the post of chief minister.

New Delhi : Jawaharlal Nehru University vice chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar on Monday said there were no differences within the university and the entire...

By Mohit Dubey, IANS, Lucknow : A la Tamil Nadu, a temple is coming up in Uttar Pradesh, dedicated to Mulayam Singh Yadav. A "Samajwadi Chalisa" - for the Samajwadi Party - is already out.

By Saeed Naqvi, Even the skeptics now agree that India shall be a power in the Asian century. To insure this rise to the top, India must maximize all its assets. One asset for which it has a reputation is a lively media, a function of a relatively stable democratic order since independence.

New Delhi : BJP MP from Rajkot constituency in Gujarat, Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya who took oath as a minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's...

New Delhi: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy Friday urged President Pranab Mukherjee not to approve the appointment of a new army chief, arguing that its...

By IANS Bangalore : Former Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) Saturday told the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to keep off its "agenda" if it wanted their proposed alliance government in the state to last long. "If the BJP follows its agenda, then we are free to decide our course of action," Kumaraswamy told a local TV channel within hours of submitting to Governor Rameshwar Thakur a letter extending support to a BJP-led government in the state.

By Brajendra Nath Singh New Delhi : Bihar has awarded the performer. And punished negativity and needless aggression. This is the dominant feeling of...

By IANS, Mumbai : In yet another jolt to the Congress in two days, a top Konkan politician and four-time legislator Shankar Kambli walked over to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) here Monday.

By IANS, Hyderabad : Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat Tuesday asked the central government to issue directives to the Orissa government under Article 355 of the constitution to contain communal violence in the state. Talking to reporters, he said under Article 355, the central government could give specific directives to the state government to take immediate steps to check the violence and bring the culprits to book.

By IANS, Chennai : The ruling AIADMK Friday increased its tally in Tamil Nadu assembly with its candidate Karthik Thondaiman winning the Pudukottai by-election by a large margin.

By IANS, New Delhi : L.K. Advani, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) "iron man" who it says will restore decisiveness to governance if elected, continued to be under Congress fire Thursday even as his own party worker stunned him by throwing a sandal at him and calling him a "fake iron man". As the five-phase election process got underway, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party continued with their slugfest and the only relief for the beleaguered BJP on the day was the release of young Varun Gandhi from jail on parole.

By IANS, Thiruvananthapuram : The Congress party Monday renominated Vayalar Ravi, minister of overseas Indian affairs and parliamentary affairs for the Rajya Sabha elections from Kerala, while the state's ruling Left chose two journalists. While the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) nominated P. Rajiv, resident editor of its mouthpiece Deshabhimani, its partner Communist Party of India (CPI) chose M.P. Achuthan, resident editor of its mouthpiece Janayugam.

By IANS,

By IANS New Delhi : The chief ministers of Kerala and Tamil Nadu are likely to discuss the construction of a new dam to replace the more than 100-year-old Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala when they meet here on Dec 19, Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said Monday. According to Achuthanandan, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the chief ministers could discuss the contentious dam issue when they come to attend the National Development Council meeting here on that day.

By IANS,

By IANS, Lucknow: Shown the door by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and facing a cold reception by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership to his rejoining it after two acrimonious exits, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh Saturday announced he was setting up his own "pro-Hindutva" party. The two-time Uttar Pradesh chief minister told mediapersons here Saturday that his supporters wanted him to form an independent political outfit with Hindutva as its chief agenda.

By Brij Khandelwal, IANS,

By IANS, Gangtok : Results for Sikkim's lone Lok Sabha seat and the 32 assembly constituencies are expected to be known by 1 p.m. Saturday, an election official said Friday. According to the joint chief electoral officer (CEO) C.P. Dhakal, counting shall begin at 8 a.m. and all the results from all the four districts are expected to be out by 1 p.m. He said they had kept an extra hour in case there were any technical problems, and anticipated to complete the process by 2 p.m.

By IANS, Aurangabad/New Delhi : Gopinath Munde, one of the top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, Sunday resigned as its national general secretary, alleging that the party "is not being run on democratic lines". "I have quit all party posts including those of national general secretary and Maharashtra unit executive committee member as I have come to a painful conclusion that the party is not being run on democratic lines," Munde told reporters at the Aurangabad airport after returning from Mumbai.

Lucknow : The Election Commission has indicted the advocate general of Uttar Pradesh for using the state chopper and addressing an election rally favouring...

By IANS, Panaji : The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the junior partner in Goa's ruling coalition, has alleged that the Congress is trying to marginalise it, accentuating the rift within the alliance. "The Congress is trying to play big brother here. They seem to be upbeat after the results of the last general elections. There are clear attempts to marginalise the NCP in Goa," Avinash Bhonsle, the party's state general secretary, told IANS.