Modi stakes claim to new govt; CWC rejects RaGa's resignation

Modi stakes claim on new government

All set for a second term as prime minister, Narendra Modi on May 25 (Saturday) said his government will now begin “a new journey to build a new India with new energy” and asked newly elected MPs of the NDA to work without any discrimination, including on the basis of faith and castes. In his over 75-minute address after being elected the leader of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, Modi also stressed on the need to win over the trust of minorities, saying they were made to live in “fear” and “exploited” during elections for vote-bank politics, apparently a dig at the opposition parties. He met President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and staked claim to form government at the Centre. Modi is likely to take oath as the prime minister on May 30.

CWC unanimously rejects Rahul Gandhi’s resignation offer

The Congress on May 25 (Saturday) “unanimously and in one voice” rejected the resignation offered by party president Rahul Gandhi at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, and authorised him to restructure the party at every level. Addressing a press conference after the CWC meeting, senior leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said that Gandhi offered his resignation during the meeting, which the committee members have rejected. However, reports suggest that Gandhi has refused to take his resignation back and insisted that the next party president must not be from the Gandhi family. The meeting was convened to review the massive defeat of the Congress in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. It was attended by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and other leaders including Priyanka Gandhi, P Chidambaram, Ashok Gehlot and Mallikarjun Kharge.

Mamata offers to quit but claims “CM’s chair needs me”

With the BJP eyeing the Mamata Banerjee citadel after making inroads into West Bengal in the 2019 general elections, Chief Minister Mamata took everyone by surprise by offering to quit the chief minister’s chair. Addressing her first press conference since her Trinamool Congress party suffered a massive setback in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, she said that she had told her party of her unwillingness to continue as the chief minister of the state. “I don’t care about the (CM’s) chair. I don’t need the chair, it needs me. I would like to continue as the party president.” She also asserted that she had kept the party’s promises as mentioned in the manifesto and that she would like to work for the party.

‘With India refusing to pay heed to Rahul Gandhi, he should quit’

Rahul Gandhi should step down as president of the Congress not because he ran a poor campaign in the 2019 elections. He should go because India is just not ready to listen to him. A politician who can’t even make himself heard, even when he talks about the welfare of the people he seeks to represent, has no right to a leadership role. His departure is necessary to create space for someone else to find a new language and a new idiom to represent most of the ideas the Congress embraced in 2019. In essence, the Congress doesn’t need to do something different, but it needs to do it differently, with a different face. It needs someone who the country is willing to listen to, someone whose ideas, words and thoughts they find credible even if most of them are exact replicas of Rahul’s in 2019.

French Open 2019 preview

Will there be a new champion in Paris at the end of the coming fortnight? Rafael Nadal, the King of Clay, will be aiming to extend his reign on terre battue with a record of 12th title. Nadal comes into the French Open after a few perplexing losses on clay but seems to have hit form at the right time by lifting his first trophy of the season in Italy last week. While Nadal and Djokovic are the two top favourites and sit on the opposite ends of the men’s draw, it’s Roger Federer who is grabbing the spotlight before the tournament begins. Federer returns to the French Open for the first time since 2015 and fans and pundits alike are eagerly waiting to see how far he can go. In the women’s category, even though Naomi Osaka won the US and Australian Open, the chances of a third straight Slam seems unrealistic for the World No. 1.

Jaganmohan Reddy invited to form government in Andhra Pradesh

The Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana ESL Narasimhan on May 25 (Saturday) invited YSR Congress president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to form the government in AP. The swearing-in ceremony would be held at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation stadium, Vijayawada on May 30 at 12.23 PM, a Raj Bhavan communique said here. It said Botcha Satyanarayana and other YSR Congress elected members of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly called on the Governor and informed him about the election of Reddy as the leader of the YSR Congress Legislature Party. “While congratulating Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on his election as the Leader of YSR Congress Legislature Party, the Hon’ble Governor has invited him to form the government,” the communique said.

DMK wins by over 2 lakh margin in 16 Lok Sabha seats

In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won 16 Lok Sabha seats each by a margin of over 2 lakh votes. The margin was much higher in Dindigul and Sirperumbudur, where the DMK candidates secured victory by a margin of over 5 lakh. In Dindigul, DMK’s Velusamy P won by a whopping margin of 5.3 lakh votes against PMK’s Jothimuthu. This was the highest winning margin recorded in Tamil Nadu. Velusamy received over 7.4 lakh votes (64.35 per cent) out of 11.55 lakh votes polled, while the PMK bagged 2.07 lakh (17.89 per cent), the Naam Tamilar Katchi got 4.74 per cent and Makkal Neethi Maiyam secured 3.34 percent votes. The DMK’s vote share in the state jumped to 45 per cent in 2019 from 23.9 per cent in the 2014 polls.

Why Pawan Kalyan bombed at ballot box office

Pawan Kalyan’s tryst with electoral politics has ended in a disaster. His Jana Sena Party bombed at the ballot box office in Andhra Pradesh. Known for his impulsive ways and outspoken views, Pawan is not a politician in a conventional sense. His party still does not have a proper organisational structure nor is he a 24/7 politician. His brand of politics is marked by a burst of activity followed by a prolonged lull. Critics point out that Kalyan has been at best a freelance politician and lacks seriousness, strategy and organisation building capacity that is required for a full-time politician.

AMMK, MNM, NTK turn spoiler for AIADMK in 3 seats of Tamil Nadu

With the AIADMK vote share plummeting from 44.9 per cent in 2014 to 18.48 per cent in 2019, speculation has been rife as to where the remaining votes went. A careful analysis of the poll data clearly reveal that TTV Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) and Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) have cut into the ruling party’s vote bank especially in the three constituencies of Chidambaram, Tiruppur and Dharmapuri. The three parties — contesting the Lok Sabha polls for the first time — secured 5.1 per cent, 3.7 per cent and 3.8 per cent votes respectively, in the state, and in the process damaged the prospects of the AIADMK. Also, the three outfits secured the third position in 21, 11 and 6 Lok Sabha seats respectively. Prior to the Lok Sabha polls, many were of the view that Kamal Haasan would split the DMK vote share. But the numbers proved otherwise.

Five most pleasing moments from India’s history in the ODI World Cup

The most awaited sporting event of 2019 is less than a week away. 10 teams will fight it out in England and Wales to become the ODI champions of the world and seal a place in history books. As the Men in Blue begin their quest to a third World Cup trophy, here we take a look at India’s best moments from the previous World Cup editions, which have stood the test of time. The list includes the Taunton run-fest vs Sri Lanka in 1999, when Ashish Nehra went bananas in 2003, and Sachin Tendulkar’s tribute to his late father in 1999.

At the warm-up game, India will look to finalise number four slot

Death, taxes and this Indian management’s fidgety outlook towards finding a suitable number four in ODIs are three certainties of life for any cricket fan that waits for the commencement of the World Cup 2019. For the uninformed, two years ago after a crestfallen defeat against arch-rivals Pakistan in the finals of the Champions Trophy 2017, the Indian management looked to find a better alternative than Yuvraj Singh for that slot in ODI cricket. The motive was definitely to add more steel and solidarity to a batting lineup that is somewhat heavily dependent on the top-three batsmen. However, after shuffling through almost a dozen players for that position, they are yet unsure of who could be the appropriate player who can encapsulate the responsibilities and pressure of that integral aperture in the team with ease.