India Politics

By IANS, New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday released its second list of 43 candidates for the Dec 4 Rajasthan assembly elections, dropping a dozen sitting legislators. The dropped legislators include two ministers Babulal Verma and Bhawani Joshi. The party has given tickets to 20 new young faces, and the list includes nine women. Earlier, the BJP had announced 94 candidates. Rajasthan assembly has 200 seats. While the party is in the process of finalising the remaining candidates, it has struck an alliance with the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) on four seats.

By IANS, Thiruvananthapuram : All India Congress Committee coordinator Janardhan Poojary Thursday asked Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) state president K. Muraleedharan not to "criticise the affairs of another party". "Let him say what he wants, and not criticise the affairs of another party and the manner in which it is being run," Poojary told reporters here. Muraleedharan has openly criticised the manner in which state Congress president Ramesh Chennithala and leader of opposition Oommen Chandy have been running the Congress party here.

By IANS,

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New Delhi : The AAP's Amanatullah Khan, who won the Delhi assembly election from Okhla constituency, Tuesday said his party would demand a probe...

By NNN-PTI, New Delhi : Rahul Gandhi can become Prime Minister as early as after the Lok Sabha (Lower House) elections due soon if there was a suitable mandate, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated today. Mukherjee, whose statement that days are not far off for Rahul who "may follow the footsteps of his father to become the Prime Minister", two days back, led to a chorus of demand, reiterated his remarks today in an interview to CNN-IBN.

By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net

By Prashant Sood, IANS,

Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party in its Lok Sabha manifesto released Wednesday has promised job quota for Muslims. Releasing the manifesto, party chief and former Uttar...

By TCN News, Hyderabad: ‘Roushan Basti ‘Project, an initiative to bring light of knowledge, prosperity, empathy and morality is launched here at Arsh Mahal slum...

Patna: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday inaugurated the longest four-lane flyover of Bihar here, saying it will provide people much needed relief from...

By IANS,

By Subhash K Jha, IANS,

By IANS, New Delhi : Social activist Anna Hazare Tuesday said that former colleague and Aam Aadmi Party founder Arvind Kejriwal was "dreaming" if he thinks Hazare would support him.

By IANS, Panaji : The Indian Navy is illegally occupying land in Goa even 50 years after the state was liberated from more than 450 years of Portuguese rule, a Congress MP said Wednesday.

Yavatmal (Maharashtra) : Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Friday attacked the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, accusing him of "ruining" the farmers of...

By IANS, Panaji : Even as the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have joined hands to field consensus candidates from Goa for the Lok Sabha polls, a running feud between two state ministers and a legislator of the ruling combine shows no sign of abating. Tourism Minister and NCP legislator Francisco Pacheco, who has been gunning for the disqualification of two Congress legislators over their questionable entry into the party, said that a recent Election Commission order in this regard had "vindicated" him.

By IANS New Delhi : The central committee of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Thursday began a three-day meeting to finalise its stance on economic, foreign and other policy issues ahead of the party congress next year. The focus of the discussions, aimed at the draft political resolution for the once in three years party congress from March 29-April 2 in Coimbatore, is expected to be the India-US nuclear deal and the fight against US imperialism. The meeting of the 85-member central committee began with the politburo meet Thursday morning.

Ambedkar Nagar (Uttar Pradesh) : BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Monday said the SP, the BSP and the Congress might fight elections against...

By IANS,

By IANS, Shillong : Six NGOs Saturday called for a 24-hour Meghalaya shutdown May 18, even as Chief Minister Mukul Sangma called an all-party meeting May 17 to discuss the situation in the state after the police firing at the disputed Langpih village in which four people were killed. "The chief Minister has called a cabinet meeting Monday which will be followed by an all-party meeting and subsequently a meeting with the NGOs to discuss Friday's incident at Langpih," Deputy Chief Minister Bindo M. Lanong, who is in-charge of law, told IANS.

By IANS,

Lucknow : BJP general secretary Varun Gandhi has ruled out campaigning against his estranged cousin and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh's...

By IANS, Malihabad (Lucknow): The Congress party Sunday started its campaign for by-polls to be held in six assembly constituencies Aug 18 with a rally by party national general secretary Digvijay Singh in this Uttar Pradesh town. Addressing an impressive roadside rally, Singh drew much applause when he sought to issue a warning to Chief Minister Mayawati, "Tum guroor mein nahin rahna; janata ke vote pa kar satta mein aayee ho, aur janata ke vote se hi tum jaogi," (Don't be too proud; it was the people's vote that brought you to power and the same vote will drive you out).

