Bhubaneswar: Striking hard at those who allegedly plotted an unsuccessful coup against him, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday sacked a third minister amid speculation that more heads are likely to roll soon. Housing and Urban Development Minister Sarada Prasad Nayak was shown the door three days after Patnaik dismissed two other ministers Anjali Behera and Sanjeev Sahu for allegedly conspiring to topple his government. "I have forwarded a...
07:26 PM, Jun 04, 2012
Bhubaneswar: Coming down heavily on the rebels in the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday suspended Lok Sabha MP Pyari Mohan Mahapatra, two ministers and two MLAs from the party. The ministers who have been suspended from the party are Anjali Behera and Sanjeev Sahoo. On Tuesday, more than 25 BJD MLAs and four ministers had met Patnaik's rival Mahapatra at his residence in Bhubaneswar...
06:48 PM, Jun 01, 2012
Though Pyari Mohan Mohapatra, the BJD MP and chief advisor to Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, was at the helm of affairs in the BJD ...
11:25 AM, Jun 01, 2012
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik will be meeting party colleagues on Friday. Patnaik came back to Bhubaneswar on Thursday night to a grand welcome by partymen who came in huge numbers to show solidarity after a rebellion by Naveen's confidant and BJD MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra on Tuesday. The revolt led by Pyari took place while Patnaik was on a week-long official tour to the UK...
07:51 AM, Jun 01, 2012
Bhubaneswar: BJD MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra on Wednesday claimed that Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was encircled by a group of conspirators comprising ministers, parliamentarians and MLAs who were trying to topple his government. "The conspirators comprising, ministers, MPs and MLAs want to topple Patnaik in order to fulfil their vested interests," he claimed but declined to name them. "The group of conspirators are misleading the chief minister. They feel...
10:41 PM, May 30, 2012
Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra on Wednesday dismissed reports of any split within the party and said that Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik continues to be the party leader. BJD MP Jay Panda also said that there was no rebellion within the BJD. "We have had a lot of discussions earlier. There is no dissidence in the party. Grievances have increased because the party organisation is...
10:20 AM, May 30, 2012
Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is heading towards a split with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's confidante and BJD MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra has reportedly turned rebellious against him. CNN-IBN has now learnt that Patnaik is cutting short his first visit to London in ten years and rushing home. Reacting to the crisis he said, "I understand that in my absence an MP of my party is stirring trouble...
08:27 AM, May 30, 2012
Bhubaneswar: In a possible revolt against the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha, more than 25 Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLAs and four ministers the Chief Minister's rival Pyari Mohan Mahapatra at his residence in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. Notably, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is currently in London and scheduled to return on June 1. According to BJD vice president Damodar Rout, some MLAs met Pyari Mohan Mahapatra and are planning to...
10:52 PM, May 29, 2012
London: As human rights campaigners alleged that Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had pulled out of a lecture scheduled at Brighton on Monday, his aides insisted that there were no plans for a lecture at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). V K Pandian, private secretary to the Chief Minister, said that the plan was to share experience and benefit from inputs from IDS experts on malnutrition and poverty reduction...
08:36 PM, May 25, 2012
Bhubaneswar: With Naveen Patnaik supporting NCP leader PA Sangma as a presidential candidate for being a tribal, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday asked the Odisha Chief Minister to ensure justice to a large number of innocent tribals "unfairly" jailed in the state. "Clearly something must be done urgently to ensure justice to innocent and unfairly jailed adivasis or to those adivasis who are in jail on very flimsy ground,"...
01:17 AM, May 24, 2012
New Delhi: NCP leader and former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma, in a bid to win over UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi apologised to her on the foreign origin issue of 1999. "I had apologised to Sonia Gandhi on the foreign origin issue," Sangma said. This came after Sonia snubbed him denying him an appointment. Sangma's dream of becoming the next President of India suffered a major blow on Tuesday as...
09:34 AM, May 23, 2012
There are reports that both the Congress and the NCP won't back PA Sangma's candidature for the President's post. ...
11:17 PM, May 22, 2012
New Delhi: President Pratibha Devisingh Patil's term comes to an end on July 25 and the race for her successor is heating up. While the two major national parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are yet to reveal their candidates for the next occupant of the Rashtrapati Bhawan, former Lok Sabha speaker and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader PA Sangma has thrown in his hat in the...
03:26 PM, May 22, 2012
New Delhi: NCP leader and former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma has said that he was a serious candidate for the President's post. He met BJD chief and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at his residence on Tuesday. The two leaders discussed Sangma's prospects as a Presidential candidate. Praising Sangma, Patnaiik said that Sangma was by far the best Presidential candidate. "Without doubt, he is by far the best candidate...
11:33 AM, May 22, 2012
BJD Chief Naveen Patnaik will meet NCP leader and former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma at his residence on Tuesday to discuss Sangma's prospects as a presidential candidate. Speaking to Prabhu Chawla on IBN 7, Sangma dismissed reports of dropping out of the race and said he was still in the running for the country's highest office. Following is an excerpt from the interview: Prabhu Chawla: Are you in the...
09:31 AM, May 22, 2012
New Delhi: The BJP top brass have discussed PA Sangma's candidature for the President's post at a meeting. The party will take a final decision after consultations with the other UPA allies. Earlier on Sunday, AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa had spoken to senior BJP leader LK Advani, expressing support for Sangma. Meanwhile, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said that the consultations were still on over the Congress's choice for...
12:06 PM, May 21, 2012
New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar pulled up party leader and former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma for projecting himself as a Presidential candidate. This came a day after the BJD and AIADMK supported the candidature of the former Lok Sabha speaker. The NCP had made it clear that the party couldn't aspire for such a big post as it didn't have the numbers. Odisha Chief Minister...
09:50 AM, May 18, 2012
New Delhi: There's a new name in the growing list of Presidential hopefuls. For the first time on Thursday, two political parties came out with a joint name for President. Former Speaker PA Sangma, who had been lobbying for a Scheduled Tribe as the next President, has got support from AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. However, Sangma so far has failed to get his own party,...
09:30 PM, May 17, 2012
New Delhi: Indicating that it was not impressed by AIADMK and BJD's decision to support NCP leader PA Sangma for President, BJP on Thursday said it will take a call on the candidature for the top post and is unlikely to rally behind the former Lok Sabha Speaker. Sangma's possible candidature for Presidential poll became a talking point when AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik extended their...
08:40 PM, May 17, 2012
New Delhi: Another name has now came up in the race for the next President of India. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has said that the BJD and the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK will support NCP leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma. Patnaik's announcement follows his recent meeting with AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa in Chennai. The former Lok Sabha speaker had met Jayalalithaa two days ago. Jayalalithaa said, "Following a letter...
03:09 PM, May 17, 2012
