Archive for the ‘vote’ tag

Japan PM candidate Ozawa: need to stop rapid yen rises

[at Reuters] – Japanese ruling party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, challenging Prime Minister Naoto Kan in a party leadership vote, said on Thursday that action was needed to stem rapid rises in the yen.

Vote Congress to end woes, Rahul Gandhi tells Uttar Pradesh public

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi today said voting his party to power in Uttar Pradesh will be a solution to problems related to implementation of central government-sponsored schemes, a party spokesperson said.

Crown prince Rahul cannily turns left

Has Rahul Gandhi launched a campaign against Congress? More precisely, has the heir presumptive, affectionately dubbed a modern Lord Krishna by his more fervent fans, begun to undermine the Congress establishment, at the pinnacle of which sits Manmohan Singh and his home minister P Chidambaram?

This makes some political sense. Having milked the right-of-centre to the point of exhaustion, the Rahul Congress is steering towards left-of-centre. Meanings, of course, have changed. As the centre has shifted in the last two decades, ‘right’ and ‘left’ have moved along with it. ‘Left’ now represents populism, rather than ideology.  Marx died in the 1990s and even his ghost cannot escape from the effective burial given by comrades Mikhail Gorbachev and Deng Xiaoping.

The sabotage of big-ticket investment in order to fence the tribal vote in Orissa is only part of the developing story. The official catechism describes Naxalites as the biggest threat to India. If Chidambaram had his way, the air force would be bombing them. He must be a bit deflated at the sight of Lado Sikoka, a Naxal, preceding Rahul Gandhi at an Orissa public meeting around the same time that Manmohan Singh was urging, from a dais in Delhi, police chiefs to fight the good fight against Maoists. Sikoka had been arrested by this police on August 9 and beaten up, before being released so that he could welcome Rahul Gandhi with a garland at Niyamgiri.

It has always been clear to Delhi insiders that Digvijay Singh opened a front against Chidambaram with Rahul Gandhi’s permission. Outsiders now have confirmation. Since politics has very marginal room for sentiment, Chidambaram could become the first casualty in a Rahul Gandhi cabinet. It would be a sad end to a fizzing career were Chidambaram to end up as governor of Chhattisgarh, the better to counsel his supporters in the BJP on how to tackle Naxalites without help from the air force. Indeed, it cannot have been very helpful to our ambitious home minister that the most laudatory references now come from BJP leaders. Perhaps he raised the issue of "saffron terror" to pick up some long overdue brownie points from his own side.

No prizes for guessing who would become home minister in a Rahul Gandhi government.

The ultimate success for a ruling party is that delicious bipolar ability to occupy both government and opposition space. The British in India perfected the art of functioning through a loyal opposition. The Muslim League was so loyal that not a single League leader went to jail during the three decades of our independence movement. The Congress tended to be less loyal, but always recognized limits, until Mahatma Gandhi liberated the Congress and enough Indians from either fear or temptation. One cannot think of a Congress leader who did not go to jail.

Democracy, but naturally, induced a variant. Jawaharlal Nehru ignored the feeble right and absorbed the non-communist left into the Congress in periodic stages. His own leftist credentials were impeccable, which helped.

Indira Gandhi artfully split the left and right, until the Emergency united the rest against Congress. Their common antipathy lasted, more or less, until the NDA gave Congress and the left common cause. The new element is the sudden implosion of the Left in Bengal, which threatens to convert vacant space into a vacuum.  Even as Congress and Mamata Banerjee seek to destroy the CPM, they know the value of Marxist sentiment in the country’s polity.

It is axiomatic that a largely impoverished nation needs a political party that the poor can identify with. The Congress has set out to be the party of the poor in daytime, and of the rich at night. Its sunlight politics will fetch votes, its twilight policies will enable it to govern. This is an extremely clever act whose opening scenes are being played out for a new generation that is vague about Indira Gandhi and amnesiac about Nehru. The hero of this drama must have the charisma to dazzle the poor and the flexibility to keep the rich onside. That is the challenge before Rahul Gandhi. His avowed role is to be the guardian of the poor in Delhi, which means that the poor need protection from Delhi. He is at home with the elite in the evening and is now making the effort to capture the sunshine hours.

