By Jagmaal Rana | Jaipur
RAJASTHAN ELECTIONS "I paid the price of being close to Vasundhara Raje." - Lalit Modi on March 1, 2009 after he lost in the Rajasthan Cricket Association election. Lalit Modi’s rise in the Board of Control for Cricket in India is the stuff of legend.
His fall is the stuff of legend too. In both cases, the swiftness with which he rose and fell was extraordinary. He first came to power in the RCA in 2005 – overthrowing the powerful Rungta regime which had ruled Rajasthan cricket for 30 years. But soon after Raje lost Rajasthan in 2009,
By M H Ahssan | INN Live
ELECTION ANALYSIS Even as we are mid-way through the election result trends in the four major assemblies of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Delhi, the broad trend seems to be thumping wins for the BJP in the first two, a challenging revival of the Congress in Chhattisgarh (though a win can’t be predicted for either party at this time), and a spectacular debut by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, which will probably rob the BJP of a clear majority.
But some broad conclusions can clearly be drawn from these trends – regardless of what the final seat count numbers are in these four states. First, the pollsters appear to have got it more or less right – even in Chhattisgarh and Delhi, where there was a tight race on. Their predictions are well within the margins of error they had predicted.
By Reshma Nayyar | Delhi
The voters of Delhi haven’t quite picked a winner to form the next Government in the national capital but they have chosen the loser, decisively. The three-time incumbent Sheila Dixit-led Congress has emerged a distant third to the BJP and AAP in Delhi’s three corned contest. The once popular Chief Minister is locked in a close battle to retain her own assembly seat against AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal.
If Delhi delivers a hung assembly (BJP-30, AAP-25, Cong-14), there may well be another election in six months, to coincide with the General Election, especially if the AAP sticks to its stand of not forming any alliance with either of the two national parties. Can the BJP get home with the support of ‘others’? Or could we have the tantalizing possibility of AAP forming a Government with the outside support of Congress?
By Nalini Sharma | Pune
A major controversy has erupted over granting parole to actor Sanjay Dutt which will allow him to leave prison for a second time in a little over a month with protests outside Pune's Yerawada Jail forcing the government to order an inquiry.
Pune Divisional Commissioner Prabhakar Deshmukh had yesterday granted parole to the actor, undergoing the remainder of his five-year jail term for possessing illegal firearms, part of a cache of weapons meant to be used during the 1993 blasts, on the recommendation of prison authorities.
Dutt, 53, had availed of a month-long leave of furlough on medical grounds and was back in jail on October 30.
Dutt had reportedly cited his wife Manyata's illness for seeking parole this time.
By Kajol Singh | INN Live
Throwing a direct challenge at the Congress high command, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today said he would ensure the defeat of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2013 when it comes up for passage in the state Assembly. "We will certainly defeat the draft Bill when it is referred to the assembly. We will see how Parliament will pass it," the Chief Minister, who had been stoutly opposing the state's bifurcation, said.
"Realise your mistake and take back the decision to divide AP. Your decision is hurting the hearts of 75 per cent people of the state," the chief minister said addressing a public meeting at Vijayawada this evening to mark the inauguration of an irrigation project on river Krishna. "Don't split the state to serve someone's vested interests.
By Ritika Chauhan | Lonavla
British actress and singer Sofia Hayat, one of the latest entrants inside the Bigg Boss-7 house got evicted. Thanks to her bitchy nature, is helping the show get bitchier, what with the catfights and arguments she effortlessly initiates. Despite adding a lot of sugar and spice, she has always been known as a weak contestant. And now, the latest gossip is that she's going to exit the house of horrors tonight.
Tonight, she lose the battle when it comes to audience vote. According to sources, Sofia is going to leave the Bigg Boss-7 house tonight owing to a lack of votes. Hayat has been in the Bigg Boss-7 house past 5 weeks.
By Ramesh Reddy | Hyderabad
EXCLUSIVE The Congress high command is set to play a T20 match with its lawmakers from Seemandhra to push the T Bill through the State Assembly first and Parliament later. With the stage set for the reference of the Bill to the Assembly, a battle of wits has already begun between Delhi and Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy.
The latter went into a huddle Friday evening with his Seemandhra colleagues and assured them that he would do his best to stall the Bill even at this juncture. The meeting was attended by ministers such as Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, Sake Sailajanth, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Erasu Pratap Reddy, TG Venkatesh and N Raghuveera Reddy along with some MLAs from the region. Interestingly, there were many absentees too.
By Ramesh Menon | Trivandrum
With the church spearheading the agitation against the Centre’s decision to ‘save’ the high ranges, the party has much to lose in the Lok Sabha election.
In Kerala, the Catholic Church has always been a staunch ally of the Congress- led United Democratic Front. But the unfolding battle over preserving the Western Ghats has put the church and the party on a collision course.
