Young brigade of India want to be anything but a politician. Ask any Chhotu, Sonu, Pinki or Pappu or their parents, they either want to become a Doctor, or Engineer or and IAS officer, but nobody wants to be a politician.

This fact can be attributed to the myth which says that all politicians are scamsters and a hyena in the garb of deer. Some also think that you need to be born in a political family to have an easy entry into the field. Also, the parents do not consider politics as a viable career option.

The youth of the country, which keeps ruing about the bad state of the country, need to take a bold step and take on the work of cleaning the politics of the country. One way to do it is to become a responsible civil society member, the other, which is more recommended, is to join politics.

It can be done just like AAP president Arvind Kejriwal or Jayprakash Narayan of Loksatta party, both former IAS officers. Another example can be of Natwar Singh of Congress Party who was an IFS officer. Ravishankar Prasad of BJP is a lawyer while KP Thakur of the same party is a doctor. Even actors like Shatrughna Singha and Hema Malini joined politics.

In the young brigade, Naveen Jindal of Congress is scion of Jindal steels. He in fact is credited with fighting the government in Supreme Court for letting every Indian hoist the national flag at their home or office with the same pride as politicians or administrators of the country.

The best thing about politics is that it can be joined at any time of your life and at any point of your education.

Although the people of India would love a highly educated representative for themselves, but to become a politician or to contest an election to become, MLA, MLC or MP doesn’t have any required education criteria. The Constitution of India lays down only the minimum age for contesting elections, which is 25 years, but there is no minimum education prescribed.

A politician is not only a representative of the people; he is also an administrator and a lawmaker. So the education falls into ‘desired’ criteria but it’s not ‘mandatory’.

Best is the politician who understands people’s pain, problem and provides a solution. Works for them and voices their concern when in Corporation, or Assembly or Parliament.

In order to keep up with the popular choice, i.e. better educated politicians, here is a step by step guide to college students to join politics and make it a full time career.

1. Take Political Science as your subject choice in graduation. Although you can also study economics or sociology, but understanding of political science is  a must.

2. Read good books on politics. Understanding your country is a must and understanding it in the view of political scenarios is recommended. Suggested read: biography of MK Gandhi – My experiments with truth, Jawaharlal Nehru’s Discovery of India, Ramchandra Guha’s India after Gandhi and Kautilya’s Arthashastra. Reading foreign thinkers like Karl Marx, Hegel and Thoureau etc is also recommended.

3. Join a student body which represents your idea of India and supports student-friendly policies. This is an important step and this is how many present day popular politicians ascended in political arena. Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ravishankar Prasad were all part of the student movement led by JP during Emergency.

4. Join a debating society or group to hone your oratory skills. Good oratory and popular politics go hand in hand. Take for example our former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

5. Start analyzing political scenarios of the country for your understanding and express your ideas in party meetings.

6. A good leader is one who can be a good team member. Participate and give your full to the team works.

7. Build your leadership qualities by listening to good leaders and understanding their ideologies.

8. Contest elections. This is your test and sure shot way to rise. As a test it will tell you about your leadership qualities, will bring out your strengths and your weaknesses. It will also help you in strategizing your further actions for the party.

9. Keep your friends close, your enemy closer. Keeping an eye on the opposing views always will help you devise better policies and actions. It will also give you an edge above your opponent.

10. Always keep your integrity intact. This is a way to rise in politics without any blots.

Related links: career in politics, youth in politics, Indian politics, AAP president Arvind Kejriwal, Jayprakash Narayan of Loksatta party, Natwar Singh of Congress Party, Ravishankar Prasad of BJP, KP Thakur, Shatrughna Singha, Hema Malini, Naveen Jindal, how to join politics, how to be a political leader

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The suspense on the name of Maharashtra chief minister finally ended on Tuesday and the young Devendra Fadnavis was elected by the BJP legislature party as their leader.

Accompanied by BJP General Secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, state Core Committee members Eknath Khadse and Vinod Tawde, besides allies RPI leader Ramdas Athawale and RSP’s Mahadev Jankar, Fadnavis later called on Governor C Vidyasagar Rao to stake claim to form the government.

Fadnavis will take oath on Friday, October 31.

Fadnavis, 44, has strong RSS roots. His father, Gangadharrao Fadnavis, was an active member in the Jana Sangh and groomed him since his early days. Fadnavis joined the RSS Shakha at Trikoni Park, in his childhood. Also during 1986–89, in his early days, he became an active member of ABVP.

