Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray were among the famous faces who queued up at the polling booths on Monday to caste their votes in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
After ensuring Jharkhand chief ministership for party chief Shibu Soren, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has now upped the ante for ensuring two ministerial berths at the Centre for its party MPs. Soren is learnt to have apprised the United Progressive Alliance leadership about the party's choice for JMM general secretary and Rajmahal MP Hemlal Murmu and the party's chief whip and Giridih MP Teklal Mahato for the berths in the Union council of ministers.
Alamgir Alam had distanced himself from the activities of Lal while speaking to reporters after the ED raids, pointing out that he had earlier served with other ministers of the state government too.
The Supreme Court said on Wednesday it will examine whether the immunity granted to lawmakers from prosecution for taking bribe to make a speech or vote in Parliament and state legislatures extends to them even if criminality is attached to their actions, as it began reconsideration of its 1998 judgement in the JMM bribery scandal that rocked the country 25 years ago.
The JMM has convened a crucial meeting of the party's central committee and legislature party on Sunday where a formal decision of withdrawal would be made. Soren is scheduled to call on Governor Syed Sibtey Razi after the party meeting as Razi has allowed his request for an appointment at 7 pm, Raj Bhavan sources said.
'He fears that the youth tide has gone against him and he will be swept away in the next assembly election in the state.'
'It was my late husband Durga Soren (Hemant Soren's elder brother) who built the party and strengthened it.' 'It was due to his strengthening efforts that we have today a JMM government in the state.'
If everything goes according to the plan, the exercise will begin after the Lok Sabha elections, the official said.
The incident took place at Kurumahat in Hansdiha police station area, around 300 km from the state capital Ranchi, on Friday night when a tourist couple from Spain was spending the night at a makeshift tent.
Jharkhand's caretaker Chief Minister Arjun Munda on Friday doubted the credential of his former ally Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Christmas Day list that pulled down the Bharatiya Janata Party government on January 8 and said it could have been an excuse to create instability.
Bribery can never be a subject matter of immunity and parliamentary privilege is not meant to place a lawmaker above the law, the Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court which reserved its verdict on reconsideration of its judgment of 1998 when it held that MPs and MLAs enjoy immunity from prosecution for taking bribe to make a speech or cast a vote in legislature.
Jharkhand Governor C P Radhakrishnan on Thursday nominated Jharkhand Mukti Morcha legislative party leader Champai Soren as the chief minister and invited him to take the oath, capping a day of fast-paced developments.
Plunging the state into political uncertainty, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Sunday decided to withdraw support to the Madhu Koda-led coalition government in Jharkhand and explore the possibility of making its supremo Shibu Soren the chief minister with the support of Independents.The decision was taken after the crucial JMM legislators' meeting in Ranchi today. JMM has seventeen Members of Legislative Assembly in the 81-member House.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party were on Thursday locked in a verbal duel after Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supremo Shibu Soren sought to remind his ally BJP of the "agreement" that the two ruling parties had on sharing power on "rotation" in Jharkhand during government formation in September last year.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Hemant Soren, who had to step down as Jharkhand chief minister in the face of his imminent arrest, on Thursday accused the Enforcement Directorate of arresting him as part of a 'well-orchestrated conspiracy' by the Centre ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due months from now.
Corruption and bribery of members of the legislature erode the foundation of Indian parliamentary democracy, the Supreme Court said on Monday.
"Only 38 MLAs (in the 82-member House) favour dissolution of the House while others favour formation of government. So allow us some more time as we are holding talks with other parties," sources quoted Soren as having told the governor.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Tuesday decided to share power on rotational basis for the remaining term of the Jharkhand assembly, with the saffron party to be the first to take over.
Please promise, especially those millions who trust you with their hard-earned money, never to let your voting preferences determine your actions on the markets. The most appalling and scary phenomenon was fund houses and brokerages going out on election yatras and writing copious reports promising more than 300 for the BJP. That was your wish as voters. Your investors are paying for it now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
A day before United Progressive Alliance Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee's Jharkhand visit, the Congress on Wednesday said chances of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha President Shibu Soren supporting him are positive, though he has chosen to defer the date of announcement of his choice for the July 19 election.
Other prominent candidates among the 904 in the fray are Union minister Anurag Thakur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti.
Soren, 48, has been asked to depose at the federal agency's regional office in the Hinoo area in Ranchi and get his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said on Monday.
Voting for by-elections to seven assembly constituencies of six states, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tripura, West Bengal, and Jharkhand, started on Tuesday at 7 am.
Leaders of several Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties met on Saturday to take stock of the opposition's preparations leading up to the June 4 counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections, and claimed they will get more than 295 seats, enough for them to form the next government.
A dozen land parcels in Ranchi measuring about 8.5 acres in total are in 'illegal possession, occupation and use' of arrested former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and are proceeds of crime under the anti-money laundering law, the Enforcement Directorate has claimed.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for "suppressing facts" regarding filing of regular bail plea in trial court in a money laundering case, prompting the JMM leader to withdraw his petition challenging arrest by the Enforcement Directorate.
High voter turnout was recorded in most of the seven assembly constituencies in six states where by-elections were held on Tuesday.
Bypolls are due in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday questioned the character of the opposition alliance, saying its true face was seen when it indulged in corruption to save its governments.
Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party remained indecisive over formation of a new government in Jharkhand, its ally in the state Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Saturday night stuck to its demand for heading the government by them in rotation.
Though the Bharatiya Janata Party has managed to forge an alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha for government formation in Jharkhand, there is no clarity as of now on whether the Shibu Soren-led party will become part of the National Democratic Alliance.
The marathon polling process to elect the 18th Lok Sabha ended on Saturday with the seventh phase of elections witnessing an approximate voter turnout of 62.36 per cent, amid clashes between Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters in Sandeshkhali and some other parts of West Bengal.
"I am neither afraid nor worried. Rather I am emerging stronger. If people of Jharkhand wish, opponents will not find a place to hide," Soren said while addressing JMM workers near his residence.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren had resigned on Saturday.
Development economist Jean Dreze said the Indian democracy is currently navigating a crisis that is not only limited to the 'recent wave of authoritarianism' but also suppression of opposition voices by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
About a dozen locations in the state, including in state capital Ranchi and a premise in Rajasthan, are being raided by the central agency under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
Jharkhand's ruling coalition partner Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Monday decided to withdraw support to the Arjun Munda-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, pushing it to a minority, in a new twist to the tussle for power between the two allies.
The objection comes against the backdrop of strong rumours and the Bharatiya Janata Party claim that Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana will be the first choice for the chief minister's post in case her husband was arrested.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to re-examine its 1998 judgment granting MPs and MLAs immunity from prosecution for taking bribe to make a speech or vote in Parliament or state legislatures.
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