Page 2 - National Political Parties

Congress to get first non-Gandhi president in 24 years today

The Congress will get its first non-Gandhi president in 24 years on Wednesday after more than 9,500 votes cast to choose between senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor are counted to cap the election contest, the sixth in its 137-year-old history. The counting of the votes cast on Monday will begin at 10 am on Wednesday at the AICC headquarters here. While Kharge is considered the firm favourite with his perceived proximity to the Gandhis and a large number of senior leaders backing him, Tharoor has pitched himself as the candidate of change. The process of bringing all the ballot boxes from the 68 polling booths set up across the country by the party will be completed by Tuesday. The sealed boxes will be kept in a "strong room" at the party headquarter. The sealed ballot boxes will be opened before the candidates' agents and the votes will be mixed repeatedly as they are added from various boxes. Congress central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry has ...

96% turnout in Congress presidential polls, all eyes on Oct 19 results

More than 9,500 Congress delegates across the country on Monday voted to elect the party's first non-Gandhi president in 24 years, choosing between senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor as successor to Sonia Gandhi. Of the total 9,915 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates that form the electoral college to pick the party chief in a secret ballot, over 9,500 cast their ballot at all PCC offices and the AICC headquarters in Delhi, party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry announced here. The results of election will be declared on October 19, after ballots from all PCC offices reach Delhi and the votes polled are mixed before counting. "I have been waiting for a long time for this day," Congress chief Sonia Gandhi told reporters after voting at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters here. Sonia Gandhi, who had been the party president from 1998 to 2017, was made interim president after Rahul Gandhi resigned in 2019 over the party'

About 9,500 PCC delegates cast their votes in Congress presidential polls

About 9,500 Pradesh Congress Committee delegates out of the total around 9,900 cast their votes in the Congress presidential polls, the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said on Monday. The overall voter turnout was about 96 per cent and in small states, it was nearly 100 per cent, he said at a press conference after voting ended in the Mallikarjun Kharge versus Shashi Tharoor contest. Mistry said by and large the voter turnout in all places was over 90 per cent. "The most satisfactory thing for us was that in all states where polling booths were set up, no adverse incident was reported. This is a big achievement...polls were held in an open process in a peaceful manner," Mistry said. "Congress party has shown what internal democracy is and other parties that want to take a lesson from it, can do so," he said. Mistry said no one should have any apprehensions as it is a secret ballot and nobody will get to know who voted for whom. Kharge is considered t

Embrace change, show courage, says Tharoor in final appeal to Cong electors

Calling on electors to show courage to "embrace change", Congress' presidential polls candidate Shashi Tharoor on Sunday asserted that in the change he envisions, the party's "values and loyalties" will remain the same with only the ways of achieving the goals undergoing a transformation. In his "last appeal" to the over 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates who constitute the electoral college to pick the next AICC chief, Tharoor noted that from his conversations over the last few days he gathered that many of them may have concerns or hesitation about change. While Tharoor has pitched himself as the candidate of change, Kharge is considered the favourite and the 'unofficial official candidate' with a large number of senior leaders backing him. "It is natural to have concerns about change in any organisation of the scale and size like ours, that's why I want to address this directly," Tharoor said in his video appeal which he posted on Twitter. "In the conversations tha

Tharoor hails Congress' decision to have secret ballot for party prez polls

Congress's presidential election candidate Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday welcomed the decision of the party's Central Election Authority to have a secret ballot in the polls for the grand old party's top post, and said it would enable all delegates to be able to vote as per their wish. He also said that this presidential election was important for the party to fight the upcoming Lok Sabha election with courage and confidence. "The system of election as declared by the (Congress) Central Election Authority (CEA) chairman Madhusudan Mistry is very good. He talked about the secret ballot...Voting will be carried out secretly and nobody gets to know who voted for whom...People can vote as per their wish," Tharoor told reporters during his election campaign here. He was referring to Mistry's press conference held in Delhi earlier in the day, where he said that the Congress's presidential polls will be held by a secret ballot and no one will get to know who voted for whom in order to ensure

Ahead of national plunge, Telangana CM KCR sharpens criticism against BJP

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday, for the first time, made some reference about his proposed national party and launched a broadside against the BJP-led NDA government, accusing it of crony capitalism and others. KCR, as Rao is known, was speaking in the Legislative Assembly on a short discussion on 'Central Electricity Bill - Ramifications' . "As if they have taken a contract, (they ask) you will start a national party? If not we, is it you? Is it we who have national character or you? Who has the national spirit, national character and the large heart of loving neighbours? ," he asked. KCR's statement on the floor of the House comes a day after his office stated "very soon, the formation of a national party and formulation of its (national party) policies will take place." However, Monday's reference was the first from Rao himself.