Fadnavis attended the Dharampeth Junior College in 1986–87. Following that, he went to the Nagpur University and completed a 5 year law degree. A post graduate degree  in Business Management from D.S.E. University, Berlin and a diploma in Methods and Techniques of Project Management from D.S.E. University, Berlin is also part of his education qualifications.

He is also the author of five books.

Fadnavis was the youngest Councillor in Maharashtra. This is his third consecutive term as legislator. He is perceived to be an honest man with unquestionable integrity. He shared a great relationship with the late Gopinath Munde. Among other relations, Nitin Gadkari is known to be Fadnavis’s one-time mentor.

Hailing from Nagpur and being recommended by RSS gave him an advantage in the race to CM post.

Fadnavis allegedly has 22 charges of rioting registered against him.

He is married to Amruta Ranade.

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Good news for those who were complaining about central government being selective over the black money account holders list provided by the HSBC. The Supreme Court too was miffed with the centre for revealing just three names out of 700.

The apex court has asked the central government to disclose the whole list to it on Wednesday. The Supreme Court also questioned why the government was “holding a protective umbrella for these people”.

Interestingly, the order came when the court was hearing a fresh application by the government for, in fact, restricting the disclosure.

“Don’t give us two or three names but all the names. Give us the entire list… whatever you have got from Germany, France, Switzerland and other countries. What you have disclosed could be a tip of the iceberg. This is going to be the first step now —disclose everything. We can’t leave the issue completely to you (government). It may never happen during our time,” said the bench, headed by Justice HL Dattu, Justice Ranjana P Desai and Justice Madan B Lokur.

The names that were revealed were actually of eight people but five of them came from the same group. These names were of Dabur India promoter Pradip Burman, bullion trader Pankaj Chamanlal Lodhiya, Goa mining company Timblo Private Ltd and five of its directors — Radha Satish Timblo, Chetan S Timblo, Rohan S Timblo, Anna C Timblo and Mallika R Timblo.

The government had told court that these were being prosecuted under the Income Tax Act for allegedly keeping black money in foreign bank accounts.

The Supreme Court wants the government to present all the factual matters rather than choose the mode and manner of the investigation. The bench said that the CBI may be roped in for investigation in the matter. According to the Indian Express, the bench said the court had in 2011 issued orders for complete disclosure of information received from foreign governments and it would hence also take the responsibility of ensuring the case reaches its logical end.

“Why do you (government) want to investigate? You don’t have to take the trouble of investigating. Why are you bothered? Why are you holding a protective umbrella for these people? You just pass on all the information to us and we will decide. We can ask even CBI to investigate. We are not helpless. We had passed the original order in 2011 and we will take the responsibility now as well,” it said.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi kept the earlier stand of the government and urged the bench to modify the July 2011 order. He asserted that only those names where probe was over and the cases had been found prosecutable should be allowed to made public and not otherwise. The AG added it would also not be in congruity to disclose names that have been given a clean chit after probe.

The court, however, expressed displeasure over the argument. “You are trying to re-argue the matter which in our opinion is impermissible. We won’t change even a word of our order. Months after, the new regime at the Centre can’t ask for modification of order when it was passed in an open court and accepted by the government. Don’t give the names only to SIT but give them to us too,” it said.

Meanwhile, former Delhi Chief Minister and convener of the Aam Aadmi Party Arvind Kejriwal moved an application in the Supreme Court, seeking to be heard in the black money case. Kejriwal claimed he had personal knowledge of some people, who have stashed black money in their foreign bank accounts. He said he also had confessional statements made by three persons before the Income-Tax authorities. Kejriwal said these names had not been given to the court till date.

The whole scenario seems to be one where the NDA government wants to be seen as being arm-twisted by the Supreme Court to reveal the names. As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said, the list will bring embarrassment to the Congress and many others. There may be many legit account holders. And standing in the list will only bring embarrassment and nothing else.

But the NDA government won’t be responsible for this embarrassment for it was ‘forced’ to do so by the Supreme Court.

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It seems Delhi will soon see a BJP government.

Reportedly, President Pranab Mukherjee has given his nod to the Lieutenant Governor to explore options for government formation.

In a reply to Lt Governor Najeeb Jung’s September 5 letter, the President permitted him to explore all options in Delhi. The LG is now expected to invite the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the single largest party in the national capital, to form the government in Delhi.

The President’s nod comes just a day after bypolls to three Delhi assembly seats – Mehrauli, Tughlakabad and Krishna Nagar – fell vacant. The bypolls will present a great opportunity for all the political parties to increase their short numbers in the capital.

