Page 10 - Politics

France's Macron holds talks with political players in bid to form new govt

After the excitement of the Paris Olympics and a Mediterranean vacation, now French President Emmanuel Macron has to figure out how to make his country governable again. Faced with a hung parliament, social tensions and ballooning debt, Macron kicked off talks Friday with key political players in a bid to choose a new prime minister who would form a government and end the deadlock created by snap legislative elections last month. Members of the left-wing New Popular Front coalition that won the most seats pressured Macron for a quick decision. Their nominee for prime minister, little-known civil servant Lucie Castets, said after Friday's meetings in the Elysee Palace that she was ready to govern, and ready for compromise to get things done. But the party only has about a third of the seats in the National Assembly, France's powerful lower house of parliament, and no party has a majority. Macron's centrist alliance came in second and the far-right National Rally came in third. There

Won't quit politics, open to floating new outfit, says Champai Soren

Former Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren said he would not quit politics, asserting that an option to float a new political outfit was always open to him. Soren said he was firm on his plans after "facing humiliation at the hands of leaders of JMM", a party to which the veteran leader claimed that he devoted his entire life. "It is a new chapter of my life. I won't quit politics as I have received lots of love and support from my followers. The chapter has closed, I may form a new outfit," the senior Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader said shortly after he reached his ancestral village Jhilingora in Seraikela-Kharsawan district post midnight on Tuesday. The 67-year-old tribal leader has earned the nickname "Jharkhand's Tiger" for his contribution to the fight to create a separate state in the 1990s. Jharkhand was carved out of the southern part of Bihar in 2000. "No one from JMM contacted me. This is the land of Jharkhand...I have struggled since my student life. I participa

RS bypolls: BJP fields Union ministers Bittu from Raj, Kurian from MP

The BJP Tuesday announced nine candidates for the September 3 Rajya Sabha bypolls, fielding Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu from Rajasthan and George Kurian from Madhya Pradesh. The party fielded former BJD leader Mamata Mohanta from Odisha and ex-Congress leader Kiran Choudhary from Haryana. Both these leaders joined the BJP recently. According to a list of nine candidates released by the BJP, Manan Kumar Mishra will contest the bypolls from Bihar, Dhairyashil Patil from Maharashtra and Rajib Bhattacharjee from Tripura. Bhattacharjee is the president of the BJP's Tripura unit. The ruling party has fielded Mission Ranjan Das and former Union minister Rameswar Teli as its candidates from Assam. Elections to 12 vacant Rajya Sabha seats in nine states will be held on September 3. Ten of these seats fell vacant as the sitting members, including Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Sarbananda Sonowal and Jyotiraditya Scindia, were elected to the Lok Sabha. Bypolls are also being held fo

Experienced bitter humiliation as Jharkhand CM, says Champai Soren

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Champai Soren on Sunday said he experienced "bitter humiliation" as chief minister. His statement came hours after he reached Delhi amid speculations about him joining the BJP. He claimed all his government programmes were cancelled on July 3 by the party leadership without his knowledge. "When I asked about the reasons for cancellation, I was told that there is a meeting of party legislators on July 3 and I cannot attend any government programmes till then," he posted on social media. "Can there be anything more humiliating in a democracy than a chief minister's programme being cancelled by another person?" he said.

Tamil Nadu politics: An heir 'yet to mature', and the succession suspense

With M K Stalin away for three weeks, the politics in Tamil Nadu, already intriguing, is set to become even more interesting

Thailand's new, youngest PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra: All you need to know

Some of her top tasks will be to ease the concerns of voters about the high costs of living

Congress capable of winning on its own in Haryana: Bhupinder Hooda

The Congress is capable of winning the Haryana assembly polls on its own and no talks have been held with any party for an alliance yet, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said, indicating that his party may not have a tie-up with the AAP in the upcoming elections. In an interview with PTI, Hooda also stressed that winnability would be the criteria for ticket distribution for the assembly polls. Asked if there is a possibility of a tie-up with its INDIA bloc partner Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the state elections, the senior Congress leader said, "We have an alliance at the national level (with the AAP) but as far as state level is concerned, no talks have been held with any party." "The Congress is capable (to win) on its own. No talks have been held yet," the two-time chief minister said. On Tuesday, when asked about alliances especially in states such as Haryana, Congress general secretary, in-charge organisation, K C Venugopal had said, "We have already ...

