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Tag: Ashok Chavan

  • Rajya Sabha polls: Nominations filing for Rajya Sabha polls ends; Check full list of candidates here

    BJP chief J P Nadda, Ashok Chavan, a recent addition to the party, and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi are among the candidates competing in the Rajya Sabha elections, as the deadline for submitting nominations concluded on Thursday.

    The biennial elections are scheduled on February 27 in 56 seats – 10 in Uttar Pradesh, six each in Maharashtra and Bihar, five each in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, four each in Gujarat and Karnataka, three each in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Odisha, and one each in Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

    However, a majority of the candidates are likely to get elected unopposed. February 20 is the last date of withdrawing candidature. Voting is scheduled to take place from 9 am to 4 pm on February 27 and the counting will be held on the same day from 5 pm onwards.Here is the complete list of all the candidates:

    Uttar Pradesh:

    CandidatePartyR P N SinghBJPChaudhary Tejveer SinghBJPAmarpal MauryaBJPSangeeta BalwantBJPSudhanshu TrivediBJP Sadhna SinghBJPNaveen JainBJPSanjay SethBJP Jaya BachchanSPRamjilal Suman SPAlok RanjanSPGujarat:CandidatePartyJP NaddaBJPJashvantsinh Parmar BJPMayank NayakBJPGovind DholakiaBJPRajasthan:CandidatePartySonia GandhiCongressChunnilal GarasiyaBJPMadan Rathore BJP

    Maharashtra:

    CandidatePartyAshok ChavanBJPMedha KulkarniBJPAjit GopchhadeBJPMilind DeoraShiv SenaChandrakant HandoreCongressPraful PatelNCP

    Odisha:

    Ashwini VaishnawBJPDebashish SamantarayBJDSubhasish KhuntiaBJD

    Madhya Pradesh:

    L MuruganBJPDalit seer Umesh Nath MaharajBJPMaya NaroliyaBJPBanshilal GurjarBJPAshok SinghCongress

    Karnataka:

    CandidatePartyAjay MakenCongressNaseer HussainCongress G C ChandrasekharCongressNarayana Krishanasa BhandageBJP

    West Bengal:

    CandidatePartySagarika GhoseTMCSushmita DevTMCMohammad Nadimul HaqueTMCMamta Bala Thakur TMCSamik BhattacharyaBJP

    Himachal Pradesh:

    CandidatePartyAbhishek Manu SinghviCongress

    Telangana:

    CandidatePartyRenuka Chowdhury CongressM Anil Kumar YadavCongress

    Bihar:

    CandidatePartyAkhilesh Prasad SinghCongressManoj Kumar JhaRJDSanjay Yadav RJDSanjay Kumar JhaJDUBhim Singh BJPDharamsheela GuptaBJP

    Chhattisgarh:

    CandidatePartyDevendra Pratap SinghBJP

    Haryana:

    CandidatePartySubhash BaralaBJP

    Uttarakhand:

    CandidatePartyMahendra BhattBJP

    Andhra Pradesh:

    CandidatePartyGola Babu RaoYSRCPYV Subba ReddyYSRCPMeda Raghunath ReddyYSRCP

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  • Rajya Sabha Polls: BJP Nominates JP Nadda From Gujarat, Ashok Chavan From Maharashtra |

    New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday released another list of seven names for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, nominating party president JP Nadda from Gujarat and newly inducted leader Ashok Chavan from Maharashtra. In its latest list, the BJP has declared four names from Gujarat and three from Maharashtra. Besides JP Nadda, the BJP nominated Govindbhai Dholakia, Mayanbhai Nayak and Jashvantsinh Parmar from Gujarat.

    For Maharashtra, besides Ashok Chavan, the party has named Medha Kulkarni and Ajit Gopchhade. Former Maharashtra chief minister Chavan quit Congress earlier this week and joined the BJP in the presence of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday.

    Meanwhile, Nadda, who is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Himachal Pradesh, is being fielded from Gujarat since the BJP does not have the numbers to win the lone seat in the Congress-ruled hill state.

    Earlier today, the BJP announced that it’s nominating Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw from Odisha and L Murugan from Madhya Pradesh for the upcoming elections. On Sunday, the BJP named 14 candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls, including former Union Minister R P N Singh and party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi.

    The last day for filing nomination papers is February 15. The term for Rajya Sabha MPs is six years and elections are held after every two years for 33 per cent of the seats. Currently, the Rajya Sabha has a strength of 245 members.

    Out of the total 245 members, out of which 233 are representatives of the States and Union Territories of Delhi, Puducherry Jammu and Kashmir (w.e.f. 31.10. 2019) 12 are nominated by the President. Based on population, each state is allocated a certain number of candidates in the Upper House.

    Members of the state legislative assemblies choose Rajya Sabha members through an indirect election system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.

