AKHIL DEBUT

MODI CABINET EXPANDED

Manohar Parrikar, tipped to get Defence portfolio, and former Shiv Sainik Suresh Prabhu were today inducted into the Union Cabinet as Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought in 21 new faces into his Council of Ministers but Shiv Sena stuck a jarring note holding back a senior leader from joining the government. The already-strained BJP-Sena ties further dipped today when Prabhu, Power minister in Vajpayee government, deserted the Sena and joined BJP this morning to take oath as a Cabinet minister.
Senior BJP leader J P Nadda and Jat leader from Haryana Birender Singh, who joined BJP ahead of recent Assembly elections also took oath as Cabinet ministers.
Bandaru Dattatreya and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who were ministers in Vajpayee government, and Mahesh Sharma, newly-elected MP from Gautam Buddh Nagar bordering Delhi, were sworn-in as Ministers of State with Independent Charge. 14 other Ministers of State were sworn-in. They are Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Ram Kripal Yadav, Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary, Sanwar Lal Jat and Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya Giriraj Singh, Hansraj Ahir, Ram Shankar Katheria, Jayant Sinha, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Babul Supriyo, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Vijay Sampla (all BJP) and Y S Chowdary, a Rajya Sabha member from TDP. This is the first expansion of his ministry by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he assumed power in May. Parrikar is all set to be given Defence portfolio, which is held as additional charge by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. 

On a day of dramatic developments, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray kept the door open saying BJP should come clear on whether it wants to take NCP's support in Maharashtra in two or three days.
"If BJP wants to go with NCP, then our path will be different. We are prepared to sit in the Opposition," Thackeray told the media after a meeting with party leaders late in the evening. The new BJP government in Maharashtra is to face a trial of strength on Tuesday after which the Sena would finalise its strategy vis a vis BJP.
Sena's Rajya Sabha member, Anil Desai, who was tipped to become a minister, was ordered to return to Mumbai from the airport here just hours before the swearing in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which said he was not available "for the purpose".
Against Sena's demand for two more Cabinet berths, the party was reportedly told by BJP President Amit Shah that only one post of the Minister of State was possible for Desai. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray then decided to call it off.
The party is also said to be planning to withdraw Anant Geete, Heavy Industry Minister, from the Modi government and sit in the opposition in Maharashtra Assembly. Significantly, Naqvi, BJP Vice President and a minister in the Vajpayee government, was only made a Minister of State, and Rudy became MoS with Independent Charge but eyebrows went up when Mahesh Sharma, a first time member of Lok Sabha, was made Minister of State with Independent Charge. Ahir was rewarded for his relentless campaign as a whistle-blower in the coal block allocation scam.
Among those rewarded with ministerial berths were Giriraj Singh, Lok Sabha member from Bihar who had made a controversial statement that the place for Muslims who do not like Modi is in Pakistan and Ram Kripal Yadav, a former RJD leader who defeated Lalu Prasad's daughter in Patliputra on BJP ticket. The induction of Rudy, who defeated Lalu's wife Rabri Devi in Saran, Giriraj Singh and Yadav is seen as an attempt to woo various caste groups in Bihar which will go to Assembly polls next year.

The strength of the Union Council of Ministers goes up from 45 to 66. Of this, 27 including the Prime Minister are of Cabinet rank, 13 Ministers of State with Independent Charge and 26 Ministers of State.
One-third of today's induction and overall strength of the ministry comes from heartland Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The swearing-in ceremony was attended among others by Vice President Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson P J Kurien, Modi and his Cabinet colleagues, BJP President Amit Shah and L K Advani. Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states Vasundhara Raje, Raman Singh, Devendra Fadnavis and Manohar Lal Khattar and
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu of TDP were also present while none from Congress attended the ceremony.
Ahead of the swearing-in, the new ministers had a breakfast meeting with Modi at his Race Course residence. An IIT graduate, 58-year-old Parrikar shares an excellent rapport with Modi and has a reputation for probity and administrative skills. Prabhu also earned his reputation as a skillful operator and reformer as Power minister in Vajpayee government but was suddenly pulled out of the ministry by Shiv Sena. Ever since has has not been seen as an active Sainik. Dattatreya's inclusion gives representation to the new Telangana state in the Union ministry while Rudy makes a comeback into the government. All the other Ministers of State are newcomers and first-time MPs except Naqvi, Rudy and Yadav, who had been a Member of Parliament either of the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha. 