By IANS, New Delhi : Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal Wednesday indicated that the government could bring a motion to revoke suspension of seven Rajya Sabha members if they expressed regret over their behaviour to Chairman Hamid Ansari. "It (the suspension) was a well-considered action as they (the members) had insulted dignity of the house. The minimum thing is to go the chairman," Bansal told reporters here. He said the members should at least realize their mistake.

By IANS, New Delhi : The Supreme Court Thursday upheld the validity of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) saying it was for public good, but felt its working could be improved. The court said the scheme was not unconstitutional and there was no reason to scrap it over allegations of misuse of funds. A five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices R.V. Raveendran, D.K. Jain, P. Sathasivam and J.M. Panchal said: "We hold the MPLAD scheme is valid. We have no reason to interfere."

By IANS Patna : It can only happen in Bihar. A Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) legislator has been found to be not a citizen of India but of Nepal, and her name struck off the voter list. LJP legislator Nagina Devi's name was removed from the voter list on the orders of Sitamarhi Sub Divisional Officer Bharat Jha. She represents the Bathnaha constituency. "Yes, her name was removed after she failed to produce any documentary evidence to prove her Indian citizenship," Jha said Friday.

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday warned people who he said were using the poor to convert their black money into...

New Delhi : A special court hearing the coal block allocation case allegedly involving industrialist Naveen Jindal on Thursday pulled up the CBI for...

By IANS, New Delhi : The Delhi State Election Commission Friday announced that the nomination process for candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will begin Saturday. Details of the nomination process, which will culminate April 18, will be available in the commission's website, Delhi's chief electoral officer Satbir Silas Bedi said. "The notification for the general election to the seven Lok Sabha seats and by-election to one Assembly seat in Delhi will be issued Saturday and the nomination process will start simultaneously," Bedi said.

BY IANS,

By IANS, New Delhi : Known for hogging the limelight, Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh is maintaining a low profile and keeping to himself in Tihar Jail, prison officials said.

Kolkata : Union minister and BJP leader Sanjeev Balyan on Monday demanded a probe into allegations of arrangements being made for a dog...

Hyderabad : In a huge setback to the Congress, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Monday ruled out a merger with it. After six-hour long meeting...

By IANS, Bhopal : Politicians who claim to have jumped into the fray to 'serve the people' have become wealthier manifold, some even upto 300 percent, in the past five years, but many still do not possess a PAN card, said the National Election Watch (NEW) Sunday. "While the property of several candidates has doubled in the past five years, in many cases it has increased more than three hundred times as compared to the last general elections in 2004," said Rakesh Ranjan, who is convenor of the state unit of NEW - that monitors poll-related facts.

The Government should observe democratic propriety and pay heed to the majority in Parliament By V. P. Singh (Former Prime Minister of India)

By IANS, New Delhi : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday cancelled her meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, citing ill health, highly placed sources said here.

By Syed Zarir Hussain, IANS,

By IANS,

New Delhi : The BJP Monday dismissed the protests of Trinamool Congress parliamentarians over the recovery of a diary concerning the Sahara Group that...

By IANS,

Kolkata : The BJP on Sunday moved the Election Commission seeking the removal of an "influential" IPS officer with "strong links" with West Bengal's...

By TCN Staff Reporter,

Ghaziabad : Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik on Tuesday said he had sent back for re-examination the list of persons to be nominated for...

By IANS,

By IANS, Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Saturday held the second meeting within a week to review the law and order situation in the state. Barely seven days after she had warned officials that the axe would fall on them for any lapse, Mayawati issued yet another set of instructions to senior police and administrative officials at the meeting, official sources said.

By IANS New Delhi : India's ruling coalition and its communist allies met Monday to discuss their differences over the Indo-US nuclear deal and decided to meet again Nov 16. A statement issued at the end of the meeting said the discussions took place in a "constructive and cordial atmosphere". Leaders of the Congress and its allies in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and of the four Left parties backing the government discussed the implications of the Hyde Act on India's nuclear policy and the country's pursuit of an independent foreign policy.

By Shradha Chettri, Darjeeling : "The dream of the Gorkhas is my dream too" is what BJP's soon-to-be prime minister Narendra Modi had said in...

By IANS, Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M. Karunanidhi Sunday denied receiving a letter from industrialist Ratan Tata, delivered by corporate lobbyist Niira Radia in 2007.

By IANS, New Delhi : At least 1,138 candidates have filed their nominations for the Delhi assembly elections scheduled for Nov 29. Tuesday was the last day for filing nominations. According to the Delhi electoral office, the number could go up. "This is the tentative list received till 10 p.m. and the final list with a few more names and a proper division of district-wise nominations is expected later," said an election official.

By TCN News,

By IANS,

By Irfan Engineer Election time is season for Manifestoes of major political parties participating in the poll. Manifestoes are seen by some members of the...

