As part of their ongoing campaign for the July 19 Presidential election, United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee and his rival P A Sangma will be separately visiting Gujarat in next couple of days.
Pranab Mukherjee and P A Sangma will file their nominations on Thursday, setting off the presidential race between the United Progressive Alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party-backed opposition candidate in which the ruling alliance is set for a runaway victory.
The Uniform Civil Code is a common set of laws on marriage, divorce and inheritance that would be applicable to all Indian citizens irrespective of religion, tribe or other local customs.
"I do not believe in miracles," UPA Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee remarked on Sunday, taking a jibe at his rival P A Sangma who is hoping for a miracle to see him through in the July 19 poll.
Presidential candidate P A Sangma on Tuesday met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to seek Trinamool Congress' support in the election for the top post. But the party remained non-committal, saying there was "no hurry" to take a decision.
P A Sangma could face disciplinary action from the Nationalist Congress Party if he ignores his party's direction to withdraw from the Presidential race and back UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee.
Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik on Monday stepped up the campaign for former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma's candidature for presidency describing him as a distinguished tribal leader.
Mukul Sangma was on Friday re-elected as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party and is set to become the 23rd chief minister of the state. The Congress, which won 29 seats, two short of an absolute majority, held its first CLP meeting at a hotel in Shillong.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Sharad Pawar, said that on March 19, this court passed a reasoned order in which they (Ajit Pawar group) were asked to issue advertisements that the allocation of 'clock' symbol is sub judice before this court and they were permitted to use the same subject to final outcome of these proceedings.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma on Tuesday drew comparisons between Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, saying that the BJP strongman is a good administrator but lacks secular credentials unlike the erstwhile Prime Minister.
Voting to elect 60 members of the state assembly in Meghalaya is scheduled for Monday, February 27. The results will be declared on Thursday, March 2.
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.
He furnished an undertaking before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan pursuant to a March 14 order by the apex court.
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh hit out at Opposition-backed candidate P A Sangma and one of his key backers Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for playing the tribal card in the Presidential polls.
UPA Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee's camp on Saturday hit back at opposition-backed candidate P A Sangma for raking up fresh allegations against his candidature saying the campaign was being "vitiated".
P A Sangma, the Opposition candidate for the Presidential poll, on Thursday filed his nomination papers in the presence of leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party, some National Democratic Alliance allies, Biju Janata Dal, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, northeast states and tribal legislators in New Delhi.
The Congress on Friday rejected opposition Presidential nominee P A Sangma's demand for a debate with United Progressive Alliance's Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee saying the President of India is not supposed to be managing the economy of the country.
Stepping up her campaign for former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma's candidature for Presidency, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo Jayalalithaa on Sunday contacted top leaders of several non-Congress parties including Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L K Advani, seeking their support to the tribal leader.
By almost unilaterally announcing her party's support for the candidature of former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma for the President's post, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary J Jayalalithaa has queered the pitch and made it that much more difficult the search for a common opposition candidate.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday rejected in the Supreme Court the plea of former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma that he was holding an office of profit on the day of filing nomination for President's election, saying he ceased to be the Leader of the Lower House as a result of his resignation from the Union Cabinet.
A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party was left embarassed after its MLAs cross voted in the Presidential election, former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa was in all praise for the newly-elected President -- Pranab Mukherjee.
Sangma, who was elected to Lok Sabha from Tura constituency in Meghalaya, put in his papers in protest against police action innocent students in Tura and Williamnagar.
Days before the first vote for the Lok Sabha polls is cast, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the rival Nationalist Congress Party factions led by party founder Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to abide by its directions on the use of symbols, party names and disclaimers in publicity material for the elections.
Nationalist Congress Party leader P A Sangma on Sunday said that he is still in the race for the President's post and has sought support of Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee for his candidature.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma laughed at the suggestion that his name has been floating as a potential presidential candidate for the forthcoming elections to the office of President of India. President Pratibha Patil's term ends on July 24, and the new President would be sworn in on July 25.
The TDP and JD-U will have a lot to answer inside Parliament, day after day, session after session, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
He may have buried the hatchet with Sonia Gandhi, but P A Sangma says there is no question of either his joining the Congress nor the Nationalist Congress Party merging with it. The former Lok Sabha Speaker, who met Congress president Gandhi and patched up with her ten years after raking up the issue of her foreign origin, on Saturday said that "the question of my joining the Congress does not arise at all".
It asked the Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led faction to issue a public notice in newspapers in English, Hindi and Marathi saying that the 'clock' symbol is sub-judice and its use is subject to adjudication.
A delegation of Meghalaya ministers led by CM Conrad K Sangma will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on November 24 to demand a CBI or NIA probe into the violence that left six people dead on the state's border with Assam.
Observing that the name and photographs of Sharad Pawar cannot be used by the Ajit Pawar faction for political gains, the Supreme Court on Thursday sought a response from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction led by the Maharashtra deputy chief minister on a plea of the veteran Maratha leader alleging misuse of his popularity by the rival camp.
The Returning Officer in the Presidential Election has rejected opposition candidate P A Sangma's contention that United Progressive Alliance's nominee Pranab Mukherjee's letter of resignation from the Indian Statistical Institute was forged, saying it had no merit.
Expressing gratitude to Bharatiya Janata Party for supporting his Presidential bid, P A Sangma on Thursday appealed to National Democratic Alliance allies Janata Dal-United and Shiv Sena, which are opposed to his candidature, as well as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to back him in the July 19 poll.
With A P J Abdul Kalam deciding not to contest the Presidential poll, BJP appeared set to back P A Sangma's candidature and convince its dithering NDA allies like Janata Dal (United) and Shiv Sena to fall in line and give up plans of a consensus on Pranab Mukherjee.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma, who is considered an underdog in the Presidential race, on Saturday pinned his hopes on the "big number of hidden votes". "We have (the case of) Barack Obama. Nobody thought a black man would ever occupy the White House. If a black man can become the President of America, why can't an Adivasi become the President of India," said the Nationalist Congress Party leader, whose party has refused to back him for the Presidential race.
'His contagious smile and peal of laughter, his affirmative approach to national challenges, his faith and conviction in India's future and his profound attachment to the welfare of the northeast attracted anyone who came in touch with him,' says Dr Anirban Ganguly.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies are well on the way to power in two north-eastern states, and is almost certain to be part of the ruling dispensation in the third.
In contrast, NCP president Sharad Pawar has indicated that he was ready for a pre-poll tie-up with the Congress.
Nationalist Congress Party general secretary P A Sangma said that there was no question of supporting Congress chief Sonia for the post. "We are not opposed to Rahul as the prime minister as he is an Indian. However, there was no question of supporting Sonia Gandhi for the top post," he said.
The two discussed the possibility of the Nationalist Congress Party joining the National Democratic Alliance.
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