These three constituencies belonged to BJP MLAs who won Lok Sabha elections too and became MPs. This includes BJP’s chief ministerial candidate earlier Dr Harsh Vardhan who is a union health minister now.

The central government is expected to inform the Supreme Court about the President’s advice latertoday as the top court has been hearing a petition on government formation in the national capital. The Centre will also make its stand clear on government formation.

Delhi is without a government after Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal resigned from chief minister post after a brief 49 day stint in the office. Is own party later filed the petition in the apex court seeking dissolution of the Delhi Assembly and notification of fresh polls.

Of late, the AAP has been accusing BJP of horse trading and poaching its MLAs.

It will be interesting to see who BJP nominates or projects as its CM candidate after being called for forming the government.

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After the central government released the eight names of foreign bank account holders who were being probed by the Income Tax department for irregularities and illegalities, the opposition made snarly comments about holding back other names, including that of politicians, from the list of 700 names.

As Finance Minister Arun Jaitly said, more disclosures will be done if and only after the government finds evidence of illegality in any of the 700 accounts whose details were handed over to it by French and German authorities.

The names that were disclosed included name of Dabur India promoter Pradip Burman, bullion trader Pankaj Chamanlal Lodhiya, Goa mining company Timblo Private Ltd and five of its directors — Radha Satish Timblo, Chetan S Timblo, Rohan S Timblo, Anna C Timblo and Mallika R Timblo.

The Supreme Court was told by the central government through affidavit that the information on Burman had been secured from the French, while on others the sources were “other countries”.

India has no official estimates of illegal money stashed away overseas. But the unofficial ones range from $466 billion to $1.4 trillion.

Interestingly, and reportedly, Radha Timblo and Lodhia have donated money to the BJP and Congress, according to watchdog NGOs.

According to the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW), while Timblo donated Rs.1.18 crore to the BJP and Rs.65 lakh to the Congress from 2004-12, Lodhia donated Rs.51,000 to the BJP.

The details of the donations made by the companies were sourced from the list of political donations listed on the Election Commission’s web site.

Agencies reported that according to the ADR-NEW statement, there are a total of 13 electoral Trusts, only seven of which have been approved by the Central Bureau of Direct Taxes (CBDT) because they were formed after the CBDT rules governing electoral trusts were notified Jan 31, 2013.

The seven trusts formed after the CBDT rules came into effect are required to submit details of their donations to the Election Commission.

The remaining six formed before the CBDT rules came into existence are not required to do so. These six trusts have donated more than Rs 105 crore to national parties between 2004-05 and 2011-12. Details of these donations are not known.

Timblo Pvt Ltd is one of the many mining companies accused of carrying out illegal mining by the Justice M.B. Shah commission, which exposed a Rs.35,000 crore illegal mining scam in the state.

But if that is the case, where BJP government revealed the name despite big donations to it by the accused, it says a lot about the party’s conviction towards bringing black money back.

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As the reports suggested few days ago, the politicians, who have an account in a foreign bank, are being probed by the Income Tax to check for the illegalities if any. And the confirmation, well almost, was given by none other than former minister and Congress leader Preneet Kaur today.

Kaur on Monday confirmed through a news channel that she was indeed being probed by the IT but she maintained that the charges were baseless.

“In keeping with my reply to the Income Tax department, I should like to state that I never have had, and do not have any bank account(s) overseas in my name with any foreign bank,” Kaur, wife of former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, told a TV channel.

Reports suggest that Kaur is one of the four Congress leaders undergoing probe in the black money case. Perhaps this is the reason behind the party’s multi-pronged attack on the Centre and accusing it of “blackmail and hypocrisy”.

In an interview last week, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had claimed that the revelation of the list of Indians holding illegal bank accounts abroad will embarrass the Congress. The party hit back, “daring” the government to reveal all names or “stop blackmailing” it.

Senior Congress leader and former party spokesperson Digvijay Singh has dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and the NDA government to reveal all the names.

However, on Moday, the government revealed three names out of the 700 in the list to the Supreme Court in an affidavit and none of them were politicians or a Congress party member. These are Pradip Burman of the Dabur family, Rajkot-based bullion trader Pankaj Chalamanlal Lodhia and Goa-based mining baron Radha Timblo.

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After issuing a treat to the Congress party for its further fall, the Central government today filed fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court on the issue of black money today.

And well, the three names it included do not have anything to do with politicians.

The names revealed in the Supreme Court are: Pradip Burman, Pankaj Chimanlal and Radha S Timblo.

While Burman is the former director of Dabur, Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhiya is a Rajkot based bullion trader and Radha S Timblo is a Goa based miner.

