Pradesh Congress Committees

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also the president of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, held a meeting with senior State leaders of the party here on Monday where matters related to seat-sharing with the Trinamool Congress for the civic polls were discussed.

Later, asserting that the Congress-Trianmool Congress remains intact, Mr. Mukherjee told journalists that municipality and panchayat elections have their "own distinctive compulsions" unlike the Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections.

Both parties had agreed to seat adjustments in the Lok Sabha elections last year as well as in the two phases of by-elections for 12 State Assembly seats and for some municipal elections that followed the parliamentary elections.

The forthcoming municipal elections are being perceived as a litmus test for both the ruling Left Front in the State and the Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance ahead of the State Assembly elections due next year.

Asked about the recent visit to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee by another senior PCC leader Subrata Mukherjee, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee said that visit was mainly to discuss the seat-sharing process and nothing else should be read into it.

Rumours were doing the rounds that Subrata Mukherjee, formerly a Trianmool Congress leader and the Mayor of Kolkata before he fell out with Ms. Banerjee and joined the Congress, visited her with the intention of re-joining the party and seek the mayoral candidature.

Leaders of both parties separately met newly-appointed West Bengal Governor MK Narayanan and alleged that a reign of terror had been unleashed in most districts by the CPM while the police looked the other way. They said after the CPM's defeats in the Lok Sabha and other elections, it had launched a massive "area capturing drive" by driving out TC and Congress workers and supporters from the localities.

The CPM, which began a three-day special meeting of the state committee at its Alimuddin Street office yesterday, rejected the demand for advancing the Assembly polls. Party secretary Biman Bose said the election would be held as schedule, some time in May-June 2011. He counter-alleged that the TC and the Congress were trying to create law and order problems in order to advance the poll. He said TC activists and Maoists were now jointly operating in several areas in south Bengal districts and attacking and killing CPM cadres and supporters.

Railway minister and TC supremo Mamata Banerjee said the party was not demanding application of Article 356, but a fresh elections in the state since the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government had lost the people's support. She alleged that during the past 32 years of Left rule, cadres had kept busy amassing enormous wealth and assets by misusing official machinery.

Talking to mediapersons, he said the target would be achieved and 6-7 lakh more members would join the party by New Year.

He said AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi has given a new direction to the Youth Congress by putting in place elected bodies at all levels.

Favouring elected students unions in colleges and universities, Chokhar said legal provision should be made to debar students with criminal and anti-social background from contesting the elections to students' bodies.

Expressing confidence that the Congress will win the Ellenabad byelection, Chokhar said the party lost due to the internal bickering in the last elections. The party was fully geared up and united this time and there was no scope for any other party to defeat the Congress, he claimed.

When asked about his plans to contest the elections in future, he said: "If given a chance by the party high command, I will definitely like to contest the elections in future."

The party today said it would introduce National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA)-like model for the urban bodies to generate guaranteed employment for youths in the cities.

The scheme will be drawn from the NREGA and will offer 100-day guaranteed job to the unemployed youths in the urban areas, member of Congress election manifesto committee Ramesh Varlyani said. The party today released the manifesto for the civic body elections in the state.

"The scheme will be introduced on an experimental basis in Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC), and if it yields results, the scheme will be replicated in eight other municipal corporations in the state," said Varlyani.

Translated from the Punjabi: "I do not consume alcohol or any other intoxicant."

Patiala District Congress Committee president Prem Krishan Puri confirmed the form requires applicants to make the declaration.But he did not want to press the point.

"Many senior leaders who have become members yet again, do drink," conceded Puri. "It is their conscience... the party cannot do anything about it."

Said a senior Punjab Congress leader: "Do you think that the crores of party workers and members in the country have given up drinking?" The membership drive will continue till December 31, the last date for submitting the form.
"Already, 45 lakh forms have been distributed in the state. We are expecting around 50 lakh new members," said Congress Legislature Party leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.

She conceded the declaration in the form meant little."I would be lying if I said that all these 45 lakh people are teetotalers.If our senior leaders can drink, why can't these new members?" Bhattal said.

Soon after the results were declared, Left leaders went into a huddle, with Front Chairman Biman Bose saying "this was unexpected and we will have to review the situation before we can identify the causes for the defeat".

The reactions of the Left leaders were an indication that they are clueless to the changing political reality of the state.

For the CPI(M), the major partner in the Left Front, the crisis is two-fold — both external and internal. Externally, there seems to be no respite from the steady erosion in its vote bank, as the Opposition has been winning various forms of elections as a build-up to the Assembly elections in 2011.

While the CPI(M) leaders are more or less reconciled to the reality that in 2011 the state will witness a change in the state's political scenario, some of the leaders are aggrieved because the party is not taking any corrective measures to check the rot.

