BJP-BJD ties break down, NDA shaken

BHUBANESWAR: In what is a major setback to the NDA campaign, the BJP-BJD ties broke down on Saturday night with Orissa chief minister Naveen
Patnaik announcing that he would go to polls on his own and his 11-year understanding with the saffron camp was off. ( Watch )

The talks between Patnaik and BJP ended on an abrupt note when the BJD leader made a "humiliating" offer of just about half a dozen Lok Sabha seats of the 21 seats in Orissa. While BJP kept mum after the talks ended, the party's senior leadership will take stock of the situation in Delhi on Sunday.

It is clear that Patnaik was not really keen to continue his alliance with BJP as he set out terms that the safrron party, even if its stretched itself, would not have been able to agree to. The BJD boss appears to be convinced that he is better placed to win the Lok Sabha and assembly elections without the BJP.

"We were stressing on the winnability factor but this did not work out. It is now clear that we will face the elections on our own," said Patnaik after the talks failed.

The BJP has been taken off guard despite the evidence on the ground suggesting that the party has been steadily in decline. Even in western Orissa's tribal belt, BJD has begun to win more seats in the local body elections. BJP has missed the point that its appeal has become increasingly restricted to only its core cadres and incidents like Kandhamal have only created a surge amongst the faithful.

The view of BJP leaders is that Patnaik has taken a calculated decision that may enhance his status as a regional leader but could still be open to a post-election deal with NDA if the numbers work out. The BJD could also go with a "third front" formation if such a situation arose. Yet, the ruthless streak that Patnaik has dispalyed surprised BJP even though he has shown it in dealing with inconvenient elements in his own party.

It is felt that BJD's bold strike is also based on its assessment that the party was gaining not just at the expense of BJP but also eating into Congress support. Both Congress and BJP suffer the drag of uninspiring leadership and this has accrued to the benefit of the BJD over the years.

Patnaik kept the BJP on tenterhooks through the day. As Naveen left for Ganjam to campaign, the BJP core group remained in closed door meetings at the party office. The core group comprised party's state president Suresh Pujari, Biswabhusan Harichandan, Dharmendra Pradhan, Jual Oram, Manmohan Samal, Kharabela Swain, Prasanna Mishra, Panchanan Rout, and BJP all-India joint general secretary in charge of Orissa, V Satish.

The meeting was convened in the backdrop of Friday night's one-on-one talk Naveen Patnaik had with BJP emissary from New Delhi Chandan Mitra on the contentious seat sharing issue for the ensuing assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Mitra on Friday had met Naveen after getting briefs from the state BJP leadership. That the meeting yielded little result was evident from the statement he made after emerging out of Naveen Niwas. "Details of the meeting cannot be discussed before the media," he remarked. He also said that both sides were examining the ground reality.

Sources said Mitra discussed with the core group details of his talks with Patnaik and sought the state leadership's views on whether or not to agree with the BJD formula. The BJD was rigid on dismantling the 84:63 and 12:9 ratio for the assembly and Lok Sabha seats. respectively, and wanted to contest more seats. It also wanted to reserve the right of choosing the seats for BJP.

This was clearly not acceptable. The BJP meeting also discussed the possibility of BJD fielding rebels to undercut the BJP's position whether there was an alliance or not.

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Cong-TC alliance in a day or two: Cong

NEW DELHI: The alliance between Congress and Trinamool Congress to take on the ruling Left Front in Lok Sabha poll in West Bengal could be
announced in a day or two.

"Talks are going on...These are on the right track. I will get back to you with some announcement on the alliance in a day or two," AICC in-charge of West Bengal K Keshava Rao told reporters at the AICC headquarters here.

Rao visited the Left-ruled state recently and had talks with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee as also with other Congress leaders.

The Congress leader described the talks as "positive". "I am confident that the alliance would work out," he said.

Asked how many seats would be acceptable to Congress and what will be the formula of seat-sharing in the state, Rao said "it would be a respectable figure" but declined to divulge what will be acceptable to the party.

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CPM MP Abdullakutty expelled for praising Modi

KANNUR: CPM MP from Kannur A P Abullakutty, who had praised Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's development model, was on Saturday expelled
from the party on the charge of breach of discipline by "joining class enemies".

The action against the two-time Lok Sabha member was taken by CPM's Kannur district committee which accused him of repeated breach of discipline by joining the "class enemies", party sources said.

The 44-year-old MP had embarrassed CPM by stating that the efforts of Modi to bring development to his state were worthy of emulation, even as he did not agree with his "anti-minority" approach.

The move came a day after the suspended Lok Sabha member said he had 'technically ceased' to be a party member as he had not renewed his membership and could decide the future step on his own.

He was suspended from the party membership for one year on January 17 after the district committee found his reply "unsatisfactory" to the explanation sought from him about his remarks praising Modi's development model.

CPM found that by his "anti-party" comments Abudllakutty had "forfeited" his last chance to "correct the mistake" and remain in the party, the sources said.

