Sunday, May 31, 2009
Advani elected leader of opposition
A meeting of the BJP MPs here also discussed probable names for the deputy leader's post, besides the party's strategy for the first session of the house beginning Monday though details were not disclosed.
Party stalwarts Jaswant Singh (Lok Sabha) and M Venkaiah Naidu (Rajya Sabha) proposed Advani's name and he was unanimously elected.
Elected from the Gandhinagar constituency in Gujarat for the fourth time in a row, Advani, 81, was leader of opposition in the previous Lok Sabha too. He has been an MP six times.
The first session of the 15th Lok Sabha begins Monday with the swearing in of new members. The speaker will be elected June 3, and President Pratibha Patil will address a joint session of both houses June 4.
Meira Kumar resigns as Union minister
Meira Kumar tonight resigned as Union Water Resources Minister just two days after taking charge after she was chosen by the Congress as the party candidate for the post of Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Meira's resignation was immediately forwarded by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to President Pratibha Patil for acceptance.
President Pratibha Patil accepted the resignation of the first woman to hold the post of the Lok Sabha Speaker, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson tonight. The prime minister will be holding the Water Resources portfolio till alternative arrangements are made.
15th Lok Sabha - First session on June 1st
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's full cabinet met on Saturday and finalised the President's address to the Parliament. It is expected to focus on his government's moves to strengthen welfare schemes and boost the economy.
The President's address, extensively worked on by Manmohan Singh himself, will unveil the government's agenda for the year in tune with the policies and programmes of the Congress party and its allies.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Indian Council of Ministers - 2009
Name | Ministry | Party | State |
Dr Manmohan Singh | Prime Minister | INC | Assam |
Pranab Mukherjee | Union Finance Minister | INC | West Bengal |
P Chidambaram | Union Home Minister | INC | Tamil Nadu |
A K Antony | Union Defence Minister | INC | Kerala |
S M Krishna | Union External Affairs Minister | INC | Karnataka |
Mamata Banerjee | Union Railways Minister | AITC | West Bengal |
Anand Sharma | Union Commerce Minister | INC | Himachal Pradesh |
M Veerappa Moily | Union Law and Justice Minister | INC | Karnataka |
Kapil Sibal | Union HRD Minister | INC | NC Territory of Delhi |
Ambika Soni | Union Information and Broadcasting Minister | INC | Punjab |
M K Azhagiri | Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister | DMK | Tamil Nadu |
Dayanidhi Maran | Union Textiles Minister | DMK | Tamil Nadu |
Jaipal Reddy Sudini | Union Urban Development Minister | INC | Andhra Pradesh |
Sushil Kumar Shinde | Union Power Minister | INC | Maharashtra |
Pawan Kumar Bansal | Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister | INC | Chandigarh |
G K Vasan | Union Shipping Minister | INC | Tamil Nadu |
Murli Deora | Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister | INC | Maharashtra |
A Raja | Union IT and Communications Minister | DMK | Tamil Nadu |
Kamal Nath | Union Road Transport and Highways Minister | INC | Madhya Pradesh |
Sharad Pawar | Union Agriculture, Food & Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution Minister | NCP | Maharashtra |
Mukul Wasnik | Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister | INC | Maharashtra |
Mallikarjun Kharge | Union Labour and Employment Minister | INC | Karnataka |
Kantilal Bhuria | Union Tribal Affairs Minister | INC | Madhya Pradesh |
Ghulam Nabi Azad | Union Health and Family Welfare Minister | INC | Jammu and Kashmir |
Vayalar Ravi | Union Overseas Indian Affairs Minister | INC | Kerala |
Meira Kumar | Union Water Resources Minister | INC | Bihar |
B K Handique | Union Minister for Mines and Development of North East Region | INC | Assam |
C P Joshi | Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj | INC | Rajasthan |
