End of factionalism will help Congress: Sonia - National News Updates

With elections around the corner, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said on Wednesday that there will be no problem within the party if factionalism ended.

"If factionalism comes to an end, there is no problem at all," she said addressing party MPs in the last meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party of the 14th Lok Sabha,

Gandhi also said the party ran a coalition government successfully and asked the party MPs to spread the message of achievements of the government all across the country.

Congratulating the UPA government for completing its full term of five years, she said the government has fulfilled the promises which it made during the last polls.

"Having fulfilled the promises, the party will be back to power in the 15th Lok Sabha," she said.

Gandhi also praised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his leadership besides complimenting External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Advani, Rahul fight for youth - National News Updates

If you're less than 35, then over the next few months, you're going to feel very wanted. Both the Congress and the BJP have discovered your vote power and they're using their stars to woo you.

BJP leader Sudheendra Kulkarni says: "There are 100 million first time voters in these elections and 18,000 collegs We want to highlight Advaniji's appeal to them."

The A-team feels that his age, 81, is just a number.

But when they reach campuses, they might have to chew on this: Rahul's appeal may be difficult to beat.

The Congress points out that it extends to students not just in smaller towns but elite ones like St Stephens.

Youth Congress member Netta D'Souza says: "His transparency his clean image it gets them all. That's what attracts people."

How's this for coincidence: Campaign managers for both L K Advani and Rahul Gandhi work in the same vicinity in Delhi --Tughlaq Road area. While Rahul has his young team, Advani's is working for a young campaign.

Lalu, Paswan meet to discuss seat sharing - National News Updates

As election fever hots up, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav met Union Minister for Steel, Chemicals and Fertilisers Ramvilas Paswan. During the meeting, the two exchanged seat sharing formulas.

"The party has said that we will contest in 16 seats. A formula has come from their side also. Now we will discuss this and then the matter will be taken forward," Paswan said.

However, Lalu has said there's no question of contesting less seats.

"It is in your mind and it is your creation. No party enters into an alliance by sacrificing its interests. It is your creation," the RJD chief said.

Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan have known prime ministerial ambitions but still, Paswan acknowledged that at the moment, the UPA had no other choice but Manmohan Singh for the post.

Election Commission split over dates of general polls - National News Updates

New Delhi: The suspense over when the next general elections will be held will be over by the weekend.

After holding meetings with the Defence Secretary and the Home Secretary, the commission is likely to announce the poll schedule in the next five days.

But the dates will not be declared before going through its usual tug of war over decisions.

CNN-IBN has learnt that the polls are likely to be held around April 10 and will be conducted in five phases.

There are differences within the commission on the date of the first phase.

The outgoing CEC Gopalaswamy wants to conduct at least one phase before he retires on the 20th April.

His successor, the current Election Commissioner Naveen Chawla is equally keen to organise all the phases under his own captaincy.

It's become second nature for the Election Commission to be a divided house. Given the recent spate of controversies surrounding the Commisison, sources now say that even the decision on the dates for the general elections has fallen prey to a difference of opinion.

While for some parties it doesn't matter who runs the show at the EC.

Prakash Javadekar of BJP said, “For us that (when the elections are held) is not important. They have already consulted all political parties and we hope they will declare the elections on time.”

Others are already preparing to rope in cricketers and film stars as contestants.

Manish Tiwary of the Congress party said, “Film stars and cricketers are also achievers.”

Whatever dates the commission chooses, it will find it tough to control the criticism that’s bound to be launched by either of the two sides.

Home Ministry, EC discuss security deployment for - National News Updates LS polls

Issues related to deployment of security personnel for Lok Sabha polls were discussed at the meeting between the Home Ministry led by the Secretary Mr. Madhukar Gupta and the Chief Election Commissioner Mr. Gopalaswami and two other Election Commissioners.

According to Home Ministry, the requirement of forces for the Lok Sabha polls and their deployment were discussed at the meeting on Tuesday. The Election Commission is reported to have conveyed its requirement of the security forces for the Lok Sabha elections.

No chance of being PM: Rahul - National News Updates

Banaskantha: Congress General secretary Rahul Gandhi has said he has "no chance" of becoming the Prime Minister if the party returns to power in the coming Lok Sabha elections but added he "cannot say anything about distant future".