Source: Rediff Congress-TC wins Siliguri civic polls after 27 years

Headed by State PCC chief Phool Chand Mullana, the committee has Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, State Congress working president Kuldeep Sharma, Finance Minister Birender Singh and Union Minister Kumari Selja as its prominent members.

AICC general secretary in charge of Haryana Prithviraj Chavan as also AICC general secretary B K Hariprasad and Punjab PCC chief and Haryana Coordination Committee member Mohinder Singh Kaypee are permanent invitees.

The 18-member Election Committee will also include senior party leaders from the state including Sardar Harpal Singh, Dr Ram Prakash, Rao Inderjit Singh, Harmohinder Singh Chatha, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, Vinod Sharma, Shamsher Singh Surjewala and Kiran Chaudhary.

Reacting to the INLD-BJP split, Congress spokesperson Abishek Singhvi said the parties fought the elections on their own and won on their own.

" Coalitions have been formed and have lost in Haryana," Singhvi said, exuding confidence that his party would win the assembly elections scheduled for later this year.

Buoyed over its prospects in Haryana after winning nine of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state, Congress has advanced the assembly polls.

In the meantime, Maharashtra PCC has been carrying out a "sampark abhiyan" across the various regions of the state. This is part of the warm-up exercise ahead of the elections to assess the mood, mobilise workers and make a ground level assessment of the party's prospects. As part of these effort, meetings are held for party workers, general meetings are also undertaken where state level leaders from the region and state cabinet members address gatherings.

At present, this effort is being undertaken in the Marathwada region. The Khandesh and Konkan regions have already been covered. The next region to be focused on is Vidarbha, where the process will begin on July 19.

As part of the pre-election efforts, the state Congress is also undertaking a detailed study of the assembly segments. Five teams comprising five members -- two state ministers and three MPCC office bearers -- are meeting with workers in each of the 288 assembly segments. The team visits to assess problems being faced, quantum of votes netted by the party candidate in the Lok Sabha elections and in the 2004 assembly election.

Source: Economic Times Maharashtra Cong gears up for assembly elections

Come Saturday and the results of the 15th general election will be declared, with the counting beginning at 8 am.

The results of all the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state will be available by 5 pm.

The trends will be available within 30 minutes after the start of the counting process.

The poll results will be available on the website of the Commission after every round of counting is over. Over 20,000 personnel will be deployed on the counting day at 72 counting centres at the dis trict headquarters, said Anuj Kumar Bishnoi, State Chief Electoral Officer. Counting of two Lok Sabha seats each will be taken up in Lucknow, Sultanpur, Bijnore, Agra, Moradabad, Bareilly, Azamgarh, Allahabad, Saharanpur, Bahraich, Basti, Deoria, Jaunpur and Gorakhpur district headquarters.

According to Bishnoi, there will be around 14 to 24 counting tables at these centres and after each round the central observers will check two of the EVMs in a random manner.

Thereafter one observer an employee of the Central government will monitor the counting in each table. Like the 2007 Assembly elections, the Commission has given the power to the District Returning Officers (RO) to declare the poll results of all the 80 seats without seeking the Commission's approval. Earlier, it was mandatory for each and every RO to get permission from the Commission before announcing the final results, said Bishnoi.

The voter turnout in the justconcluded five-phase polling for the seats in the state dipped to 47.84 per cent against 48.09 per cent recorded in the 2004 general elections. This time, however, the poll percentage was marginally better than 2007 Assembly polls when it was recorded at 46.24 per cent.

A violent clash between supporters of the CPI-M and Trinamul Congress had occurred in booth 27 in Domjur, under Serampore seat. During repolling, 70 per cent of voters were recorded as having exercised their franchise in booth 27.In Hooghly, a repoll was conducted in booth 108 in Jangipara under Serampore seat, where voting had not been conducted originally due to a faulty EVM. The EC had arranged strong security cover for the repolling in three booths in Burdwan, where large scale violence had been reported during the poll on Thursday. No trouble was reported during the re-poll at the two booths in Raina and Katwa, Burdwan district, where an average of 84 per cent polling was reported.

Repolling in booth 281/7 in Kanyapur, Asansol ~ where a Trinamul Congress supporter, Akshay Bauri, had reportedly been murdered on the initial polling day ~ passed off peacefully with 67 per cent polling recorded. The police force, led by Mr US Mukherjee, DSP (headquarter), was deployed at the premises of this booth to prevent further trouble. Mr Bharat Mondal, another voter of this booth, said: "We all condemn the murder of Akshay. By casting our votes we are paying a tribute to him." The repoll was also peaceful in two booths in Murshidabad, with 80 per cent of the electorate exercising their franchise. Repoll was ordered in booth 109 (A) in Lalgola and 135 in Khargram ~ both under Jangipur parliamentary seat ~ due to faulty EVMs.

