Page 2 - Political Parties

What does it take to become a national party?

The recent assembly elections have helped AAP qualify for the national party status. So, what is it to be a national party in India? And what are the benefits of becoming one?

All parties should make collective effort to implement UCC, says Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said all parties should make a collective effort to implement a uniform civil code which will be good for the nation and humanity. Replying to a question on Uniform Civil Code (UCC) at Agenda Aaj Tak event, he said, "If a man marries a woman it is natural. But if someone goes for four marriages that is unnatural. Therefore the progressive and educated Muslims don't do it." "There should be a qualitative change in society. It is not against any religion or sect. We should together develop the nation," the Union minister for road, transport and highways said. Should not women of any religion, be they Hindu, Muslim or Sikh, be given equal rights, he posed. The Union minister also asked which Muslim country in the world has two civil codes. "If the Central government takes a decision on any issue and the states object, then the message that will go out will not be good as there is the concurrent list. So I think that if the states and all parties

Understand pain of new MPs: PM Modi on Day 1 of Parliament winter session

Urges MPs to make winter session productive, provide more opportunities to young parliamentarians

The corporate push towards 'one nation, one media'

In a sense, then, corporates are entering the media business for the same reason that political parties and political families own media houses - to influence public opinion

MHA's digital nod mandatory for foreign hospitality to govt servants

The application for grant of permission to accept foreign hospitality must reach the appropriate authority ordinarily two weeks before the proposed date of onward journey, mentions the rule

Bad structure, irresponsible politics behind India's poor fiscal governance

Instead of municipalities and states depending on transfers from the Centre, it should be the other way around

BJP looks to capture Samajwadi Party strongholds in Uttar Pradesh

Taking a cue from the people, Yadav publicly announced that he would resign from the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat and continue as CM

Political parties, some groups seek a review of SC order on EWS quota

Some groups and political parties are seeking a review of the recent Supreme Court order on quotas for EWS

Freebies to allure voters, welfarism policy intervention: BJP to EC

Making a distinction between freebies and welfarism, the BJP has suggested in a reply to the Election Commission that parties should place emphasis on voter empowerment and capacity building rather than increase the dependency of people, a party insider said. The BJP spelt out its stance on the issue in response to the Election Commission earlier this month seeking the views of all parties on its proposal to amend the model code of conduct. It also asked parties to provide authentic information to voters on the financial viability of their poll promises. Freebies are meant for alluring voters while welfarism is a policy intervention for inclusive growth, the BJP specified in its reply. The party, it is learnt, has no objections to the poll panel's idea that political parties should also submit financial viability of their poll promises. The BJP has suggested that emphasis should be on empowering voters, increasing their capacity, imparting them skills to raise country's human capit

What did Congress achieve with Bharat Jodo Yatra, asks Karnataka minister

A day after the Congress completed the Karnataka leg of its Bharat Jodo Yatra, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Monday wondered whether it served any purpose. In a series of tweets, Sudhakar, who quit the Congress in 2019 a year after being elected an MLA on the party's ticket to join the BJP, said the foot march is a self-realisation in admitting the blunder of dividing society on the basis of caste and religion. "With #BharatJodoYatra coming to an end in #Karnataka, the big question remains is whether it really served any purpose other than @INCIndia's classic divide and rule politics?" the minister wondered. "While the whole world is praising the new India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his efforts in putting the nation in the forefront, the Congress is simply busy walking on the path of illusion called #BharatJodoYatra!" Sudhakar said. The minister quipped that only a researcher can provide some insight into what Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and

Mistry slams Tharoor over allegations of 'irregularities' in Cong prez poll

Congress central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry on Thursday accused Shashi Tharoor's team of having two faces -- one for the party's poll body and another for the media -- as he rejected allegations of irregularities during the just-concluded AICC presidential poll, according to sources. In his response to Team Tharoor's letter in which "extremely serious irregularities" were flagged in the conduct of the election in Uttar Pradesh, Mistry said the poll body satisfied the candidate on every complaint but despite that he raised all those points in the media before bringing them to "our notice". "I am sorry to say that you had one face before me which communicated that you're satisfied with all our answers and action and different face in the media which made all these allegations against us," Mistry said in his letter to Tharoor's chief election agent Salman Soz, according to sources. The campaign team of Tharoor, who lost the party's presidential polls to Mallikarjun .