However, regional parties have been there, done that. They continue to do so. Naveen Patnaik understands the trap of governance. He has been forced to take a position on one side or the other of the day-night constituencies; and he does not have a Manmohan Singh to play the foil. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee could not manage this contradiction, but others have learnt. Patnaik, Nitish Kumar, Mayawati or Chandrababu Naidu will not be pushovers.

Paradox and problem intersect in any country; India’s size and potential make the challenge more complex. We will see whether Congress has the agility to use power to transfer power to yet another generation.

Congress has more to walk via the by-election route

The much-publicized Bangalore-Bellary padayatra is over. The response from the people en route was rousing. Congressmen are in high spirits. They also got a shabhashi from the high command. But one question has been bothering them. Will the fruits of this hard labour turn into votes? And the day to test the waters has come sooner than expected. Two assembly by-elections are due in September. One in Gulbarga South and another in Kadur. One was held by the BJP and another by the Congress till the demise of the two MLAs.

An acid test, indeed. The Congress will have to win both seats with a comfortable margin to not only herald its comeback but also arrest the BJP in its tracks. In Gulbarga South, it has fielded young Ajay Singh, son of former CM and strongman Dharam Singh. He is a doctor by profession but no novice to politics. He has been ably nurturing his father’s assembly constituency Jewargi for some time. His victory is important for the Congress. One, it will provide a shock to the BJP, which held the seat. Two, it will help pump in the much-needed young blood into the Congress leadership. Will Ajay’s success prove to be a turning point? If he wins, he has a bright future. Particularly when young Rahul Gandhi is emerging as a strong power centre in the national party.

Ajay has a tough job on hand. The JD(S) has stepped in by fielding Aruna Patil, wife of the BJP MLA whose death necessitated the by-election. She is upset with the BJP for not giving her a ticket. The BJP has fielded MLC Sashil Namoshi. Ajay would have wished the JD(S) had allowed him to fight the BJP single-handedly. It would make his task easier. But the JD(S) has its own game plan. Ajay will have to ensure that the JD(S) doesn’t cut into Congress vote banks. Plus, he will have to lure those who voted for the BJP last time. Not an easy task. Particularly because this is his first electoral battle. Will the padayatra’s success help him?

The Kadur seat is a little complicated for the Congress. It has fielded K M Kemparaju, brother of the deceased MLA, hoping to cash in on the sympathy factor. The JD(S) has fielded Y S V Datta, party spokesman and MLC. The BJP nominee is Y C Vishwanath, who had unsuccessfully contested the last assembly elections. The Congress will have to retain the seat to prove that it is on a winning spree. As in the case of Gulbarga South, the JD(S) will be a thorn in its flesh. Datta is no novice. Deve Gowda and sons depend upon him a lot. He is their backroom boy. Though he is a council member, they want him in the assembly to help voice the party’s views on issues. The BJP is certain to move heaven and earth to snatch the seat. And so, it’ll be no cakewalk for the Congress.

The Congress has been struggling to bounce back. It lacked unity. Every leader aspired to become the CM. Ego problems led to creation of groups. Aged leaders refused to encourage young and bright partymen. New entrants found themselves unwanted. Love-hate relationship with the JD(S) has added to its problems. The padayatra may or may not have helped it take on the BJP and the Reddy brothers. But it has definitely helped partymen bond well. If the party is keen on getting back on its tracks, it shouldn’t lose the momentum the padayatra created. The BJP is going strong, in spite of all odds. And the JD(S) is fishing in troubled waters.