Firstpost reported that “in 2012, the Supreme Court’s CEC (Central Empowered Committee) had noted that Goa Government had allowed Ms Radha S Timblo operate an illegal mine in Goa. A partnership firm comprising Timblo Pvt Ltd, Ms Radha S Timblo and others had managed to get a mining lease renewed by the Goa government in blatant violation of the law.”

The report also said that the Burman Group released an official statement saying that Pradeep Burman’s account was opened when he was an NRI and was legally allowed to do so.

“Moreover, all the details regarding the account have been voluntarily filed with the Income Tax department and appropriate taxes have been paid. It is unfortunate that every person having a foreign bank account is being painted with the same brush, added the statement released by the Burman Group.

Bullion trader Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhiya was reportedly ‘shocked’ and said that he did not hold any foreign accounts.

Earlier, the central goernment was not ready to share the names with the Supreme Court saying that these foreign bank account holders as tax treaties ban the disclosure of names at preliminary stages of inquiry.

Now, the government calls it its “misunderstood” stand.

The Centre will disclose more names of account holders to the court as and when the prosecution in the case begins.

The Supreme Court, based on a petition by noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani, has created a special committee to look at how to recover black money.

But the government had told the Supreme Court that it could not reveal the names received from other countries as it would violate the tax treaties with those countries.

The government feels revealing all names without scrutiny about illegalities committed by them would be a violation of the right to  privacy as any Indian under the RBI rules can legitimately deposit $1,25,000 in a foreign bank per year.

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When we hear news of a woman being raped, sexually abused, and then blamed for her condition in India, we wonder what kind of society we are living in.

But this is the scenario worldwide.

Iran today executed a woman who killed a man she said was trying to sexually abuse her. Reyhaneh Jabbari, 26, was hanged in a Tehran prison despite an international campaign urging a reprieve.

Jabbari was arrested in 2007 for the murder of Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, a former employee of Iran’s ministry of intelligence. She was sentenced to death by a criminal court in Tehran in 2009.

The campaign against her sentence started when people came to realize that she had a deeply flawed investigation and human rights group Amnesty International came forward in her support with them.

The campaign calling for a halt to the execution was launched on Facebook and Twitter last month and appeared to have brought a temporary stay in execution. But the surprise came in after government news agency Tasnim said on Saturday that Jabbari had been executed after her relatives failed to gain consent from the victim’s family for a reprieve.

It said her claims of self-defence had not been proved in court.

After her arrest, Jabbari had been placed in solitary confinement for two months, where she reportedly did not have access to a lawyer or her family.

Interestingly, during the curse of case, Jabbari had admitted to stabbing Abdolali Sarbandi once in the back, however, she alleged that there was someone else in the house who actually killed him.

With this, the campaign to save Jabbari ends and so does the hope to bring a change in Iran.

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In the first major interaction with the media after becoming Prime Minister, Narendra Modi praised the journalists for a wide coverage of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

He held a press meet at the BJP headquarters today where he met senior journalists.

The Prime Minister was welcomed by BJP chief Amit Shah, I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar and senior party leaders. Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also joined Modi at the presser.

Addressing the journalists, PM Modi said that he was trying to find a way to interact more and more with the media as the work keeps him engaged. “There was a time when I used to wait for media persons to arrive/put chairs for them, I had friendly relations with all,” he said. Modi said that the exercise will not only give him different perspective on the various issues but will also let him get information.

The Prime Minister thanked journalists for covering his government’s Swachh Bharat campaign.

He said that he noticed how several senior columnists, who had never written about sanitation in India, were now penning articles about it.

“You have now converted your pens into brooms. In last one month have read several articles on ‘Swachhta’, a lot is being discussed in social media too,” he said.

He further added that he was glad the media themselves highlighted how individuals can make a change in bringing about a cleaner India.

The Prime Minister is not expected to take questions during the interaction, titled ‘Diwali Milan’. Around 400 journalists have been invited to the event which is being seen as a political interaction and not an official government event.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hosting a tea party for all the NDA Members of Parliament on October 26 at his official residence 7 Race Course Road.

And all the Shiv Sena MPs will be attending it too.

After all the public posturing, the Shiv Sena has agreed to join BJP for government formation in Maharashtra.

The Sena MPs, who were invited yet undecided to join the tea party, will now meet PM Modi with gusto.

The BJP won 122 seats in the state which was 22 short of the half way mark. The NCP, immediately after election results were out, had announced to extend outside support to BJP. But the party was not read to make that kind of transformation.