Pathankot (Punjab): Occasional sound of firing could be heard from inside as search and combing operations by security forces continued at the Indian Air...

New Delhi : Senior lawyer Fali Nariman has declined to be a member of the panel for selecting India's first ever Lokpal, saying the...

By Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam, Campaign 2014 was like no other in India’s election history in its scale, intensity, deployment of technology, human resource and staggering amount of money. This is particularly true of BJP, as no other party came up to five percent of it.

By IANS, New Delhi : Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has disqualified two National Democratic Alliance (NDA) MPs - H.T. Sangliana of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Ramswaroop Prasad of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), who voted in favour of the government in the July 22 trust vote. "The speaker, Lok Sabha, disqualified H.T. Sangliana and Ramswaroop Prasad from the membership of the house vide his order dated Oct 3 under the 10th Schedule to the Constitution," said a one-line statement issued by the speaker's office Tuesday.

By IANS,

By IANS, New Delhi: The Election Commission Monday met petitioners who have filed cases in courts across the country challenging the efficacy of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and agreed to offer machines so they could demonstrate their claims of tamperability. "We met the Election Commission and demanded it offer us EVMs to demonstrate that these can be tampered with. The commission has agreed and will tell us tomorrow (Tuesday) of the time to give this demonstration," Hari Prasad, managing director of Net India, a Hyderabad based software company, told IANS after the meeting.

Kozhikode (Kerala): Operations resumed at the international airport here on Thursday after it was closed down on Wednesday when a CISF personnel was shot...

By IANS, Jammu : Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad Sunday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s “rise” in the state was “worrying” for the entire country. "It does worry me. These trends are the outcome of unfortunate things that happened (Amarnath land row) in July and August. The question is that secularism is getting shrunk at the cost of development," Azad told reporters here as counting for the assembly polls was underway Sunday.

By IANS, Chennai: Inviting the people of Iddinthakarai in Tamil Nadu to become members, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is mulling to contest from 12...

New Delhi : Haryana has recorded the highest voter turnout in any assembly election so far, the Election Commission said here Wednesday. "Haryana recorded a...

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New Delhi : Amid ruckus and disruptions in the Rajya Sabha, the government on Thursday moved a bill to amend the Prevention of...

By IANS, Shillong : The Meghalaya assembly Friday passed a controversial bill declaring shutdowns "illegal" and "unconstitutional" amid vociferous protests and a walkout from the opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The Meghalaya Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill 2010 was passed without a debate, but NCP legislators said discussions were needed before such legislations. The NCP walked out when Speaker Charles Pyngrope denied its plea.

Kolkata: Government and commercial establishments were functioning normally in most parts of the West Bengal as a Congress sponsored 12 hour shutdown on Tuesday...

By IANS, New Delhi : Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi returned to Delhi Monday after visiting his mother Sonia Gandhi, who is abroad recuperating after a surgery, party sources said.

New Delhi : The Congress Wednesday said the central government can't take credit for revealing names of people holding black money abroad when it...

By IANS,

Sundernagar : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Sunday launched 'Rajiv Gandhi Digital Student Yojna' here in this town in Mandi district, said...

Srinagar: The opposition National Conference (NC) legislators, including former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, on Wednesday staged a sit-in outside the state...

By A. Mirsab, TwoCircles.net, Mumbai: Considering the backwardness of Minorities in the Education field, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan Thursday asked the state bureaucracy to bring out a separate education policy for minority students.

Thiruvananthapuram: After drawing a blank with no representation in the Narendra Modi cabinet, it was the same story for Kerala Saturday when no one...

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

By IANS,

By IANS, New Delhi : The countrywide opposition shutdown Monday, called by the Left parties and the NDA, against the fuel price hike is for the "first time in India's history", veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani said Sunday. Advani, who is the BJP Parliamentary Board chairperson, said of the Bharat Bandh called by the National Democratic Alliance and Left parties on the same day, said: "As far as my memory goes, this is for the first time I am seeing so many of the political parties coming together calling a Bharat Bandh."

By IANS Bhopal : The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will withdraw support to the central government, party chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati said here Sunday, accusing the Congress, which leads the ruling coalition, of threatening her with court cases. Addressing an impressive 'Bhaichara Rally' or brotherhood rally, Mayawati said the BSP would withdraw support after the budget session of parliament beginning this month since the Congress, which leads the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), was "trying to trap me in the Taj Corridor case".

अफ़रोज़ आलम साहिल, TwoCircles.net गया : बिहार में अब मुख्यमंत्री बन बीजेपी ने के लिए पीएम नरेन्द्र मोदी के पद-चिन्हों पर चहल-क़दमी करने की होड़...

Mumbai : The Shiv Sena Thursday said that the BJP government in Maharashtra won the vote of confidence in the assembly Wednesday, but lost...

