
Aam Aadmi Party released the first shortlist of 44 probable candidates for 12 seats in the forthcoming Delhi Assembly elections. Names that leap out of the list are those of Manish Sisodia from Patpartganj, Sazia Ilmi from RK Puram and Somnath Bharti from Malaviya Nagar. AAP's list of probables also has former Congress and BJP workers such as Bheem Singh and Kishori Lal Dhanak who haven't contested an election yet. Of the 106 applicants for 12 seats, 44 made it to the first shortlist. The first round of screening was done by a screening committee of seven - Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, Vinod Binny, Dilip Kumar Pandey, Rajan Prakash, Ashish Talwar and Nisha Singh. There will be a second round of screening followed by preferential voting by active volunteers from each area before the number comes down to 12. The final decision will be taken by the Political Affairs Committee of the party. While Arvind Kejriwal has made it clear that he would contest, there is no decision yet regarding the constituency he would seek to represent.
Kejriwal talks about how AAP's selection process is a way to "cleanse politics" while challenging the BJP and the Congress not to field tainted candidates.
Here's the transcript of the full interview:
CNN-IBN: How is your process of selection of candidates different from that of other parties?...
more

12:44 PM, May 25, 2013

New Delhi: Gearing up for its electoral debut in the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday announced the names of 44 shortlisted candidates for 12 constituencies. "The final 12 would be selected after recommendations of grassroot level workers and selection committee after proper consultation and debate among them," AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal told reporters while announcing the list of shortlisted candidates. He said the candidates were...

08:57 AM, May 25, 2013

At a meeting with party workers in Delhi ahead of state elections this year, Rahul Gandhi admonished them. Rahul said that he will not shy away from disciplining them, unlike Congress President Sonia Gandhi. ...

10:24 AM, May 24, 2013

New Delhi: With Assembly election just months away, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asked party leaders in Delhi to work unitedly to ensure a fourth successive victory for the party in the polls and sent out a clear message that indiscipline will not be tolerated by him. At around five-hour long interaction with separate groups of Congress workers at DPCC office in Central Delhi, Rahul underlined the need...

08:38 AM, May 24, 2013

Ranchi: A policeman has accused Independent MLA Chamra Linda of assaulting him at the Jharkhand Assembly while he was on duty. On the basis of the complaint by the constable Umanath Saha, police filed an FIR with the Jagannathpur police station in Ranchi on Thursday. According to the FIR, Linda on Wednesday night allegedly got infuriated and "beat up" the policeman on duty near the gates when the latter asked...

11:03 PM, May 23, 2013

Ranchi: BJP President Rajnath Singh on Monday demanded immediate dissolution of Jharkhand Assembly to give the people an opportunity for a fresh mandate. Raising the party's demand again for dissolution of the House, Singh told reporters that the people should get a chance to elect their representatives instead of living under President's rule. Jharkhand Assembly is under suspended animation from January 18, 2013 when President's Rule was imposed following the...

02:14 AM, May 21, 2013

Rajnandgaon: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said only BJP had challenged the prevailing vote-bank politics in the country. At a rally in Rajnandgaon, the Assembly constituency of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, Modi said before BJP came to power in December 2003, there was no growth in this mineral-rich state. "The country has witnessed vote-bank politics for fifty years. After gaining power through vote-bank politics, leaders subsequently promoted...

10:24 PM, May 18, 2013

Bangalore: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the session of the Karnataka Legislature is likely to be convened for a few days from May 29. After expanding the ministry inducting 28 members, he chaired a Cabinet meeting and told reporters later, "Most likely the Legislature session will be convened from May 29." He said senior Congress leader and former Minister Kagodu Thimmappa would be elected as the Speaker of the...

05:54 PM, May 18, 2013

Bangalore: The four-day old Siddaramaiah ministry in Karnataka will be expanded on Saturday with the induction of 29 ministers, an exercise from which the "tainted" would be kept out. Siddaramaiah, who was sworn in as the Chief Minister on May 13 marking return of Congress to power after a seven-year hiatus, however, ruled out induction of any Deputy Chief Minister. Twenty-nine ministers will be sworn in at Raj Bhavan, the...

