No combination on Friday appeared to be in a position to stake claim to form a government in Jharkhand, a day after elections produced a hung Assembly, though 'king maker' and JMM chief Shibu Soren made it clear he wants to be chief minister.
Koda, scheduled to face a trial of strength in a special session of the assembly on August 25, had been insisting on a meeting of the UPA to sort out the differences instead of airing views here and there. The chief minister added that he would place his views to them of his performance in past two years, which he thought would justify his claim to complete the tenure.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal on Saturday announced its support for Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren in forming the next government in Jharkhand after the resignation of incumbent Madhu Koda.Prasad also dismissed the recent statement of Koda in which he had said he was not joining any government and had dubbed the current political situation 'ill-timed and unnecessary' as just an outburst.
Shibu Soren's hopes of making a comeback as Jharkhand chief minister by replacing incumbent Madhu Koda received a boost today with the Rashtriya Janata Dal assuring the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supremo of its support. Soren said after his meeting with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav in Delhi that the railway minister had not only promised his party's backing, but also assured him help in securing the support of independents.
"I will definitely contest the elections," Soren said after meeting Congress party's in charge of Jharkhand Ajay Maken in New Delhi. The JMM chief was replying to a query on whether he would contest from Jamtara seat vacated for him by a rebel BJP MLA. Jamtara MLA Vishnu Bhaiyya resigned earlier in the day to pave the way for Soren to contest from there.
Major political parties in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday ensured victory for all their candidates despite cross voting in Rajya Sabha biennial polls in which senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal emerged triumphant against the Bharatiya Janata Party-backed Independent socialite Preeti Mahapatra.
Shibu Soren will take oath as chief minister of Jharkand on Wednesday for the second time in three years after Governor Syed Sibtey Razi invited the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supremo on Monday night to form the new government and asked him to seek a trust vote on or before September one. Senior JMM legislator and former deputy chief minister Sudhir Mahato said Soren will take the oath around 1600 hours on August 27 at the Morabadi ground.
A dejected Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren today indicated that he may step down in the wake of his defeat in the by-election. "I have lost the elections... since I have been defeated in people's court, I am certainly a defeated man. Moreover, I have lost as Chief Minister, hence I will have to think on the issue of continuing as CM," he told reporters here when asked whether he would step down as Chief Minister.
'Rahul Gandhi was given the impression that if the seat was given to me, then the alliance would be broken in all 40 seats.'
Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda on Tuesday said he would seek the trust vote in the assembly on August 25 and expressed confidence that his government would win the confidence vote.
Here are some day's snippets of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections:
Railway sources said several trains, including Tata-Patna express, were detained due to squatting in Chakradharpur, Tatanagar, Galudih and Gamariah.
Almost all top Congress leaders were trailing.
Soren has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murder.
Counting of votes is underway in assembly byelection to 58 seats in 11 states including Madhya Pradesh where the results will decide the fate of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
The other new ministers introduced by the Prime Minister were Sushil Kumar Shinde, A R Antulay, Vayalar Ravi, Murli Deora, Ambika Soni and Saifuddin Soz, and 3 ministers given cabinet rank.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Thursday declared the spot where 12 tribals were killed in police firing at Kalinga Nagar as 'Veerbhumi'.
PM Modi's assurance came against the backdrop of violent protests against the CAB.
'Mamata wanted the Congress in alliance with the BJP in Bengal against the Left Front government.' 'Pranab Mukherjee opposed it, stating it would amount to compromising on secularism.' 'In 2021, Mamata defeats the BJP and becomes a champion of secularism.'
Razi will arrive in Delhi on Friday, official sources said.
But the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief will not be freed till his production before the Tis Hazari court in connection with two other cases.
Elections for 19 Rajya Sabha seats spread across eight states will be held on Friday with the contest in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan promising to be a close affair between the BJP and the Congress.
Although conventional political wisdom would decree that the construction of a 'magnificent' Ram temple at his 'birth-place' would bring the BJP a big yield of votes in the prospective elections, its leaders know by now that the mandir must not exist in isolation in its game plan, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to vote in large numbers. "Today, there are bypolls taking place in various places across India. I urge those voting in these seats to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy," he said in a tweet.
Two political parties having two members in the Jharkhand assembly merged with the Trinamool Congress in Ranchi on Monday.
'The voter is cautioning the BJP not to take them for granted.'
According to a document by the Association for Democratic Reforms, the average number of years a case against a member of Parliament or a member of Legislative Assembly is pending is seven years. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Polling will be held in all 13 seats in Punjab and an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat Chandigarh.
The Congress chief reiterated that Rs 30,000 crore was "wrongfully" given to Anil Ambani in the purchase of Rafale fighter planes.
About 65.46 per cent electorate on Tuesday exercised their franchise in the second of the five-phase polling for the 20 Maoist-hit assembly constituencies as the day passed off peacefully.
A down-to-the-wire contest is likely in some of the seats in the high-stakes Rajya Sabha elections in seven states, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana, where the fate of candidates including senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal and senior lawyer R K Anand is being decided on Saturday.
"The Congress party complains a bit too much. It accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of 'stealing' the mandate in Goa. It unsuccessfully petitioned before the Supreme Court. It attempted to raise issues in the Lok Sabha," he said in a Facebook post.
Polling will take place amidst tight security in 13 Maoist-affected constituencies in the first phase of 5-stage elections to the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly on Tuesday.
One hundred and thirty-three candidates will try their luck from the constituencies falling under the districts of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is projected to get a majority in Jharkhand while Jammu and Kashmir may return a hung verdict with PDP emerging as the single largest party followed by BJP in assembly elections in the two states, according to two separate exit polls on Saturday.
Arch-rivals Left and Trinamool, SP and BSP come together for Sonia's lunch
'No one institution can cleanse it: Not the courts, government or activists.' 'And least of all the Indian Police Service,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
