Upa candidate for president

The Left parties have asked the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to come up with a presidential candidate having the “widest possible acceptance.” Emerging from a meeting here on Wednesday, leaders of the four Left parties said they didn't discuss any name, though P.A. Sangma of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), who had approached them for support, did figure in the deliberations. A statement issued later said: “There should be a candidate for the presidential election, based on the widest possible acceptance.” “We haven't discussed any name. The UPA should come up with a name,” Debabrata Biswas of the Forward Bloc told journalists after the meeting, and also remained non-committal on the three names proposed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, including that of Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. The meeting was attended by Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, and S. Ramachandran Pillai, (Communist Party of India-Marxist), A.B. Bardhan, Sudhakar Reddy, and D. Raja (Communist Party of India), T.J. Chandrachoodan and Abani Roy (Revolutionary Socialist Party) and the Forward Bloc's Debabrata Biswas and G. Devarajan. “We have to consider many things,” Mr. Bardhan said. “If someone is saying he is tribal, so we should support him, then what about our ideology, our political thinking?” he said in an obvious reference to Mr. Sangma. He said the Left parties gave a patient hearing to Mr. Sangma, but didn't give any assurance to him. “We will discuss the matter. W...

The result of the vice-presidential election may also be a foregone conclusion, given the BJP's superior numbers in the Lok Sabha. So, former West Bengal Governor Therefore, this may be a good moment to discuss what the presidential and vice presidential elections mean for both the government and the Opposition in the build-up to the 2024 general elections, which are due in about 20 months time. Here are five points each on what this election means for the NDA and the Opposition. The previous presidential election in 2017 provided the backdrop for the BJP to deal a crucial blow to the Opposition. It was around the same time that the party got Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) to dump the Mahagathbandhan and join the NDA. The Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar, at that time, was probably the most serious political threat to the BJP as it provided a model by which the Opposition could unite and defeat the Modi-Shah duo. It's breakdown helped create the impression of BJP being invincible. This time, the blow came in an even bigger Opposition-ruled state – Maharashtra. In June, the BJP managed to split a key Opposition constituent – the Shiv Sena – and bring down the MVA government in the state. Like Bihar, it served as an example to establish the BJP's invincibility and as a warning for other regional parties not to go against the Centre. However, one shouldn't overstate the importance of this midterm blow. Because the months that followed the 2017 Bihar turnaround, saw a s...

In a complete U-turn and ending a month-long suspense,Trinamool Congress announced its decision to vote for UPA’s Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee ‘in the interest of coalition’. After proposing the name of A P J Abdul Kalam and two others a month ago creating a near crisis for the UPA government last month,Trinamool chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday disclosed the party’s decision saying it had no other option and that it was not to support any individual. “We have taken the decision with pain and not from our heart. We have taken the decision without any provocation or financial deal,” Banerjee said after a meeting of party leaders. She made a bare reference to Bengali origins of the UPA candidate saying “Pranabda is from Bengal but we have taken the decision due to our commitment to the people.” The Trinamool decision was immediately welcomed by the Congress in With Trinamool’s decision,Mukherjee has the support of nearly 7 lakh vote value in an electoral college of nearly 11 lakh. Apart from UPA partners,he also has the support of CPI(M) and Forward Bloc and Banerjee was virtually cornered in the UPA after she was ditched by Asked why her party has chosen to support Mukherjee with whom she has blown hot and cold in the recent past,Banerjee said,“We took the decision in the interest of the UPA coalition and in greater national interest and keeping in mind the people’s interests. “We are not supporting any individual. But we have no op...

