Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal may have been quick to deny any role in Railway Board bribery scandal and ask for a thorough CBI probe. But his image as an honest man, whose integrity could not be challenged, has been demolished. Anita Katyal reports
Former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and four-time MP on Tuesday filed his nomination papers for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, polling for which will be held on April 10.
A day after he was forced to step down, former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Saturday night maintained that he had nothing to do with the bribery allegation for which his nephew was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Sitting MP Pawan Kumar Bansal faces two dimpled beauties. Which one will the city choose?
Giving the clearest indication yet that Pawan Kumar Bansal would be its contestant of choice for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, the Congress on Thursday said that the purported "taint" on the former rail minister was all a matter of "speculation which has nothing to do with the truth".
In the absence of sanction for prosecution against a railway board member, Central Bureau of Investigation's chargesheet in the railway bribery scam, which cost Congress MP Pawan Kumar Bansal his job as railway minister, may not be filed within stipulated time till July 3.
Former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was re-nominated by Congress from Chandigarh on Thursday brushing aside the "taint" argument as it released the second list of 71 candidates who include film star Nagma in Meerut and Youth Congress chief Rajeevv Satav from Hingoli.
Faced with a dilemma over handing tickets to leaders facing allegations of corruption, Congress on Wednesday gave indications that while former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal could be re-nominated from Chandigarh, Pune MP Suresh Kalmadi may not be fielded in the upcoming polls.
Opposition parties in India have demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw after a stampede at New Delhi railway station killed 18 people. They blamed the government for "gross mismanagement" and accused them of "covering up" the death toll. The stampede occurred on Saturday night as passengers rushed to board trains for the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj. The Congress, the Left, Trinamool Congress, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal have all criticized the government's handling of the situation, while BJP leaders have defended the government. The incident has highlighted the failure of the Railways and the government to make adequate arrangements for the large number of devotees travelling to Prayagraj.
Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal will flag off the service after which he will take a ride on the inaugural 6:55pm train to Churchgate
The Congress released its second list of 71 candidates on Tuesday night. It is an interesting list, considering the names which have been taken on and the ones which were dropped. Renu Mittal reports
Actor-turned-Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Kirron Kher on Wednesday visited former MP Harmohan Dhawan at the latter's residence in Chandigarh apparently to seek support for her candidature, but failed to win over the sulking leader.
Former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Sunday hit out at his detractors, who questioned his re-nomination from Chandigarh over the cash-for-post scam issue, claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy and had suffered despite there being no evidence against him.
The authority said in its order that it believes that the movable assets and equity shares that were attached by the ED are proceeds of crime and linked to the offence of money laundering.
A non-Gandhi is set to become the Congress president after 24 years.
Sidhu backed his wife saying 'she would never lie', while the CM said she refused to contest from Amritsar.
The Aam Aadmi Party has sought the setting aside of Tuesday's election, alleging tampering of ballot papers, and fresh elections under the supervision of a retired high court judge.
A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against the newspaper's publisher Associated Journals Ltd and its holding company Young Indian, the central probe agency said in a statement.
Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Manoj Sonkar on Tuesday defeated Aam Aadmi Party's Kuldeep Kumar to win the post of mayor in the Chandigarh mayoral polls.
In a shot in the arm for the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiromani Akali Dal ahead of Punjab assembly polls, their alliance on Tuesday defeated Congress in the Chandigarh municipal corporation election in which demonetisation had emerged as a key issue.
The discussions are mostly one-on-one, party insiders said on Thursday, a day of many meetings.
Nomination forms for the post of Congress president poll have been collected by Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor and All India Congress Committee (AICC) treasurer Pawan Bansal, but Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has not done so yet, the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said on Tuesday.
"The way my papa (Dharmendra) worked with and supported Atal ji (Atal Bihari Vajpayee), I am here today to work with and support Modi ji. My work will do the talking," Sunny said after joining the BJP in the presence of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister for Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal.
Senior party leaders slug it out for tickets in Chandigarh, Kangra
While 39 members of the all-important panel are general members, it has 32 permanent invitees, including some in-charges of state and 13 special invitees.
While I&B Minister Manish Tewari seems desperate for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, the Congress leadership is having a tough time choosing the right candidates. Anita Katyal reports
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Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
On joining the party, Kumar said, "I am joining Congress because it's not just a party, it's an idea. It's a country's oldest and most democratic party, and I am emphasising on 'democratic'...Not just me many think that country can't survive without the Congress..."
At a time when the Congress is perhaps facing its toughest electoral challenge and senior leaders are opting out of the race one by one, the party has at least succeeded in fielding tough candidates in two Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab. Anita Katyal 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.
'I can't say who is to blame for this incident; it could be anybody. I leave it to you and the people to decide,' Selja told Rediff.com, adding this was the first time she has been attacked in her career.
The Congress party's first list of 194 Lok Sabha candidates released on Saturday night has no major surprises. Anita Katyal reports
Counting's underway and the fate of the candidates is awaited. As we wait for the results with bated breath, here's how your heavyweights are faring for now.
In a major exercise ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Congress on Thursday night constituted screening committees for all states and union territories for early selection of candidates.
Former Miss India and actor Gul Panag on Thursday joined the Aam Aadmi Party and will be its candidate for Lok Sabha polls from Chandigarh, a place where she was born and describes as her "family's home".
It was conveyed that he would not have a free rein in making bureaucratic postings. Sunil Bansal, handpicked by BJP president Amit Shah to execute his UP blueprint, has made it clear the party's writ would run over the government. But Adityanath has institutionalised a system to keep Bansal out, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
From Bollywood strong men to cricketing greats, celebrities upped the glam quotient this poll season. Some we will see as future MPs, the others just have to get back to business. Rediff.com takes a look at some popular faces, who fought Election 2019 and here's the verdict on them.
'That the commandments to officialdom were issued by a BJP functionary and not a minister is a reflection of the Yogi government's work style.'
A summary of Tuesday's play in the Ranji Trophy matches at various venues across the country.
Here is the full transcript of Congress vice president and Lok Sabha poll campaign chief Rahul Gandhi's first formal TV interview with Times Now Editor-In-Chief Arnab Goswami.
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