PARTING SHOT

Sorry to see you so apologetic, Mr CM

These days chief minister Yeddyurappa has been cutting a sorry figure in public. When he is confronted with a problem he at once tenders an apology. Be it power shutdowns, a minister’s road rage or an attack on scribes by some officials. The number of apologies total 17, according to some who have kept track. Mr CM, this shows you in a bad light. Better crack down on erring ministers and officials, and ensure that problems are resolved. We need a CM who delivers, not one who keeps saying sorry.
 
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Will they dare to call Rahul Gandhi a Maoist sympathiser?

"Development doesn’t mean you take away the forests and mountain of the tribals… development doesn’t mean that only big industrialists make money… development must help the poor…Here, the voice of tribals was being suppressed.. Now, there are two Hindustans, one of the rich whose voice reaches everywhere; the other of the poor whose voice is seldom heard. When I say I will be your sipahi in Delhi, my job is not done; it’s just the beginning," said the bearded leader and the hills of Niyamigiri reverberated with loud cheers. The tribals shouted slogans, celebrating their victory over Vedanta, the MNC which had been eyeing the sacred mountain for its mining operations.
 
The leader with a beard on his face and a touch of rebellion in his voice was not a Maoist ideologue asking people to rise against the State. It was Rahul Gandhi, the Congress general secretary and the future face of the party. "You’ve been fighting for your rights peacefully. Your voice has reached New Delhi. You’ve saved your land, mountain and religion. I extended help in whichever way I could," the Congress leader said and the Dongria Kondh people, who have been fighting the mining company and the state government for years to save their land and culture, shouted with joy. 
 
Though some people have dubbed Rahul’s visit to Niyamgiri and his provocative speech as a political stunt against Navin Patnaik’s BJD government, we can’t ignore the significance – symbolic and literal – of what Rahul said in front of the Dongria Kondhs.  In his speech, Rahul raised some pertinent questions. He questioned the nature of development in India. He accepted the fact that the so-called development has created two Indias. He acknowledged that the tribals are being oppressed in their own homeland. He challenged the government’s policy of grabbing forests and mountains in the name of development. He appreciated the people who fought the mining giant. He agreed that the poor tribals didn’t have a voice in the nation’s capital. And he applauded the tribals’ non-violent struggle.
 
Hundreds of journalists, academics, civil society activists, writers and environmentalists have been saying this for years. Arundhati Roy has raised these issues in her brilliant essays many times. Congress leaders such as Mani Shankar Aiyar and Digvijay Singh too have spoken on these issues with great clarity and sensitivity. Even Mamata Banerjee has raised this issue. But all these thinking people have been dubbed Maoists or Maoist sympathizers by the hawks in the establishment who have been itching for a war with "dangerous and armed tribals". Now, Rahul has spoken. What will they do now? Will they call him a Maoist sympathizer?  Will they dare to call him a half-Maoist?
 
The BJP, which has created monsters such as Salwa Judum and believes in solving the problem in India’s tribal heartland with ruthless violence, is already training its guns at Rahul. The party has accused Rahul of sharing dais with Lado Sikoka, a man suspected of being a Maoist sympathizer.  It’s being claimed that the Orissa Police had picked up Sikoka for being a Maoist recently. I don’t know if Sikoda is a Maoist sympathizer or not but in Orisaa and other states hundreds of innocent, poor tribals have been arrested on this stupid charge. The Chhattisgarh Police has even arrested journalists for writing articles on Maoists. It has even filed a case against Arundhati Roy.
 
The BJP is angry with Rahul not for sharing stage with an alleged Maoist sympathizer but because of his attack on the nature of development in this country. Because it believes in predatory capitalism, the BJP will not stop short of killing tribals, clearing all the forests and hand over all the mines and other resources to people like Bellary Brothers who can squeeze it for their personal profits. 
 
