Asian Lite News Archive

Category: India Election

  • Mumbai will not be separated: Modi

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    Flatly rejecting allegations by various opposition parties, including former ally Shiv Sena, Prime Minister Narendra Modi  categorically ruled out separating Mumbai from Maharashtra or dividing the state. “I can assure you that till I am in Delhi, no power on earth can split Maharashtra or separate Mumbai from the state,” Modi asserted amidst a loud…

  • Modi attacks dynastic politics

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi  launched a scathing attack on dynastic politics, rampant nepotism and corruption in Haryana and urged people to vote for the BJP in the Oct 15 assembly polls. Addressing an election rally for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Hisar town, Modi said Haryana had not seen a government in which political…

  • Modi refuse to attack Sena in Mumbai

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      Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday attacked the Congress and NCP in Maharashtra but said he would not utter a word against estranged ally Shiv Sena. “Some newspapers have reported that the prime minister has criticized the Shiv Sena,” Modi told an election rally here. “This is the first election in the absence of Balasaheb…

  • Where older women beat men voters

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    By Jaideep Sarin  As they grow older, women voters in Haryana get the better of men – numerically speaking. In the 70-years plus age group, it is the women who outnumber men among eligible voters in the state. That is quite an achievement given the fact that Haryana has the worst sex ratio (number of…

  • Will Jaya’s imprisonment help BJP in TN?

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    By Anjali Ojha  The jailing of the charismatic J. Jayalalithaa will help the BJP to grow in Tamil Nadu, a state where it has always been a bit player, party leaders say. Bharatiya Janata Party leaders feel their party is bound to get more support now that the ruling AIADMK is rudderless minus Jayalalithaa and…

  • Chavan quits as Maharashtra CM

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    A day after the NCP called off its alliance with the Congress in Maharashtra and withdrew from the government, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan submitted his resignation to Governor C.V. Rao. The Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) move, which came weeks before the assembly elections slated Oct 15, had reduced the Congress-led Democratic Front government to…

  • Two political splits in one day

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    In a day of fast political developments, Maharashtra’s two main alliances – the BJP-Shiv Sena and the Congress-NCP – Thursday broke up over differences in seat sharing, setting the stage for multi-cornered contests in the Oct 15 assembly elections. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) called off its 15-year-old alliance with the Congress in the state,…

  • BJP-Sena marriage end in divorce

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      The Shiv Sena, in an edit in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ called its former ally of 25 years Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a ‘crow’. In the edit, the Sena proclaimed itself as “the real protector of Maharasthra” through its army of Shiv Sainiks. “The alliance based on common Hindutva ideology has sadly collapsed… We tried…

  • No Modi-Sharif meeting in New York

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    India  virtually ruled out a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, saying there are “no plans for a meeting”. External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin at a briefing here also said in answer to a question that India has conveyed to…

  • Sachin Pilot silences detractors

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    By Anil Sharma   With the Congress winning three of the four assembly seats in the recently held byelections in Rajasthan, state party president Sachin Pilot has silenced his detractors and proven his political acumen – and is now eyeing the civic and panchayat polls later this year or early next year. “It is a big…

  • Saeed Naqvi on why BJP lost

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    By Saeed Naqvi Recent by-election reverses for the BJP are early intimations of mortality for the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duet. As a senior BJP leader whispered: “They must come down to earth.” In other words, a degree of realism may now be introduced into the proceedings. The May parliamentary elections were peculiar in some ways.…

  • BJP- Sena alliance on verge of collapse

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    The 25-year-old alliance between the BJP and the Shiv Sena was on the verge of collapse Friday with both parties adopting a tough stance on the issue of seat-sharing for the Oct 15 state assembly elections, party officials said. Both the warring partners are holding a series of crucial meetings during the day to take…

  • Bypoll results a shock: Sena

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    The Shiv Sena Wednesday described the Sep 13 bypoll results as an “unexpected shock and surprise” and said there are lessons to be learnt from it for the forthcoming Maharashtra assembly elections. “Don’t take the voters for granted… They are very intelligent. Keep your feet on the ground and don’t indulge in sword-fights from the…

  • Congress see positive signals

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      The Congress party Tuesday said the results of assembly bypolls in various states were a good signal for it and showed that people were rejecting BJP policies. Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said the party had done well in Rajasthan and Gujarat though it did not perform as per expectations in Uttar Pradesh. “The results,…

  • BJP feels the heat

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     The Congress and the Samajwadi Party, which suffered a rout in the general elections, bounced back Tuesday in the assembly bypolls in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. For the first time in 15 years, the BJP will now have its lawmaker in the West Bengal assembly. In Gujarat, the BJP romped home in Vadodara Lok Sabha…

  • BJP trails in Rajasthan

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    The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday won Rajasthan’s Kota South assembly constituency, but was trailing in the remaining three constituencies where bypolls were held till reports last came in. According to the results till 10.45 a.m., BJP’s Sandeep Sharma was declared elected from the Kota South constituency, defeating Congress candidate Shivkant Nandwana by over 25,000…

