Congress, NCP to contest LS polls together in Maharashtra

NEW DELHI: The Congress and NCP will contest Lok Sabha polls together in Maharashtra,Congress leader A K Antony said on Monday.


Congress gets 26 seats, NCP 22 as per the seat sharing agreement.

UPA govt is in ICU, says Advani

New Delhi: Criticising the crisis-ridden UPA government, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and senior BJP leader L K Advani has said that the Congress-led dispensation is "in a state of paralysis."

Speaking at a function organised by a financial daily in Mumbai on Saturday, Advani said, "In my six decades in national politics, I have never come across a government that has remained in a state of paralysis for so long a time, due to its own internal contradictions."

"The UPA government is in ICU and how it will rescue itself is something that I don't know. I am not a doctor," he said.

On the inflation rate which has touched a 13-year high of 11.05 per cent, Advani said, "People expected better management of the nation's economy from Manmohan Singh, who is known to be a distinguished economist."

PM wants to quit over nuclear deal

June 20, 2008, Congress sources told rediff.com late on Thursday night that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is putting the maximum pressure possible on Congress party president Sonia Gandhi to go ahead with the India-US nuclear deal. The tussle between Dr Singh and some party leaders, who do not want an early general election provoked by the withdrawal of Left support, is on and far from over, the Congress sources added.
Dr Singh would like to resign as prime minister if the Congress party does not back him on the deal. However, negotiations between Dr Singh and the party continue and the final verdict is not out yet.
The prime minister is likely to continue pressurising the Congress leadership before the next United Progressive Alliance-Left parties meeting on the nuclear deal on June 25.
Dr Singh will not have much to lose if he insists on an exit from power because his four-year tenure has ensured his place in history. The final year in power will be the most difficult with international oil prices likely to cross $150 per barrel.
Another factor behind the current political drama in New Delhi over the nuclear deal is a powerful lobby's belief that a strategic partnership with the United States is a win-win situation for India and the US. Dr Singh's supporters think it is time "the Congress calls the bluff of the Left parties" and goes ahead with the nuclear deal.
But it seems difficult for Dr Singh to garner his own party's support for the deal. Notwithstanding the public stand of UPA allies like Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad, Nationalist Congress President Sharad Pawar [Images] and Dravida Munnetra Kazagham supremo M Karunanidhi supporting the deal, the Congress is well aware that these allies do not want an early election, and certainly not in November. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the mediator between the Congress, the Left parties and its allies, briefed Dr Singh on the issue today.
Dr Singh cancelled all his appointments for Thursday, June 19. An official statement said the prime minister is unwell and running a viral fever.
The prime minister is understandably anguished because it will be embarrassing for him to travel to Tokyo next month for the G-8 summit -- where he will meet US President George W Bush -- after suffering a domestic political defeat on a diplomatic issue of great importance. "The prime minister," a reliable Congress source said, "wants to save his prestige in an international forum."

source: www.redif.com

Poll debacle makes Congress hold 'introspection camp'

June 06, 2008 23:02 IST
In search of a 'mantra' for victory after a series of electoral losses, the Congress will hold a 'Chintan Shivir' in the second week of July.

The 'introspection camp' will be timed so that it can take into account the report of the Antony committee, set up this week to suggest a winning strategy for the coming Assembly elections, as well as the Lok Sabha polls, party sources said.

The venue of the meeting has so far not been decided, but it will be held in Delhi or somewhere nearby, the sources added.

The decision to hold the 'Chintan Shivir' was taken at the Congress Working Committee held on Saturday, in which the electoral losses, including the recent poll debacle in Karnataka, were discussed in depth.

The 'Chintan Shivir' will discuss the lessons learnt from the elections gone by and will focus on preparing a road-map for the Assembly as well as Lok Sabha polls.

The last time the Congress held such an introspection session was in Shimla in 2003, just ahead of the previous Lok Sabha elections. Prior to that, the party had held such a brainstorming session in Panchmarhi in 1998.

Congress starts selection of candidates for LS polls

The Congress on Wednesday said that the process of declaring its candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha election would start soon.