By speaking up against this kind of development, Rahul has shown great maturity. By speaking for the tribals’ rights, Rahul has emphasized on the importance of grassroots democracy and development. Seen through the prism of vote bank politics, Rahul’s combative speech at Niyamgiri may look like political posturing but if we look at it objectively, it can be game changer.  There is no doubt that sooner or later Rahul will be the country’s leader. And if he is thinking on these lines, it can be only good news as it will make India a really inclusive country where local communities and not Big Money sharks and their agents in government decide the nature of development.
 
Branding him a Maoist sympathizer is a waste of time.

Myanmar in major military reshuffle ahead of vote: official

Myanmar’s feared junta has undertaken a major military reshuffle ahead of rare elections, an official said today, without confirming reports that Than Shwe was among those shedding their uniforms.

There is any no such thing as saffron terrorism: Gadkari

Hitting out at Union Home Minister P Chidambaram for his “saffron terrorism” remark, BJP President Nitin Gadkari today said it is a ploy by the Congress to “appease minorities” for vote bank politics.

Nuclear liability Bill passed as govt drops ‘I-word’

Creating consensus over the contentious clauses of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Bill 2010, the government got it passed in Lok Sabha through a voice vote on Wednesday. HT reports. All is well

Baradar – Our vote goes to the ISI

Back in March 2010, Indian officials were aware that Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar had been picked up by the ISI who conned the CIA into helping them locate the man in the crowded city of Karachi a few weeks earlier.

US officials at the time were effusive about Pakistan’s "cooperation" , hoping to use Kayani’s smooth assurances to chart their exit out of Afghanistan. In fact, the line coming out of Washington then was – guys, we told you the Pakistanis have stopped loving the Taliban and are turning them over to us.

Indian intel officials following Pakistan said, wait and see. In the past few months the US has had several epiphanic moments about Pakistan. The Wikileaks revelations in July removed the fig leaf the US was using all along. My view then was, and remains, that the ripples from WikiLeaks will make fundamental changes to the entire war outlook.

Anyway, seven months later, some people in Washington seem to have seen the light. Check out this New York Times story by Dexter Filkins. The most telling quote in the story is this: "We picked up Baradar and the others because they were trying to make a deal without us," said a Pakistani security official, who, like numerous people interviewed about the operation, spoke anonymously because of the delicacy of relations between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States. "We protect the Taliban. They are dependent on us. We are not going to allow them to make a deal with Karzai and the Indians."

It isn’t that the US has just discovered they had been duped by the ISI for the nth time. Matt Waldman, who wrote a fantastic paper called The Sun in the Sky – the Relationship between Pakistan’s ISI and Afghan Insurgents had a lot more on the subject.

"The ISI has apparently established parameters of Taliban conduct and strategy, reinforced by the threat of arrest. Independent contacts between the Taliban’s former military commander, Mullah Baradar, and the Afghan government, possibly with a view to negotiations, apparently breached these boundaries, and so he and at least seven other Taliban leaders were arrested by the ISI in early February 2010. It appears that the arrests were intended to send a message to both the Taliban and the United States that negotiations could only take place if the ISI had a major role in, if not control over, the negotiating process."

This view, Waldman says, "was echoed by Taliban commanders, most of whom doubted Pakistan’s support for negotiations. As a commander from a central province said: ‘The ISI arrests [of Taliban leaders] were done for their own interests; they don’t want peace in Afghanistan, and they don’t want them to talk to the Afghan government. If there is peace, it is not to Pakistan’s benefit.’"

"One of the southern commanders claimed: ‘If any one rejects that the ISI backs or controls the Taliban, he has a mental problem … all our plans and strategy are made in Pakistan and step by step it is brought to us, for military operations or other activities.

"Pakistan [the ISI] does not have only one representative on the Quetta Shura, they have representatives everywhere. As for Mullah Baradar’s arrest, do you think they didn’t know where he and others were before that? … the ISI have more than two, three or four [representatives] on the [Quetta] Shura. … Some [other members of the Quetta Shura] know they work for the ISI, but it’s not discussed. … The reality is that the ISI controls the leadership. Mullar Omar has strong support of Pakistan; he has to listen to them and do what they say.’