"No chance. Since Congress has decided on present Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as its prime ministerial candidate of the UPA, the question does not arise," he said, while interacting with tribals here on Sunday.

"As to whether I will be prime minister candidate in 2014, I cannot say anything about distant future," the 38-year-old replied when a youth in Sanali village of Danta taluka here asked him when he would become the prime minister. Gandhi ended his two-day whirlwind tour of Gujarat on Monday evening.

He started the second day of his tour by visiting Ambaji temple in North Gujarat early this morning. Then he went to Gandhinagar where he inspected an enrolment drive by youth Congress.

Election Commission gears up for Lok Sabha polls; to hold series of meetings - National News Updates

Gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections and simultaneous assembly polls in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim, the Election Commission will hold a series of meetings, begining on Monday.

The three-member Commission will hold discussions with the Home Secretary Mr Madhukar Gupta on the law and order situation across the country and availability of Central paramilitary forces, to ensure free and fair polls.

The Chief Election Commissioner Mr N Gopalaswami and two Election Commissioners Mr Navin Chawla and Mr S Y Quraishi will also meet the Telecom Secretary on Monday to augment communication networks, a crucial input for better election management.

Parties draft popular actors and cricketers - National News Updates

New Delhi: Lights, camera, elections! With the poll season about to begin, film stars seem to be coming out of the political woodwork as it were —and a few cricketers and political chameleons are joining them in the spotlight as well.

While the induction of Mohammed Azharuddin, the former captain of the Indian cricket team, into the Congress party on Thursday was the latest, the political grapevine indicates that there are more such high-profile political debuts in the offing.

Actor Sanjay Dutt announced his entry into politics by joining the Samajwadi Party (SP), Chetan Sharma, another former cricketer, has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with news that Anil Kumble, who just quit international cricket, may follow.

However, Karnataka BJP president D.V. Sadananda Gowda had denied reports that the former national team leg spinner had been offered a ticket by the party.

Ahead of the 2009 general election, which is to take place before May, the ruling Congress party has set the tone by welcoming three former BJP members of Parliament (MPs) from Karnataka, H.T. Sangliana from Bangalore North, Manorama Madhwaraj from Udupi and Manjunath Kunnur from Dharwad South, who had defied their party during the 22 July trust vote in the Lok Sabha and supported the United Progressive Alliance government, to the party on 20 January.

On Thursday, Congress proudly flaunted ex-skipper Azharuddin, who officially joined the party at its headquarters in New Delhi. Although there is no official confirmation, Congress leaders indicated that Azharuddin—who was forced to quit the game following a match-fixing scandal in 2000—would be contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Andhra Pradesh.

Although political leaders admit that the new entrants, especially popular personalities, would boost the morale of workers, political analysts maintain that most of these last-minute inclusions are unlikely to force a dramatic swing in votes towards the parties they have joined.

While Dutt and Bhojpuri actor Manoj Tiwari have announced their decision to fight the elections on the SP ticket from the politically-crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has announced that ace shooter and Asian Games gold medallist Jaspal Rana would contest from the Tehri constituency of party-ruled Uttarakhand.

The flow of leaders to the major parties had become a routine affair just ahead of the 2004 elections, in which the then ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance suffered a surprise defeat. The BJP headquarters at 11, Ashoka Road had almost every week, in the run up to the April-May parliamentary elections, witnessed film stars or other popular personalities pledging support to the party.

While Hindi film star Dharmendra, who joined the BJP on 24 March 2004, contested and won Rajasthan’s Bikaner seat, his colleagues Jeetendra, Suresh Oberoi and Poonam Dhillon, and television actors such as Gajendra Singh Chauhan, who acted as Yudhishtira in the epic mega serial Mahabharat, were recruited to add glamour to the campaign.

The hype had also inspired some of the unhappy lot in the Congress to exit. These include former Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson and a long-term Congress leader Najma Heptullah, former Union minister Arif Mohammed Khan and MP Lakshman Singh, brother of senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh.

Although political observers criticized the BJP for “overdoing” it in 2004, the process of engaging film stars for their political campaign was done earlier too. Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had persuaded his friend and film icon Amitabh Bachchan to successfully contest the Lok Sabha elections from Allahabad in 1984.

