New Delhi: The Congress is likely to finalise nominees for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections in its meeting on Saturday, with the former party chief Rahul Gandhi, who's in London, linking through video conference, while a number of veterans are vying to re-enter the Upper House. The Congress is expected to win eight Rajya Sabha seats, largely from Rajasthan and Chhattishgarh.The party veterans P Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Vivek Tankha, Ajay Maken, Rajeev Shukla, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari are stated to be in the contention even while the party is mulling to prop up local leaders and minority faces following the deliberations at its Chintan Shivir, which was held in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The meeting will be chaired by Congress' interim president Sonia Gandhi and attended by the general secretaries. Sources said former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is in London, is likely to attend the meeting through video conferencing.The Congress has decided to contest three Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan while the party may fall short of numbers for one seat for which it will bank on the support of non-Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs.Notably, a three-point formula has also been adopted in Rajasthan under which no MLA will be considered for the Rajya Sabha nominations while giving preferences for minority and local faces.In Chhattisgarh, the Congress is confident to bag two seats in Rajya Sabha.Further, the party is expecting one seat each from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.The Congress is also expecting one seat from Jharkhand where it is in alliance with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).Sources said JMM chief and CM Hemant Soren has called a meeting of his party MLAs in Ranchi on Saturday, but he's said to be unwilling to give the seat to the Congress.The Congress is likely to finalise its Rajya Sabha nominees by Saturday evening.Senior leader P Chidambaram whose Rajya Sabha tenure is ending from Maharashtra is under consideration from Tamil Nadu as the Congress is all set to get the support of alliance partner the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.The G-23 leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Vivek Tankha, are also said to be in contention.Meanwhile, names of leaders from team Rahul Gandhi like Ajay Maken and Randeep Surjewala are also under consideration.Rajeev Shukla, Mukul Wasnik, Pramod Tiwari and Dr Ajoy Kumar are also hoping to bag the nominations.A tribal leader from Rajasthan and one from the scheduled castes from Chhattisgarh are likely to find Congress' approval in the Saturday meeting.Several members of the Rajya Sabha will retire between June 21 and August 1.Elections to 57 Rajya Sabha seats spread across 15 states will take place on June 10.While 11 seats will fall vacant in Uttar Pradesh, six members each will retire from Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, five from Bihar and four each from Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka.The BJP currently has 95 MPs and Congress has 29 members in the 245-member house.—ANI

The Congress is likely to finalise nominees for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections in its meeting on Saturday, with the former party chief Rahul Gandhi, who's in London, linking through video conference, while a number of veterans are vying to re-enter the Upper House.

G-23 leaders among possible Congress nominees for Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s sole Muslim representative in the Union Cabinet, does not figure in the party's list of nominees for the Rajya Sabha biennial election scheduled for June 10.Tuesday was the last day for filing nominations. Naqvi retires from the Upper House on July 7, 2022. Sources informed ANI that the BJP has fixed a maximum of three terms in the Rajya Sabha for all its party leaders, and Naqvi is currently finishing his third term in the Upper House.The sources further added that Naqvi, who hails from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, may be fielded as a candidate by the BJP for the ensuing bypoll to the Lok Sabha seat vacated by Azam Khan. The Rampur bypoll is scheduled to take place on June 23 this year.There is also speculation that the minority affairs minister will be made a governor as several states have gubernatorial vacancies for some time now. With the BJP denying a renomination to Naqvi to the Upper House, and no Rajya Sabha renomination either for Sayyed Zafar Islam or MJ Akbar -- both of whom are also completing their tenures soon -- the party now has no Muslim member of Parliament from either House. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who started his career as a student leader, went to jail during the 1975 Emergency and has been associated with the BJP since its Jan Sangh days. After an unsuccessful stint in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 1980, Naqvi won a Lok Sabha seat in 1998 and went on to become the minister for information and broadcasting in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Naqvi has been the minority affairs minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet since 2014.—ANI

Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s sole Muslim representative in the Union Cabinet, does not figure in the party's list of nominees for the Rajya Sabha biennial election scheduled for June 10.

