Sonia Gandhi elected CPP leader unanimously

          New Delhi: Sonia Gandhi was on Saturday unanimously elected leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party. Her name was proposed by former Finance Minister and senior party leader Pranab Mukherjee and seconded by Mahabir Prasad Yadav and several other newly elected Congress MPs. Among those who seconded her candidature were Kanti Lal Bhuria, Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi, PR Kyndih, Kamal Nath, Madhusudan Mistry and Janardhan Reddy. Senior Congress leader Manmohan Singh announced that she was elected unanimously. Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India has backed Congress chief Sonia Gandhi as the country's next Prime Minister. "We have no objections to Sonia Gandhi becoming the Prime Minister," CPI leader A B Bardhan told newspersons here.

Sonia as PM would be unfortunate, says Naqvi (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) on Saturday said it would be "unfortunate" if Sonia Gandhi is made the country's Prime Minister and asserted that it will keep a "close watch" on all issues of national importance. "The Congress is free to elect any person as its leader but it would be unfortunate if no person is found eligible from among the 100 crore population to become the Prime Minister and she is elevated to the post," party General Secretary and spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said in a statement here following Sonia Gandhi's unanimous election as leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party. "Our best wishes are with the new Government but we will keep a close watch on all issues of national importance," he said.

Deve Gowda - will he or will he not in Karnataka? (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Former Prime Minister and Janta Dal (Secular) president Deve Gowda is keeping both the BJP and the Congress guessing. He is not yet ready to open his cards on whether he will support the BJP or the Congress to form the government in Karnataka. While it is the grand old man Harkishan Singh Surjeet at the centre-stage in Delhi, in Karnataka all eyes are on Deve Gowda. As his party which has won 57 seats in the State Assembly holds the key for the formation of next government. In the assembly of 224 seats, BJP has won 84 seats, Congress 65 and others 75. And both the Congress and the BJP need the suuport of JD(S) to form the government. But Gowda is not in any hurry. Gowda who arrived in Delhi last night met outgoing Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. However after the meeting Gowda said it was a courtsey call and he is still sticking to his ideological stand of maintaining equi- distance from both the Congress and the BJP.

DMK-PMK demand Jayalalitha's resignation (Go To Top)

          Chennai: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief, M.Karunanidhi has demanded immediate resignation of Jayalalitha. A massive anti-incumbency wave coupled with the magic of formidable alliance arithmetic resulted in a landslide victory for the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance(DPA) which won all the 139 Lok Sabh seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in neighbouring Pondicherry. "She has lost all the parliamentary seats.She has been abusing Sonia Gandhi.Now,she has defeated by all should resign at once", said S.R.Balasubramanium,Congress leader. Pattali Makkal Katchi(PMK) leader Dr.Ramdass also accused Jayalalitha of removing voters' names from the list and demanded her resignation. "In a democratic country,every person has the right to vote.The basic fundamental right of every citizen is excersice right to vote.So,removing the voters' name from voter list is a very serious crime,some punishment should be given in this regard. As far as Jayalalitha is concerned,she is responsible for this and should be thrown away from the government"said Dr.Ramdass,PMK leader.

India's corridors of power to get a feel of suave politicians (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: When the fourteenth parliament assembles next week, it will be filled with more young and glamorous faces than ever before. The latest polls have thrown up young leaders and film stars who connected with voters through their charisma. From Rahul Gandhi, the fifth-generation scion of India's Kennedy- esque Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, and who can very well be billed as the leader of the "young brigade", a host of suave young leaders are set to electrify the Indian political scenario. Gandhi made his debut from Amethi, a pocketburrough of the Nehru-Gandhi clan. Parliament now has an array of young politicians and film actors, ranging from the hugely popular cricketer-turned-commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu, to popular Bollywood actor Govinda.

          The young politicians perhaps reflect the aspirations of a country where almost half the population is below 40. And of course, youth welfare is one of the most prominent on the agenda for many of them. "Primarily work for the youth, whose voices were not heard during the five year tenure of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). Congress party has taken this initiative to carry forward the voice of the youth and we continue doing so." ," said Jatin Prasad, son of late senior Congress leader, Jitendra Prasad, who represents the Shahjahanpur constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Pitching in for development, honest politics and new ideas, many of these leaders across the political spectrum are making their debut in parliament. Though contesting largely from family bastions, the young leaders showed uncanny ability to win voters. Some of them did not have the backing of any dynasty, like the US-educated business magnet Navin Jindal, a Congress party lawmaker from Kurukshetra in Haryana.

           "We have to carry forward those things as Sonia Gandhi said. I will work for the aspirations of the people who have elected me. I am thankful to the people of Kurukeshetra and want to serve my people and the nation," said Jindal. The participation of these young leaders has pushed several positives into the rough and tumble of Indian politics. Development issues now get more than the customary lip service. "A lot of young politicians have been elected this time and we all will take up the issues related to the youth and their problems in the parliament," said Sachin Pilot, son of late Congress leader Rajesh Pilot, who has been elected from the Dausa consituency in Rajasthan. The new breed of politicians have also ushered in an era of highly educated politicians.

          While Rahul Gandhi has an M.Phil from Trinity College, Cambridge, his fellow party men, Sachin Pilot, has an MBA from Wharton, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, son of late Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia, went to Harvard and Stanford. Written off by opinion polls just three weeks ago, Congress fared far better than expected and will be the largest party in the new 545-seat parliament. Earlier during the day, Sonia Gandhi was chosen as the parliamentary head by the Congress party. But Gandhi's coalition, with fewer than 220 seats, needs new partners. The leading left-wing party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) won 33 seats, more than half the leftist total, and its support will be critical to Gandhi's survival. Gandhi's victory marks the revival not just of Congress, out of power since 1996, but of the country's first family, the Nehru- Gandhi dynasty that led India to independence in 1947 and ruled unchallenged for decades after.