    The Election Commission has scheduled the Rajya Sabha elections for 15 states, including Uttar Pradesh, for February 27. Voting will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 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 has announced the biennial Rajya Sabha polls on February 27 for 56 seats, as the tenure of incumbents ends in April. 

  • Chhatrapati Shivaji row: Move Koshyari out, appoint new guv, says ex-CM Ashok Chavan

    By PTI

    NANDED: Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Chavan on Tuesday said a new governor should be appointed for Maharashtra and Bhagat Singh Koshyari should be removed from his office for his remark on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

    Chavan was speaking to reporters after an agitation staged by Congress workers against the governor in Nanded. During an event in Aurangabad, Koshyari said that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was an icon of the “olden days.”

    The comment has triggered a political storm in Maharashtra, with activists of the NCP, Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), and other organisations staging protests for his ouster.

    “The statement made by the governor has intensified people’s anger. This is not limited to one single political party, it is a question of national pride,” the Congress leader said.

    He further claimed that this was not the first time that the governor made such a controversial statement, and said it was inappropriate for a person holding a constitutional post to make such remarks.

    Koshyari must be shifted out of Maharashtra and a new governor should be appointed for the state, Chavan said, adding that any disrespect to Maharashtra will not be tolerated.

    Meanwhile, the Congress’ Aurangabad city and district units staged an agitation at Kranti Chowk in the city demanding that the governor be called back by the President of India.

    “Koshyari should be called back by the President (Droupadi Murmu). The governor has no idea whom to compare Chhatrapati Shivaji with,” district Congress president and former MLA Kalyan Kale said.

    NANDED: Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Chavan on Tuesday said a new governor should be appointed for Maharashtra and Bhagat Singh Koshyari should be removed from his office for his remark on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

    Chavan was speaking to reporters after an agitation staged by Congress workers against the governor in Nanded. During an event in Aurangabad, Koshyari said that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was an icon of the “olden days.”

    The comment has triggered a political storm in Maharashtra, with activists of the NCP, Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), and other organisations staging protests for his ouster.

    “The statement made by the governor has intensified people’s anger. This is not limited to one single political party, it is a question of national pride,” the Congress leader said.

    He further claimed that this was not the first time that the governor made such a controversial statement, and said it was inappropriate for a person holding a constitutional post to make such remarks.

    Koshyari must be shifted out of Maharashtra and a new governor should be appointed for the state, Chavan said, adding that any disrespect to Maharashtra will not be tolerated.

    Meanwhile, the Congress’ Aurangabad city and district units staged an agitation at Kranti Chowk in the city demanding that the governor be called back by the President of India.

    “Koshyari should be called back by the President (Droupadi Murmu). The governor has no idea whom to compare Chhatrapati Shivaji with,” district Congress president and former MLA Kalyan Kale said.

  • No BJP MP from Maharashtra said a word on Maratha quota in Lok Sabha: Ashok Chavan

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra minister Ashok Chavan on Tuesday said it is unfortunate that no BJP Member of Parliament from the state spoke about the Maratha reservation issue when the Lok Sabha debated a constitutional amendment bill to restore the powers of states to make their own OBC lists.

    Speaking to reporters here, Chavan, who heads a state cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation, said an opportunity to relax the 50 per cent cap on reservation in education and government jobs has been missed by the Centre.

    The Congress minister’s comments came after the Lok Sabha passed the ‘The Constitution (127th Amendment) Bill, 2021’, that seeks to restore the power of states and Union Territories to make their own OBC lists, with the NDA government getting the support of opposition parties for the legislation.

    He said, “Parliament has been at a standstill on Pegasus or ‘black’ agri laws, but every political party in the opposition cooperated with the Centre and discussed the bill.”

    The former chief minister said the Centre should have also taken steps to remove the 50 per cent cap on reservations.

    “Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar had said the government will consider relaxation on reservation cap at right time. It was the right time to take this decision. How long the Maratha community will continue its legal battle for quota?” Chavan asked.

    “The Union government could have made the Maratha community’s legal battle for reservation easier. Directives were given to Congress members in the Lok Sabha by our leader Sonia Gandhi (for seeking relaxation in quota cap). Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is from West Bengal, but he still stood firm on this issue,” he said.

    During the debate on the OBC bill, several opposition parties, including the Congress, demanded removal of the 50 per cent cap on reservations, while the central government underlined its commitment to social justice.

    “Shiv Sena MPs such as Vinayak Raut, Prataprao Jadhav, NCP MP Supriya Sule and Balu Dhanorkar of the Congress strongly pitched for Maratha reservation. However, not a single MP of the BJP from Maharashtra uttered a word over the issue…this is truly unfortunate,” Chavan said.

