Opposition parties NCP and SP on Wednesday demanded reservation for OBCs in the women's reservation bill and questioned the reason for calling a special session when the bill cannot be implemented before census and delimitation. Participating in the debate on women's reservation bill in the Lok Sabha, Sule termed the legislation a "post dated cheque" and demanded the government spells out the date and timeline for its implementation Sule questioned the reason for calling a special session of Parliament to approve the 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill -- 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' when it cannot be implemented without a census and delimitation. She stressed that since the date of census and delimitation is not yet decided, the bill could have as well been introduced in the Winter session of Parliament. "There is drought in the country. Why this special session cannot discuss drought? My question to the government is date of next census... the date of delimitation is ...
The NCP on Wednesday charged that the alleged deletion of words "socialist" and "secular" from the Preamble in the copies of the Constitution presented to MPs on the opening day of the new Parliament building showed the "biased mindset" of the ruling BJP. Earlier in the day, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged that the words "secular" and "socialist" were missing from the Preamble in the copies of the Constitution given to lawmakers. However, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the copies carried the original version of the Preamble of the Constitution and that these words were added later to it after constitutional amendments. In a statement, Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party's spokesperson Clyde Crasto said, "The BJP government says that this printed text was the original Preamble. If BJP does not want to respect the constitutional amendment of the Preamble and wants to follow the original, then why have they moved out from the original 'Temple of Democracy', the .
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
NCP leader Supriya Sule on Monday strongly defended the Congress after the BJP criticised it over the Women's Reservation Bill issue, saying the first woman prime minister and president were from the Congress and the legislation was also brought by it. But the bill could not be passed due to lack of numbers, she said. Participating in the discussion in Lok Sabha on "Parliamentary Journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha -- Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings", Sule urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring the Women's Reservation Bill and assured that her party would support it. "Most women MPs have been asking about the Women's Reservation Bill. Everyone sitting here has been concerned about it," she said on the first day of the five-day session of Parliament. Responding to BJP MP Rakesh Singh's remarks asking what had the Congress done about ensuring reservation for women despite being in power for decades, Sule said, "I would like to set the record ...
The first meeting of the Coordination Committee of the INDIA alliance will be held on Wednesday at Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar's residence in New Delhi
As many as 685 farmers have committed suicide this year till August 31 in Maharashtra's Marathwada region, according to an official report, with the highest deaths at 186 reported from Beed, the home district of state Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde. The arid region in central Maharashtra consists of eight districts -- Aurangabad, Jalna, Beed, Parbhani, Nanded, Osmanabad, Hingoli and Latur. As per a report of the Divisional Commissioner's office here, 685 cultivators have ended their lives between January 1 and August 31, 2023, in the region and 294 of these deaths took place in three monsoon months alone (June to August). Marathwada is currently facing 20.7 per cent rainfall deficit. The region has so far received 455.4 mm of rainfall (till September 11) as against 574.4 mm of average monsoon showers (during period under review), an official said. The highest number of farmer suicides in the region at 186 was reported from Beed district, said the report. Beed is the home ...
NCP MP Sunil Tatkare, a loyalist of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, on Tuesday claimed the Election Commission of India (ECI) will give its "stamp of approval" to the decision of their faction to join the Maharashtra government. Our decision to join the state government will be favourably stamped by the ECI. This decision was taken by several top leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party. We have communicated our decision to the ECI as well as to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Tatkare told reporters. He was responding to a query about the poll body's probable response on different stands taken by NCP founder Sharad Pawar and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. Queried on the possibility of the Union government officially replacing the word India from the country's name with Bharat, Tatkare said, Since childhood, we have been giving slogans like 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. It will be good to take an amicable stand over this issue. The opposition parties are unnecessarily creating an issue out of it. A
Praful Patel, a senior leader of the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, on Saturday said the BJP has assured his party a fair deal in the government as well as in the coming Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly elections. The Ajit Pawar faction joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state in July this year. There was no dispute in the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP alliance, Patel said at a press conference here. The Bharatiya Janata Party has assured that "justice will be done to the NCP in the government as well as in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections," said the former Union minister. As to the next round of the expansion of the Eknath Shinde cabinet and appointment of district guardian ministers, Patel said discussions were on. On Friday's meeting of the Opposition's INDIA alliance (of which the Sharad Pawar-led rival NCP faction is a part) in Mumbai, Patel said it was only a "photo opportunity event" and they could not even agree on the grouping's logo or a ..