The BJP had decided to go alone and form minority government. However, SHiv Sena probably realized its mistake and read the numbers and finally decided to support BJP shedding its ego.

The tea party by PM Modi, however, will not be attended by Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as he is not an MP. Although, he may meet PM on the sidelines of the event.

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The Nationalist Congress Party is at it again.

The party praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his visit to the Siachen in the valley on Diwali and spending it with the flood victims and the armed forces.

State NCP chief Thakur Randhir Singh said, “Modi’s visit to highest conflict zone Siachen in Ladakh is a great encouragement to our armed forces who are defending our borders under the most difficult conditions.”

He also appreciated the package announced by the Prime Minister for the flood-affected residents of the state.

“I welcome the package announced by the Prime Minister for the flood-hit residents of the state. Prime Minister’s decision to spend Diwali in Jammu and Kashmir and also with our brave soldiers that too at highest conflict zone at Siachen was a good decision,” he said.

This is the second time the party has come in support of BJP and PM Modi. After their split with Congress and BJP’s big win in Haryana and Maharashtra, NCP has been trying too hard to woo the ruling party.

They immediately announced outside support to the future BJP government after party’s win in Maharashtra. They have a lot at stake and that is precisely why they want BJP by their side desperately.

As mentioned in an earlier article, NCP needs government support to retain clout in cooperatives sector – a position enjoyed by the party and its chief Sharad Pawar – that also drives rural economy. Congress will prove to be a big rival here and what would be more better than to have the government by your side.

Next in line is the great revelation by former CAG Vinod Rai through his book which claims that former aviation minister and NCP leader Praful Patel deliberately put Air India through loss. In addition to this are other corruption charges to deal with.

The biggest in the line is the investigation on irrigation scam. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had recently asked for permission for an open inquiry against former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and senior leader Sunil Tatkare in connection with the irrigation scam.

Now that Shiv Sena has actually read it numbers and wants to join BJP again, this all wooing won’t work.

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The muscle flexing perhaps tired union minister Nitin Gadkari too much. And that is probably why he gave up the race to chief minister’s post.

It is now almost certain that party’s earlier (unspoken) choice Devendra Fadnavis will sit on the coveted chair.

Gadkari, on Diwali, announced that he was “happy in Delhi” and that he wasn’t in the race for the Maharashtra CM. He also cleared the air about his said differences with Fadnavis.

“We have no differences. My political guru is Devendra’s father Ganghadharrao Fadnavis who was an MLC while I was instrumental in bringing Devendra into politics,” Gadkari said after Fadnavis called on him at his residence in Mahal area on Thursday morning.

“I am happy in Delhi. Fadnavis is my colleague and came to meet me on Diwali,” he said.

It should be noted that almost 40 of the 44 Vidarbha MLAs had gone to Gadkari’s residence in Nagpur and wanted him to be the chief minister. Senior state leaders Sudhir Mungantiwar and Vinod Tawde were among the leaders who had voiced their support for Gadkari. Mungantiwar had also met Arun Jaitley.

The Indian Express quoted a BJP leader saying: “We have already identified three state BJP leaders who were instrumental in projecting Gadkari’s candidature to sabotage Fadnavis’s election to the top post. Both Amit Shah and Narendra Modi have been given a full report on the events in the state over the last 48 hours.”

It is being considered that Gadkari personally met Fadnavis and assured of his candidature. He is also believed to have categorically told Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah that he was very much comfortable in his role as a union transport minister and that he would like to remain in Delhi.

The state legislature party will meet on October 27 to finally elect the chief minister from among them.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi had decided to spend the day with flood victims of the valley and understand the troubles that they were facing. He announced an addition package of Rs 740 crores for the relief work in the valley.

He had to return to the capital by the evening. But then, when has he ever failed to spring a surprise?

The Prime Minister gave a surprise visit to the freezing Siachen where he met the Indian troop serving the country on the day of Diwali. He said that he did not intimate the soldiers about his visit as there was “no need to announce one’s arrival when coming to one’s own family”.

PM Modi said he wanted to see and experience the conditions faced by soldiers. “No one has got the opportunity of guarding their motherland in these conditions. As a pradhan sevak, I have been able to see the conditions faced by you with my own eyes, experience it. The doctors accompanying us were keeping tabs on me…checking my BP and oxygen. This shows how precarious are the conditions you live in,” the Prime Minister told soldiers at the 12,000ft base camp of the glacier, the world’s highest battlefield.