No RS Seat For Naqvi, Maybe Fielded For Rampur Bypoll

Bengaluru: A day ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls for four seats from Karnataka, Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday strongly urged the Congress to support his party candidate to strengthen 'secular forces'. In a series of tweets, the former Chief Minister said to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress should support the JD-S, which has more votes than it.'The JD(S) has fielded Kupendra Reddy as its first candidate in the Rajya Sabha election. He is an entrepreneur, social worker and a progressive thinker. He is an experienced Rajya Sabha member and all parties must extend support to him with open mind. To strengthen the secular forces Congress must fully support Kupendra Reddy,' Kumaraswamy said.'To defeat the BJP, Congress should support the JD-S which has more votes than it. There is no doubt that history and people will decide in future based on the outcome of this election result. I firmly believe that honourable Randeep Singh Surjewala (AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka) will understand this point,' he added. The talks between the Congress and JD-S to find some kind of a partnership aimed at defeating the ruling BJP in the contest for the fourth seat to Rajya Sabha polls from Karnataka seems to have reached a deadlock, with both parties firmly sticking to their stand.Kumaraswamy had made an offer to trade second preference votes with the Congress, but the main opposition party on Wednesday made it clear to the JD-S that it was now time for it to return the favour, pointing out that former prime minister H D Deve Gowda got elected to Rajya Sabha last time with its support in June 2020.Six candidates are in the fray in the Rajya Sabha elections for four seats from Karnataka, necessitating a tight contest for the fourth seat.Despite not having the adequate number of votes to win the fourth seat from the state assembly, all the three political parties in the state -- the BJP, the Congress and the JD-S -- have fielded candidates for the seat, forcing an election.The six candidates in the fray for Rajya Sabha polls from the state are -- Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, actor-politician Jaggesh and outgoing MLC Lehar Singh Siroya from the BJP, former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh and state general secretary Mansoor Ali Khan from the Congress, and former MP D Kupendra Reddy from the JD-S.Ignoring JD-S' request for support, the Congress did not withdraw its second candidate Khan from the fray and issued a whip to all its MLAs asking them to vote for the party's candidates.A candidate needs the support of 45 MLAs to win and based on their strength in the Legislative Assembly, the BJP can win two seats and the Congress one.After getting two Rajya Sabha candidates (Sitharaman and Jaggesh) elected on its own strength in the assembly, the BJP will be left with an additional 32 MLA votes.The Congress will be left with 24 MLA votes after electing Jairam Ramesh, while the JD-S has only 32 MLAs, which is not sufficient to win a seat.Counting of votes will take place on June 10 at 5 pm, which is after the polling hours. Official sources said, as there are three candidates for the fourth seat and none of them have adequate number of votes to win, a situation may arise where the second and third preferential votes may have to be counted if necessary.There is also a view that the BJP may be at an advantage if preferential votes were to be counted and the Congress and JD-S don't come to any understanding or if there is no cross-voting.—PTI

A day ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls for four seats from Karnataka, Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday strongly urged the Congress to support his party candidate to strengthen 'secular forces'.

Amid impasse over Rajya Sabha nominees, Kumaraswamy reaches out to Cong

Chennai (The Hawk): The RRPR Holding Private Ltd. of the Adani Group has been invited to propose two Directors to the board of New Delhi Television Ltd. (NDTV), and the proposal has been approved by the latter's Board.
The choice was made during the NDTV Board meeting on Friday and announced to the stock exchanges later that day.
In NDTV, RRPR Holding owns a 29.18% stake.
The appointment will be discussed at the upcoming board meeting, which is expected to take place on December 23, according to NDTV.
Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, the RRPR Holding's initial promoters, recently resigned from their positions as directors as a result of the Adani Group purchasing a 99.5% share in the company.
Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy do, however, own 15.94% and 16.32%, respectively, of NDTV.
On the other hand, RRPR Holdings has named Senthil Sinniah Chengalvarayan, Sanjay Pugalia, and Sudipta Bhattacharya as Directors.
Additionally, the Adani Group has made an open offer to buy a further 26% stake in NDTV for Rs 294 a share.
NDTV share prices are now declining at the bourses after reaching a high of Rs 470.05 on December 1.
On the BSE, the share's closing price on Friday was Rs 330.95.
(Inputs from Agencies)

The RRPR Holding Private Ltd. of the Adani Group has been invited to propose two Directors to the board of New Delhi Television Ltd. (NDTV), and the proposal has been approved by the latter's Board.