It should be 'main front', not 'third front': Nitish on opposition unity

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday pitched for uniting all non-BJP parties, saying it will be the "main front" and not the "third front". Speaking to reporters after meeting several non-BJP leaders here, Kumar said he had "very good and long discussions". "If all non-BJP parties in various states come together, then an atmosphere will emerge for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections where things would not remain one-sided. With whomever I talked to, there were positive discussions," he said. On talks of the third front, he said, "Whenever someone says there is a need to create a third front, I always say let's make the 'main front'. Whenever it happens, it will be the main front, not the third front." Kumar held deliberations with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar earlier in the day and also met CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya. The Bihar chief minister met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday. He had on Tuesday met CPIM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general .

Delhi: Ghulam Nabi meets J-K leaders, set to float his own national party

Several political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday met veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is planning to launch a new national party, a day after tendering resignations from all posts of Congress."MLAs from Jammu and Kashmir are here. A few more-some senior leaders and ex-ministers-will come in the evening. Azad Sa'ab said a national party will be formed, we'll begin from J & K and the upcoming poll will be fought strongly. Don't want to reply to comments, we'll reply with a victory," said ex-Congress leader Salman Nizami.The meeting came within 24 hours of Azad's resignation from all posts in Congress and it holds importance as the polls in the valley are likely to be held later this year."Under the leadership of Azad ji we will launch a national party and the work will begin from Jammu and Kashmir. Azad ji will go to J & K and will form an alliance with like-minded parties and leaders. All the criticism coming Azad Ji's way will be answered by winning elections,"

Unknown sources contributed Rs 15,077 cr to parties from 2005-21: ADR

The national parties have collected more than Rs 15,077.97 crore from unknown sources between 2004-05 and 2020-21, an analysis by the poll rights body -- Association for Democratic Reforms, showed. The total income of national and regional parties from unknown sources for 2020-21 stands at Rs 690.67 crore. ADR considered eight national parties and 27 regional parties for this analysis. The national parties comprised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), Community Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (CPI) and National People's Party (NPEP). The regional parties included AAP, AGP, AIADMK, AIFB, AIMIM, AIUDF, BJD, CPI(ML)(L), DMDK, DMK, GFP, JDS, JDU, JMM, KC-M, MNS, NDPP, NPF, PMK, RLD, SAD, SDF, Shivsena, SKM, TDP, TRS and YSR-Congress. The analysis conducted on the basis of the parties' Income Tax Returns (ITR) and donations statements

SC directs listing of pleas in election freebies case to three-judge bench

The Supreme Court on Friday directed listing of pleas, which have raised the issue relating to the practice of political parties promising freebies, before a three-judge bench. A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said it was argued before it that the 2013 judgement delivered by a two-judge bench of the apex court in the matter of S Subramaniam Balaji vs The Government of Tamil Nadu and others required reconsideration. "Looking into the complexities of the issues involved and the prayer to overrule the judgement rendered by a two-judge bench of this court in Subramaniam Balaji, we direct listing of the set of petitions before a three-judge bench after obtaining the orders from the Chief Justice of India," the bench said. The top court said these pleas would be listed after four weeks. In the 2013 judgement, the apex court had noted that after examining and considering the parameters laid in section 123 of the Representation of People Act, it arrived at a conclusion that the .

Story in numbers: BJP gets highest corporate donation in 2019-20

National parties received the maximum corporate donations of Rs 921.95 cr in the FY 2019-20 (during which the 17th Lok Sabha elections were held), followed by Rs 881.26 cr in the FY 2018-19

National parties collected Rs 3,370 cr from unknown sources in 2019-20: ADR

National parties collected Rs 3,377.41 crore from unknown sources in the 2019-20 financial year, which was 70.98% of the total income of these parties, according to Association for Democratic Reforms

Expanding footprint: BJP's aspiration to be 'Bharatiya' Janata Party

The party has expanded its presence but its performance in state elections falls far short of its Lok Sabha report card

Story in numbers: Income and expenditure of national parties

The total includes income from various sources all over India, as shown in their income-tax returns