“I have especially come on the occasion of Diwali to be with you. I am aware how it feels like to spend Diwali with your family. The happiness is different, but you are so involved in the devotion to your motherland that (your) family is spending Diwali somewhere else and you are somewhere else, guarding the motherland. My coming to this place will not fill the void of your family, but as a representative of 125 crore people…after being with you, I feel proud and satisfied,” he further said.

The Prime Minister assured the armed forces that his government was committed to building National War Memorial as it was an emotional subject for him and his government. He also said that he will try his best to help the jawans realize their dreams ad responsibility by assuring that they live respectfully and comfortably with their families after their retirement.

“How many decades have passed without one-rank-one pension. It was in my destiny that one-rank-one pension has been fulfilled, and preparations were being made for a National War Memorial, that we could all be proud of. The government is committed to the cause,” he said.

He also lauded the troops for their commendable rescue and relief work during the flood in the valley.

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We all are sitting pretty in our home on Diwali eve and planning what we will do tomorrow, what kind of crackers we will fire or not fire.

But the Prime Minister is preparing for a day with the people of the valley tomorrow.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has planned to spend his Diwali with flood victims of Jammu and Kashmir.

The agencies reported that PM Modi is expected to land at the airport in Srinagar at around 1 pm on Thursday. He will then go to the Raj Bhawan where he will meet members of flood-affected families, including women and children, from different parts of the Valley.

PM Modi will chair a meeting to review the relief and rehabilitation operations by the state and the central government agencies. He is also expected to visit the relief camps in Srinagar.

It is likely that PM Modi will announce another relief package adding to the already announced Rs 1,000 crore package to the flood hit state.

However, he will fly back to Delhi late in the evening.

The visit will definitely send out a strong political signal as the Election Commission is expected to announce the dates for polls to the J&K Assembly soon. BJP’s win in Maharashtra and Haryana is likely to affect the mood of the people in J&K with PM Modi sitting among them.

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So, Uddhav Thackeray had to eat his words.

After saying that he would consider if “someone” asks him to come for government formation, Shiv Sena leaders met the Bharatiya Janata Party central leadership for the prospects on government formation.

It should be noted that Home Minister Rajnath Singh had canceled the trip to Mumbai and had indicated that the talks will resume only after Diwali. Another possibility of BJP forming a minority government is also being explored which perhaps perplexed Uddhav’s Sena.

Sena leaders Anil and Subhash Desai returned to Mumbai on Tuesday night after meeting the BJP central leadership. However, chief Uddhav is still undecided over visiting Delhi.

The BJP is claiming support of 138 MLAs including Independents and smaller parties and is confident of passing the floor test. The BJP won 123 out of 288 seats in Assembly polls. The Nationalist Congress Party had already offered unconditional outside support to the BJP, which the party has not yet responded to, and which also had fumed Sena.

Meanwhile, the Indian Express reported that the BJP has approached lone Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MLA Sharad Sonawane, but he’s yet to make up his mind. Sonawane said, “The BJP has approached me but the decision in this regard will be taken by party chief Raj Thackeray.”

Firstpost reported, among the reasons why the Sena is looking at making clear its stand is one, to protect its coffers at the country’s richest municipal body – the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation – which it currently governs.

Second, the Sena would want to ensure that its alliance at the Centre does not end and its current MP Anant Geete, who is minister for Heavy Industries, continues to hold the post.

Whatever course the party takes, Uddhav has been showed his place.

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After deciding who will be the next Haryana chief minister, the Bhartiya Janata Party now has to decide upon the next Maharashtra chief minister.

The party has taken a break and the brainstorming will be done after Diwali. A lot of names have been popping for the list which has Devendra Fadnavis’s name on the top. But something took BJP by surprise on Tuesday.

Almost 40 of its 44 Vidarbha MLAs took a flight from Mumbai to Nagpur and asked former BJP president and Union minister Nitin Gadkari to take over as chief minister. All these 44 MLAs, oddly enough, were earlier supporting Fadnavis for the job.

These newly elected MLAs assembled outside Gadkari’s home and shouted slogans like “Maharashtra ka mukhya mantri kaisa ho, Nitin Gadkari jaisa ho”.

However, the minister downplayed the development and sad that he does not want the top post.

“It is their love for me that has prompted them to urge me to become CM. But I have repeatedly said that I am not interested in returning to the state… The CM will be chosen by the parliamentary party,” he reportedly said.

Interestingly, at the same time, Gadkari’s close aid Sudhir Mungantiwar was holding discussions with finance minister Arun Jaitley in Delhi.

Mungantiwar told reporters that the party leaders wanted see senior BJP leader and union minister Nitin Gadkari at the helm of the government in the state.