Adani Group nominees on NDTV Board

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has issued a notice a plea filed by an alumnus of Jamia Millia Islamia, challenging the decision to grant a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the sale of land, over which the university holds pre-emptive rights, to a third party named Zakia Zaheer.  Justice Subramonium Prasad has sought response from the university, the Union government, the University Grants Commission (UGC), Zaheer, and three professors who are nominees of the President, who serves as the university's Visitor.  The petitioner, Harisul Haq, currently employed as a Physical Education Teacher at Jamia Middle School and the outgoing Secretary of the Jamia School Teachers Association, alleges that the university is attempting to issue an NOC for the sale of land without following due legal processes.
He claims that this action is being taken in an arbitrary and illegal manner, benefiting certain third parties.  According to the plea, the university convened a meeting on August 4 to consider the issuance of the NOC. However, the three nominees of the visitor dissented, asserting that the action was illegal.  Furthermore, Haq argues that when the draft minutes of the meeting were circulated, the nominees communicated with the university, pointing out various errors and illegalities in the process.  Despite their dissent, the university proceeded with the issuance of the NOC, claiming that it was approved in the meeting's minutes, even though the minutes had not been signed.  The plea also highlights that Jamia Millia Islamia Alumni, UAE, had offered to fund the purchase of the land and donate it back to the university.  However, the university has not responded to this offer or addressed the objections raised by the visitor's nominees.  The plea alleges that the university is progressing with the issuance of the NOC in a manner that contradicts the law and without addressing the objections raised by the visitor's nominees or considering the offer made by the alumni association.  The petition also challenges the minutes of the meeting and calls for an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the surrender of the university's rights over the land in question.  Justice Prasad noted that the visitor's nominees, who are considered neutral parties, had protested against the grant of the NOC to Zaheer, arguing that it was against the university's interests.  The court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on November 23.
—IANS

The Delhi High Court has issued a notice a plea filed by an alumnus of Jamia Millia Islamia, challenging the decision to grant a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the sale of land, over which the university holds pre-emptive rights, to a third party named Zakia Zaheer.

Delhi HC issues notice on plea against sale of land linked to Jamia Millia Islamia

The Delhi High Court has issued a notice a plea filed by an alumnus of Jamia Millia Islamia, challenging the decision to grant a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the sale of land, over which the university holds pre-emptive rights, to a third party named Zakia Zaheer.