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TDP strongman Subba Reddy joins Congress

HYDERABAD: In a move that would change political equations in Kurnool district, TDP's sitting MLA and regional strongman S V Subba Reddy has quit
the party and joined the Congress.

The development has been balanced somewhat with Manganti Venkateswara Rao (Babu), who till recently was a minister in Y S Rajasekhar Reddy's cabinet, resigning from the Congress and joining the TDP with both events happening late Friday evening.

Subba Reddy was the only TDP MLA to get elected from the entire Kurnool district in the 2004 elections. In all, he was elected MLA five times from Kurnool and was the man who converted TDP into a force to reckon with in the district.

His daughter Sobha Nagai Reddy and son-in-law Bhooma Nagai Reddy quit TDP a few months ago and joined Praja Rajyam Party headed by actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi.

With Subba Reddy's exit from the party, TDP has been weakened in Kurnool which is one of the key areas of Rayalseema region.

Subba Reddy's son Mohan Reddy and former chairman of Zilla Parishad B Venkataramudu also joined Congress on Friday.

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IIT, IIM alumni to contest 40 Lok Sabha seats

LUCKNOW: The Bharatiya Punarnirman Dal (BPD) - a political outfit floated by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of
Management (IIM) alumni - will contest the Lok Sabha election from at least 40 seats across the country, a party leader said Saturday.

"We are all geared to contesting the election. Till now, we have only announced eight candidates," BPD national working committee member Omendra Bharat said over telephone from Kanpur.

Candidates have been named for four seats in Uttar Pradesh, two in Delhi and one each in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, said Bharat, a graduate from IIT-Kanpur.

Asked about the party's poll plank, Bharat said: "Growing terrorism and issues like education and jobs will be high on our agenda."

Formed in December 2006, BPD contested, without success, five seats in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 2007. "We got 1.5-2 percent of the total votes," said Bharat.

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Sharad Pawar sets 'tough terms' before Congress

NASHIK (MAHARASHTRA): In a significant development ahead of the possible announcement of Lok Sabha poll schedule, Nationalist Congress Party
(NCP) chief Sharad Pawar reportedly laid down strict conditions before its UPA ally Congress.

Sharad Pawar on Sunday urged the Congress to take a lead in declaring national-level, pre-poll alliances with its partners, IANS reported.

"As a big party, the Congress should come out with the pre-poll alliance and alliance partners should get a chance to contest from constituencies in which they are strong," he said.

Pawar said although he has spoken to different parties like Jayalalitha's AIADMK and N. Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP), no final decision has been taken.

"The NCP does not want to fight the elections on its own. For the present, we are with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)," he said.

Toughening the party's stance on the issue of getting a 50 per cent share of seats in Maharashtra, he said that if the Congress did not relent, then the NCP would have to rethink the issue, IANS said.

Addressing the convention, state Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal urged the Congress to give 50 per cent seats and share the chief minister's post for the forthcoming assembly elections, due later this year.

Justifying the demand, Bhujbal said that this was in view of the fact that the NCP's strength had grown as compared to the Congress. "In such a situation, why should we settle for a secondary position?" he asked.

According to IANS, apart from Bhujbal, other senior NCP leaders like Tariq Anwar and state president RR Patil spoke at the convention.
Times Now report says that commenting on his possible meeting with Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray, Pawar said, "Sure, I want to meet him and wish him good health."

Answering a question about Congress leader Govindrao Adik, Pawar said he respected Adik's feelings. "But he (Adik) will be better off moving to the NCP," Times Now quoted Pawar as saying.

Pawar said that there is a feeling among NCP workers that the party should insist on sharing the office of chief minister of Maharashtra on the basis of the formula which the Congress has devised in Jammu and Kashmir.

"State NCP chief and former deputy chief minister RR Patil has communicated to me this feeling," Pawar told Times Now.

Faultlines in the ruling alliance of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party came out in the open on Thursday following criticism of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in an NCP periodical.

The periodical, Rashtravadi, contained an editorial in its latest edition which was critical of Sonia and Rahul and accused them of being rude towards constituent parties of the UPA.

Tempers shot up in the Congress camp with senior party MP Gurudas Kamat threatening that his party will have to rethink its alliance with the NCP if the latter ridiculed its leaders. He said Sonia and Rahul have been courteous and humble in their conduct towards leaders of all parties which constitute the UPA. His threat assumed significance in the background of the NCP hobnobbing with the Shiv Sena.

The Congress is already upset with the NCP's open projection of Pawar as its prime ministerial candidate since it clashes with its own ambition of having Rahul as the next prime minister.

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Lok Sabha polls from April 16 to May 13

NEW DELHI: The much-awaited schedule for the Lok Sabha elections was announced on Monday afternoon, by Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami.


The country will go to polls from April 16 to May 13. Counting of votes will be done on May 16 and the 15th Lok Sabha will be constituted by June two.

Polls will be conducted in 124 constituencies on April 16, 141 constituencies on April 23, 107 constituencies on April 30, 85 constituencies on May 7 and 86 constrituencies on May 13.

