Page 19 - Politics

New Pak govt likely by March 2; presidential election before Mar 9: Report

With a power-sharing deal already inked, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party are moving ahead with plans to form a coalition government by March 2 and hold the presidential election before March 9, according to a media report on Friday. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif will be backed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has agreed to form a new government after the February 8 elections resulted in a hung Parliament. Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, 72, is set to return to the top post after his elder brother Nawaz, decided to nominate the PML-N president for premiership. The party has clarified that the three-time former prime minister did not want to lead a government in which the PMN-L does not have a majority in Parliament. Both parties won fewer seats than candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Quoting sources, The News .

IMF ready to work with new govt in Pakistan to ensure economic stability

Khan on Thursday said he will write to the IMF, demanding the global lender to stop its support to the cash-strapped country until it seeks an 'audit' of the elections mired in controversies

Aam Aadmi Party, Congress set to clinch seat-sharing in three states

It would also mean that the Congress is set to contest the least number of seats since 1952

Protesting 'localisation' push: Karnataka Inc bats for merit over politics

Karnataka is home to over 5,500 IT and IT-enabled services firms and nearly 750 MNCs, contributing to over $58 billion in exports

Swami Prasad Maurya launches new party days after quitting Samajwadi Party

The launch of Rashtriya Shoshit Samaj Party (RSSP) came days after Maurya resigned from his MLC seat and severed connections with the Samajwadi Party (SP)

Congress leader Sharmila spends night in party office to avoid house arrest

Sharmila's move came a day ahead of 'Chalo Secretariat' protest by Congress cadre under her leadership on Thursday

PPP, PML-N strike power-sharing deal in Pak; Shehbaz Sharif to be PM again

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party have struck a power-sharing deal to form a coalition government led by ex-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, a move that could effectively keep their arch-rival Imran Khan out of power after the controversial elections. Both the PML-N and the PPP won fewer seats in Parliament than candidates backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan in an election mired in controversies, including vote rigging. Khan, who could not contest the February 8 elections due to his convictions in some cases, including that of corruption, has been barred from holding any public office for 10 years. At a joint news conference here late Tuesday night after marathon negotiations, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari announced that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif, 72, will assume the role of the prime minister once again. Similarly, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, 68, will be the joint ...

I-T dept has withdrawn Rs 65 cr from banks 'undemocratically', alleges Cong

The Congress on Wednesday alleged that the Income Tax department has "withdrawn" a sum of Rs 65 crore from its accounts in different banks "undemocratically" even when the case pertaining to their return for previous years is sub judice. Party treasurer Ajay Maken has claimed that "democracy will be over if the action of probe agencies goes unchecked" and said the Congress has full faith in the judiciary. "The Income Tax department had written to various banks to withdraw a sum of Rs 65 crore from different bank accounts of the Congress and Indian Youth Congress in view of the demand raised by the Income Tax authorities earlier, despite the appellate authorities hearing the case," Maken told PTI. He said even when the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, which the Congress had moved against the Income Tax department's claim of Rs 210 crore as recovery for "discrepancies" in previous tax returns has been stayed and a lien has been marked, the tax authorities have resorted to "undemocratic

Cong leader Sonia Gandhi elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan on Tuesday, officials said. Bharatiya Janata Party's Chunnilal Garasiya and Madan Rathore were also elected unopposed to the Upper House from the state, Assembly Secretary Mahaveer Prasad Sharma said. Tuesday was the last day for withdrawing nominations. As no other candidates were contesting, the three leaders were elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed, the officer said. The tenure of Rajya Sabha members Manmohan Singh (Congress) and Bhupendra Yadav (BJP) is ending on April 3. The third seat fell vacant after the BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena resigned from the House in December after being elected MLA. The BJP has 115 members and the Congress 70 in the 200-member assembly. There are 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan. After the results, Congress has six members and the BJP four.

Federalism for development

Federalism in development planning is necessary for maintaining more vigorous growth and a higher degree of political harmony

Victory of voters: Sharad Pawar on SC ruling on his faction's name, symbol

Sharad Pawar on Monday described as a victory of voters the Supreme Court ruling that his faction can use the name 'NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar' till further orders. It is a win for the voters as the court observed that the voters of the country should not be undermined and questioned what about the fact that candidates have fought on the ticket of the original party, Pawar said in a statement. The apex court on Monday directed that Election Commission's order of February 6 allotting 'Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar' as the party name for the Sharad Pawar faction will continue till further orders. On the auspicious day of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti, the Supreme Court has granted us interim relief against the order of the Election Commission of India. We bow down to the Supreme Court for recognising us as Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar' in the interim, and having directed the Election Commission of India to consider our application for a symbol to

Congress dismisses speculation of former MP CM Kamal Nath switching to BJP

The Congress on Monday dismissed as "misinformation" the speculation over party leader Kamal Nath's possible switch to the BJP and asserted that the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister will participate in the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in the state. The assertion by Congress general secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh Jitendra Singh came amid speculation that Kamal Nath and his son Nakul Nath, a Lok Sabha MP, may cross over to the ruling BJP. "Kamal Nath ji is a senior leader of our party. All these speculations have been made by the BJP and the media. I spoke to him yesterday and the day before yesterday also and we discussed the preparations of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra," Singh told reporters at the Congress headquarters here. "I am going to Bhopal tomorrow and meetings are taking place with MLAs, various committees and MPs. Kamal Nath ji will also join those meetings and his suggestions for the yatra's passage will be taken note of. Kamal Nath will prominently .

