Sanjay Raut appointed Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party chief
Mumbai, Sep 18: Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has been appointed the chief of its Parliamentary Party, a party official said here on Tuesday.
A close confidant of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Executive Editor of party mouthpiece 'Saamana', Raut, 56, will now exercise complete control over the entire Sena flock of 21 members in Parliament, said the official.
The party, a part of the National Democratic Alliance, has 18 Lok Sabha members headed by Anandrao Adsul, and three in the Rajya Sabha led by Raut.
Raut's appointment, the first ever for the party, became effective after Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan late last month, seeking the arrangement as a "facilitative measure."
Thackeray's decision has been prompted by a faux pas in July when Shiv Sena Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha, Chandrakant Khaire, had issued a whip to the party MPs to vote in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government during the Opposition's no-confidence motion.
Later, Thackeray removed Khaire as the Chief Whip and said that the party's decision was to abstain from voting, which was finally adhered to.
The party has also been haunted by the spectre of alleged attempts to poach its MPs by the BJP, but Raut's aggressive image and plainspeak is expected to deter any such move.
Raut, who will continue to lead as the Rajya Sabha party leader, is also expected to infuse toughness in dealing with the BJP on various issues on which the Sena was seen to be going soft, besides curbing intra-party tussles among its MPs.
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“Full prepared..going to win,” Congress MP KC Venugopal ahead of Kerala polls
EC not functioning as a neutral institution: Venugopal
Congress MP K. C. Venugopal on Monday raised concerns over the election schedule announced by the Election Commission of India for the upcoming Kerala Assembly election, questioning the timing of the poll dates and alleging that the schedule leaves limited time for campaigning.
Speaking to news agency ANI in Delhi after the poll panel announced elections in five states and Union Territories, Venugopal said that the Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) are fully prepared for the elections and confident of victory. At the same time, he questioned the pattern of dates announced by the Election Commission.
“We are fully prepared, we are going to win the elections... You can see how the Election Commission has set the dates. The first phase of elections is on the 9th, nominations are due until the 23rd, scrutiny is on the 24th, nominations can be withdrawn until the 26th, and after that, there are 11 days for campaigning,” he said.
“As for Kerala, there is Easter and Good Friday in the first week...The Election Commission could have announced the dates earlier... The counting date is on May 4th, so what was the point of holding elections in Kerala so early? What is their intention behind holding elections on the same day in Kerala, Puducherry, and Assam?... We are confident that we will win, but the people of the country are seeing the biased attitude of the Election Commission...,” he added.
He further stated that his party was ready for elections irrespective of the dates announced by the poll body.
“We are going to win the election. India's strategy has been set up. And we are all ready for winning this election. But one thing as far as declaring election, even though they are giving only for five days, we are going to win the election. We have no problem,” he said.
Detailing the poll schedule while questioning the time available for campaigning, he stated, “but you can see the pattern of date which the election commission announced. Yesterday they declared election, and today they notified us. The first phase of election on April 9th, filing of nomination will be over on the 23rd of this month, 24th scrutiny, 26th withdrawal of nomination. After 26, four plus seven, 11 days campaign.”
“As far as Kerala is concerned, April first week is a holy week. The holiday week means, Good Friday is there. Nobody will do anything on Good Friday. Easter is the big festival. These festivals are natural, you have to see that. Among the 11 days, working days, two, three days will go for holidays. Then hardly seven, eight days for campaigning in this election for candidates,” the Congress MP questioned.
The Congress leader said the Election Commission could have announced the dates earlier if there was a need for an early election schedule.
Questioning the urgency behind placing Kerala in the first phase of polling, he added that the counting date is much later.
“Which is the date of counting? Fourth May. Then what is the urgency of putting Kerala in the first phase without giving sufficient time for candidates? And putting Kerala, Puducherry, Assam together, what is the intention behind that?” Venugopal questioned.
He also alleged that the Election Commission was not functioning as a neutral institution.
“The Election commission is completely losing that capacity as a neutral player. You can see 14 of our prime minister's programs over and on the 15th they announce the election, 16th notification comes,” he said.
Venugopal further stated that such tactics would not affect the Congress’ prospects in the election.
“They think that this type of techniques and tactics, because of these techniques and tactics, UDF is going to lose, and Congress is going to lose. This is their complete dream only. This is not going to happen. We are very much confident at any cost, whether they are not giving any time also, we are going to win the election,” he said.
“But the people of India are watching this. The tricks of the election commission. To restrict the campaign, people of India are watching. This I want to bring into the notice of the nation. That's all,” Venugopal said.
The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced the schedule for the Kerala Assembly election. Polling in the state will be held in a single phase on April 9 while the counting of votes is scheduled to take place on May 4.