    The 102nd Constitution Amendment Act of 2018 inserted articles 338B, which deals with the structure, duties and powers of the National Commission for Backward Classes, and 342A that deals with the powers of the president to notify a particular caste as an SEBC and the power of Parliament to change the list.

    Article 366 (26C) defines SEBCs.

    The Supreme Court had dismissed the Centre’s plea seeking a review of its May 5 majority verdict that held that the 102nd Constitution amendment took away the states’ power to notify SEBCs for the grant of quota in jobs and admissions.

    In May, the Supreme Court struck down the 2018 Maharashtra law granting quota to Marathas in admissions and government jobs, terming it as “unconstitutional”, and held there were no exceptional circumstances to breach the 50 per cent reservation cap set by the 1992 Mandal verdict.

  • ‘Uddhav government united, strong’: Ajit Pawar plays down Patole’s remarks

    By PTI
    PUNE: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said that despite some statements made by state Congress chief Nana Patole, the latter’s colleagues Balasaheb Thorat and Ashok Chavan have clarified that the MVA government in the state was strong and working unitedly.

    Queried on whether Patole’s recent remarks pointed to lack of unity in the ruling dispensation, Pawar said such statements are made in closed-door meetings to boost the morale of party workers.

    “Even if such statements were made, other Congress leaders like Balasaheb Thorat and Ashok Chavan have clarified that the (MVA) alliance is strong and we all are working together. Even Patole echoed similar sentiments later,” he said, adding that the entire Congress party was working as one under the leadership of its chief Sonia Gandhi.

    Pawar refuted media reports that he had discussed this issue with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and also rubbished others which said the Zoting Commission report had indicted BJP-turned-NCP leader Eknath Khadse in a land deal.

    He added that the state government had not received the Zoting Commission report as yet.

    Asked on the BJP-ruled Pune Municipal Corporation passing a resolution to draft a development plan for 23 villages merged into it recently, Pawar said the PMC could take such a decision but it was for the state government to decide whether the DP will be made by the civic body or the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority.

    The state government had recently issued a notification appointing PMRDA as the “planning authority” for the 23 villages.

  • Nitin Gadkari is right man in wrong party: Maharashtra minister Ashok Chavan

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan on Sunday praised Union Minister Nitin Gadkari saying that he is the right man in the wrong party.

    Addressing mediapersons via video conferencing, Chavan said, “I often talk about Nitin Gadkari. I had praised him the day before yesterday. He is an efficient minister. There are many issues which are related to basic amenities and infrastructure of Maharashtra. Gadkari takes those subjects seriously. I publicly praise his way of working either by writing articles or via tweets. But praising him does not mean that I support him politically. After all, he is a minister in the NDA government. So all I will say is that he is the right man but in the wrong party.”

    On Sunday when the NDA government at the centre was celebrating the completion of seven years in office, Congress leader Ashok Chavan accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government of failing to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. He alleged that the Centre has taken all decision-making powers into its hands, but now after the outbreak of COVID, it is blaming the state governments.

    Asked if he had a favourite minister in the NDA government, Chavan replied that “good words” could only be spoken about Union minister Nitin Gadkari who is also the MP from Nagpur. Chavan said Gadkari maintains a “dialogue with other parties despite ideological differences”. (ANI)

  • ‘Introspection, feedback needed’: Ashok Chavan on Congress’ poor poll performance

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Congress leader Ashok Chavan on Thursday said “introspection and feedback” were necessary for the evaluation of the party’s performance in the recent Assembly elections.

    Chavan, a minister in the Maharashtra government, is heading a committee set up by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to evaluate the party’s dismal performance in elections in Assam, West Bengal, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

    The committee is holding meetings with leaders of the states where elections were held, he told PTI.

    “We held discussions with Congress Legislature Party leaders, state unit presidents and AICC in-charge in the respective states today. We will talk to elected MLAs and other candidates who fought on party ticketin the next two days,” Chavan, a former chief minister of Maharashtra, said.

    “We will evaluate the party’s performance. Introspection and feedback are necessary for us to move ahead,” he added.

    The five-member committee includes Salman Khurshid, Manish Tiwari, Vincent Pala and Jothi Mani.

  • Centre must take positive steps for Maratha quota: Maharashtra minister Ashok Chavan

    By PTI

    AURANGABAD: The Union government should think of “positive steps” like bringing in a Constitutional amendment to ensure the Maratha community in Maharashtra gets reservations, Congress leader and state minister Ashok Chavan said on Friday.

    The Supreme Court is likely to hear the Maratha reservation case on March 8. In a video message, he said the Centre, while keeping its stand in the apex court, had a “great chance to take positive steps and support Maratha reservation”.

    Chavan said that the Centre brought in a Constitutional amendment for quota for economically weaker sections (EWS), and it can do the same for Maratha reservation. “Ministers from the state should request Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this,” Chavan added.