Haryana recorded 63% polling, the turnout in Rajasthan was 50%, 65% in Punjab, 37% in Bihar, 50% in UP and 24% in Srinagar. Though voting in Srinagar was low, it was better than 18.7% and 11.93% in 2004 and 1999.

Results of several key contests were sealed in EVMs with heavyweights like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Farooq Abdullah and Lalu Prasad in the fray.

Predictably, both BJP and Congress claimed trends favoured them. Congress managers claimed the party could bag up to 35 seats in this round, widening their lead over rival BJP with gains in Rajasthan where the party is eying 15 seats and in Haryana where it is confident of retaining seven of the nine seats it won last time. It also interpreted the high turnout in West Bengal as a boost to the alliance with Trinamool and went on to claim that the Left's tally would be restricted to just over 20 of the total 42 seats.

It is crucial for these projections to come true for Congress to take the pole position ahead of BJP.

For its part, however, the BJP which claimed to be leading Congress after the three rounds of polling, said it kept the advantage largely because of good showing by party's alliance with Ajit Singh's RLD in western UP. BJP hopes to get 8-9 seats in partnership with RLD. It was also satisfied with its performance in Rajasthan, claiming that it was able to restrict gains for Congress from the state which gave 21 seats to NDA five years ago.

After Thursday, only 86 seats spread over TN (39), West Bengal (25), Punjab (9), Uttarakhand (5) and Himachal Pradesh (4) remain to be voted for. But even as the combatants reach the final stretch of the long campaign, there is no clear light on the likely winner.

Congress needs to do some brisk batting in Tamil Nadu which it had swept last time because of the not-so-satisfactory reports from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Gujarat. BJP has no hopes in West Bengal and TN, but must do better in the last phase of UP, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in order to make up for the losses in Rajasthan and Punjab where its partner Akalis are on a weak wicket.

Source: Times Of India 57% voter turnout in phase 4, Bengal tops with 75%

In all, 2,16,99,782 voters will exercise their franchise in a total of 27,170 polling booths to decide the fate of 134 candidates of different political parties, contesting from 17 constituencies.

With polling being over in 14 of the state's 42 constituencies on April 30, the seats at stake this time are Jangipur, Baharampur, Krishnagar, Ranaghat, Howrah, Uluberia, Serampore, Hooghly, Arambagh, Tamluk, Contai, Bardhaman East, Bardhaman-Durgapur, Asansol, Bolpur and Birbhum.

Jangipur in Murshidabad district is under spotlight as, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is defending his seat.

Also in the fray are state Animal Resources Minister Anisur Rahaman (CPI-M), making debut in Lok Sabha polls in Murshidabad, Adhir Chowdhury, a Congress strongman, seeking re-election from Baharmapur for the third time, former Union Minister Satyabrata Mukherjee (BJP), ace runner Jyotirmoyee Sikdar(CPI-M) and Bengali screen hero Tapas Paul(Trinamool Congress) from Krishnagar, Veteran Lok Sabha members Hannan Molla and Rupchand Pal(both CPI-M) respectively from Uluberia and Hooghly, controversial CPI(M) MP Laxman Seth from Tamluk and film actress Shatabdi Roy (Trinamool Congress) from Birbhum.

The Election Commission has decided to deploy lathi-weilding homeguards to assist the armed personnel in the polling booths spread across the 17 Parliamentary constituencies.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Debasish Sen said almost all the polling premises would be manned by armed forces to be helped by the homeguards.

Moreover, he said homeguards were of two types - temporary and regular, and the latter was imparted armed training and could be deputed with ''all confidence.''

Source: Sakaal Times Bengal readies for tomorrow's poll

He will win, say supporters of the Gwalior royal.

In Guna, a constituency of a little over 11 lakh voters where the name Scindia arouses instant veneration, victory is perhaps not in doubt for the Harvard-educated 38-year-old.

What is being talked about rather is the tougher-than-expected fight the Congress candidate is facing from workers of the party founded by Uma, the village girl his late grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia had picked, impressed by her knowledge of the epics and leadership potential.

Uma, who has declared her support for L.K. Advani, hasn't campaigned here personally. But the local BJP in Shivpuri, a town in Guna, has been buoyed by the efforts being put in by cadres of the Bharatiya Jana Shakti Party, the outfit the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister floated after her expulsion from the BJP for rebelling against the brass.

"It's not a question of how much influence Umaji's party has here. The very efforts of her party workers show we are giving a fight," says Om Prakash Gupta, BJP candidate Narottam Mishra's campaign in-charge.

