New Delhi : The NCP on Saturday made Rajeev Jha new president of the party's youth wing in place of Conrad Sangma, who apparently could not devote much time for the job after recently becoming the Leader of Opposition in Meghalaya.
NCP general secretary Tariq Anwar said the change has been made with immediate effect.

Panaji, June 8 : The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Monday charged that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had even 'bribed' Hindu gods to bolster their sagging vote bank in Goa.

The remarks by NCP leader Jitendra Deshprabhu come a day after the BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy said his party had finally broken the ice with Christian voters in the state.

Deshprabhu said the BJP 'bribed' numerous temple committees in the state with money in order to win the Lok Sabha polls.

'They did not even spare the Hindu deities. Bundles of notes were offered to the temple committees, bribing them in order to lure votes,' Deshprabhu told reporters.

BJP national spokesperson and in-charge of Goa Rudy Sunday said the sizeable number of Christian voters had finally warmed up to the party.

'The support the BJP got from the minority community in the Lok Sabha elections in Goa is a good sign. We managed to garner sizeable votes in minority-dominated constituencies,' the senior BJP leader said.

Deshprabhu alleged that BJP MP from North Goa Shripad Naik, during his previous stint, spent his MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) funds on communal projects.

'In the garb of spending money on community centres, he has only spent money on temples, which manage these centres,' said Deshprabhu, who lost the Lok Sabha election to Naik from North Goa.

'It is only furthering the BJP's communal agenda. Tell me, can you have a nikah (Muslim marriage) in a temple community centre? Can you have a Christian wedding at such MPLAD funded community centres run by temple managements?' he wondered.

Of Goa's two Lok Sabha seats, the BJP and the Congress won one each.

In an official statement following the meeting Sunday, which was attended by all state BJP bigwigs, the party said that lack of money

power was one of the main reasons for their lackluster performance in the state, which saw sitting MP Naik's lead slip by nearly 52,000 votes.

New Delhi, Jun 2 : They were "excited", "overwhelmed" and looking forward to "learn" -- for the first-time parliamentarians, the entry into the citadel of democracy was an experience worth cherishing.

But for the new Lok Sabha members, the day also heralded the emergence of a challenge -- to deliver on the promises they have made to the people.

Agatha Sangma, the 28-year-old NCP MP from Meghalaya who is also the youngest minister in the Union Council, said the first day in Parliament was "very exciting".

"The experience is very exciting and I am looking forward to work for my constituency and also for the country," the daughter of former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma said.

Young Congress MP from Haryana Shruti Choudhury felt privileged to be in the Lok Sabha.

"It is overwhelming. It is also a great privilege and responsibility to be here," said Ms. Choudhury, daughter of Haryana Tourism Minister Kiran Choudhury.

Kalikesh Singhdeo, the BJD MP who trounced sister-in-law Sangeeta Singhdeo from Bolangir in Orissa, said "it was challenging too, because now you will have to deliver."

Mr. Singhdeo's constituency has frequently been in the news for wrong reasons like reports of poverty deaths and sale of children by impoverished parents. The MP, who belongs the royal family of Bolangir, said his first priority for his area will be livelihood issues and drinking water.

Mumbai, May 17 : A stable government was the need of the hour in these times of global recession and there should be no problem in formation of a stable government, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said here today.

“People were confident that only UPA can provide a stable government and with the results and trends available so far, there should be no hindrance to formation of a stable government,” Pawar told reporters here.


“After this result, how can anyone else’s subject crop up,” Pawar said replying to a query on his prime ministerial ambitions.

Guwahati, May 16 : Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Agitok Sangma on Friday reiterated that the Congress should support Sharad Pawar as the next Prime Minister.


“We should make all efforts to form non-Congress, non-BJP government headed by Sharad Pawar. We already have support of Jayalalithaa (AIADMK), Navin Patnaik (BJD), Chiranjeevi (Praja Rajyam), Manohar Joshi (Shiv Sena) and Amar Singh (Samajwadi Party). The Congress should also gracefully support the candidature of Sharad Pawar as next Prime Minister,” Sangma told reporters here.

