Rashtriya Janata Dal celebrates good show in Bihar by-polls

Patna, Sept 20 (ANI): The activists of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) here celebrated the party’s good show in the by-election for 18 legislative assembly seats.

The RJD-Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) won eight seats in the by-election for 18 legislative assembly seats, a major set back to ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U).

The JD (U) bagged three seats while its ally the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won two seats.

The activists burst crackers and distributed sweets to celebrate the win at the party office.

RJD leader Lalu Prasad termed the results as referendum on the ruling government.

“It is not possible for the Bihar Government-led by Nitish Kumar to return. The RJD alliance will return to power. The people of Bihar have welcomed us with open arms,” said Yadav.

The RJD failed poorly in Lok Sabha election in April-May this year, winning just four seats out of the total 40 in Bihar. (ANI)

Shiv Sena-BJP alliance confident of victory in Maharashtra assembly polls

Mumbai, Sep 19(ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena on Saturday expressed confidence about emerging victorious in the forthcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections.

“It is 45 years since Shiv Sena came into being. And this first day of Navaratri happens to be a red-letter day in the history of Shiv Sena that has crusaded for the cause of Samyukta (unified) Maharashtra. Considering all these aspects, I feel it is an auspicious timing (of) declaring the seat arrangement and we are confident of our combine emerging victorious,” said Uddhav Thackeray, Executive President of Shiv Sena party.

Leaders of both the parties confirmed that there was no bargaining for seats between the two allies.

“Today, is the first day of Dussera and we have arrived at the figures of seat sharing. Yes, it is 169 and 119. The 169 in favour of Shiv Sena and 119 for BJP and it will be interesting to note that both the figures end in 9, a lucky number; 169 and 119. And now onwards we will work on joint strategy. There is no clash of interests and now onwards we will devote to the selection of suitable candidates,” said Gopinath Munde, senior BJP leader.

In the 2004 elections, Shiv Sena had contested for 171 seats while BJP had contested for 117 and jointly they had bagged 119 seats in the legislative house of 289 members.

The alliance of Congress and regional National Congress Party (NCP) had emerged victorious in the 2004 polls. (ANI)

Congress – NCP to finalise seat-sharing formula on Saturday

New Delhi, Sep 19 (ANI): The crucial meeting of the Congress Party and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders will be held here on Saturday to give the final shape to the seat sharing agreement for next month’s Maharashtra Assembly polls.

The Election Commission issued notification for the assembly polls in Maharashtra, which is to be held on October 13.

On Thursday it was reported that both parties had broadly agreed to a formula of 174: 114 seats for the Congress and the NCP respectively.

The Maharashtra Assembly has 298 constituencies.

Poll management leaders of both the Congress and the NCP met their respective party chiefs on Friday after three days of negotiations.

They had earlier held a series of discussions in Mumbai to give final shape to the seat sharing process.

If the current formula gets the stamp of approval of both parties then the NCP would settle for ten seats less than what it contested the last time.

Meanwhile the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – Shiv Sena alliance settled on a seat sharing, for 119 for the BJP and 169 seats for Shiv Sena (ANI)

Police swoop on sellers of Jaswant Singh’s pirated book in Pak

Lahore, Sep.18 (ANI): Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh’s book on Mohammad Ali Jinnah has sent the Pakistani book piracy nexus working overtime, but it has also landed people in police custody.

Pakistani security agencies have arrested three people for selling pirated editions of the book ‘Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence,’ following a countrywide crackdown on publishers and sellers of counterfeit editions of the controversial yet popular book.

Several fake copies of the book have also been recovered and cases have been registered in Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi and Lahore, The Daily Times reported.

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials said the action was taken on a complaint filed by Tariq Haq, regional sales head of the Oxford University Press (OUP).

Tariq said the OUP had the sole rights of publication and distribution of the book and the company is facing heavy losses due to large scale piracy of the book.

Singh’s book which has created a furor in India, has received an overwhelming response in Pakistan.