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Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday said nobody is a permanent friend or foe in politics. Addressing a rally in Beed, nearly 390 km from Mumbai, Ajit Pawar said he was hopeful Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charisma will benefit Maharashtra which follows secular thoughts. Notably, Ajit Pawar's uncle and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar had addressed a rally in Beed ten days ago. "Nobody is permanent friend or foe in politics. This is politics," Ajit Pawar said as he thanked local leaders of Shiv Sena and BJP for welcoming him and other ministers of NCP. He said PM Modi's charisma is seen all over the country and hoped Maharashtra which follows secular thoughts will benefit from this charisma. It is our expectation that PM Modi's charisma would benefit Maharashtra and hence we all decided to join the (BJP-Shiv Sena) government for the benefit of the state. There is no self-interest behind our decision to join the government. Ther
Ajit Pawar holds show of strength in Sharad Pawar's bastion of Baramati after split in NCP
The Sharad Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Saturday questioned Union minister Smriti Irani's "silence" over the incident in which a teacher in Uttar Pradesh allegedly asked her students to slap a boy from a minority community. Irani heads the Women and Child Development Ministry. The party also demanded a severe punishment against the teacher to ensure that such crimes against children do not take place again. The video shows the teacher of a private school in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar asking Class 2 students to slap their classmate from a minority community. She is also heard passing objectionable remarks against the community. The incident has triggered a nationwide outrage. "Treating a child like this is a crime that must be punished severely. This act by the teacher will scar that child's life and corrupt the minds of the kids who were forced to hit," NCP national spokesperson Clyde Crasto said in a statement. Calling the incident incident as .
"This is your (media's) fault. That was said by Supriya and it also appeared in newspapers. Given the kind of stand he has taken, he is not our leader," Pawar said
The Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP and Congress has formed several committees to plan various aspects of the meeting of the opposition bloc INDIA on August 31 and September 1 in Mumbai. Sources on Friday said the committees, which include two leaders from each of the three parties, will take care of media, social media, accommodation, transport among other things. The Congress will handle media and publicity, while the Nationalist Congress Party will take care of transport. The Shiv Sena (UBT) will look after accommodation, they said, adding that more than 200 rooms have been booked in Grand Hyatt hotel, which will be the venue for the two day meet. The management is being supervised by Congress leaders Milind Deora, Naseem Khan and Varsha Gaikwad, while former Maharashtra chief minister and senior leader Ashok Chavan will be overall in charge of the organising committee, they said. Sources said MVA leaders will hold a press conference on August 30 to announ
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 ...
The next INDIA alliance meet will take place in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1, Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar finalise details today
If the Nationalist Congress Party could be in an alliance with the Shiv Sena despite ideological differences, then why it can't join hands with the BJP, asked senior NCP leader Sunil Tatkare from the Ajit Pawar faction on Saturday. Nine NCP leaders, including Ajit Pawar, tied up the BJP and took oath as ministers last month after breaking away from the Sharad Pawar-founded party. As a constituent of the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, the undivided NCP had aligned with the Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, which later split following a rebellion by Eknath Shinde. Back in 2019, we fought against the BJP and Shiv Sena. When the results (assembly polls) were out, Sharad Pawar took the initiative and formed MVA. We then formed the government under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray, said Tatkare at a party event here. Despite ideological differences, we were in an alliance with the Shiv Sena. Then what is the problem if we are now with the BJP, he ...
Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra assembly Vijay Wadettiwar on Saturday claimed there will be major changes in the state government, including the main seat, in the coming weeks. BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, however, differed. He asserted Eknath Shinde will continue to be the chief minister till the assembly elections in Maharashtra next year. The BJP, Shinde-led Shiv Sena and an NCP faction under Ajit Pawar are the ruling partners in the Maharashtra government. Ajit Pawar broke away from the Sharad Pawar-founded NCP and joined the government last month. Speaking to reporters here, Wadettiwar said Maharashtra will witness major changes in the state government in a few weeks. There will be a change in the main seat. I'm not saying that there will be a change of government, but the main seat will change in September, said the senior Congress leader. After joining hands with the ruling dispensation last month, Ajit Pawar became the second deputy CM, while 8 of his
Nine NCP ministers have been entrusted with the task of strengthening the party organisation in Maharashtra with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar being given charge of Pune, Satara, Sangli and Solapur districts, a statement said on Friday. Praful Patel, national working president of the NCP faction of Ajit Pawar, has been given the responsibility of strengthening the organisation in Bhandara, Gondia, Amravati, Wardha and Nagpur by the state unit chief, it said. In all, the nine ministers have been given the task of building the party organisation in 36 districts. Minister Chhagan Bhujbal will look after Nashik, Mumbai city and Mumbai suburbs, it said. On July 2, Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde government, resulting in a vertical split in the Sharad Pawar founded Nationalist Congress Party.
Pawar will today address a rally in Parli, Beed the constituency of key rebel NCP Leader Dhananjay Munde. This is his second rally which is aimed at targeting those who split from the NCP