In south India, the experience has been quite different, with charismatic actors emerging as prominent politicians; they include former Tamil Nadu chief ministers M.G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa, and N.T. Rama Rao, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and founder of the Telugu Desam Party, currently the main Opposition party in the state.

“In election time, it is routine. It works both ways. While political parties are keen to create an election atmosphere and build an image as a sought-after party for the feel- good factor among its rank and file, people who have political ambitions join it,” said Congress general secretary B.K. Hariprasad.

According to the BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy, it could be “strategic moves”.

“As election comes, there could be some new political combinations. The parties welcome new leaders to it on the basis of societal and geographical considerations,” Rudy said. However, he added: “It is not desirable to induct new personalities if they are joining for the purpose of a ticket. If they voluntarily support the party’s ideology, they are welcomed in parties, which have a national outlook and an organizational structure.”

Another BJP leader, who did not want to be identified, said they were keen to welcome prominent Muslim leaders and film stars to ensure a broader political appeal. “The BJP was then known as a Hindu party. We needed recognized people and leaders to appeal to the electorate. But the strategy did not work well,” admitted the leader.

N. Bhaskara Rao, political analyst and chairperson of New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Media Studies, was of the view that popular personalities joining party could help it to create a hype and boost morale. “But it does not help the parties in a big way in terms of votes. Because one instance or development does not bring votes.”

Supreme Court reschedules RCA election by a week on March 1 - National News Updates

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday rescheduled the elections for the faction-ridden Rajasthan Cricket Association from February 22 to March 1 and paved the way for the group led by its President Lalit Modi to file their nominations.

The Modi faction succeeded in getting an order that the election to the 21-member executive committee will be held under the unamended constitution in terms of the apex court order of February 11, 2005.

The apex court did not alter with the process already undertaken for holding the elections by RCA Secretary Subhash Joshi, who recently parted ways with Modi and has the support of former Chief Kishore Rungta.

The Modi faction accepted the decision of the RCA on the appointment of Justice N M Kasliwal, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, as Observer/Chairman for conducting the election.

"We are of the view that the elections could be held on March 1, 2009 as per the steps already taken by the RCA," a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam said.

The Bench said that the nominations already filed and held valid will be taken on record and those who want to file their nominations now can do so within three days.

Election Commission bans exit, opinion polls

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India on Tuesday banned the publication or telecast of opinion or exit polls 48 hours before the last hour of polling in single-phase balloting.

In cases of multi-phase elections or elections announced simultaneously for different states, the poll panel banned the publication of exit and opinion polls in the period starting 48 hours before the close of first day of voting till the end of last day of balloting, reports IANS.

The commission ordered the implementation of its guidelines close on the heels of the Supreme Court clarifying last month that it never prevented the poll panel from implementing its guideline on publication or telecast of exit and opinion polls.

"The Election Commission is free to frame its guidelines to regulate publication of exit polls," a bench of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam held on Jan 19 said.

In its order banning the telecast or publication of exit or opinion polls, the commission said that they will not be disseminated or propagated in any form including through "any pamphlet, poster, placard, handbill or any other document".

The poll panel had first banned publication or telecast of exit polls during the 1998 elections. But it withdrew its guidelines regulating the publication of exit polls in 1999 following an adverse remark from the apex court.

A lawsuit pending since 2004 has sought a ban on exit polls on the ground that they impair free and fair conduct of elections by swaying the voting patterns.

The apex court had made critical observations against the poll panel's power to ban publication of exit polls saying it involved citizens' right to speech and expression guaranteed by the constitution.

Last month, the Election Commission sought clarification on the apex court's observation saying it was wrong to assume that regulation of opinion and exit polls would amount to interference with the right to information guaranteed by the constitution.

The Election Commission counsel said that banning publication of exit polls for a limited period after the announcement of election schedule and till the day of voting for the last phase of the poll will "only be a reasonable restriction in the larger interest of the democracy".

Following this submission, the apex court clarified that it had never prevented the poll panel from implementing its guidelines to regulate the publication or telecast of exit and opinion polls.

The Rajya Sabha has already amended the existing electoral laws to provide for banning publication of exit polls but the bill is yet to be ratified by the Lok Sabha..