Meanwhile, Senior NCP leader and Union Minister Praful Patel said that Sharad Pawar is not the only choice for the Prime Minister’s post.

“The NCP has at no point stated that Sharad Pawar will be the only choice for the PM. The NCP has always on the contrary stated that we do not have the requisite numbers. The numbers are with the largest party and in this case it is Congress,” Praful Patel told reporters in the national capital.

Jammu, May 15 : Accusing the Congress of playing a role in toppling the NCP Goverment in Meghalaya, the party's state unit today urged its central leadership not to have any truck with the party in forming the next government at the Centre.

In a statement issued here, state NCP president Thakur Randhir Singh said he would like party President Sharad Pawar not to have any truck or understanding with the Congress in forming the next government at the Centre.

Accusing the Congress of having played a significant role in dislodging the NCP-led government in Meghalaya, he said it went against political morality.

sinlung.com

Baramati (Maharashtra), Apr 27 : Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar ushered daughter Supriya Sule into this traditional stronghold of his in Maharahstra, asking her to precede him into the polling station Thursday. The daughter is the candidate here while the father has shifted to a constituency 120 km away.

Pawar and Supriya arrived at a polling station in Baramati, to cast their votes at around 7.15 a.m.

Seeing a short queue, they joined it and patiently awaited their turn. After a few minutes, they were allowed to go in.

Pawar immediately stepped aside and let Supriya enter the polling station first. Clad in a bright yellow sari, Supriya obliged and went inside.

Pawar stood outside for a few more minutes and after Supriya cast her vote, she beckoned to him.

This time, it was Pawar's turn to oblige his daughter, even as the huge crowd of mediapersons went into a frenzy.

He smiled and even obliged the photographers by posing twice before the electronic voting machine.

Later, the duo came out of the polling centre and were mobbed by waiting mediapersons. Pawar chatted with them briefly before setting out to vote in his own constituency, Madha (in Solaphur district), around 120 km from Baramati.

The constituencies where polling was underway Thursday in Maharshtra are Nandurbar, Dhule, Jalgaon, Raver, Jalna, Aurangabad, Dindori, Nashik, Raigad, Maval, Pune, Baramati, Shirur, Ahmednagar, Shirdi, Beed, Latur, Osmanabad, Solapur, Madha, Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur, Hatknangle and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg.

Tura (Meghalaya), Apr 16 NCP leader P A Sangma today claimed his party might join the Third Front after Lok Sabha elections.

"NCP chief Sharad Pawar has already given hints that the NCP will be a part of the Third Front. The Third Front will emerge as a powerful force in New Delhi," Sangma told reporters after his casting his vote here.

"The NCP will not a part of UPA. We are fighting against Congress in many states. It is only in Maharastra and Goa that the party has seat arrangements with Congress,"he said.

Predicting a hung parliament and many shocks and for Congress, Sangma claimed about 15 non- Congress MPs would be elected from the North-East this time and they would make their heads count.

"So far, we have been divided and therefore we have not been effective in Delhi. This time, we have decided to be united and stand as one in Delhi."The non- Congress forum of 14 parties in the region is one force and we will prove it," Sangma said.

New Delhi, Apr 3 : The news that NCP leader Sharad Pawar will be attending a rally of Third Front leaders in Bhubaneswar will be a cause of worry for Congress, as well as BJP.

Pawar, one of the most seasoned and experienced leaders of India, has made no bones about his intentions to give a shot at the top post. In fact, his desire to be the PM has already staring eating into the NCP-Congress relations.

With this development, those relations will only deteriorate. For it would send a very confusing signal to the electorates that a same combine is going ahead with two prime ministerial candidates.

With Congress firm on the candidature of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, any move on their part to indirectly support Pawar's candidature by remaining on good terms with the NCP will only cost them dearly.

The choices before Congress are really tough.

Beed , Mar 24 Maharashtra NCP chief R R Patil today launched his party&aposs election campaign in the hometurf of BJP leader Gopinath Munde, with an attack on the latter for his criticism of party chief Sharad Pawar.

Patil said Munde has the habit of leveling charges against party chief Pawar but had not proved even a single of them.