"Party leaders sent to various constituencies for selection of nominees have already submitted their reports. The party will soon announce its candidates in certain seats, where there is a unanimous opinion on nominees," All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijay Singh said.

To a question on reports on some understanding being reached with the Samajwadi Party for the elections, Singh said, "There has been no dialogue with any political party over the issue.

"The past experience of pre-poll alliance in the state had not been good for the party. I want Congress to field its nominees on all the seats where it has good candidates," Singh, in-charge of party affairs in Uttar Pradesh, said.

Singh said he would spend more time in the state to prepare for the elections as 'ill-preparations' in Karnataka had cost the party dearly.

The senior Congress leader termed speculations about Priyanka Vadra contesting from Lucknow seat as 'rumours'.
On the deteriorating law and order situation in Rajasthan following the Gujjar agitaion, he said the situation could be tackled through dialogue.

Ruling out imposition of President Rule, Singh said, "It's not possible in today's context to invoke Article 356 due to the political compulsions of a coalition government."

Soruce: www.rediff.com

Congress bites dust in Lok Sabha by-elections

New Delhi (PTI): In a replay of Karnataka results, the Congress on Sunday tasted defeats in by-elections to three Lok Sabha constituencies in as many states even as it retained two assembly seats in Haryana.

Posting thumping wins, saffron parties BJP and Shiv Sena retained Hamirpur and Thane Parliamentary seats in Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra respectively.
NCP's Agatha K Sangma, daughter of nine-time MP and former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Agitok Sangma, romped home from Tura Lok Sabha seat in Meghalaya.
Twentyseven-year-old Agatha, a Delhi-based lawyer, trounced Congress nominee Zenith Sangma by a huge margin of 99,855 votes.

Maintaining its winning streak in Himachal, the BJP retained the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat when its candidate Anurag Thakur, son of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, emerged triumphant by a record margin.

Anurag, HP Cricket Association President, trounced his nearest Congress rival O P Rattan by 1,74,666 votes.

Dhumal's son victory margin created a record eclipsing the one held by BJP's Suresh Chandel who had won the seat by 1.27 lakh votes in 1999.

Shiv Sena's candidate Anand Paranjpe humbled NCP's Sanjeev Naik, son of Maharashtra Minister Ganesh Naik, by 90,872 votes in the Thane Lok Sabha by-election.
Anand, son of Sena MP Prakash Paranjpe whose death necessitated the bypoll, polled 4,62,766 votes against Naik's 3,71,894.

In the three assembly by-elections in Haryana, the newly-floated Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) wrested the Adampur seat from Congress which retained Indri and Gohana.
The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab maintained its sway over the Amritsar South assembly seat winning it by a margin of over 22,OOO votes.

The Haryana Janhit Congress opened its account in the state assembly when former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal won the Adampur seat for a record 10th time.

Septuagenarian Lal, expelled from the Congress after he joined the Haryana Janhit Congress floated by his son Kuldeep Bishnoi last December, drubbed his nearest Congress rival Ranjit Singh by a margin of over 26,188 votes.

Lal had romped home from Adampur constituency for the first time in 1968 when mid-term elections were held in the state.

Except in 1987 when his wife Jasma Devi won the seat after he moved over to the Centre, the 78-year-old former Congress veteran had emerged triumphant from the seat ten times.
In two other assembly by-elections in the state, the Congress retained both Indri and Gohana seats.

The by-polls arose after the disqualification of three Congress members -- Bhajan Lal, Rakesh Kamboj and Dharampal Malik -- from the state assembly for joining the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL).

Both Kamboj and Malik, who tried their luck from Indri and Gohana seats respectively, bit the dust.

In the Indri assembly by-election, Congress nominee Bhim Sen Mehta defeated Rakesh Kamboj by a margin of 5,865 votes.

The Congress bagged the Gohana seat in Sonepat district with its candidate Jagbir Singh Malik humbling his nearest INLD rival K C Bangar by 22,162 votes.
In Punjab, the SAD retained the Amritsar South assembly seat when its candidate Inderbir Singh Bolaria trounced his nearest Congrees rival Navdeep Singh Goldy by a margin of 22, 233 votes.

The by-elections to three Lok Sabha and four assembly seats spread over five states were held on May 22. Source: The Hindu