Shashi Tharoor: Lost Cong prez poll but not before making himself heard

He lost the election but Shashi Tharoor managed to score many a political point during his campaign for Congress president, a contest he lost to veteran party colleague Mallikarjun Kharge who was favoured to win. The author, wordsmith, former UN diplomat and social media pioneer with 8.3 million followers on Twitter demonstrated during the last few weeks that he is quite the opposite of a quockerwodger', a politically loaded term for a wooden puppet he introduced into our lexicon, and is instead independent minded, making moves on his own terms. Tharoor's loss is reminiscent of his electoral run in the 2006 UN secretary general poll in which he was defeated by South Korea's Ban Ki-moon but not before creating a strong buzz. It was in that contest perhaps that he first displayed his stomach for an electoral fight against daunting odds. That the often outspoken Tharoor managed 1,072 votes against perceived Gandhi favourite Kharge's 7,897 in the presidential election, only the sixth i

Sonia Gandhi visits Kharge, congratulates him on winning Cong prez poll

Outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday visited veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge's residence and congratulated him on winning the party presidential poll with a huge margin

Shashi Tharoor calls on Mallikarjun Kharge after Cong prez poll results

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor called on party president-elect Mallikarjun Kharge after losing to him in the battle for the top post, and offered his full cooperation going forward. Kharge was on Wednesday elected the Congress president after defeating Tharoor in the electoral contest, the sixth in the party's 137-year-old history. Kharge got 7,897 votes and Shashi Tharoor 1,072 votes, while 416 votes were declared invalid. "Called on our new President-elect Mallikarjun Kharge to congratulate him & offer him my full co-operation. Congress has been strengthened by our contest," Tharoor tweeted along with pictures of his meeting with Kharge. In one of the pictures, he held Kharge's arm aloft with Congress MP Karti Chidambaram also in the photograph.

Cong chief-elect Kharge represents a 'democratic vision' of India: Rahul

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday congratulated Mallikarjun Kharge on being elected as the new party chief and said he represents a "democratic vision" of India. "Congratulations to Mallikarjun Kharge ji on being elected as the President of Congress. "The Congress President represents a democratic vision of India. His vast experience and ideological commitment will serve the party well as he takes on this historic responsibility," Gandhi said on Twitter. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also congratulated Kharge and said his vast experience will help strengthen the party. "I am confident that your ground experience in political life will help strengthen the ideology of the Congress," she said in a tweet in Hindi. "Under your leadership, the Congress will continue to fight to protect the Constitution and democracy," she added. Vadra visited Kharge's residence along with outgoing Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to congratulate him. Kharge's wife was a

Congress announces list of 46 candidates for Himachal assembly elections

The Congress on Tuesday released its first list of 46 candidates for the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections scheduled for November 12. In the list released here, Congress Legislature Party leader Mukesh Agnihotri has been fielded from the Haroli assembly seat and former minister Asha Kumari from her Dalhousie seat. The party has nominated former state Congress chiefs Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and Kuldeep Singh Rathore from Nadaun and Theog, respectively. The party has fielded all its sitting MLAs, including former chief minister Virbhadra Singh's son Vikramaditya Singh from the Shimla Rural constituency. However, the first list of candidates did not include the name of state Congress chief Pratibha Singh. She is the sitting MP from Mandi and the wife of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh. Former BJP leader Dyal Pyari, who switched over to the Congress a few days ago, has been fielded from the Pachhad (SC) seat. Col Dhani Ram Shandil will contest from his Solan seat and Harshward

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

Situation in Vizag still tense, Jana Sena's Pawan Kalyan confined to hotel

The situation in the port city of Visakhapatnam remained tense for a second day on Sunday as the police barred Jana Sena Party (JSP) leader and actor Pawan Kalyan from holding meetings or rallies

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

Pawan Kalyan slams police action against Jana Sena Party members in Vizag

The chief of Jana Sena Party and Telugu superstar Pawan Kalyan condemned the police action against members of his party, after leaders of the ruling YSRCP alleged that JSP workers attacked the convoy