New Delhi: India’s batting maverick Suryakumar Yadav has been nominated for ICC Men’s T20I Player of the Year award for 2023. The right-handed batter, known for his 360-degree strokeplay, had won the award in 2022 for scoring 1164 runs in the format, thus becoming the first Indian to achieve the honour in this category.  Apart from him, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza, Uganda’s Alpesh Ramjani and New Zealand’s Mark Chapman have earned nominations for the award. In 17 T20I innings, Suryakumar scored 733 runs at an average of 48.86 and strike-rate of 155.95 to dominate run-scoring in the shortest format.  His first T20I knock of the year was a mere seven against Sri Lanka, but he shined in the next two matches with scores of 51 (36) and 112 not out (51) in Pune and Rajkot respectively. An innings of 83 (44) against the West Indies in Providence, Guyana, in August was followed by a knock of 61 (45) in Lauderhill, Florida, USA.  Suryakumar also went on to take the T20I leadership role of a young India side towards the end of the year. He made half-centuries against Australia (80 off 42 balls) and South Africa (56 from 36 balls), before posting a century off just 56 balls in India’s final T20I of the year in Johannesburg.  Raza, meanwhile, was consistent with bat in hand across the year in the T20I format, making at least 20 in nine of his 11 innings across the year. He amassed 515 runs in 11 innings, at an average of 51.50 and strike-rate of 150.14. With his off-spin bowling, he took 17 wickets at an average of 14.88 and economy rate of 6.57.  Ramjani was a nightmare for batters with his left-arm orthodox, taking 55 wickets in his 30 T20I outings, the most among men’s players in the format across the year. His knock of 40 from 26 against Zimbabwe was the most crucial innings, as it led to a shock victory over them on their path to 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup Qualification.  Chapman, the New Zealand batter, was swashbuckling with the bat, making 556 runs in 17 innings, striking at 145.54, and had an admirable average of 50.54, as a batter at number four and five. He made 290 runs in five matches to claim Player of the Series accolades in the shared 2-2 series against Pakistan, making an unbeaten hundred to win the final match.  In the women’s T20I player of the year category, Australia’s premier all-rounder Ellyse Perry, West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews, England’s left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone and Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu are the nominees.  Ellyse made just 60 runs in four innings with the bat and taking three wickets in the six matches in Australia’s winning campaign in Women’s T20 World Cup. But she ended the year on a high, putting together scores of 51 not out, 34, 70 and 40 in the bilaterals against England and West Indies.  A notable aspect was her continued aggressive intent with the bat as she made 319 runs in 10 innings at an average of 45.57 and a strike-rate of 151.18. With 11 sixes in the year, she surpassed her personal best in Women’s T20I this year.  A standout highlight from Ellyse was a remarkable piece of fielding in the T20 World Cup semi-final against India. With 18 needed off 9 balls, she stopped a boundary in stunning fashion, throwing herself into the air and flicking the ball back to save two runs, as Australia won by five runs.  Hayley the all-rounder racked up 700 runs in the year, the most by any player in a year in Women's T20Is. She also picked up 19 wickets at an average of 16.21 through her off-spin bowling. Her extraordinary unbeaten 99 in the first game of the series against Australia was overshadowed by her mind-blowing 132 in a run-chase of 213 in Sydney.  Acing the world-record run-chase in women's T20Is saw Hayley break several records including that of the highest individual score in a women’s T20I run-chase. Her overall tally of 310 runs in the series against Australia is the most by any player in a women's T20I bilateral series.  Sophie, the top-ranked women's T20I bowler, took 11 wickets, the most by anyone in the Women’s T20 World Cup. Her sensational showing in the tournament saw her go past 800 rating points, becoming just the second bowler to do so in the Women's T20I Bowling rankings. Sophie finished the year with 23 wickets in 11 matches, with an amazing average of 10.60 and bowled at an economy rate of 5.65.  Chamari finished with 470 runs in the year, scoring at a quicker-than-usual strike-rate of 130.91 and even took eight wickets with the ball. With 15 sixes in the year, she also hit a personal high in Women's T20Is. She was at the forefront of Sri Lanka stunning South Africa by three runs in Women’s T20 World Cup opening game, as well as in the side’s stunning series win in England.
—IANS

India’s batting maverick Suryakumar Yadav has been nominated for ICC Men’s T20I Player of the Year award for 2023.

Suryakumar Yadav nominated for ICC Men's T20I Player of the Year award; Perry, Matthews amongst nominees in women’s category

Gandhinagar: Bharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda filed the nomination as Rajya Sabha candidate from Gujarat on Thursday. Nadda filed his nomination in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupinder Patel and other party leaders in the state. Nadda is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Himachal Pradesh. For the biennial Rajya Sabha polls, BJP has named four nominees for Gujarat. Apart from Nadda, BJP has fielded three other leaders from Gujarat namely, Govindbhai Dholakia, Mayankbhai Nayak, and Jashvantsinh Parmar. Also, the BJP has announced that it's nominating Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw from Odisha and L Murugan from Madhya Pradesh for the upcoming elections. Earlier this week, the party named 14 candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls, including former Union Minister RPN Singh and party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi. Today is the last day for filing nomination papers for the RS polls. The Election Commission has scheduled the Rajya Sabha elections for 15 states, including Uttar Pradesh, for February 27. Voting will take place from 9 am to 4 pm on this date, with the deadline for nominations set for February 15. The results of the elections will be announced on the same day, February 27. The Election Commission announced the biennial Rajya Sabha polls for 56 seats, as the tenure of incumbents ends in April.
—ANI

BJP's JP Nadda files nomination for Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, along with three other nominees. Election Commission schedules polls for February 27.