"Arguably, it is consistent with the arrest of Taliban leaders that showed an interest in talks with the Afghan government, and with the ISI sanctioning, perhaps even orchestrating, the replacement of Mullah Baradar with the more hard-line Qayyum Zakir.

"Both Haqqani commanders echoed the comments of Taliban commanders about the presence of ISI on the Quetta Shura. According to the senior commander: ‘Yes the ISI control the Quetta Shura. When Mullah Baradar and Mullah Omar talked directly to the Afghan government – peace talks – the ISI arrested Baradar … because they want peace talks to fail. I don’t know how many ISI are on the Quetta Shura … Honest Afghans who want jihad and are honest to their country, were disarmed, detained and became powerless … I know many good high-ranking [former] Taliban who are not supporting the fight in Afghanistan … the rest are listening to the ISI, [and] still have the control. I don’t like this. Without the support of the ISI, Afghans cannot do anything, can’t even have meetings. Both former and current ISI are on the Quetta Shura. New ISI members are not so reliable and do not have such a strong role in it; the former ISI have more credibility and influence. All the Taliban interested in the peace process are detained.’ — from The Sun in the Sky.

Pakistan’s ISI has over the past few months made it clear to all stakeholders in Af-Pak that all "peace" negotiations will have to be made through them, to emphasise the centrality of the Pakistani role in the resolution in Afghanistan. These stakeholders range from Taliban leaders, US officials and generals and all countries around them.

Major Bihar parties eye Rajput vote

In Bihar’s caste-driven politics, the upper-caste Rajputs are being actively wooed by the state’s major parties in order to ensure their victory in the Assembly polls.
The trend got a quiet boost

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First-ever: Aboriginal, Muslim, youngest MPs

Australia’s knife-edge vote looked certain to bring a hung parliament, but it has also delivered the country its first Aboriginal and Muslim politicians in the lower house, and its youngest.

Another failed PM poll in Nepal

Nepal could now probably stake claim to holding the highest number of flop polls with Monday’s vote to elect a new prime minister failing to choose between Prachanda and Ram Chandra Poudel — for the fifth time in a row.

Next Nepal PM duel Sep 5

After failing to elect a new prime minister on Monday despite five rounds of vote spread over a month, Nepal’s parliament will now hold an unprecedented sixth round of election Sep 5 amidst growing protests at home and concern among the world community.

Australia set for turbulent times after tied vote

Chances of a fresh parliamentary election being needed to break the political paralysis in Australia rose today after vote counting showed a tie and independents likely to hold the balance of power dithered over their pick.

S.Sudan economy in foreign exchange crisis-finmin (at Reuters)

* Foreign exchange reserves drying up * Imports, investor confidence eroded By Jeremy Clarke JUBA, Sudan, Aug 23 – South Sudan said on Monday that the central government had stopped paying its share of oil revenues in foreign currency, creating a foreign exchange crisis in the region ahead of a January vote on independence.

Mumbai portal selected by Harvard for research

Don’t just vote but consciously select your leader – that is the premise behind an Indian portal that offers the database of Mumbai’s 1,500 politicians in order to help voters make an informed choice. It has now been selected by the prestigious Harvard University for research.

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Mumbai portal selected by Harvard for research on transparency

Don’t just vote but consciously select your leader – that is the premise behind an Indian portal that offers the database of Mumbai’s 1,500 politicians in order to help voters make an informed choice.

SP plots to wean away dalits from Maya party

The Samajwadi Party is working on a plot to make deep inroads into the dalit vote base of BSP supremo Mayawati to script her defeat in 2012 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. The SP think tank is of

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Vote too close to call: Australian PM

Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard Saturday conceded she had failed to win government outright in “too close to call” elections, and she would look to independents to hold onto power.