Contrary to earlier speculation,the Congress-led UPA appears to be placed in a comfortable position for getting its nominee elected to the President’s post,thanks apparently to some sharp remarks from BJP’s Sushma Swaraj rejecting a candidate from the ruling party. A couple of months ago,political circles were agog with permutations and combinations on the President’s election suggesting a possible ganging up of non-UPA parties to stall a UPA nominee from getting into Rashtrapati Bhavan. However,things appear to have changed suddenly with a surprise statement by Leader of the Opposition in As things stand today,in an electoral college of around 11 lakh votes,the UPA is almost certain to get the support of over 6.5 lakh votes,which includes those belonging to non-UPA parties like Left,SP,BSP and JD-U going by their public statements in last few days. It remains to be seen whether Swaraj took political parties,including many in the BJP,by surprise when she rejected the possibility of backing either Mukherjee or Vice President Hamid Ansari for succeeding Pratibha Patil,whose term ends in July. Swaraj reasoned out that the party was planning ahead for the 2014 election and so was not keen on playing ball with Congress. The BJP would not support Mukherjee because he is a Congressman and Ansari because he does not have the stature,she said. This set off a chain of political reaction triggering divisions in the NDA while several other non-UPA parties also shedding their aversion ...

FILE - Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson formally announces his Republican campaign for president, April 26, 2023, in Bentonville, Ark. In the coming weeks, at least four additional candidates are expected to launch their own presidential campaigns, joining a field that already includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Hutchinson, tech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy and several longer-shots like conservative talk radio host Larry Elder. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File) (Sue Ogrocki, Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Some of the current candidates for president are either rapid risers in the political world, or simply have no experience at all holding a political office. Asa Hutchinson certainly doesn’t fit in any of those categories, as he has both paid his dues and gained experience serving in a variety of offices. The 72-year-old Hutchinson, who was the governor of Arkansas until January, announced his candidacy for president in April. Hutchinson served as the Administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration and as the Under Secretary of Homeland Security and Border and Transportation Security under George W. Bush and then mounted an unsuccessful bid for governor of Arkansas in 2006. In 2014, Hutchinson gave it another shot, and this time was elected governor of Arkansas, a post he held until leaving in January. Hutchinson lost an election for U.S. Senate in 1986, but ended up winning a bid fo...

The Left parties have asked the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to come up with a presidential candidate having the “widest possible acceptance.” Emerging from a meeting here on Wednesday, leaders of the four Left parties said they didn't discuss any name, though P.A. Sangma of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), who had approached them for support, did figure in the deliberations. A statement issued later said: “There should be a candidate for the presidential election, based on the widest possible acceptance.” “We haven't discussed any name. The UPA should come up with a name,” Debabrata Biswas of the Forward Bloc told journalists after the meeting, and also remained non-committal on the three names proposed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, including that of Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. The meeting was attended by Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, and S. Ramachandran Pillai, (Communist Party of India-Marxist), A.B. Bardhan, Sudhakar Reddy, and D. Raja (Communist Party of India), T.J. Chandrachoodan and Abani Roy (Revolutionary Socialist Party) and the Forward Bloc's Debabrata Biswas and G. Devarajan. “We have to consider many things,” Mr. Bardhan said. “If someone is saying he is tribal, so we should support him, then what about our ideology, our political thinking?” he said in an obvious reference to Mr. Sangma. He said the Left parties gave a patient hearing to Mr. Sangma, but didn't give any assurance to him. “We will discuss the matter. W...

In a complete U-turn and ending a month-long suspense,Trinamool Congress announced its decision to vote for UPA’s Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee ‘in the interest of coalition’. After proposing the name of A P J Abdul Kalam and two others a month ago creating a near crisis for the UPA government last month,Trinamool chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday disclosed the party’s decision saying it had no other option and that it was not to support any individual. “We have taken the decision with pain and not from our heart. We have taken the decision without any provocation or financial deal,” Banerjee said after a meeting of party leaders. She made a bare reference to Bengali origins of the UPA candidate saying “Pranabda is from Bengal but we have taken the decision due to our commitment to the people.” The Trinamool decision was immediately welcomed by the Congress in With Trinamool’s decision,Mukherjee has the support of nearly 7 lakh vote value in an electoral college of nearly 11 lakh. Apart from UPA partners,he also has the support of CPI(M) and Forward Bloc and Banerjee was virtually cornered in the UPA after she was ditched by Asked why her party has chosen to support Mukherjee with whom she has blown hot and cold in the recent past,Banerjee said,“We took the decision in the interest of the UPA coalition and in greater national interest and keeping in mind the people’s interests. “We are not supporting any individual. But we have no op...