While Guna legislator Rajendra Singh Saluja belongs to Uma's party, BJP big guns like party chief Rajnath Singh, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan have all campaigned for Mishra, a five-time MLA.

No one here in Guna -- where Jyotiraditya's late father Madhavrao Scindia made it a habit of winning -- dares to call it a close fight. But as he leaves Bombay Kothi, the summer palace of the Scindias, Jyotiraditya says "no one takes elections lightly".

Source: The Telegraph Uma can't rob Scindia of sleep

No matter the family is divided in rival BJP and Congress camps, it still dominates the political landscape of the region.

So strong is their hold that even the opponents of Vijayaraje's daughter Yashodhara (BJP nominee from Gwalior) and grandson Jyotiraditya Scindia (Congress candidate from Guna) are flaunting their 'Mahal' connect to stay in the reckoning.

The irrepressible Yashodhara has pulled out all the stops to reach out to electors. Despite public proclamation by Jyotiraditya that he would not campaign against his aunt, anyone criss-crossing through Gwalior cannot miss his presence. Huge hoardings showing the Scindia scion seeking support for his Congress colleague Ashok Singh dominate the city's landscape.

Ashok has also been exploiting his other royal connection to the hilt. Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile Rajgarh royal family, in tow, he has been addressing a series of corner meetings and road shows. Diggy Raja, as he is popularly called, dominates Congress hoardings alongside Jyotiraditya.

Political expediency has compelled Ashok, whose family is a known 'Mahal' baiter, to build bridges with Jyotiraditya. His father the late Rajendra Singh, a Congress veteran and former minister, never compromised with the Scindias, senior journalist Rajesh Pathak said.

Despite the Gwalior royal family dominating both the Congress and the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, there are serious misgivings in the local BJP camp about Yashodhara having been kept out of the loop during candidate selection for the recent assembly election.

But the camp is upbeat that she would not only retain her seat but do better than her 2007 victory in a by-election after sitting Congress MP Ram Sewak, who was caught in the cash-for-query scam, had to quit.

Narottam Mishra, the BJP nominee against Jyotiraditya who has no pronounced 'Mahal' connection and has risen through the ranks by sheer dint of hard work, is weak. Jyotiraditya has launched a high-voltage campaign and is virtually camping in his constituency. Mishra has been invoking the name of the Scindia family as his campaign material includes hoardings with pictures of Vijayaraje and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, but that may be of little help.

Their job is to ensure defeat of close relatives contesting against the Congress and disprove the whispers that for them, blood is proving thicker than party bonds. The Congress leadership is watching.

But the Union minister, who had publicly expressed "disappointment" when Veena was denied a Congress ticket, on Monday criticised the party again for the way it had rewarded his "loyalty".

Asked in a TV interview if he felt slighted, Arjun said he did not feel slighted but shocked. "I am shocked by what is in store for loyalty. Honour and humiliation have ceased to be concepts in the Congress party," he said.

Reacting to this, Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said: "The philosophy of the party has its own rewards. I believe (that) working for the party and believing in its philosophy and principles have their own rewards."

Arjun's wife has already reached Sidhi to side with her daughter. Party leaders said Saroj Singh -- "Rani Sahiba" to local people -- wielded considerable political clout and her presence in Sidhi would hit Congress prospects badly.

"Most local leaders in Sidhi are first loyal to Arjun and his family, and then to the Congress," a state Congress official said.

The Congress is alarmed at reports that dozens of local party workers are secretly working for Veena, locally addressed as "Didda Saheb", while ostensibly supporting the official Congress nominee, Inderjeet Patel.

Arjun will address rallies against Veena in hometown Churhat and other parts of Sidhi on Tuesday, the last day of campaigning before the April 23 vote.

Congress general secretary Digvijay is in Rajgarh to plot the defeat of younger brother Laxman Singh, who is seeking a fifth term as MP.

This is the second time that "Chunnu Raja" is contesting on a BJP ticket, much against the wishes of his elder brother, "Munnu Raja". Only a handful of Digvijay's loyalists predict defeat for Laxman, who is pitted against the Congress's Narain Singh. Narain, going by his affidavit, seems terribly short of money.

He says he owns 22 cows, four buffaloes and a bullock cart but has no shares, debentures or bonds. The balance amounts in his two Bank of India accounts are Rs 305 and Rs 1,307.

Jyotiraditya, Union minister of state for telecom, is shuttling between his own parliamentary seat of Guna and hometown Gwalior, where aunt Yashodhara Raje Scindia is the BJP candidate.

.The entire Gwalior campaign is pivoted on the question of who is the true inheritor of the Scindia legacy. Yashodhara, the sitting MP, is invoking the legacy of her mother, Rajmata Scindia, who was a founder member of the BJP.

Source: The Telegraph FAMILY CONCERN