Australian officials tip hung parliament in knife-edge polls

Australia was on Saturday facing the prospect of its first hung parliament in 70 years, party offcials said, as Prime Minister Julia Gillard edged ahead in vote counting for knife-edge polls. With 76 seats needed for victory, Gillard’s Labor party had secured 71 against 66 for Tony Abbott’s conservative Liberal/National coalition, after 58 percent of votes had been counted, according to public broadcaster ABC.

But officials on both sides said a hung parliament — Australia’s first since 1940 — was looking “likely” with neither side appearing set for an outright majority in the 150-seat lower house. “I think a hung parliament is looking more and more likely,” Liberal Senator Nick Minchin told ABC, as results poured in from across the nation. “I can’t yet find the 17 (seat swing) needed by the Coalition. I’ve got a net gain of 15 for the Liberal Party at the moment.” The sentiment was endorsed by both Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey, who called a hung parliament the “most likely result”.

The Australian Electoral Commission’s tally, which lagged behind the state broadcaster, put the government ahead 59 seats to 49 with 55 percent of the vote counted. Two separate television exit polls conducted before polling closed predicted Gillard’s party would win by 51 or 52 percent of the vote to the coalition’s 48 or 49, but indicated dangerous swings against Labor in key marginal seats. Early results indeed showed swings against Labor in the battleground states of Queensland and New South Wales, but stronger support for the Greens, which favours the ruling party under Australia’s complex preferences system.

Gillard, Australia’s first woman prime minister, ran a campaign riddled with problems and overshadowed by anger over her shock ousting of elected leader Kevin Rudd in June, with the backing of factional chiefs. “This is a tough, tight, close contest, but I’m exercising my own vote,” Gillard said earlier as she cast her ballot in Melbourne.

Around 14 million electors took part in a mandatory vote for the lower house and half the 76-seat Senate, with experts and opinion polls saying the outcome was too close to call.

Gillard, 48, a red-headed former lawyer who was born in Wales, has pledged better education and healthcare and played up Labor’s role in helping Australia shrug off the financial crisis, as well as a planned national broadband scheme.

Abbott, a 52-year-old religious conservative who has doubts about mankind’s role in climate change, has targeted fears over illegal immigration and questioned Labor’s spending record, as well as Gillard’s knifing of Rudd. “This is a big day for our country,” Liberal/National coalition leader Abbott said as he cast his vote in Sydney.

“It’s a day when we can vote out a bad government.” The right-leaning coalition needs a uniform swing of 2.3 percent to return to power less than three years after Rudd ousted 11.5-year prime minister John Howard, pledging action on climate change and impoverished Aborigines.

Victory for Abbott would make Labor the first one-term government since 1932, when the party’s James Scullin lost power during turmoil caused by the Great Depression.

Such a defeat would be an ironic end to a government that won international praise for its handling of the global financial crisis, from which Australia emerged stronger than any other Western economy. Both sides are targeting marginal seats in resource-rich Queensland — Rudd’s home state — and western Sydney, where rapid population growth has put pressure on services and raised concerns about immigration. But Labor’s tenure could be saved by Australia’s complex proportional representation electoral system that allows voters to pick their party and also list their second and subsequent choices in order of preference.

If voters disillusioned with Labor trump for the Greens, as many analysts expect, but preference Labor, those votes may be redistributed to the ruling party under a deal between the parties, possibly nudging it over the line.

Australians vote in cliffhanger poll

Australians on Saturday voted in a general election billed as one of the tightest in decades in which their first woman Prime Minister, Ms Julia Gillard, is pitted against her Conservative rival, Mr Tony Abbott.

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Australians vote in cliffhanger election

Australians voted in the closest national election in decades today with the country’s first woman prime minister Julia Gillard neck-and-neck with conservative challenger Tony Abbott.

Sterling recovers after Bank minutes (at Financial Times)

Sterling recovered from a three-week low against the dollar on Wednesday after the minutes of the Bank of England s August monetary policy committee meeting revealed an eight-to-one vote to keep UK interest rates on hold at record low levels.