Dr Farooq Abdullah | Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy | NC | Jammu and Kashmir |
Vilasrao Deshmukh | Union Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises | INC | Maharashtra |
Virbhadra Singh | Union Steel Minister | INC | Himachal Pradesh |
M S Gill | Union Minsiter for Youth Affairs & Sports | INC | Punjab |
Subodh Kant Sahay | Union Minsiter for Food Processing Industries | INC | Jharkhand |
Kumari Selja | Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation; Tourism | INC | Haryana |
Praful Patel | MoS Independent Charge, Civil Aviation | NCP | Maharashtra |
Prithviraj Chavan | MoS Independent Charge, Science, Technology, Earth Sciences & MoS in PMO; Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions and Parliamentary Affairs | INC | Maharashtra |
Salman Khurshid | MoS Independent Charge, Minority and Corporate Affairs | INC | Uttar Pradesh |
Sriprakash Jaiswal | MoS Independent Charge, Coal, Statistics and Programme Implementation | INC | Uttar Pradesh |
Jairam Ramesh | MoS Independent Charge, Environment and Forest | INC | Andhra Pradesh |
Krishna Tirath | MoS Independent Charge, Women and Child Development | INC | NC Territory of Delhi |
Dinsha Patel | MoS Independent Charge, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) | INC | Gujarat |
Sachin Pilot | MoS, Communications and IT | INC | Rajasthan |
Shashi Tharoor | MoS, External Affairs | INC | Kerala |
Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia | MoS, Commerce and Industry | INC | Madhya Pradesh |
Ajay Maken | MoS, Home Affairs | INC | NC Territory of Delhi |
Harish Rawat | MoS, Labour and Employment | INC | Uttarakhand |
K H Muniyappa | MoS, Railways | INC | Karnataka |
Daggubati Purandeswari | MoS, Human Resource Development | INC | Andhra Pradesh |
M M Pallam Raju | MoS, Defence | INC | Andhra Pradesh |
Panabaka Lakshmi | MoS, Textiles | INC | Andhra Pradesh |
Dinesh Trivedi | MoS, Health and Family Welfare | AITC | West Bengal |
Preneet Kaur | MoS, External Affairs | INC | Punjab |
Namo Narain Meena | MoS, Finance | INC | Rajasthan |
M Ramchandran | MoS, Home Affairs | INC | Kerala |
E Ahammed | MoS, Railways | MUL | Kerala |
V Narayanasamy | MoS, Planning and Parliamentary Affairs | INC | Puducherry |
Srikant Jena | MoS, Chemicals and Fertilisers | INC | Orissa |
Jitin Prasad | MoS, Petroleum and Natural Gas | INC | Uttar Pradesh |
A Sai Prathap | MoS, Steel | INC | Andhra Pradesh |
Gurudas Kamat | MoS, Communications and IT | INC | Maharashtra |
Mahadev Khandela | MoS, Road Transport and Highways | INC | Rajasthan |
Prof K V Thomas | MoS, Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution | INC | Kerala |
Saugata Ray | MoS, Urban Development | AITC | West Bengal |
Sisir Adhikari | MoS, Rural Development | AITC | West Bengal |
Sultan Ahmed | MoS, Tourism | AITC | West Bengal |
Mukul Roy | MoS, Shipping | AITC | West Bengal |
Mohan Jatua | MoS, Information and Broadcasting | AITC | West Bengal |
S S Palanimanickam | MoS, Finance | DMK | Tamil Nadu |
D Napoleon | MoS, Social Justice and Empowerment | DMK | Tamil Nadu |
Dr S Jagathrakshakan | MoS, Information and Broadcasting | DMK | Tamil Nadu |
S Gandhiselvan | MoS, Health and Family Welfare | DMK | Tamil Nadu |
Bharatsinh Solanki | MoS, Power | INC | Gujarat |
Tusharbhai Chaudhary | MoS, Tribal Affairs | INC | Gujarat |
Prateek Prakashbapu Patil | MoS, Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises | INC | Maharashtra |
Pradeep Jain | Mos, Rural Development | INC | Uttar Pradesh |
Arun Yadav | MoS, Youth Affairs and Sports | INC | Madhya Pradesh |
R P N Singh | MoS, Road Transport and Highways | INC | Uttar Pradesh |
Vincent Pala | MoS, Water Resources | INC | Meghalaya |
Agatha Sangma | MoS, Rural Development | NCP | Meghalaya |
Sidhu only BJP nominee to win in 5 northern states
BJP failed to open its account in Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Delhi and Uttarakhand. In Punjab, Sidhu -- who contested from Amritsar -- was the only winner from BJP. "Despite the wave in favour of Congress I won the elections," an elated Sidhu said here.
