Page 4 - Nationalist Congress Party

Political situation not favourable for BJP: NCP Chief Sharad Pawar

He further said that after assuming power at the Centre in 2014, the BJP announced several programmes and gave a host of assurances, but did not implement them and "betrayed" people

Cong intensifies LS poll preparations, discusses manifesto & seat-sharing

Briefing about the Alliance Committee meeting, committee convener Mukul Wasnik said that in the meeting, a discussion regarding seat-sharing of Congress within the INDIA bloc was held

NCP's Awhad sparks row, says 'Ram belongs to Bahujans, was non-vegetarian'

This comes a day after BJP MLA Ram Kadam urged the Maharashtra government for a one-day ban on alcohol and meat on the Ayodhya consecration ceremony day on January 22

Ideals were ignored in NCP as focus was on power, says Jayant Patil

Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party's Maharashtra unit chief Jayant Patil on Wednesday said since the party was in power for a long time, little emphasis was given to the principles on which it was built as the focus was on power. Addressing party workers on the first day of the NCP's two-day conclave at Shirdi in Ahmednagar district, Patil said the party is firmly grounded on the ideals of social reformers Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Dr B R Ambedkar. "Pawar saheb built this party based on ideals, but since we were in power for a long time, we ignored the ideals and focused on power," he said. "When we were in power, we gave little emphasis to the thought of focusing on ideals which is why some people got attracted to different principles without giving any thought to it," Patil said, in an apparent dig at the Ajit Pawar-led group of the NCP. He said 2024 will be a year of struggle and urged party workers to fight this ideological battle. Founded b

Cong collects over Rs 10 cr donation amount under Donate for Desh campaign

Earlier in December, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge launched the crowdfunding campaign 'Donate for Desh' for the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls

Formula E raises new 'concerns', cites schedule and operational challenges

Formula E has raised fresh concerns over its race in Hyderabad, saying it might not be able to go ahead with the round scheduled for February 10 following the latest communique from the new Telangana government. The inaugural electric race in the country was held in February this year with then IT Minister KT Rama Rao playing a huge role in bringing the race to the city. However, KTR's BRS party lost the state election to Congress in December. Considering the operational challenges involved in hosting the first race, Formula E had dropped Hyderabad from the provisional calendar before including it in the final calendar in October. The change of guard has put them in a tough spot with the Congress government's letter to Formula E adding to its woes ahead of the race in six weeks' time. "Following a recent official communication received from the new Government of Telangana, Formula E is seeking urgent clarification of their contractual commitments under the agreement and how it coul

NPP forming govt, border issues, ethnic strife sum up 2023 for Meghalaya

Electoral activities dominated the early part of 2023 in Meghalaya, where the National People's Party formed government with support of the BJP, as the year also remained witness to an MLA's defiant fast over a reservation policy, interstate border issues and ethnic strife. Led by its charismatic young leader Conrad K Sangma, the NPP bagged 26 seats in the 60-member House, seven more than what the party had managed in the 2018 assembly polls. The NPP got another shot in the arm in May, when the People's Democratic Front (PDF), along with two MLAs, merged with it, increasing the ruling party's tally to 28. Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top central ministers campaigning for the BJP, the saffron party could only retain the two seats it had won in 2018. The Opposition Congress and the TMC secured five seats each, while the newly floated Voice of the People Party (VPP) won four. Within months of formation of the new government, VPP chief Ardent Basaiawmoit began a fast that

Rahul Gandhi to embark on 6,200 km Bharat Nyaya Yatra from January 14

Unlike the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gandhi and his associates will travel the distance during the Nyaya Yatra in a bus interspersed with short padyatras

A sufferer knows how to withstand from inside, says Dhankhar on mimicry row

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was pictured videographing the act on his phone even as fellow Opposition members laughed and clapped

Opportunity to replace, redraft colonial criminal laws wasted: Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday criticised the three key bills brought by the government that seek to overhaul the criminal justice system, saying the opportunity to replace and redraft the colonial laws has been "wasted". The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed three key bills -- the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill -- that seek to overhaul the criminal justice system. In a post on X, former home minister Chidambaram said, "Has the government really dumped the British 'colonial' criminal laws? Consider the fact that 90-95% of IPC, 95% of CrPC and 99% of Evidence Act have been cut, copied and pasted in the three Bills: can any one deny or debate that fact?" "In fact, the government has immortalised Macaulay and Fitz Stephen who drafted the original IPC and Evidence Act," he claimed. The opportunity to replace and redraft the laws has been wasted, Chidambaram said. The three bills will

Congress replaces Kamal Nath with Jitu Patwari as party's MP unit chief

The Congress replaced Kamal Nath as the party's Madhya Pradesh unit chief on Saturday and appointed Jitu Patwari in his place. The development comes days after the party's humiliating defeat in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, where the Congress, led by Nath, failed to replace the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. Sources said Nath was asked to tender his resignation soon after the poll results were out. Nath met party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and tendered his resignation thereafter. "The Congress president has appointed Shri Jitu Patwari as the president of Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee, with immediate effect," an official communication from the party said. "The party appreciates the contributions of outgoing PCC president, Shri Kamal Nath," it added. "The Congress president has also approved the proposal of the appointment of Shri Umang Singhar as the CLP leader and Shri Hemant Katare as the deputy leader of Madhya Pradesh," the statement said.