Recession recovery to take time: Obama

A campaigning President Barack Obama said on Tuesday it will take a few years to dig the US out of the recession, warning impatient voters that any candidate promising faster results “is just looking for your vote.”

Recession recovery to take few years: Obama

A campaigning President Barack Obama said Tuesday it will take a few years to dig the United States out of the recession, warning impatient voters that any candidate promising faster results “is just looking for your vote.”

Arabs lobby US on anti-Israel vote

Diplomats say Arab nations are urging Washington and other powers to end their support of Israel’s nuclear secrecy and to push the Jewish state to allow international inspections of its program.

Many parties using infiltrators as vote banks: Sushma

BJP leader Sushma Swaraj today said that many political parties are not taking the problem of infiltration seriously because of ‘vote bank politics’.

Post-vote grenade attack wounds seven in Rwanda: Police

A grenade attack in the Rwandan capital Kigali wounded seven people on Wednesday, the day President Paul Kagame was confirmed overwhelmingly to have won another term, police said.

US okays bill to hike visa fee

Washington, Aug. 11: Amid protests from India, the US House of Representatives has passed a bill to steeply hike US visa fee for skilled workers to raise $600 million in emergency funding to help secure the US-Mexico border.

Senators passed a similar plan last week. But since the House version passed in a voice vote on Tuesday is slightly different, it will go back to the Senate for final Congr

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Rwanda’s Kagame wins 93 pct of presidential vote: NEC (Reuters)

KIGALI (Reuters) – Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame won 93 percent of the total vote in a presidential election opponents said was marred by repression and violence, the National Election Commission said on Wednesday.

Congress seeking to enhance profile in TN

In terms of vote share, Congress, which got just 11.62% of the polled votes in the last general elections in Tamil Nadu, is not the strongest of parties. But, with barely a year to go for the assembly polls, it is clearly the most sought after alliance partner in the state.

Struggling Australian PM Gillard regains slim lead in election: Polls

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has snatched back a narrow election-winning lead from her rival Tony Abbott, but next week’s vote remains on a knife edge, two new polls showed today.

To expand base, BJP pushes for Dalit sub-quota

In an attempt to widen its support base, the BJP has officially decided to back Dalit sub-quota politics to divide the Dalit vote and lay claim to the least developed sections of Dalits.

Cash for vote: BJP demands case against all 6 MLAs

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday expressed unhappiness over two Congress legislators being spared in the First Information Report (FIR) that has been lodged after a news channel telecast a sting operation showing them ready to sell their votes in the Rajya Sabha elections in June.

Obama congratulates people of Kenya on ‘peaceful’ vote

US President Barack Obama has congratulated Kenya for successfully holding a “peaceful and transparent” constitutional referendum.

MONEY MARKETS-Rates fall across Asia, South Korea bucks trend (at Reuters)

* Dollar borrowing rates hit 3-month lows in Asia * 3-month dollar loan costs down 5 bps this week * South Korean short term rates up ahead of cbank vote

Cash for vote: Four legislators booked in Jharkhand

The Jharkhand vigilance bureau has lodged a First Information Report against 4 legislators after a news channel telecast a sting operation showing them ready to sell their votes in the Rajya Sabha elections in June.

Kenya votes on new constitution

Kenyans vote on Wednesday on a proposed constitution that would make their institutions more democratic amid tight security aimed at preventing a repeat of deadly 2007-2008 post-election chaos.

Patna meet: BJP eyes Muslim vote

Targeting Bihar’s Muslim voters at a time when all other parties are wooing the community ahead of the Assembly polls, the ruling BJP plans to hold a state-level convention of its Muslim workers in

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US Senate delaying US-Russia nuclear treaty vote

WASHINGTON – A U.S. Senate panel is delaying a vote to recommend ratification of a nuclear arms treaty with Russia.

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