Patil also flayed Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi for his comment on tackling terrorism in the country,"there is no need for him to teach us on terrorism. The entire nation knows what happened in Gujarat during post- Godhra riots,"he said.

Kay Benedict

The burgeoning number of wannabe prime ministers from parties of all hues may have become a butt of joke among the general public, but there are cold electoral calculations behind their projection as probable prime ministerial candidates. Apart from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, there are nine other regional leaders — Mayawati, J. Jayalalithaa, H.D. Deve Gowda, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ramvilas Paswan, Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad, Naveen Patnaik, N. Chandrababu Naidu — who have prime ministerial ambitions. Leaders of these political parties represent regional, parochial or casteist aspirations of their people and are using their projection as probable prime ministers to attract more voters in their respective states. “The hidden agenda of these wannabe PMs is to increase their Lok Sabha tally by pandering to parochial, linguistic and regional sentiments,” a political analyst said. Each of these groups and sections will only be too glad to see one of them as the prime minister. That is the selling idea behind Mayawati projecting herself as the first Dalit PM, and other aspirants projecting their regional identities. Chief among them is NCP chief Pawar. On Monday, BJP leader Narendra Modi cast aspersions on Pawar becoming the prime minister saying the President of India is from Maharashtra. Modi made the point that “Marathi manoos” cannot occupy the top two posts in the country. “Pawar walked into the Congress trap by becoming party to the move to have a Maharashtrian as the President of India. So he has destroyed the dreams of Maharashtrians of having a Maratha as PM,” Modi said. But Pawar and his party do not share the view. They believe Pawar has a good chance to make it to 7 Race Course Road. The talk has irked the Congress leadership so much that the leaders in Maharashtra have told the NCP brass to stop projecting Pawar when Manmohan Singh is the UPA’s official candidate. But there is not let up in the NCP camp. After Mayawati, Pawar seems to be the most focused in the game of PM sweepstakes. He has got his friends in the Shiv Sena to give a call to elect a Marathi manoos as the next PM. In an interview to a TV channel last week, Pawar himself said it is the turn of Maharashtra to claim the PM’s post if the numbers added up. “There is a general feeling among people in the state that a Maharashtrian should become the Prime Minister. The country has already had PMs from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, among others and now it is Maharashtra’s turn,” Pawar said. If Pawar played on Maratha sentiments, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewary, the party’s likely candidate from Ludhiana, attempted to play on Punjabi sentiments. Addressing a rally on Saturday, Tewary said if the Shiv Sena, a BJP ally, could support Pawar against L.K. Advani, “Why could all Punjabis not support Manmohan Singh?” he was quoted as saying. AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa, too, is not averse to her projection as PM to boost party’s morale. In 2004, there were posters proclaiming her as the next Prime Minister. A JDS leader said the talk of Third Front and the prospect of Deve Gowda getting a second chance as PM has enthused people in Karnataka, particularly Vokkaligas, Gowda’s caste. Gowda said he will be able to answer the question of prime ministership only when a final picture emerges. “PM will be decided not only on the numbers, but consensus will also play a role,” he told journalists. BSP sources claimed if the Left and the Third Front had projected Mayawati as their PM candidate, the front would have got a “big boost in terms of Lok Sabha seats” as Dalits across the country would have voted for the BSP. “In any case, Mayawati has managed to send across the message, at least in Uttar Pradesh, that the party will bag at least 50 seats,” a BSP leader claimed. Lok Janashakti Party chief Paswan has sounded out the Congress on a subtle projection of him as a possible candidate to counter Mayawati. Two days ago, the National Dalit Front floated by Paswan, Indian Justice Party headed by Udit Raj and the Republican Party of India (RPI) projected Paswan as “a better Dalit PM for the country than Mayawati”. “There are talks of proposing Mayawati’s name for prime ministership. She is not a daughter of the poor but rather of the rich. If there is any talk of a Dalit PM, Paswan's name must be considered,” RPI chief Ramdas Athawale said. However, JDU president Sharad Yadav took a dig at the wannabe PMs. “Even Jaspal Bhatti declared himself as a prospective candidate in a TV show,” Yadav said.