Not only intellectuals, but people from different strata of the society have also shown interest in the book, in which Singh has praised Muhammad Ali Jinnah and described him as a leader who had strong faith in united India, while blaming Sardar Patel for the partition in 1947. (ANI)

Mayawati slams Congress party’s austerity drive

Lucknow, Sep 18 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has ridiculed Congress party’s austerity drive, terming it as a ploy to steer attention away from the steep price rise.

Addressing a mass rally here on Thursday, Mayawati hit out at the Congress party, calling its austerity drive “a drama.”

“Because of the wrong doings by the Congress government at the centre, the prices are rising due to which poor people across the country are suffering. And now to cover up its weaknesses, they have cut down on its travelling expenses by flying economy class and travelling by train. All this is just a drama,” Mayawati said.

“With a drought looming and elections in some states approaching, the Congress-led government has embarked on a much-publicised austerity drive,” she added.

In a country where the hierarchy of politicians is determined by the size of their bungalows and their convoys, Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi has asked party leaders to give up a fifth of their salaries for drought-relief work, and she flew economy class on a commercial flight to Mumbai to launch the poll campaign.

The finance ministry has appealed for fewer overseas trips with smaller entourages, and a ban on conferences in luxury hotels.

Bharatiya Janata Party and other political parties have criticised the austerity measures in view of the economic downturn and drought-like situation prevailing in the country as a case of ‘tokenism’. (ANI)

Rashtriya Janata Dal celebrates good show in by-polls in Bihar

Patna, Sep 18 (ANI): Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) celebrated its good show in state by-election on Thursday.

The RJD-Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) won eight seats in the by-election for 18 legislative assembly seats, a major setback to ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U).

JD (U) bagged three seats while its ally Bharatiya Janata Party won two seats.

RJD activists gathered at the party office and burst crackers and distributed sweets to celebrate the win.

Rabri Devi, leader of opposition in Bihar legislative assembly, termed the results as referendum against the ruling government.

“Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar is fooling the public. The people of Bihar have understood it and that’s why they have rejected the ruling party. I congratulate the people of Bihar. I am sure that people will keep on voting for Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance,” said Devi.

RJD failed poorly in Lok Sabha election in April-May this year, winning just four seats out of the total 40 in Bihar. (ANI)

Shekhawat says Jaswant’s expulsion wrong

New Delhi, Sep 10(ANI): Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat on Thursday said the decision to expel Jaswant Singh was wrong.

“The way Jaswant Singh has been treated, I do not approve of it,” Shekhawat said.

Shekhawat was in the national capital. Jaswant Singh called on him, but said his visit did not have any political motive.

“I had come to enquire about his health and did not come here (Bhairon Singh Shekhawat’s residence) with a political motive. As you know, I’m not a member of the BJP and Bhairon Singh was one of the founder members of the party. So, I have come to see him,” said Singh.

Jaswant Singh was expelled from the party last month for writing a controversial book that was sympathetic to Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, but critical of India’s first Home Minister Sardar Patel and first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru for their role in the partition of the Indian subcontinent. (ANI)

Congress party activists court arrest in Gwalior

Gwalior, Sep 9 (ANI): Hundreds of activists of Congress party courted arrest in Gwalior protesting against State government for power cuts, increasing crime, inadequate water supply and other local issues.

The activists, joined by several drought-hit farmers, raised slogans as women agitators protested by showing bangles to the authorities.

The protesters also scuffled with police as the ground virtually turned into a garrison.

“If fighting for undeclared power cuts, cause of poor labourers, demanding adequate water supply, road construction, etc, is a crime, then we are ready to commit such crimes more often and we are ready to go to the jail. Let the authorities come and take us away,” said Pradyuman Singh local leader.

“We are preparing the list of those arrested. Our team of 10 officials are preparing the list in the jail and only after that we can give the exact figure.But we have arrested many people and sent them by 15 buses,” said Bhagwat Singh Chauhan, Additional Superintendent of Police, Gwalior.

Congress party is the main opposition in the state, ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). (ANI)

Government should lodge protest with China on incursion: BJP

New Delhi, Sep 7(ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday observed the Centre should lodge protest with China Government on reports of its troops’ incursion in international border in Ladakh region.

“Reports of Chinese incursion in Ladakh is a matter of grave concern. Immediately swinging into action the Indian government should lodge a protest with China,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar told reporters in the national capital.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the Government has took up the matter at the official level.