Pak's major parties struggle to form coalition after inconclusive election

Monday's talks will be the fifth such round after former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was named by his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party to lead the country again

Govt holds talks with Ladakh's 14-member delegation on key demands

A delegation of leaders from Ladakh held a meeting with the government's representatives here on Monday to press for their demands, including statehood for the high-altitude region, two Lok Sabha seats and bringing the area under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The 14-member delegation of the Apex Body Leh (ABL) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) met the High Powered Committee (HPC) for Ladakh headed by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai. "The meeting discussed the Ladakh delegation's demands," a source privy to the deliberations said, without elaborating further. The demands of the delegation are statehood for Ladakh, two Lok Sabha seats (one for Kargil and one for Leh), job opportunities for the residents of the Union Territory and constitutional protection under the Sixth Schedule. Ladakh currently has one Lok Sabha constituency. Ladakh, which no longer has any Assembly constituency, was earlier part of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The ...

Farmers' protests: Why are Tikaits, many big guns missing in action?

A protracted agitation may force other farmer leaders, and political parties to join forces with protesters: Experts

Delhi's Cong unit holds protest against freezing of party's bank accounts

Delhi unit of Congress on Saturday held a demonstration against the freezing of party bank accounts by the Income Tax department a day ago. The Congress' main bank accounts were frozen on Friday over an income tax demand of Rs 210 crore but an I-T appellate tribunal later allowed it to operate them pending a further hearing next week, a huge relief for the party which said the move had impacted all political activity. The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee's (DPCC) protest was led by its president Arvinder Singh Lovely with demonstrator carrying placards and raising slogans. Adequate security was deployed near the DPCC office where the protestors were stopped and not allowed to move towards the ITO office.

AAP govt wins trust vote in Delhi Assembly, CM says no party MLA defected

The Aam Aadmi Party government on Saturday won a trust vote in the 70-member Delhi Assembly with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claiming that his party has emerged as the biggest challenger to the BJP, which "wants to crush it by any means". Kejriwal, who is also the national convener of the AAP, won the confidence motion with the support of 54 MLAs and said no legislator of his party defected. Out of 62 AAP MLAs in the Delhi Assembly, 54 were present in the House during the trust vote, two were in jail, two others were unwell, three were out of station and one was not present due to a wedding in his family, the AAP national convener said. Kejriwal had moved the motion of confidence in the Assembly on Friday and accused the BJP of trying to poach his party's MLAs. Since seven of the eight BJP legislators were suspended for the remainder of the session for allegedly interfering during the Lieutenant Governor's address on Thursday, Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri was the on

If BJP does not lose LS polls, will make India BJP free in 2029: Kejriwal

He said AAP became a national party in a short span of time and now the party has governments in Delhi and Punjab. AAP won the trust vote in the Assembly

Several cabinet ministers in Champai Soren's Jharkhand govt assume office

A number of newly inducted ministers in Jharkhand's Champai Soren-led alliance government assumed office on Saturday. The CM had allocated portfolios to the ministers on Friday. With the exception of a few, most ministers retained the portfolios they were assigned during the previous Hemant Soren government. Senior Congress leader and minister Alamgir Alam, who has been given the portfolio of rural development, panchayati raj, and rural works department, assumed office at the state secretariat. Jamshedpur (west) Congress MLA Banna Gupta took office as the minister of the health and disaster management department at Nepal House, while another Congress minister, Badal Patralekh, assumed charge of the agriculture and animal husbandry department. Patralekh directed the department officers to ensure proper spending of the budget allocation for 2023-24, as it is set to end next month. Gupta said his intention to strengthen the state's health infrastructure. "The budget expenditure for

If there's any such thing, will inform you: Nath to media on switch to BJP

Amid speculation that he could cross over to the BJP, senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath arrived in the national capital Saturday afternoon and said if there would be any such thing, he would inform the media first. In his brief interaction with reporters, he asked them not to get excited. Asked if he is joining the BJP, Nath said, "If there would be any such thing, I would inform you first." When a reporter asked if he was not denying a possible switch, Nath said, "It is not about denying, you are saying this, you people are getting excited. I am not getting excited, this side or that side, but if there would be any such thing, I would inform you first." Over the past few days, Nath had been on a tour of his bastion Chhindwara, from where he had been an MP for nine terms. His son Nakul Nath won the seat in the 2019 polls, even as the BJP swept the remaining 28 seats in the state. Asked about the speculation that Nath could cross over to the