  • India polls ends peacefully

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      Moderate to heavy turnout was reported in the biggest democratic exercise in India since the April-May general election as three parliamentary and 33 assembly constituencies spanning 10 states went for by-polls Saturday. The elections – regarded as a test of popularity of the respective state governments as also of the Bharatiya Janata Party which…

  • New front shadows over Modi glory

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    Imran Khan says there is a new initiative to set up a anti-BJP front across India Just three months after the BJP swept the Lok Sabha election, the new combine of the RJD, JD-U and Congress stunned the BJP by winning six of the 10 assembly seats in Bihar. Celebrations erupted outside the offices here…

  • Prithviraj Chavan gets reprieve

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    The fate of Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is now likely to be decided only after June 28 when state leaders will travel to the national capital for a meeting with the Congress’ central leadership, party sources said Saturday. The development came in the wake of a series of meetings Chavan held with top party…

  • Modi aboard INS Vikramaditya

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday reached Goa and went aboard INS Vikramaditya, the largest and most powerful aircraft carrier inducted into the Indian Navy, marking his first visit to a military facility after assuming office last month. He also hopped into the cockpit of a MiG-29 K fighter jet. The prime minister took the salute…

  • Modi & others take oath

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     Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleagues on Thursday took oath as members of the newly-elected 16th Lok Sabha. Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath, who Wednesday was sworn-in by President Pranab Mukherjee as the pro tem speaker, administered the oath to Prime Minister Modi, who was attired in spotless white churidar-kurta and matching jacket.…

  • Progress Report – Modi’s First Week

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    Prashant Sood says Modi drives the agenda as some ministers court controversies . While there have been some questions of Modi’s choice of ministers and portfolios – Smriti Irani getting human resource development and Jitendra Singh being appointed minister of state in prime minister’s office – the government has been dogged by controversies in its first…

  • Amulya Ganguli column- Rahul’s failures

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    Amulya Ganguli says Congress cannot paper over Rahul’s failures  Despite Sonia Gandhi’s advice to Congressmen to avoid “public acrimony”, rumbling of discontent about the party’s miserable performance in the recent elections have continued. It will be a mistake, however, if the party tries to brush aside the prevailing sense of helpless anger within the organization as an…

  • Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Column- Modi victory

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    Congress ‘communalism’ derailed UPA, says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in his column in Asian Lite, the top newspaper for NRIs and Indian diaspora Sri Sri Ravi Shankar “What appears is not and what does not, is.” This ancient saying aptly describes the Indian political scenario. The Congress-led UPA claims to be secular; peel a few layers and you…

  • Modi will keep his Varanasi seat

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh and give up the Vadodara seat in Gujarat, party leaders said Thursday. Modi had told the electorate of Varanasi that if he won the election, he would prefer Varanasi over Vadodara. After leading the BJP to a huge victory nationwide, Modi…

  • Black money takes centre stage

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      In its first decision after taking charge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government Tuesday announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe black money, mostly stashed abroad. The decision was taken in the first meeting of the union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Modi. Addressing a media conference after the cabinet meeting…

  • Action packed day for Modi

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      It was an action-packed Day One for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. From holding “good and substantive” meetings with leaders of seven SAARC countries, including his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, to announcing an SIT to investigate about black money stashed abroad, the 63-year-old leader set a scorching pace after formally assuming office Tuesday. The Bharatiya…

  • Meet the Badals!

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    Punjab’s ruling elite – the Badal family – is a ministry in itself. Monday’s inclusion of Harsimrat Kaur Badal, wife of Punjab’s powerful Deputy Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal and daughter-in-law of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, as a cabinet minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has ensured that…

  • PM Modi takes charge

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally took charge of his office on a pleasant Tuesday, and his very first act was to announce ex-gratia to victims of a train disaster in Uttar Pradesh. Modi, who took oath as prime minister Monday evening, drove from the Gujarat Bhavan where he is staying to reach the Prime Minister’s…

  • Corporate India Optimistic

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    Gautam Adani was there and so were the Ambani brothers, Anil and Mukesh, as a galaxy of corporate leaders marked their presence among the 4,500 guests at the grand inauguration ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi . Never has such a gathering of corporate leaders converged for the oath-taking of a new Indian prime minister, perhaps…

  • India welcomes new PM

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  • Modi promise a new direction

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    With the setting sun forming a magnificent backdrop, India got a new prime minister Monday as Narendrabhai Damodardas Modi, 63, took oath Monday in a 90-minute, open-air, business-like ceremony in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace, attended by leaders of eight neighbouring countries. Among the 4,000-strong guests at the epochal event were the…

  • Modi’s Cabinet Taking Oath

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    Along with Modi, a 45-strong council of ministers that included 23 of the cabinet took oath. There were seven women in the ministry, including six in the cabinet.  Prominent ministers were BJP president Rajnath Singh, the first among ministers to take oath, Sushma Swaraj, the former Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Arun…