“Foreign and Defence ministries are fully aware, the Government has initiated action at the official level. We not only condemn it, but would recommend taking strong action against any such incursion and China has been made aware of it,” Singhvi said.

The Chinese troops breached the international border in the region and painted ‘China’ on some boulders and rocks, which were later found by an patrol team in July.

It is also being stated that the Chinese troops had entered nearly 1.5 kilometres into the Indian territory near Mount Gya, which is recognised as International Border by both India and China.

A red marking was found around 1.5 to 1.7 kilometres inside the Indian territory, however, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has denied reports of any incursion.

Earlier, it was reported that two Chinese helicopters had entered Indian air space in the same region. (ANI)

Action against party men who discuss ‘Jinnah’: Rajnath Singh

Rohtak (Haryana), Sep 6(ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh on Sunday warned the party members to avoid talking about Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the man who BJP holds responsible for the division of the country and massacre of lakhs of people, failing which would invite a strict action from the party.

“Jinnah was responsible for dividing the country into two. We won’t accept a person like Jinnah, who was responsible for the massacre of lakhs of people. So, if anybody talks about him, we won’t hesitate to take a strict action against him or her,” Rajnath Singh said.

BJP crisis boiled over after senior party leader Jaswant Singh was expelled for writing a book sympathetic to Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP hold Jinnah responsible for India’s partition, and its strong views on that were notices at the expulsion of Jaswant Singh.

Singh further said that BJP was not against Muslims, on the other hand it has always sought to unite people belonging from different religions and creed. (ANI)

Election Commission reviews Haryana assembly election arrangements

Chandigarh, Sep 5 (ANI): The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday visited Haryana and met leaders of various political parties to review arrangements being made prior to the Haryana Assembly elections scheduled to be held on October 13.

Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi and Assistant Election Commissioner Alok Shukla met leaders of Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India(M), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

Congress Secretary Rajinder Singh Saini represented the party in the meeting and assured the EC that Congress was committed to follow its directions.

Meanwhile, INLD General Secretary Ajay Chautala and BSP’s state President Parkash Bharti said that the EC should conduct polls through ballot papers instead of electronic voting machines to have a fair election.

According to reports, the EC also held a meeting with the Divisional Commissioners, Inspector Generals of Police (Ambala, Hissar, Rohtak and Gurgaon), Commissioners of Police (Gurgaon and Faridabad) and District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police of 21 districts. (ANI)

Radio Pakistan unhappy over criticism of Jaswant Singh book on Jinnah

Abohar, Sep.3 (ANI): The expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh has got a new fan in Punjabi Durbar programme of Radio Pakistan.

In its latest edition, the Punjabi Durbar programme has described all political parties of India be it Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress or Shiv Sena being anti-Pakistan for voicing objection to Jaswant Singh’s book- “Jinnah-India, Partition, Independence”.

In its recent Punjabi Durbar Programme, Radio Pakistan said that Jaswant Singh has paid a huge price for his biography of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.

Many Indian scholars have expressed sympathy with Jaswant Singh, but have taken exception to Pakistan Radio describing all Indian political parties as anti-Pakistan.

Anil Kumar, a historian and a commentator on current affairs has stated that political parties in India have tried their best to cultivate good relations with Pakistan ever since independence.

“India has been maintaining friendly relationship with Pakistan since 1947. India parted with funds held by united India, when Jinnah demanded it. Even after Pakistani aggression in 1965 and 1971, India returned to Pakistan the territory which was in India’s possession in the hope that there would be cordial relations between the two countries,” he said.

“Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh have been continuously trying to maintain good relations with Pakistan, but Pakistan continued terrorist attacks in India,” Anil Kumar added.

“India is a secular country. There are more Muslims in India than the total population of Pakistan. Moslems are happy to be in India. Many feel that they are safer than in Pakistan, which is being subjected to violence by the Taliban,” said Anil kumar, who is, an expert on Indo-Pak affairs.

India is continuing talks at different levels despite incidents like Mumbai terror attacks and Pakistan’s ongoing support to militancy in Kashmir.