“We are surprised that Gadkari has said he doesn’t want to be in the state. Party leaders feel that he should return to the state and head the government. He is the most capable due to his administrative experience,” said Mungantiwar.

The whole scenario is being seen as a muscle flexing exercise by Gadkari who wants to send a message across to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah. Both Gadkari and Fadnavis hail from Vidarbha.

Apart from Fadnavis and Gadkari, other names in the race are of former leader of opposition in assembly Eknath Khadse and former leader of opposition in legislative council Vinod Tawde.

Among them, Fadnavis was tipped to be the front runner after BJP chief Amit Shah said that Fadnvis would lead the assembly election campaign and PM Modi called him a “Gift to Nagpur” – Gadkari’s home.

Perhaps this is what irked Gadkari and a subtle display of political might took centre-stage.

The post The Gadkari Surprise: Has Support; Doesn’t Want CM Post appeared first on Youngisthan.in.

South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has been sentenced five years of jail term for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by Judge Thokozile Masipa. The sentence comes 614 days after the killing.

Pistorius, 27, an amputee sprinter who became the first athlete to compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, killed Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, reality TV star and law graduate, on Valentine’s Day last year.

Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide but was cleared of murder charges on the deposition that he thought he was attacking an intruder and that he didn’t know it was his girlfriend behind the locked bathroom door.

Steenkamp was hit three times by bullets fired by Pistorius through a locked bathroom door.

Prosecutors had called for a minimum 10-year term, and the defence had argued for community service and house arrest.

The “blade runner”, as he was famously called, showed no reaction to the order other than wiping his eyes before being led away. Pistorius is expected to serve 10 months in prison, with the rest under house arrest.

According to the BBC, Judge Masipa said she considered her sentence “fair and just, both to society and to the accused”.

She said: “A non-custodial sentence would send the wrong message to the community. On the other hand, a long sentence would also not be appropriate either, as it would lack the element of mercy.”

Judge Masipa said that nothing she could say or do could bring back Reeva Steenkamp, but “hopefully, this judgment on sentence shall provide some sort of closure for the family”. The judge begun reading her decision by saying there must be a balance between retribution, deterrence and rehabilitation.

The judge also said: “It would be a sad day for this country if an impression were to be created that there was one law for the poor and disadvantaged, and another for the rich and famous.”

As precedence to the order, the International Paralympic Committee has decided not to allow Pistorius to run at any of its events for five years, even if he were released early.

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The 47 MLAs of Bhartiya Janata Party unanimously elected Manohar Lal Khattar as Haryana chef minister today.

Khattar, who made his electoral debut this assembly election, won the Karnal seat by a margin of over 63,000 votes.

Reportedly, the swearing-in of the new chief minister and other ministers is likely to take place Oct 26. The ceremony could be held at a sports stadium in Panchkula town, 15 km from Chandigarh, instead of the Haryana Raj Bhavan.

Sixty year old Khattar is a master strategist who spent early years as RSS pracharak. He joined RSS in 1977 at the age of 24 and became a full-time pracharak in 1980. He spent nearly 35 years in this role before joining BJP two decades ago.

Khattar never married and has proved his skills in the various roles he was given by the party.

In 1996, he was made transport minister in the Bansi Lal-led Haryana Vikas Party government where BJP was an ally. However, the alliance was broken when Khattar favoured withdrawal of support from the government as he felt it was proving costly to the BJP.

On his opinion, the BJP then decided to provide outside support to Om Prakash Chautala. Later, this coalition with the INLD won all 10 seats in Haryana in the 1999 parliamentary elections.

Khattar has worked extensively with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During his chief ministership of Gujarat, Modi had called upon Khattar to manage elections in Kutch district in the aftermath of Bhuj earthquakes. BJP won three out of six seats.

He has been in-charge of 12 states at the same time working for the betterment of the party. Khattar was chosen to be the chairman of the BJP’s Haryana election committee for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He delivered seven out of 10 Lok Sabha seats in the party’s kitty.

Khattar will be the first Haryana CM who is not from the majority Jat community.

The post For Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar It Is appeared first on Youngisthan.in.

The clear majority in Haryana for Bhartiya Janata Party came as a gush of fresh air for the state which was under the rule of Congress for the past decade. But a greater task is upon the party – to find a suitable chief minister for the state.

Former RSS pracharak Manhar Lal Khattar has emerged as a favourite name among the BJP cadres.

His name was decided upon when BJP analysed the votes where majority had come from the non-Jat faction.