Five-phased polls will be held in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh, Bihar will have four-phased elections, Maharashtra and West Bengal will witness three-phased polls, while Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Punjab will have elections in two phases, N Gopalaswami announced at a press conference.

Remaining 15 states and seven union territories will have one-day polling.

Treating Manipur as an exception, polls will be conducted in the state on April 22, considering April 23 is a local holiday there.

Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Orissa will simultaneously hold assembly polls.

On Sunday, the President rejected the controversial recommendation by the Chief Election Commissioner for the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla. The President’s decision will now pave the way for Chawla’s elevation as CEC after Gopalaswami demits office on April 20.

The Election Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami decided the dates of the general elections after completing consultation process with political leaders, home secretary and secretaries of key ministries.

Earlier in the day, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) led by Ajit Singh announced its entry into the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The RLD will have a poll pact with the main NDA constituent the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In a late development on Sunday, the Trinamool Congress formed an alliance with Congress in West Bengal to fight the Lok Sabha elections against the Left Front.

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3,000 ex-Maoists line up to join Chiranjeevi party

HYDERABAD: Hundreds of former naxalites, who jettisoned the Maoist movement in the last ten years, will join the Prajarajyam Party on February
24.

According to party sources, around 3,000 former militants of various factions of the CPI (ML) and CPI (Maoist) will join the newly-floated party in Hyderabad in the presence of PRP chief Chiranjeevi and Yuvarajyam president Pavan Kalyan.

This was the culmination of around six months of hardwork to mobilise the former rebels and bring them into PRP. The association of Marxist-Leninist singer Gadar and other pro-naxal intellectuals with the actor are said to have coordinated the move.

First meeting of the former naxalites was organised in Guntur in December last attended by over 800 people. The meeting was addressed by Dr P Mitra, party's senior leader.

"In fact we wanted to organise a meeting in each district. But, due to logistic reasons and lack of time, a state-level meeting is planned in Hyderabad on February 24," former People's War activist I Satyanarayana told STOI.

Satyanarayana, a native of Guntur, was a member of the erstwhile Radical Youth League. He quit the extremist organisation due to personal reasons. "Even though thousands of people left the movement long ago they are not able to lead a peaceful life because of the hostile attitude of the police and lack of support from the government. So, they feel only PRP can restore a sense of security among them," Satyanarayana said.

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Jaya tells Congress to sever ties with DMK, join her party

In an apparent move to woo the Congress ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, AIADMK chief Jayalalitha has said that the former should severe
ties with the DMK if they want to come back to power at the Centre.

"Congress should severe ties with DMK if they expect to come back to power. AIADMK & Congress have been friends in the past, and on the basis of the past friendship, I am giving Congress this advice," she said.

"DMK is disappearing in quicksand, and if you try to pull them out you, will also disappear with them," she added.

The AIADMK supremo went on to say that all parties aiming for a win in the polls should tie up with her party.

"All parties should realise that anyone who has an alliance with AIADMK will win. Anyone who doesn't tie up with AIADMK will lose," she said.

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Azharuddin to join Congress, confirms Moily

NEW DELHI: Former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin is all set to join the Congress party, as confirmed by spokesperson Veerappa Moily.


Speaking exclusively to TIMES NOW, the AICC General Secretary said, "I know him since 25 years. He expressed his desire to join the Congress. He wants the Congress to come back to power. I took up this matter with the Congress president, who has agreed to admit him into the party."

When asked whether he will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from Andhra Pradesh, Moily said, "Till today we have not discussed the constituency. He is joining the party unconditionally. He is very fond of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The matter whether he will contest for the LS polls will be discussed later."

When quizzed on whether the party is worried about Azhar's past, as there is a life-ban imposed on him by the BCCI, Moily added, "There is no criminal case against Azhar. If there is a case at all then it is only between the BCCI and him, which has been filed by Azhar himself against the ban."

Justifying Congress' decision to induct Azhar into the party, Moily said, "Remember, he served the Indian cricket for 9 years as a captain with outstanding performance. He has filed a case against the ban imposed by the BCCI and that is not a criminal matter."

Meanwhile, he decided not to comment on actor Sanjay Dutt's admission into the Samajwadi Party saying, "We have no comment on Sanjay Dutt. It is up to him to join any party he wants."

Earlier, reports suggested that Azharuddin is scheduled to meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi after which he is likely to visit the party headquarters and formally announce his foray into the world of politics.

Already in New Delhi, Azhar had a late-evening meeting with some of the senior party leaders on Wednesday (February 18).

Reports stated that the Congress is likely to field Azharuddin on his home turf Andhra Pradesh, where the Congress can cash in on his popularity.

Inducting the former skipper into the party is part of a Congress plan to accommodate celebrities from different fields. This is in keeping with the party effort to project a youthful and happening image for itself.

Known for his fabled catching abilities, Azhar can face a tough challenge to prove that there will be no misses on the new turf as well.

QnA: Will Mohammed Azharuddin make a clean politician?

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