It is surprising that broadcasters of Radio Pakistan expect political parties in India to sing praise of Jinnah, who was chiefly responsible for the division of the sub-continent on the basis of religious identities.

They accept Jinnah’s contribution during the freedom struggle against the British Raj, but are critical of his role in dividing the country. (ANI)

YSR was son of soil, his loss is irreparable: BJP

New Delhi, Sep.3 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday expressed its deepest condolences on the death of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajshekhara Reddy and four others in a helicopter crash on Wednesday.

Terming the late Andhra leader as a ‘son of the soil’, BJP president Rajnath Singh described his death as shocking and added that the tragedy has left a huge void in state and national politics, a loss that is irreparable.
Cutting across the party lines to express its grief, the BJP said it has also decided to keep the party flag at half mast at its Delhi Headquaters.

Some BJP leaders are also expected to fly to Hyderabad to pay final tribute to the late chief Minister. (ANI)

Top BJP brass begins meeting at Rajnath Singh’s house

New Delhi, Sep.1 (ANI): Senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have congregated at the residence of party president Rajnath Singh for a crucial meeting.

The meeting is expected to discuss many issues. Senior party leaders Arun Jaitely, Sushma Swaraj and M.Venkaiah Naidu are among those attending the meeting. Further details are awaited. (ANI)

Jaswant’s book on Jinnah selling like hot cakes in Pakistan

Islamabad, Sep 1 (ANI): Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh’s controversial book, Jinnah: India, Partition-Independence, which has created a furore in India, is selling like hot cakes in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The twin-city booksellers had imported more than 3,000 copies on Saturday and sold them out by Monday morning.

Not only intellectuals, but people from different strata of society have also shown interest in the book, in which Singh has praised Jinnah and described him as a leader who had strong faith in united India, while blaming Sardar Patel for the partition in 1947.

The book has created furore in India, as the author has been expelled from his party BJP and reviled as a ‘Jinnah Lover’.

“I have never seen such a response to any author in about 30 years of being in the book selling business,” a shopkeeper in Rawalpindi told Online.

“My basic purpose of buying this book is just to know what compelled the BJP to expel one of its senior leaders having a long association with the party,” said a reader.

The sale of the book is good; in fact it is better than that of any other book at the moment,” said another Islamabad-based bookseller.

Earlier, a famous book store in Lahore sold 100 copies of the book in a single day which indicates how eager the Pakistanis are to know the reason what prompted the BJP to expel the former Foreign Minister and end his 30 year long association with the party.

“We had received 100 copies on last Wednesday. All the copies were sold out the same day. Now we expect more copies on Saturday,” said Rana Saeed, the owner of the shop.

Excited by the response the book has received, its publishers are already considering to bring out an Urdu version of the book.

Jaswant Singh was expected to visit Pakistan to launch the book, but his son Manvendra Singh said his father has not applied for a visa, and as far as he knew. (ANI)

No leadership role likely for ‘lateral entrants’ in BJP

New Delhi, Aug.31 (ANI): ‘Lateral entrants’, a term coined for non-RSS workers, are in for tough days ahead in the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In the wake of recent wrangling in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) followed by the exit of senior leader Jaswant Singh and L.K. Advani’s aide Sudheendra Kulkarni, the party has decided to clip the feathers of ‘lateral’ entrants. It literally implies that the members, who are non-swayamsewaks, will no more be able to enjoy the power and clout they used to till recent past.

A senior leader, seeking anonymity, said, ” BJP has decided that the next BJP President will be a swayamsewak and will not be a ‘ lateral entry’. This will further strengthen the chances of hardcore RSS workers-Arun Jaitley, Bal Apte and Narendra Modi-being appointed as the new bosses of the organisation and put to rest speculations about Sushma Swaraj becoming the new President of the party after Rajnath Singh’s three-year term comes to its end by the end of this year.

According to a top BJP source, the cadres of the party are deeply pained by the recent statements made by Jaswant Singh and Advani’s aide Sudheendra Kulkarni who left the party citing that he has fundamental differences with BJP’s ideology.