06:04 PM, May 17, 2013

Jaipur: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi met party workers and office bearers here on Thursday while continuing his task of collecting feedback over the party's prospects in the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, party sources said. Rahul arrived in Rajasthan's Bikaner district on Wednesday to hold "feedback meetings" with the party's workers. He left for Jaipur in the evening. Assembly polls are scheduled in Congress-ruled Rajasthan at the year-end....

07:33 PM, May 16, 2013

United Nations: India abstained from voting on the Arab-backed, US supported resolution on Syria in the UN General Assembly, which called for a political transition. India was joined by 58 other countries who abstained in General Assembly voting on the non-binding resolution, which was passed by 107 votes on Wednesday. Twelve countries, including Russia voted against it. In August 2012, a similar resolution had received 133 votes. Pakistan voted in...

07:20 AM, May 16, 2013

New Delhi: Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and is believed to have apprised her about the party's preparation for the upcoming Assembly polls. The meeting lasted for around 35 minutes. Dikshit is poised to seek an unprecedented fourth term as Delhi's Chief Minister when assembly polls are held in November. She has already asked partymen to start preparations for the election. There has...

10:24 PM, May 15, 2013

Jaipur: The political scenario in Rajasthan will be analysed at meetings that Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will hold from Wednesday to chalk out a strategy ahead of Rajasthan Assembly polls slated for later this year. "Gandhi will arrive in Bikaner from Delhi where he will chair three meetings - one of executive and office bearers of 15 District Congress Committees, second of NSUI and Youth Congress representatives and the...

06:15 PM, May 14, 2013

After being forced to put up with a government for the last five years which saw politicians indulging in acts ranging from widespread corruption to watching porn in the Assembly, which saw three chief ministers at work and one of them deserting a national party to form his own regional outfit, what do the people of Karnataka expect from their new chief minister? Does he have it in him to...

04:42 PM, May 14, 2013

Seoni: Madhya Pradesh Assembly Deputy Speaker and senior Congress leader Harvansh Singh died in the wee hours on Tuesday following a cardiac arrest. Singh, 65, is survived by wife, two sons and a daughter. The Deputy Speaker, also a former minister, suffered heart attack at his house in his ancestor village Barra of Seoni district, from where he was rushed to Chapara for medical aid, his family said. A doctor...

09:53 AM, May 14, 2013

Siddaramaiah, sworn in today as the new Karnataka chief minister, has the twin responsibilities of delivering a clean government and cementing the Congress party's fortunes in the next general elections. With both the UPA-2 and the last Karnataka government being badgered by vever-ending scams and scandals, he surely has his task cut out. Sachidananda Murthy, resident editor, Malayala Manorama and The Week, joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the...

07:13 PM, May 13, 2013

Islamabad/Lahore: Party-wise National Assembly results: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) - 125 (Unofficial, Geo News) Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) - 31 (Unofficial, Geo News) Independent - 31 (Unofficial, Geo News) Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) - 32 (Unofficial, Geo News) Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI) - 10 (Unofficial, Geo News) Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) - 3 Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) - 3 Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) - 17 Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) - 2 National Party...

12:17 AM, May 13, 2013

Islamabad/Lahore: Party-wise National Assembly results: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) - 125 (Unofficial, Geo News) Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) - 31 (Unofficial, Geo News) Independent - 31 (Unofficial, Geo News) Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) - 32 (Unofficial, Geo News) Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI) - 10 (Unofficial, Geo News) Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) - 3 Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) - 3 Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) - 17 Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) - 2 National Party...

12:17 AM, May 13, 2013

Tehreek-I-Insaaf General Secretary Yasmin Rashid said that the youth and women of Pakistan voted for Imran Khan. ...

11:58 PM, May 12, 2013

Nawaz Sharif was poised for a record third term as Pakistan's Prime Minister with his Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) party on Sunday taking an unassailable lead in parliamentary elections, which was welcomed by India with whom he pledged to restart the peace process. ...

11:40 PM, May 12, 2013