Indian Elections - Electorate Size - Statewise (2009)
S.No | State/UT | Men | Women | Total | Men | Women | TOTAL | Final total[*] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Andhra Pradesh | 28009935 | 28642117 | 56652052 | 28390 | 7455 | 35845 | 56687897 |
2 | A & N Islands | 140295 | 123876 | 264171 | 45 | 16 | 61 | 264232 |
3 | Arunachal Pradesh | 366777 | 362700 | 729477 | 1043 | 315 | 1358 | 730835 |
4 | Assam | 9025516 | 8443442 | 17468958 | 18025 | 7319 | 25344 | 17494302 |
5 | Bihar | 29094083 | 25210125 | 54304208 | NA | NA | 46558 | 54350766 |
6 | Chandigarh | 268455 | 215527 | 483982 | 997 | 797 | 1794 | 485776 |
7 | Chhattisgarh | 7855358 | 7633215 | 15488573 | 3396 | 1812 | 5208 | 15493781 |
8 | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 83085 | 71087 | 154172 | 12 | 8 | 20 | 154192 |
9 | Daman & Diu | 47916 | 46564 | 94480 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 94490 |
10 | Goa | 510962 | 507106 | 1018068 | 555 | 253 | 808 | 1018876 |
11 | Gujarat | 18829327 | 17545383 | 36374710 | 12621 | 4425 | 17046 | 36391756 |
12 | Haryana | 6520234 | 5453791 | 11974025 | 58038 | 31194 | 89232 | 12063257 |
13 | Himachal Pradesh | 2301113 | 2239959 | 4541072 | 45559 | 16751 | 62310 | 4603382 |
14 | Jammu & Kashmir [#] | 3358992 | 3113856 | 6472848 | 32229 | 6171 | 38400 | 6511248 |
15 | Jharkhand | 9432070 | 8452406 | 17884476 | 7388 | 1975 | 9363 | 17893839 |
16 | Karnataka | 20869160 | 20082939 | 40952099 | NA | NA | 32587 | 40984686 |
17 | Kerala | 10362219 | 11197224 | 21559443 | 38059 | 17191 | 55250 | 21614693 |
18 | Lakshadweep | 22559 | 21818 | 44377 | 38 | 9 | 47 | 44424 |
19 | Madhya Pradesh | 20160641 | 17878303 | 38038944 | 15479 | 7691 | 23170 | 38062114 |
20 | Maharashthra | 38086171 | 34777093 | 72863264 | NA | NA | 189168 | 73052432 |
21 | Manipur | 829717 | 897523 | 1727240 | 6978 | 1764 | 8742 | 1735982 |
22 | Meghalaya | 628925 | 648087 | 1277012 | 626 | 241 | 867 | 1277879 |
23 | Mizoram | 308547 | 317700 | 626247 | 2458 | 450 | 2908 | 629155 |
24 | Nagaland | 673083 | 644642 | 1317725 | 3616 | 440 | 4056 | 1321781 |
25 | Nct Of Delhi | 6168350 | 4896156 | 11064506 | 3036 | 1603 | 4639 | 11069145 |
26 | Orissa | 14029641 | 13087850 | 27117491 | 21065 | 9467 | 30532 | 27148023 |
27 | Puducherry | 363898 | 391605 | 755503 | 269 | 117 | 386 | 755889 |
28 | Punjab | 8738479 | 8076765 | 16815244 | 47897 | 17153 | 65050 | 16880294 |
29 | Rajasthan | 19442595 | 17485846 | 36928441 | 60784 | 29232 | 90016 | 37018457 |
30 | Sikkim | 155649 | 141931 | 297580 | 352 | 70 | 422 | 298002 |
31 | Tamil Nadu | 20721440 | 20598546 | 41319986 | 43689 | 16468 | 60157 | 41380143 |
32 | Tripura | 1063983 | 1015827 | 2079810 | 1764 | 632 | 2396 | 2082206 |
33 | Uttarakhand | 2933387 | 2797890 | 5731277 | 62378 | 27645 | 90023 | 5821300 |
34 | Uttar Pradesh | 63433023 | 52756360 | 116189383 | NA | NA | 234718 | 116424101 |
35 | West Bengal | 27488528 | 24874147 | 52362675 | 41871 | 17070 | 58941 | 52421616 |
TOTAL[*] | 372324113 | 340649406 | 712973519 | 558665 | 225736 | 784401 | 714260951 |