Three days after being freed by Maoists, Odisha Member of Legislative Assembly Jhina Hikaka on Sunday said the ultras are likely to release a fresh audio message which could clear the air over his possible resignation as a legislator.
There was a half hour firefight between the Maoists and the police on Friday night at a jungle under Sorada police station area bordering Kandhamal district, before the ultras fled, a senior police official who took part in the operation told PTI.
Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka Monday completed a month in captivity of Maoists even as all including Odisha government were anxiously waiting for the 'praja (people's) court' proposed by the Naxals to decide the fate of the tribal legislator by April 25.
In an audio message to the media, a leader of Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee (AOBSZC) of CPI (Maoist) said the final verdict of the praja court on the fate of Laxmipur MLA would be communicated by April 25.
Bowing to demand by Maoists that it withdraw cases against 13 prisoners for the freedom of Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka, the Odisha government on Wednesday announced that it was agreeable to do so after expiry of the deadline set by the ultras at 5 pm.
The Maoists holding ruling Biju Janata Dal Member of Legislative Assembly Jhina Hikaka hostage on Sunday extended the deadline for the fulfillment of their demands till April 18. In a message, a leader of Maoists' Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee set a new deadline of 5 pm on April 18 for the release of 29 rebels, said Nihar Ranjan Patnaik, a Koraput-based lawyer who fights cases for Maoists.
The Maoists holding Italian Paolo Bosusco hostage on Wednesday welcomed 'certain' steps taken by the Odisha government to meet their demands while the fate of Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka held by another Naxal group was still unknown as the deadline set by both sides ended on Tuesday.
As the deadline set by two Maoist groups in the twin hostage crisis ends on Tuesday, the Odisha government seemed to have toughened its stance vis-a-vis their new demands.
Three days after the Odisha government invited it for talks for the release of abducted Biju Janata Dal Member of Legislative Assembly Jhina Hikaka, Maoist-backed Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh on Monday said it was willing to do so if certain conditions were fulfilled.
Alleging that the Odisha government is indifferent towards the Italian hostage crisis, Maoist mediators on Thursday threatened to pull out of talks if no response is received on the demands of the rebels who said they are ready to release the foreigner if three of their 13 conditions are met.
Maoist-nominated mediators on Monday refused to issue an appeal to the ultras for early release of a ruling Biju Janata Dal MLA and an Italian, held captive by different rebel groups, and instead asked Odisha government to release "innocent" people jailed on the charge of being Naxal.
The Centre is understood to have decided to invoke Article 355 of the Constitution to warn Orissa and Karnataka to rein in violence, following attacks on churches and prayer halls in the two states.According to official sources on Thursday night, a formal communication in this regard will be sent on Friday to the governments of the two states ruled by the Opposition. A Biju Janata Dal - Bharatiya Janata Party coalition is ruling Orissa while the BJP is in power in Karnataka.
Hitherto considered as the unchallenged leader of ruling Biju Janata Dal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was jolted by a whiff of revolt in 2012, as the year also witnessed a spate of abductions in Odisha with Maoists using them as a new weapon to clinch their demands.
Anti-incumbency is fast losing relevance as an election factor in India.
Lok Sabha MP Baijayant 'Jay' Panda has submitted a private member's bill in the Lok Sabha to reduce the controversial section 66A of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 to merely an anti-spam provision.
Out of the 20 candidates announced by the BJD for the 21 Lok Sabha seats, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's party has nominated at least seven leaders who came from either the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Congress.
Orissa Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Shibaji Majhi, who his party has alleged was kidnapped at the behest of the ruling Biju Janata Dal, did not turn up to cast his vote in the Rajya Sabha elections till Thursday afternoon.
Patnaik, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi earlier in the day to discuss developmental issues related to his state, also ruled out joining any third front, a plan floated by some regional parties earlier.
Secretary general of the Biju Janata Dal Damodar Rout talks to Dilip Satapathy on why his party snapped the decade-old ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the politicial options before the BJD.
A day after snapping ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party at the state level, the Biju Janata Dal on Monday sent mixed signals on its strategy for the Lok Sabha polls, saying it is 'still part of the National Democratic Alliance'. "The BJD is misleading all by saying it is part of the NDA. How can a party be a member of the NDA while forging pre-poll alliance with the Left parties and the Nationalist Congress Party," asked BJP's youth wing leader Dharmendra Pradhan.
The Third Front will be a major force in the next Lok Sabha polls, says Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Niloptal Basu.
With P A Sangma insisting on contesting the Presidential poll, the ruling Biju Janata Dal in Odisha, which was the first to moot his name, on Saturday said there was no change in its decision to back him.
With numbers on its side -- the ruling NDA has about half the votes of the electoral college -- and the possible support of fence-sitters like the BJD, the AIADMK and the YSRCP, the NDA candidate will likely sail through the contest.
The government on Monday said that matters regarding Chinese intrusion can't be discussed in Parliament as it concerns the security of the country.
A day after the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Biju Janata Dal announced support for party leader P A Sangma's candidature, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said his party's stand on the Presidential election will be consistent with that of the United Progress Alliance.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday asked his party Member of Legislative Assembly Jhina Hikaka to "relax" and questioned why the legislator should quit, as demanded by the Maoists before his releaese on April 26.
The Maoists holding ruling Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka hostage since March 24 have asked the Odisha government to clearly spell out by 5 pm on Tuesday the steps being taken by it to free 29 prisoners to pave way for the legislator's release on Wednesday.
Odisha government on Sunday said it was examining release of some rebels as demanded by Maoists and hoped the Italian hostage crisis would end soon, even as the fate of abducted Biju Janata Dal MLA remained unknown with a rebel-backed outfit yet to respond an invitation to join talks.
On Tuesday, the government had agreed to refer it to the committee.
Pramila Mallik is facing a non-bailable warrant.
BJP on Friday announced candidates for 46 more Lok Sabha seats from the states of Kerala, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab and Sikkim. After the breakup of its alliance with the Biju Janata Dal in Orissa, BJP announced the names of seven Lok Sabha candidates from the state. It also announced 43 names for the assembly election scheduled along with the Lok Sabha polls. Five candidates from Kerala were also announced today by the party.
There is little doubt that the prime minister's own charisma exceeds that of his party, but 2024 is proof that no party can ultimately depend on one person to deliver victory all the time, points out R Jagannathan.
Naveen Patnaik, who steered the Biju Janata Dal to a landslide victory in the Odisha assembly elections, was on Wednesday sworn in as chief minister for a fourth consecutive term.
iyush Goel, Dharmendra Pradhan, Pralhad Joshi, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Biseswar Tudu are the 5 Union minsters.
Future Gaming and Hotel Services whose director is the lottery magnate Santiago Martin is the top purchaser of electoral bonds having purchased bonds worth Rs 1,368, according to data uploaded by the Election Commission of India on its website on Thursday.
Apart from the 18 members of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), including the Bharatiya Janata Party, seven non-National Democratic Alliance parties will attend the ceremony, going by their stated position on the issue which has snowballed into another political flashpoint between the ruling and opposition camps.
The overall productivity of the House for the first three weeks of the monsoon session has been 22.60 per cent," sources said
"Show respect to each other," was another comment during the pandemonium triggered by an issue raised by Biju Janata Dal member Braj Kishore Tripathi about alleged security rules violation during Congress lawmaker Rahul Gandhi's visit to Orissa last week. The Speaker also made it clear that it was he would 'decide what is relevant and what not'.
With two phases of voting already completed, political parties are busy with filing nominations, addressing roadshows and undertaking hectic campaigns for the constituencies that will vote this month.
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