Shillong, Mar 9  Reducing the NCP-led Meghalaya Progressive Alliance(MPA) government to a wafer thin majority, two Independent MLAs, one of them who had joined it just two weeks ago, today withdrew support to it.
Chief minister Donkupar Roy confirmed the withdrawal of support by Limison Sangma and Ismail R Marak but said the government was stable as it still enjoyed majority support in the House.

Following the development, the strength of 11-month-old MPA government has come down to 31 in the 60-seat House.

"They (Independents) have gone back from where they came, but we are still in a comfortable position and the government is stable," Roy told PTI.

He was referring to the two Independents rallying behind the Congress soon after the assembly elections in March last year, before supporting the MPA.

Limison Sangma had joined the MPA just two weeks ago.

"They (MPA leaders) promised me that I would be given a ministerial berth. But they gave me only the status of a Parliamentary Secretary, that too without any portfolio. So I decided to withdraw support," Sangma told PTI over phone from Tura.

NEW DELHI, Mar 6 : Sharad Pawar-led NCP is in talks with BJD, an ally of the BJP, in Orissa and plans to contest five seats in Kerala where its efforts to gain entry into the Congress-led UDF have not been fruitful so far.

A senior party leader who declined to be identified said that the party was also having talks with AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.

Besides, it plans to contest in Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Assam with allies other than the Congress. All over the country, it plans to contest around 40 to 45 seats.

The party is planning to have seat adjustments with Congress in its stronghold of Maharashtra as also in Gujarat, Goa and Bihar.

The talks with BJD are significant in view of the fact that in Orissa, assembly elections are also being held along with Lok Sabha polls.

The NCP's contesting the polls in Kerala is likely to affect the fortunes of Congress which has been upbeat about its prospects in the southern state where it had drawn a blank in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

Pawar had talks with senior Congress leaders A K Antony and Ahmed Patel last night and the two parties are expected to finalise the seat sharing in Maharashtra in a couple of days.

With internal bickerings putting the ruling MPA in a spot, the defeat in the by-poll has come as a shock to the coalition which now has a thin majority of 33 seats in the 60-member Assembly.

Nashik, Mar 2 : NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday asked the Congress to rethink on its decision of not having an alliance with UPA partners at the national level.


"We told them that we want to go with the Congress at the national level," he said, adding that NCP wanted to put up candidates of around 20 Lok Sabha seats outside Maharashtra.

Shillong, Feb 24 : Dealing a blow to the Opposition Congress, an independent MLA who was part of the Opposition Meghalaya United Alliance, switched allegiance and joined the ruling NCP-led Meghalaya Progressive Alliance.

Independent Legislator Limison Sangma met Chief Minister Donkupar Roy Monday night and informed him of the decision to support the ruling alliance.

With Sangma joining MPA, the strength of the ruling coalition in the current 59-member Assembly has gone up from 32 to 33 while the number of Legislators of Congress-led Opposition has been reduced to 26 from 27.

By-poll to the Umroi seat, which fell vacant after the demise of EK Mawlong, is slated for February 26.

Sangma, who represents Tikrikilla constituency in the Assembly, told reporters that he took the decision to join MPA after consultation with his supporters and workers.

Sangma said after sitting in the Opposition for almost a year and observing the development activities undertaken by the MPA government, especially in Garo Hills, he decided to shift allegiance to the ruling alliance.

Sangma hoped that his decision to support the government would result in further development of his constituency.

A Congress spokesman neither confirmed nor denied the development, but said, they were yet to get any official communication from the MLA.

Imphal, February 12 : The manipur People's Party (MPP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Manipur Unit have come to an understanding to support each other's candidates in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.

Most reliable sources told the Hueiyen Lanpao that leaders of the two parties during their meeting on the evening of February 9 had agreed to have pre-poll alliance based on two conditions.

The first condition is that the NCP will support the candidate of MPP in the Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency and the second is that the MPP will support the candidate of NCP in the Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency.

The sources said that at the meeting held at the residence of the president of NCP Manipur Unit, Radhabinod Koijam, he asked the representatives of MPP led by its president Dr L Chandramani if the MPP was a partner of National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Dr Chandramani replied that MPP is not a partner of NDA.