But there are others as well who may still have a chance to compete. These are former spokesman Captain Abhimanyu and Kisan Morcha chief Om Prakash Dhankar, both Jats. Another name that has been popping is that of party state president Ram Bilas Sharma and union ministers of state Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gujjar.

Now, it is being said that standing with Khattar next in the line are Captain Abhimanyu, Gujjar and Sharma.

According to the Indian Express, the Haryana BJP legislature party is scheduled to meet at Chandigarh to elect its leader Tuesday. Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and party vice-president Dinesh Sharma have been assigned the task of overseeing the election of the leader.

Let’s take a look at these names:

Manohar Lal Khattar, 60 : He has a great political acumen and is a master of strategies. He was appointed the chairman of BJP’s Haryana election committee for the recent Lok Sabha elections. After spending almost four decades as RSS pracharak, Khattar joined BJP about two decades ago. He has been a part of election committees of 12 states including Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Rajasthan and hence, apart of the BJP success story in these states.

Captain Abhimanyu, 46 : He is the youngest of them all. He is a Harvard graduate who joined and then quit army in 1994 after serving for six years. He started his own business and then joined politics. He is one of the prominent Jat leaders in the state. He came into limelight during the 2014 BJP campaign when he was elevated to the rank of national secretary and general secretary of the Haryana BJP. Reportedly, Abhimanyu lost against Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Rohtak when he first contestd electon in 2004. Same was against Hooda’s son Deepender Hooda in 2005, again from Rohtak. He then contested from Narnaund assembly segment in 2009, but lost to INLD’s candidate. This time, he contested from Narnaund and won by a margin of over 6,000 votes.

Krishan Pal Gujjar, 57 : He comes from a very humble background of peasants. He developed interest in politics while he was studying in Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was once general secretary of the college student union. After graduation, he pursued a degree in law from Meerut university. His formal entry to politics was through Faridabad Municipal elections which he won in 1994 and became a councillor. The journey that started saw him as Haryana transport minister in the Bansi Lal government in 1996. In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Gujjar contested from Faridabad constituency and won with the highest-ever margin of over 4.6 lakh votes.

Ram bilas Sharma, 63 : The oldest contendr, he is five-time MLA and three-time minister from Haryana. Like Khattar, he too has an RSS background which he joined while in college.He joined the Delhi office of RSS as a proof-reader for the newspaper Motherland. He joined Geeta Vidyalaya in Kurukshetra as a lecturer but left it later on the request of his mentor late Dr Mangal Sain and joined politics actively. Under his leadership as Haryana BJP president, the party won seven out of eight seats it contested in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The post Is One Of Them Haryana CM? appeared first on Youngisthan.in.

When Maharashtra Navnirman Sena debuted in state assembly elections in 2009, Raj Thackeray and his team won 13 out of 288 seats.

His party polled 11.88 percent of the votes in all the 143 seats that the party contested.

In Mumbai the MNS had received around 24 percent of the city’s votes, far ahead of the Shiv Sena and emerged as the second largest party in Mumbai with six seats. It had ensured the defeat of Sena-BJP candidates in 11 of the 36 constituencies in Mumbai and prevented the alliance from winning 26 of the 36 seats in the Mumbai, Thane region.

The party also ate into the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance by splitting the votes during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

Raj was immediately taken as a serious contender in the Maharshtra politics. He was seen as a man who could take on the Shiv Sena and legacy of Balasaheb whose son Uddav was nowhere near the charisma he exuberated.

This assembly elections, when Bhartiya Janata Party decided to go solo and discard its second fiddle position, MNS was standing in an arena with four corners already defined. It was a difficult task to find its footing but not impossible.

The MNS won just one seat in the battle. And now Raj Thackeray faces an existential crisis.

The reason behind his small stardom is his lack of an ideology different from Shiv Sena. The party failed to reinvent on the Marathi agenda and its ‘Marathi Manoos’ card failed due to the anti-incumbency against Congress and NCP.

In addition to this, Raj had an ambiguous stand on BJP. One day he was slamming the party, other day he was praising their leader.

Also, he played a bait which the Thackeray clan has never done. The MNS chief declared he would contest the Assembly elections. After Uddhav failed to rise to his bait, he changed his mind saying, “The entire state of Maharashtra is my constituency and I do not want to limit myself to just one constituency.”

At a time when he could have slammed the Congress-NCP coalition in the state left, right and centre, he failed to rise to the moment. He even failed to take advantage of the BJP-Shiv Sena split.

Now Raj Thackeray is left with one seat while BJP and Shiv Sena won the battle.

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