A day after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi backed Manmohan Singh's candidature for prime ministership after the Lok Sabha polls, two United Progressive Alliance allies on Sunday said that they would not be averse to accepting the top job if given a chance."Right now, we have Manmohan Singh as the leader. But in case Sharad Pawar gets a chance or Mulayam Singh gets a chance, they will not oppose each other," Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh said.
During their visit to the holy city, the Congress leaders will take a dip in Saryu river, and then visit the Ram temple and Hanumangarhi temple, Rai said on Sunday.
The Congress on Friday welcomed the statements of opposition leaders condemning Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha and said it was now time for the party to take on the job of building the opposition unity in a "systematic way".
The parties also said that the decision has come in late and had the Modi government shed its 'arrogance earlier' and repealed the laws opposed by farmers, a number of precious lives lost during the nearly year-long agitation could have been saved.
The Tamil Nadu assembly on Friday once again passed a unanimous resolution urging the Centre to exempt the state from National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test and allow it to admit students to medical courses based on Plus Two exam marks.
Till 5 pm, Agra recorded 56.61 per cent polling, Aligarh 57.25 per cent, Baghpat 61.35 per cent, Bulandshahr 60,52 per cent, Gautam Buddh Nagar 54.77 per cent, Ghaziabad 54.77 per cent, Hapur 60.50 per cent, Mathura 58.51 per cent, Meerut 58.52 cent, Muzaffarnagar 62.14 per cent and Shamli 61.78 per cent, an EC report said.
In a memorandum submitted to the EC, the INDIA party leaders submitted a list of recent instances of central agencies targeting Opposition parties and alleged an absence of a level playing field for the opposition.
They said they will raise issues related to rising prices, unemployment, corruption and caste census.
State Congress president and former chief minister Kamal Nath has been fielded from his home-turf Chhindwara, from where he is currently the legislator.
The Congress expressed its 'whole-hearted' support to the 'Bharat bandh' called by farmer unions against the new agri-marketing laws and announced that it will hold protests that day at all district and state headquarters in solidarity with the demands of the farmers. TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the party rank and file would actively participate in the bandh to ensure it was a success.
Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, Rashtriya Lok Dal's Anil Kumar and two Bharatiya Janata Party leaders were sworn in on Tuesday as Yogi Adityanath expanded his council of ministers, weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
A Delhi court will on Tuesday decide the interim bail plea of Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Amar Singh, who is currently in lodged in Tihar Jail following his arrest in connection with the 2008 cash-for-vote case. Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal on Monday reserved her order after hearing senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, who argued the case of the 55-year-old former Samajwadi Party general secretary. Singh "is not going to die but is really sick," Jethamalani pleaded.
The bail plea hearing of former Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, in connection with the 2008 cash-for-votes scam, was on Friday deferred till September 12 by a Delhi court. The court also ordered Tihar Jail medical staff to conduct another round of tests on an ailing Singh, who had earlier requested for bail on health grounds, as he is suffering from kidney-related problems. Singh, who was arrested on Tuesday, is presently lodged at Delhi's Tihar Jail.
Predicting a tough time for Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, the newly-formed Peoples Democratic Front on Tuesday indicated that it might contest in 147 seats in the next Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday arrested Bajrang Muni Das of Maharishi Shri Laxman Das Udasin ashram, days after he allegedly made a hate speech and issued a "rape threat" in Sitapur.
"Leave phone tapping, Instagram account of my children have also been hacked," Priyanka told reporters when asked about allegations of phone tapping of opposition leaders by the government.
The conference was seen by many as a show of strength by the Opposition with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav joining in to raise their voice against oppression of backward classes.
Seen by political watchers as the favourite to retain power for a third straight term, the Bharatiya Janata Party has set itself an ambitious target of winning 370 Lok Sabha seats, a goal aimed as much at projecting its strength as at diminishing the opposition in popular imagination.
Nearly 137 public meetings in UP...
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Maneka Gandhi on Saturday indicated that her son Varun Gandhi's writings that were sometimes critical of the government may have cost him the party's Lok Sabha ticket from Pilibhit but asserted that he would do very well even without it.
Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh made it to the Working Committee.
According to a senior Congress leader, the constituents of the opposition alliance intend to move forward with the theme "Main Nahin, Hum (We, Not Me)" at the meeting.
With this, the ruling BJP has so far declared candidates for 136 seats. Earlier, the BJP had announced 79 candidates, including two lists of 39 each, and another list of one nominee.
Sources in various parties suggest that two lakh votes of the Patel community, locally known as OBC kurmi, for which mother-daughter led Apna Dal (S) and Apna Dal (K) are competing and over one lakh of OBC Rajbhars would be crucial in deciding the outcome of the assembly seats in Varanasi.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh made it amply evident in Lucknow on Monday that it was his threat to expose Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati that prompted her to sit pretty on the First Investigation Report registered in a Kanpur police station against him.
The Allahabad High Court on Saturday turned down a plea to initiate criminal proceedings against Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh.The petition was moved by Shiv Kant Tripathi, a lawyer, who had earlier this week lodged a FIR in a Kanpur police station, accusing Singh of committing a huge fraud through his alleged money laundering operations, during his stint as the chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Development Council.
The man who slapped a First Investigation Report against high profile Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, was supposedly at the receiving end now.
If the Congress reached 90, it would have a pretty good chance of holding the BJP below the 272 mark. A hundred seats will rock national politics, argues Shekhar Gupta.
Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh has expressed confidence that the India-United States civil nuclear agreement will get the crucial nod from American Congress this month, even as he lashed out at political rivals in India for opposing the landmark agreement.Following discussions with Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton in New York, Singh said the former first lady had assured him that Democrats would not hinder the passage of the deal through the US Congress.
"Unless we hear from herself I am not going to believe any story that has been put up quoting her. She is a part of our United National Progressive Alliance and will continue to remain one," he said.
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Wednesday warned that the country may witness more communal violence ahead of the 2014 general election as he indicated that some political parties could be behind the riots in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.
Bhatia said he has belief in the 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' call of Modi and Shah.
Citing several reasons and a string of Supreme Court rulings, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh has strongly contended that he is not holding an office of profit that warrants his disqualification as a Rajya Sabha member.
The Congress is planning to call a meeting of Opposition parties in May. It is possible to keep all possibilities open in case Karnataka yields a hung House, leading to a recalibrated Opposition.
The Amar Singh phone tapping controversy on Thursday took a new twist with the Supreme Court issuing notice to Samajwadi Party General Secretary as to why contempt proceedings be not initiated against him for entering into conversation allegedly undermining the judiciary.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh has been accused of using the contraband 'hawala' operation to dole out a hefty $10 million 'gift' to the Clinton Foundation in United States.Vishwanath Chaturvedi, who had earlier moved a PIL accusing SP chief Mulayam Singh of amassing disproportionate assets, has filed a petition before the Election Commission in New Delhi.He added "It is evident that Singh had given false declaration about his wealth."
Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh contributed anywhere from $1 to $5 million to the Clinton Foundation, and so did industrialist Lakshmi Mittal, chief executive of ArcelorMittal, according to information released by the non-profit organisation set up by the former President Bill Clinton to fund a variety of charitable activities around the world, including combating the scourge of HIV/AIDS.
Maurya had the right to give his own independent explanation different from explanations of many scholars but he cannot use such language which may disturb the religious feelings of a community, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court said.
The Economic Offences Wing of the Uttar Pradesh police will investigate the case against Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, who has been accused in a Rs 500-crore scam.