Party believes that cadres across the country are deeply anguished by the conduct of ‘lateral’ entrants who enjoyed enormous power and were aspirants of holding top jobs if party had won. But they defected after the party lost in the elections.

According to sources, although party will downsize the clout of non-swayamsewaks in party affairs, it will not bar their entry into the party.

Source told ANI that BJP would welcome lateral entrants into the party in future on the basis of their professional ability and capacity.

It is learnt that RSS chief in his recent meetings with the BJP leadership had suggested that they should trim the role of lateral entrants in the BJP and promote swayamsewaks in the party.

Taking a dig at the so called intellectuals, who form the major chunk of ‘lateral entrants’ in the party, top source also said: “We have competent cadres who can speak good English and also write a book.”

Admitting that the generational change in the party is imminent, party sources also indicated that Advani will continue to guide the party with his experience and moral authority even after he steps down as the leader of Opposition. By Naveen Kapoor(ANI)

Karnataka Housing Minister resigns following defeat in by poll

Bangalore, Aug 31 (ANI): Karnataka Housing Minister V. Somanna resigned from the state cabinet on Monday following his defeat in the recent by polls to the state assembly.

Somanna handed over his resignation to the Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa.

“I will take a decision on accepting his resignation after consulting the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief D.V.Sadananda Gowda and national general secretary Ananth Kumar and the party high command,” Yeddyurappa told reporters after receiving the resignation letter.

Somanna, who was earlier, elected from the Govidrajnagar constituency in Bangalore resigned from his seat as well as from the Congress Party to join BJP in February.

Subsequently Somanna was rewarded with a cabinet birth in the Yeddyurappa Government.

Somanna who is known for his innovative election strategies, tasted maiden defeat in his political career against debutant Priyakrishna of Congress in the by polls on August 18.

The two-day southern region meeting of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) held in Davangere in central Karnataka on Sunday asked Yeddyurappa to seek the resignation of Somanna.

The BJP is reward Somanna with another post as the elections to the Brihat Bangalore Municipal Corporation (BBMC) are on the cards. Somanna played a crucial role in party’s victory in all the three Lok Sabha seats in Bangalore in the 2009 general elections.

Somanna is the third minister to resign from the Yeddyurappa government during the last one-year. Earlier S.K. Bellubbi, and Krishnayya Setty resigned from cabinet to make way to accommodate new faces in the cabinet. (ANI)

BJP- Shiv Sena finalises seat sharing for Maharashtra assembly polls

Mumbai, Aug 31 (ANI): Though the party’s top leadership is struggling to set the house in order, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Maharashtra unit has finalised the seat sharing agreement with the Shiv Sena on Monday for the upcoming assembly polls in the state.

According to BJP sources the talks with Shiv Sena are almost over and an official announcement would be made in a day or two.

Both the parties agreed for the existing 171:117 formula for the 288 Assembly seats, sources added.

In the 2004 Assembly elections, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance had allotted seven seats to Shetkari Sanghatana led by vetern farmer’s leader Sharad Joshi. As Joshi’s party is no more a partner of Sena-BJP combine, both the parties are expected to share these seats.

BJP is claiming the Chindwada seat, as the sitting legislator of that constituency joined the party.

The poll managers of the saffron alliance are confident of achieving seat matrix despite trouble faced by the BJP central leadership.

Meanwhile, the ruling Congress – Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) combine is still not sure on maintaining the alliance. Also the strategy of Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is not yet clear.

The MNS is holding its cards close to the chest as to go alone or ally with one of the two major political groups, or opt for the Third Front. (ANI)

Vasundhara Raje to meet Venkaiah Naidu today

New Delhi, Aug 31 (ANI): Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje will meet Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu here today.

Earlier, the BJP central leadership had said that they have asked Raje to report to them in New Delhi on August 30.

On Thursday, Raje had asserted that she had no plans to leave Rajasthan and would continue to serve the people of the state “post or no post”.

Raje, however, declined to comment on whether she would resign from the post.

She has been asked by the BJP high command to step down as the Leader of the Opposition in the wake of the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha and the state Assembly elections.

In the 2009 general elections, the BJP was reduced to four seats from 23 that it had in 2004 in Rajasthan. (ANI)