Thus the mutual consent on having pre-election alliance between the two parties was arrived at the meeting.

However, further meetings would be held to strengthen the mutual understanding.

It is learnt that the formal announcement of the MPP's candidate for the Inner Manipur seat which was earlier expected to be made today has been postponed till February 15 .

On that day, the party's Central Committee would meet.

The name of the party's candidate for Inner Manipur seat would be announced after the meeting.

It is worth mentioning that Prof N Mohendro is most likely to be MPP's candidate for the Inner seat.

The proposed alliance would prove beneficial to both parties in the state assembly elections in their respective states where they are in strength - that is, the NCP in Maharashtra and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh - he pointed out.

Singh’s remarks came in response to a query whether the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance talks were on the verge of a breakdown.

Though he declined to elaborate, Singh said his party would wait for the Congress response to its charges before taking a final decision over the alliance issue.

But he affirmed that the Samajwadi Party’s Maharashtra state president Abu Asim Azmi would contest the next Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai Northwest constituency. However, the final decision on this would be taken by the party election committee.

The Congress is touchy about the seat, represented by the late actor and central minister Sunil Dutt and now by his daughter Priya Dutt.

Azmi’s candidature from the seat could split the north Indian and Muslim minority voters who make for a large chunk of this constituency’s electorate.

Last month, the Samajwadi Party announced the candidature of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt from the Lucknow parliamentary constituency, sparking off a feud in the Dutt family.

Priya Dutt openly criticised her brother’s decision to contest on a Samajwadi Party ticket, and said that if Sanjay Dutt wanted to join politics, he could have got a Congress ticket at an opportune time.

Later, Sanjay Dutt unilaterally announced that he would not contest if former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee were to seek re-election from Lucknow.

Amar Singh lashed out at the Congress for using the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to frame party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

“If this can happen to Mulayam Singh Yadav, it can happen to anybody else. The CBI has now become the Congress Bureau of Investigation,” Singh alleged.

Praising Congress president Sonia Gandhi as “a very honest and straightforward person”, Amar Singh said some people surrounding her, like Digvijay Singh, were creating a rift between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party.

In his response, Digvijay Singh, Congress general secretary in charge of party affairs in Uttar Pradesh, advised Amar Singh to focus on the Lok Sabha elections, slated for April-May.

“They (the Samajwadi Party) have some problem. They must consider the national issues facing the country today,” he said in New Delhi.

The Congress leader also said the Samajwadi Party leaders should “consider the post-poll scenario too”.

On the possibility of an alliance with the Samajwadi Party, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said: “Knowing the ground realities in Uttar Pradesh, we remain committed to try out a pragmatic understanding with the Samajwadi Party to put up a joint fight against anti-people rule of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).”

New Delhi, Jan 17 A pressure group of non- Congress parties and outside supporters of UPA is being formed in an apparent bid to get maximum number of seats from the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and NCP president Sharad Pawar are hosting a get together of leaders of like minded parties, including RJD&aposs Lalu Prasad, LJP&aposs Ram Vilas Paswan and Trinamool Congress' Mamata Banerjee either on January 26 or the next day.

This was revealed by SP general secretary Amar Singh after a meeting with NCP leader Praful Patel and Mulayam Singh.

While Singh claimed that the grouping was not aimed at pressurising the Congress, it is being formed at the crucial time of seat sharing when the ruling party at the Centre is being subjected to increasing demands for larger number of seats by several of its allies.

The SP has already left the Congress red faced by unilaterally announcing as many as 52 seats from UP in the midst of seat sharing talks with the party.

NCP has demanded 26 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra from Congress and also wants 15 seats from other states, including Goa, Meghalaya and Gujarat.

Singh said that Pawar has conveyed"an important message of Sharad Pawar that come what may, the NCP-SP alliance in Maharashtra will continue," Singh said.

He claimed that Pawar has already informed Congress president Sonia Gandhi and AICC general secretary in charge of Maharashtra A K Antony about his stand.

The SP leader claimed that during the get together a strategy will be decided on carving out a niche in the UPA and"not to pressurise Congress, but to protect our existence within the coalition".