Contrary to earlier speculation,the Congress-led UPA appears to be placed in a comfortable position for getting its nominee elected to the President’s post,thanks apparently to some sharp remarks from BJP’s Sushma Swaraj rejecting a candidate from the ruling party. A couple of months ago,political circles were agog with permutations and combinations on the President’s election suggesting a possible ganging up of non-UPA parties to stall a UPA nominee from getting into Rashtrapati Bhavan. However,things appear to have changed suddenly with a surprise statement by Leader of the Opposition in As things stand today,in an electoral college of around 11 lakh votes,the UPA is almost certain to get the support of over 6.5 lakh votes,which includes those belonging to non-UPA parties like Left,SP,BSP and JD-U going by their public statements in last few days. It remains to be seen whether Swaraj took political parties,including many in the BJP,by surprise when she rejected the possibility of backing either Mukherjee or Vice President Hamid Ansari for succeeding Pratibha Patil,whose term ends in July. Swaraj reasoned out that the party was planning ahead for the 2014 election and so was not keen on playing ball with Congress. The BJP would not support Mukherjee because he is a Congressman and Ansari because he does not have the stature,she said. This set off a chain of political reaction triggering divisions in the NDA while several other non-UPA parties also shedding their aversion ...

FILE - Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson formally announces his Republican campaign for president, April 26, 2023, in Bentonville, Ark. In the coming weeks, at least four additional candidates are expected to launch their own presidential campaigns, joining a field that already includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Hutchinson, tech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy and several longer-shots like conservative talk radio host Larry Elder. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File) (Sue Ogrocki, Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Some of the current candidates for president are either rapid risers in the political world, or simply have no experience at all holding a political office. Asa Hutchinson certainly doesn’t fit in any of those categories, as he has both paid his dues and gained experience serving in a variety of offices. The 72-year-old Hutchinson, who was the governor of Arkansas until January, announced his candidacy for president in April. Hutchinson served as the Administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration and as the Under Secretary of Homeland Security and Border and Transportation Security under George W. Bush and then mounted an unsuccessful bid for governor of Arkansas in 2006. In 2014, Hutchinson gave it another shot, and this time was elected governor of Arkansas, a post he held until leaving in January. Hutchinson lost an election for U.S. Senate in 1986, but ended up winning a bid fo...

The result of the vice-presidential election may also be a foregone conclusion, given the BJP's superior numbers in the Lok Sabha. So, former West Bengal Governor Therefore, this may be a good moment to discuss what the presidential and vice presidential elections mean for both the government and the Opposition in the build-up to the 2024 general elections, which are due in about 20 months time. Here are five points each on what this election means for the NDA and the Opposition. The previous presidential election in 2017 provided the backdrop for the BJP to deal a crucial blow to the Opposition. It was around the same time that the party got Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) to dump the Mahagathbandhan and join the NDA. The Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar, at that time, was probably the most serious political threat to the BJP as it provided a model by which the Opposition could unite and defeat the Modi-Shah duo. It's breakdown helped create the impression of BJP being invincible. This time, the blow came in an even bigger Opposition-ruled state – Maharashtra. In June, the BJP managed to split a key Opposition constituent – the Shiv Sena – and bring down the MVA government in the state. Like Bihar, it served as an example to establish the BJP's invincibility and as a warning for other regional parties not to go against the Centre. However, one shouldn't overstate the importance of this midterm blow. Because the months that followed the 2017 Bihar turnaround, saw a s...