Top contenders for Japan's leadership after PM Kishida announces exit

Here's a look at some of the potential contenders to replace Kishida

PM Modi may talk democratic dividend at Independence Day address

In his Independence Day speech last year ahead of the general election, Modi had said the next five years would be the years of unprecedented development

Hindenburg saga: Cong's nationwide stir on Aug 22 seeking Buch's exit

In a post on X, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said the Centre should have ordered a probe into Hindenburg Research's allegations against the Sebi chairperson

To the top, by dint of merit: Meet Somanathan, newly appointed Cabinet secy

T V Somanathan, soon to become Cabinet secretary, has acquired the reputation of being a civil servant who could work with leaders of different political parties with equal ease and effectiveness

Best of BS Opinion: Delhi's new political economy, Back and forth in time

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Iron lady versus autocrat: Venezuela faces existential vote for president

The election, held on the birthday of the movement's founder, Hugo Chávez, pits Chávez's successor, President Nicolás Maduro, against the previously little-known Edmundo González, a former diplomat

Parties struggle with seat-sharing as Maharashtra Assembly elections near

And this much is clear: That in the upcoming Assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters

Target is to increase Chhattisgarh's GSDP to Rs 10 trillion in 5 years: CM

Sai talks about implementation of "Modi's guarantees" in state, OPS reintroduced by the previous Congress government, and the steps taken to curb the liquor business

Venezuela's presidential election could lead to a seismic shift in politics

Venezuelans are voting Sunday in a presidential election whose outcome will either lead to a seismic shift in politics or extend by six more years the policies that caused the world's worst peacetime economic collapse. Whether it is President Nicols Maduro who is chosen, or his main opponent, retired diplomat Edmundo Gonzlez, the election will have ripple effects throughout the Americas. Government opponents and supporters alike have signalled their interest in joining the exodus of 7.7 million Venezuelans who have already left their homes for opportunities abroad should Maduro win another term. Polls opened at 6 am, but voters started lining up at some voting centres across the country much earlier, sharing water, coffee and snacks for several hours. Alejandro Sulbarn nagged the first spot at his voting centre by getting in line at 5 pm Saturday. He said he stood outside an elementary school in a hillside suburb of the capital, Caracas, for the future of the country. We are all he

Under Milei, worst economic crisis puts Argentine ingenuity to test

In the crush of anti-government protests paralysing downtown Buenos Aires in the last months, some Argentines saw a traffic-induced headache. Others saw a reaction to President Javier Milei's brutal austerity measures. Alejandra, a street vendor, saw people with nowhere to urinate. Plazas provided no privacy and cafes insisted on pricey purchases to use the toilet. With little more than a tent and a bucket, Alejandra started a small business that has surged alongside Argentina's angry rallies and sky-high inflation rate. She charges whatever people are willing to pay. I haven't had a job for a year, it's now my sole income, said Alejandra, who declined to give her last name for fear of reprisals from neighbours. Every four or five patrons, she puts on gloves and empties her bucket into the trash. The political establishment's failure to fix decades of crisis in Argentina explains the tide of popular rage that vaulted the irascible Javier Milei, a self-declared anarcho-capitalist,"

All-party meet ahead of Budget: 'Special category status' demands ring loud

Economic Survey to be tabled today, ahead of Budget on Tuesday. Oppn looks to put govt on the mat on issues ranging from UP order on Kanwar yatra to railway safety, reports Archis Mohan

Govt convenes all-party meet on July 21 ahead of Monsoon Session of Parl

The government has convened an all-party meeting on July 21 ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament which will start next Monday, the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry said. The meeting, which will be held at 11 am on Sunday, has been called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, the ministry said in a statement. This will be Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's first time at the customary session-eve meeting of floor leaders from all parties if he attends it. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) said no representatives from the party will attend the meeting as July 21 is observed by the party as Martyrs' Day. TMC's parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O'Brien wrote to Rijiju and informed him that his party will not be able to attend the meet. "For 30 years now, 21st July has been observed as 'Martyrs' Day' in Bengal in honour of our 13 colleagues who were unlawfully killed in a police firing on the day in 1993. "In this context, all MPs of the All Indi

France's business elite braces for new era of political volatility

Far right and left-wing parties want to roll back some of Macron's reforms, ranging from raising the retirement age to scrapping a wealth tax on financial assets