By IANS, Chennai : DMK president M. Karunanidhi Wednesday accused the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu of practising vindictive politics, after he was not allowed to meet a jailed party leader.

Bengaluru : Expanding its base in the country, especially the seven states where it is weak, will be the focus of the Bharatiya Janata...

New Delhi : Noted journalist and author M.J. Akbar, who was the spokesperson for the Congress nearly two decades back, was Tuesday named a...

Mumbai: A group of Shiv Sainiks on Monday morning protested at BCCI president Shashank Manohar's office here against his move to hold talks with...

By IANS, Panaji : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday publicly apologised for not fielding a single woman candidate for the forthcoming March 3 polls in Goa.

By IANS Bangalore : Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa Monday quit office after mercurial partner Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) withdrew support to his government, exactly a week after he took over as the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) first chief minister in the country's south. In a dramatic turnaround, the JD-S had announced that it would vote against the BJP when the assembly takes up a confidence vote, setting the stage for the fall of the second government in the state in less than two months.

Thrissur (Kerala) : The two Communist parties should unite, as this is the need of the hour, CPI-M politburo member M.A. Baby said Saturday...

By IANS,

By IANS Mumbai : Six legislators were suspended for a year after they created mayhem in the Maharashtra assembly Tuesday and injured the presiding officer in the house. The legislators are: Arjun Khotkar (Shiv Sena), Raj Purohit and Sanjay Kute (both Bharatiya Janata Party-BJP), Wamanrao Chatap (Swatantra Bharat Paksha) and two independents supporting the Democratic Front government, Bachchu Kadu and Sanjay Chavan. The legislators were angry when the presiding officer in the evening, Chandrakant Chhajed, did not permit them to speak on certain issues.

By IANS,

By IANS, New Delhi : Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has hit out at United Progressive Alliance leaders from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for criticising his government over its alleged inability to prevent the attacks on migrants. In an interview to the NDTV news channel aired Sunday night, Deshmukh rubbished Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh's description of Maharashtra as a "banana republic". He said it was unfair on the part of the Congess' allies in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to criticise law and order in Maharashtra.

Bhubaneswar: Polling began on a peaceful note for 10 Lok Sabha and 70 assembly seats in Odisha, an official said. People stood in queues outside...

By IANS,

By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net The demonetisation move may have led to over 100 deaths and huge discomfort for a majority of the people, but...

By IANS Kolkata : A nationwide shutdown Wednesday called by a communist trade union demanding better working conditions for the country's 360 million unorganised sector workers evoked mixed response in the Left-ruled West Bengal and Kerala while it brought life to a halt in Tripura. There was not much response to the strike call in other parts of the country by the Centre for Indian Trade Union (CITU), affiliated with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) which spearheads the Left Front governments in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.

By IANS New Delhi : Congress leaders Sunday unanimously condemned the attack on the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) office here by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activists, terming it "a sordid act of hooliganism", and some leaders even visited the party office. Led by union Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni, Congress leaders criticised the attack, while Congress spokesperson M. Veerappa Moily along with B.K. Hariprasad, and Kishor Chandra Deo, both senior party leaders visited the CPI-M office.

By TwoCircles.net Staff reporter, Delhi: Following inquiry of alleged Al-Qaeda operatives Abdul Rahman and Mohammed Asif in Delhi, Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Gujarat...

By IANS, Ranchi : Writer and theatre personality Deepak Ranjan Chatterjee was shocked when officials at a polling booth in Jharkhand told him that he could not vote because he was dead -- in their records! A day after the first round of assembly elections in the state Wednesday, Chatterjee related what he underwent in Jamshedpur city.

By IANS, Chennai : In the numbers game sparked by the Left's withdrawal of support, Congress allies in Tamil Nadu are promising to save the government -- almost everyone that is. All 39 members from Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha helped to prop up the Manmohan Singh government after the 2004 parliamentary election. And these 39 MPs are as important as the 39 of the Samajwadi Party. Four of the Tamil Nadu MPs are from the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), and they will not support the government.

By IANS,

Chandigarh : Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has objected to the manner in which the central government has issued an eviction notice to...

By IANS,

By IANS, Bangalore : The Congress should go alone in the Oct 13 Maharashtra assembly elections and can explore a post-poll alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said here Tuesday. "The party high command will decide the strategy for Maharashtra polls. I have conveyed my views to party president (Sonia Gandhi) that we can revive our fortunes in the state by contesting on our strength," Deshmukh, a former Maharashtra chief minister, told reporters on the margins of an official function.

By IANS, New Delhi : Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will present the budget for 2012-13 on March 16, the government announced Tuesday.

By Jaideep Sarin, IANS,