BJP chief Nadda files nomination as Rajya Sabha candidate from Gujarat

The Aam Aadmi Party Thursday released its first list of eight candidates for Punjab, fielding five Cabinet ministers for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
<a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1768179590332125260?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1768179590332125260%7Ctwgr%5E43b243ab11c506982dfe384c21e8ce0bde592cc6%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.deccanherald.com%2Felections%2Findia%2Flok-sabha-polls-aap-releases-first-list-of-eight-candidates-for-punjab-fields-five-cabinet-ministers-2936229" target="_self">https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1768179590332125260?</a>
According to the list, Cabinet ministers Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal has been fielded from Amritsar, Laljit Singh Bhullar from Khadoor Sahib, Gurmeet Singh Khudian from Bathinda, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer from Sangrur and Balbir Singh from Patiala.
 Also Read: <a href="https://www.thehawk.in/posts/excise-case:-delhi-cm-kejriwal-moves-sessions-court-challenging-summons-issued-to-him-on-ed-complaints" target="_self">https://www.thehawk.in/posts/excise-case:-delhi-cm-kejriwal-moves-sessions-court-challenging-summons-issued-to-him-on-ed-complaints</a>&nbsp;
 Jalandhar MP Sushil Rinku has again been fielded from the seat.  The party named Gurpreet Singh GP its candidate from the Fatehgarh Sahib seat. Singh, a former Congress MLA from Bassi Pathana, had recently joined the AAP.  Punjabi actor Karamjeet Anmol has been fielded from Faridkot seat.
—PTI

AAP releases first candidate list for Punjab Lok Sabha polls, featuring Cabinet Ministers and new joiners.

Lok Sabha polls: AAP releases first list of eight candidates for Punjab, fields five Cabinet ministers

Shimla: Two days after Congress rebel Sudhir Sharma sent a defamation notice to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, another rebel Rajinder Rana on Sunday sent a similar notice to the chief minister.
The chief minister had been saying that the nine MLAs, including six Congress rebels and three Independent legislators who voted in favour of BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan during the Rajya Sabha polls on February 27, had 'sold their soul' and even compared the Congress rebels with black snakes during his speeches.  During a rally in Himachal's Una district, Sukhu had on Thursday alleged that the Congress rebels are 'corrupt' and will go behind bars. He further alleged that the six Congress rebels and three Independents were 'sold' for Rs 15 crore each.
Rana also claimed that Chief Minister Sukhu always stayed in a five-star hotel at night, bypassing his security in Chandigarh, instead of staying at the chief minister's suite at Himachal Bhawan.  In a statement issued here, he asked who used to come to meet the chief minister and what 'deal' was allegedly finalised with them.  The notice sent by three-time MLA and BJP candidate from the Sujanpur assembly seat Rana said that in the past few weeks, the CM Sukhu has been painting Rana's character as a 'venal politician' who has been 'purchased' by the BJP.  "The malicious, baseless, fake, fabricated, concocted, defamatory, malafide and motivated speeches and statements made by the CM have harmed and damaged the reputation of Rana and adversely affected his public image built over years," the notice said.  Rana further alleged that the kind of language used by the chief minister does not match with the proud culture and decency of Himachal Pradesh.  The rebels MLAs had later joined the BJP and the six Congress rebels who were disqualified for defying a whip to be present in the assembly and vote in favor of the government during the cut motion and budget were given tickets by the BJP from their respective assembly constituencies.
—PTI

Congress rebels in Himachal Pradesh escalate tensions, sending defamation notices to CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu amid allegations of corruption.

The Hawk

Tag : nominees

G-23 leaders among possible Congress nominees for Rajya Sabha

Preeti

Tag : nominees

G-23 leaders among possible Congress nominees for Rajya Sabha

Preeti

More about nominees