  • Historic Day in Delhi

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    With the setting sun forming a magnificent backdrop, India got a new prime minister on Monday as Narendrabhai Damodardas Modi, 63, took oath Monday in a 90-minute, open-air, business-like ceremony in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace, attended by leaders of eight neighbouring countries. Among the 4,000-strong guests at the epochal event were the…

  • Modi era begins in Delhi

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    Narendra Modi, India’s 14th prime minister, took oath on Monday at a ceremony held in the open at Rashtrapati Bhavan and attended by the Who’s Who of the nation – including political leaders, business honchos, celebrities and leaders of religious faiths – as well as leaders of neighbouring countries. The oath of office and secrecy…

  • SAARC leaders arrive in Delhi

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    Leaders of neighbouring countries, including Pakistan and Afghanistan, arrived in the capital Monday to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi here later in the evening. Among the dignitaries who arrived are Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam. Nepal…

  • A-Team of 45 for Modi?

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    Narendra Modi was Monday set to take oath of office as India’s 14th prime Minister along with some 45 ministers, including key leaders Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, sources said, adding the list has been dispatched to Rashtrapati Bhavan. The sources said around 25 of these ministers were slated for cabinet…

  • Modi will make history on Monday

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    It would be history in the making, in more senses than one. A man who once helped his family make ends meet by vending tea at a railway station in between his classes, and who once wandered around the country to find his spiritual moorings, will take his oath as India’s 14th prime minister Monday…

  • AAP to think small

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    Stung by its rout in the general election, where it won only four out of 440 Lok Sabha seats it contested, all of them from Punjab, the AAP is now back to thinking small and may not contest assembly elections in Haryana scheduled for this October. Some of its leaders feel the party needs to…

  • Modi oath the biggest in history

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     Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony Monday will be one of the biggest such events held at Rashtrapati Bhavan with around 4,000 guests, including seven heads of government, attending. Rashtrapati Bhavan has held ceremonies attended by 1,400-1,500 guests earlier. Modi’s swearing-in ceremony will be an open air event at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. A…

  • A compact cabinet for Modi?

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    A small and compact cabinet under Narendra Modi is set to be sworn in Monday, with BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, and Sushma Swaraj likely to get the top posts, according to party sources. The cabinet is expected to be compact, and restructuring is expected in the government with some ministries likely to be…

  • Modi journey – Single room to 7 Race Course

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    Asian Lite, the best newspaper for NRIs and the Indian diaspora,  looks into Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi’s journey from a single room at 9 Ashoka Road to 7 Race Course Road  From an outhouse of an MP’s bungalow adjoning the BJP headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road to 7 Race Course Road, the official residence of the…

  • India and good governance

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    Delhi-based journalist Vishnu Makhijani looks into the changes in governance in India in his column Soliloquy – Of democracy and democratic governance for Asian Lite, the best newspaper for NRIs and Indian diaspora  In the 1970s, Vasant Sathe, the information and broadcasting minister, stirred a political storm by suggesting that India needed a presidential form of government.…

  • US to cement ties with India

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    Asian Lite, the best newspaper for NRI news, looks into Indo-US relations.  Did US put all its eggs in one basket by denying visa to Modi during his tenure as Chief Minister over the Gujarat riots? Denying that it had failed to reach out to the Bharatiya Janata Party before the elections, the US has…

  • BJP Strategy for Gen Next

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    Gyanendra Kumar Keshri says the winning coalition in India – the  BJP-led NDA  pinged 144 million Net users in latest election The IT cell of “Elect Modi Campaign” reached out to as many as 144 million people across India in the latest elections — a formidable bank to tap into to garner vote for the Bharatiya…

  • Modi’s wife, mother to get SPG cover

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    Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi’s wife and mother will also get the Special Protection Group (SPG) security soon after he takes oath as India’s 14th prime minister on May 26, security officials said. “Modi’s mother Hiraben and wife Jashodaben will also be provided SPG security. But his three brothers and two sisters will be get Z-category…

  • 58% are first-timers in parliament

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    Fifty-eight percent of members elected to the Lok Sabha in this general election are first-timers, the highest in the last three decades. A total of 315 parliamentarians out of 543 have been elected for the first time to the Lok Sabha, according to PRS. This is the highest number of first-time members in the Lok…

  • Mulayam dissolves state executive

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    Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav Thursday dissolved its Uttar Pradesh executive and 15 other wings following the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha election. But Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav remains the president of the state executive. A senior leader said the action had the nod of Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose desire to send maximum…

  • Indian Electorates are now matured

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    Manchester-based Dr Kailash Chand OBE is the Vice-Chair of Indo-UK Forum, Chair of Health-watch, Tameside. Dr Chand is the first Asian Deputy chair of British Medical Association (BMA).  Narendra Modi, the current poster boy of the Indian polity, has cast to the winds all prognoses about the outcome of the recently concluded general elections. Instead…

  • AAP- too naive to succeed?

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    Delhi-based journalist Ahmad Shariq Khan looks in to the performance of Aam Aadmi Party in the recent elections – Its high time Kejriwal should sit up and take notice of these changing paradigms in Indian polity So the much awaited verdict is out – Mr. Narendra Modi is all set to become India’s 14th prime minister.…