Oppn stages protest against Maha govt over unemployment, exam paper leaks

Leaders from the Opposition parties targeted the Maharashtra government over the issues of unemployment and exam paper leaks on Friday, the sixth day of the winter session of the state assembly. Legislators from the Maha Vikas Aghadi, constituting the Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party's Sharad Pawar faction and Congress, gathered on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan and raised slogans against the government. Leader of Opposition in the legislative council Ambadas Danve, legislators Satej Patil and Sachin Ahir, among others, brought utensils and pakoras as part of the protest. Speaking to reporters, Danve claimed that the number of unemployed youth has increased in the state and while the government keeps advertising about jobs, it does not fill vacancies. "Unemployment and exam paper leaks are Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guarantees," he said.

The Modi-Congress mismatch

It's counter-intuitive, but Modi's own popularity has grown with the length of his tenure. He had always seemed the front-runner by some distance for 2024, and this gives him more tailwind

Assembly polls: BJP to rule 12 states on its own, Congress down to 3

With the BJP heading towards a victory in three of the four states that went to polls recently, it will now be in power in 12 states on its own, while the number of states ruled by the Congress will come down to three after the party's electoral defeats in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will now account for almost half of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, while only two states, accounting for less than 50 Lok Sabha seats, are now governed by parties not aligned with either the NDA or the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) of opposition parties. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with its governments in Delhi and Punjab, is the third-biggest national party now. The BJP, which rules the Centre, is in power in Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Assam, Tripura, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, and all set to retain Madhya Pradesh and snatch Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the ...

Congress releases list of 16 candidates for Telangana assembly elections

The Congress on Monday released its third list of 16 candidates for the Telangana assembly elections, fielding its state unit chief Revanth Reddy against Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao from the Kamareddy assembly constituency. This is the second seat on which Reddy, the sitting MP from the Malkajgiri parliamentary constituency, is contesting. In this list, the party has also replaced two candidates declared earlier. While Ade Gajender will now contest from the Boath-ST seat, replacing Vannela Ashok, Tudi Megha Reddy has been fielded from Wanaparthy in place of Gillela Chinna Reddy, who was nominated earlier. With this, only three more candidates are left to be declared by the Congress, which is seeking to wrest power from the BRS in the southern state. Revanth Reddy will also contest from the Kodangal assembly seat, while CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu has been fielded from the Madhira-SC seat. The candidates for these seats were announced on October 15. The party has als

Leaders from both NCP factions say there is no split or dispute in party

Senior leaders from both Sharad Pawar- and Ajit Pawar-led factions of the Nationalist Congress Party have said that there was no split in the party. The Election Commission has called the rival factions of the NCP for a personal hearing on October 6 following a petition filed by the Ajit group claiming that he has been elected as the party's national president. It is unfair on the part of the Election Commission of India to treat our case as a dispute within a political party when we have consistently maintained that there is no split, said Jayant Patil, the Maharashtra unit chief of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, on Tuesday. Sharad Pawar in his letter to the ECI stressed the fact that he never faced any opposition within the party. There is no dispute. There has been no opposition to my (Sharad Pawar's) policies from the party on any public platform, Patil told reporters. Pawar also sought time from the ECI to explain his side because there was no dispute but there has been some exchan

BJP saw 21% increase in assets, Cong at top in liabilities: ADR data

The liabilities declared by the eight national parties during FY21 was Rs 103.55 crore, which decreased to Rs 62.67 crore in FY22

Sharad Pawar denies split, says Ajit Pawar continues to be leader of NCP

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday asserted that there was no split in the party and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar continues to be its leader. He also said that some leaders have left the NCP by taking a "different political stand", but it cannot be termed as a split. Pawar was talking to reporters at his hometown Baramati in Pune district, a day after his daughter and party's working president Supriya Sule said Ajit Pawar is a senior leader and MLA of the party. "Now, he (Ajit Pawar) has taken a stand that is against the party, and we have given a complaint to the assembly speaker and are awaiting his response," NCP's Baramati MP Sule told reporters on Thursday. When asked about Sule's statement that there is no split in NCP and Ajit Pawar was a leader of the party, Pawar senior said, "Yes, there is no question about it." "How can anybody say that there is a split in NCP? There's no question that Ajit Pawar is our party leader," he ...

Will discuss Sharad Pawar's meeting with Ajit during INDIA conclave: Patole

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has said that his party's top brass will discuss with NCP founder Sharad Pawar his much-debated meeting with politically estranged nephew and state deputy CM Ajit Pawar when the INDIA alliance holds its conclave in Mumbai later this month. Talking to reporters after a core committee meeting of the state Congress, Patole said on Wednesday that there was no confusion in his party about senior Pawar, who is part of the anti-BJP alliance, but confusion prevails among people. Patole said two representatives of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge were part of the MPCC core committee meeting during which discussions took place on preparations for the conclave of INDIA alliance, a grouping of anti-BJP parties, to be held in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1. Sharad Pawar has a different party. There is no confusion about Pawar sahab's (commitment towards the INDIA alliance) in the Congress, he said. Patole rejected speculation that a 'Plan 'B'

No confusion in MVA, will ensure successful INDIA meet: Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Monday said there is no confusion within the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance over his meeting with nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in Pune. The MVA is united and we will successfully organise the next meeting of opposition bloc INDIA in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1, Pawar told reporters in Baramati. This was the 82-year-old veteran politician's maiden visit to his home turf after Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-led government on July 2. MVA constituents Congress and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) had asked the NCP chief to clear the confusion such meetings between the uncle and nephew create in political circles. There is no confusion among MVA partners. We are all together and will ensure the INDIA meeting in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1 is organised successfully, Pawar said. Pawar asked media not to create more confusion by asking the same question. Myself, .