May 2009 - Posts - Have you Heard...

May 2009 - Posts

A quick peek into the new council of ministers

Posted by Ruhi Tewari at 
Like having Members of Parliament or MPs with criminal records wasn’t enough, we now have ministers with dubious pasts as well. According to a report on the criminal and financial details of 79 ministers of 15th Lok Sabha released by the Association for Democratic Reforms or ADR on Thursday, as many as nine ministers have criminal cases pending against...

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RSS calls for merciless analysis of BJP downfall

Posted by Santosh Joy at 
After a poor show in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP is set to do some hard listening. And it is the all powerful RSS which is speaking this time. The Sangh has called upon the BJP to take up some "merciless" analysis of its defeat. "We expected the BJP to do much better...The party will surely introspect and undertake hopefully a stern...

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C P Joshi: The surprise element in the new union cabinet

Posted by Ruhi Tewari at 
One of the few surprises in the union cabinet of the newly elected central government has been the inclusion of C P Joshi - the party state president in Rajasthan. This low profile leader has been credited for the spectacular performance of the Congress in Rajasthan in the recent Lok Sabha election, along with chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Rumour has...

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CPM: Doing away with its "cut and paste" alliances?

Posted by Ruhi Tewari at 
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM is involved in some serious introspection about the Left's debacle at the hustings in the recent election. Senior politburo member Sitaram Yechury, in an interview on a television channel telecast on 24 May, reiterated the party's acceptance of this being the worst electoral performance in its history...

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Only Mukherjee was asked to pick ‘n’ choose!

Posted by Liz Mathew at 
When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were finalizing the list of ministers in the new UPA government, the only minister who was given a choice to select his ministry was Pranab Mukherjee. According to senior Congress leaders close to Gandhi, the party president asked Mukherjee, seen as the man for all seasons and the...

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It's Congress and Congress-returned cabinet!

Posted by Liz Mathew at 
It's really amazing that Sonia Gandhi, who, the opposition BJP leaders had predicted would finish off the Grand Old Party, finally managed to have a full Congress government in power! Look at the list of cabinet ministers, who took over on Friday. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee...

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Karat, Yechury differ on Third Front strategy!

Posted by Liz Mathew at 
All' s not well with Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leadership! Party leaders may be putting up a brave face in the wake of its worst electoral performance and saying that the party would do serious introspection. However, the latest issue of the CPM mouthpiece 'People's Democracy' (PD) gives enough indications about the difference...

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Will Mamata Banerjee give sleepless nights to Manmohan Singh?

Posted by Liz Mathew at 
Despite an exciting electoral verdict in favour of their party, both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi seemed to have realized its tough days ahead. The 2009 election may have brought down the number of their allies from 13 to 10 (five of them are small parties with one or two members) also their dependence on them, but...

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In the 'age' of youth power

Posted by Ruhi Tewari at 
The 15 th Lok Sabha is younger than the previous one. Around 15% of the newly elected members are in the age group of 25-40 years, as against only 6.3% in the 14 th Lok Sabha, data from PRS Legislative Research reveals. Similarly, the number of members of the Lower House falling in the age group of 71-100 years has come down from 11.7% to only 7%. According...

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Rahul Gandhi quietly visits dad’s memorial!

Posted by Liz Mathew at 
On 16 May, at around 1 pm, when most of the politicians were glued to the television channels to get the latest on the election results, the Central Public Working Department (CPWD) workers at Vir Bhumi, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's memorial were surprised to see a VVIP visitor there. As his party was edging towards a spectacular victory...

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'Left' behind in the race

Posted by Ruhi Tewari at 
One of the biggest stories of the 2009 Lok Sabha election has been the disastrous performance of the Left in its bastion - West Bengal, where the CPM has ruled for over three decades. The Left this time won only 15 of the 42 parliamentary seats in the state, compared to its sweeping performance in 2004 when it won 35 seats. The Congress-Trinamool Congress...

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Its Sonia Gandhi alone at the left side!

Posted by Liz Mathew at 
Congress party may be attributing its spectacular victory to the populist welfare programme such as National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme. But the 2009 Lok Sabha elections left party president Sonia Gandhi almost alone at the left side of the center! Other known ‘Leftist' in the centrist Congress party, Mani Shankar Aiyer has lost elections...

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Digvijay Singh calls Amar Singh: 'Sick’ politics?

Posted by Liz Mathew at 
What does sickness got to do with politics! A lot. Falling ill is increasingly becoming a political opportunity these days, when major political parties are hunting for alliances to fill in the blanks. On Thursday, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh telephoned general secretary of Samajwadi Party (SP), Amar Singh, who has not been well for a...

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The monumental exercise called the '15th Lok Sabha election'

Posted by Ruhi Tewari at 
The 15 th Lok Sabha election is over (at least the polling bit), exit polls have pronounced their verdicts (they sound more like verdicts than predictions) and all attention is now focused on 16 May - when the actual results of this colossal democratic exercise would be declared. But before we immerse ourselves completely in all this post-poll excitement...

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The Stars of the BJP

Posted by Santosh Joy at 
Remember the white smoke that rises from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel announcing the election of the new Pope? India now has its very own analogy! Reports now indicate that there are many who expect smoke to emanate from the BJP headquarters before counting begins. The BJP will reportedly conduct an exclusive 'Yagya' or 'havan'...

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