HARYANA NEW CM KHATTAR

BJP TO WIN MAHA, HARYANA

Exit polls project BJP as largest party in Maha, Haryana New Delhi, Oct 15 (PTI) BJP was today projected in exit polls to emerge as the largest party in both Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections stopping short of majority.
The Congress and NCP, which were ruling Maharashtra for 15 years before they split ahead of the elections, were projected to lose heavily while Shiv Sena was predicted to emerge as the second largest party.
One exit poll conducted by 'Today's Chanakya', however, gave a clear majority for BJP in both Maharashtra and Haryana.
Maharashtra, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned extensively addressing 27 rallies, appears to be heading for a BJP government for the first time in the state's history.
According to C-voter exit poll telecast on Times Now and Zee News channels, BJP was projected to get 129 out of 288 seats. Its erstwhile ally Shiv Sena was projected to get 56 seats while Congress was predicted to bag 43, NCP 36, MNS 12 and others 12. For a majority, a party has to get 145 seats.
In the outgoing assembly, BJP had 47 seats while Shiv Sena had 45. Congress had 82 seats, NCP 62 and MNS had 12.
Exit poll conducted by AC Nielson for ABP channel gave BJP 127 seats, Shiv Sena 77, Congress 40, NCP 34 and MNS 5.
An exit poll telecast on India TV gave BJP between 124 and 134 seats, Shiv Sena 51-61, Congress 38-48, NCP 31-41 and MNS and others 9-15 each.
Today's Chanakya exit poll telecast on News24 channel gave BJP a clear majority with 151 seats while Shiv Sena was given 71. Congress was given 27 while NCP 28. MNS was projected to get 11.
The same pollster projected clear majority for BJP in Haryana, giving it 52 of the 90 seats. INLD comes second with 23 seats, Congress 10 and others 5.
In the outgoing Assembly, Congress had 40 seats, BJP had only four, INLD 31 and HJC 6. Others had 9.

SENA BJP SEEKS CHANGE

Political parties in Maharashtra formally got into poll-mode as the date for Assembly elections was announced today with ruling Congress-NCP banking on their "development" record while the Opposition pushed for "change". Congress and NCP, ruling the state for 15 years, said they have put behind the Lok Sabha election debacle and were confident of defying the anti-incumbency factor to pull off a fourth straight win at the hustings. Buoyed by the success in Parliamentary polls, the Shiv Sena-BJP-led combine is making a determined bid to capture power after being in Opposition since 1999. Congress and NCP, whose seat-sharing talks are deadlocked over the number of seats each of them would be fighting in the 288-member Assembly, have already started their election campaign separately. State Congress president Manikrao Thakre and NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said the seat-sharing formula is likely to be announced in 2-3 days. "We are focusing on the development works done by the state government in the last 15 years. We will also tell people how the tall promises made by Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha campaign have remained a pipe dream," they said. "Congress is positive about continuing its alliance with NCP," Thakre maintained, while Malik said a decision on the poll pact would be arrived at by Monday. Malik said NCP will formally kick-start its election campaign from Kolhapur on September 16. Congress will once again bank on its star campaigners like party chief Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi. It will also invite other Central leaders. Thakre said a campaign strategy is being finalised and the party is likely to invite leaders like Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Mallikarjun Kharge for poll rallies. Malik said NCP president Sharad Pawar would share stage with Sonia Gandhi at rallies, while the party's youth brigade would address joint rallies with Rahul Gandhi. Meanwhile, state BJP president Devendra Fadanvis said the state is ready for "parivartan" (change). "The Sena-BJP-led 'Mahayuti' (grand alliance) is confident of wresting power from the Congress-NCP and we would achieve this goal with help of the people of Maharashtra." Fadanvis expressed confidence that seat-sharing talks for the October 15 elections with 'Mahayuti' allies will be completed in 2-3 days. Neelam Gorhe, Shiv Sena spokesperson, said time has come to bring a change in the state which has seen "poor governance" in the last one-and-a-half decade.

MAHARASTRA & HARYANA GO TO POLLS

Assembly elections will be held in Maharashtra and Haryana in a single phase on October 15 that may well be the first for the 'Modi wave' after the Lok Sabha polls.
Counting of votes in the two states will take place on October 19, the Election Commission announced today.
Giving details of the poll chedule, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath said apart from the elections in the two states, bye-elections will also be held on the same day in five assembly seats in five states--Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
Bye-elections to two Lok Sabha constituencies of Beed in Maharashtra and Kandhamal in Odisha will also be held on October 15 and counting of votes in all the seats will also take place on October 19.
Haryana is now ruled by Congress while Congress-NCP coalition runs the Maharashtra government.
The BJP and its allies in the NDA did very well in both the states in the May Lok Sabha elections. In Maharashtra, the NDA won 42 of the 48 seats while in Haryana the BJP won 7 of the 10 seats.
However, in the Assembly bye-elections in Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, the BJP suffered a jolt, especially in Bihar, where the JD(U)-RJD alliance got the better of the saffron party.
Tomorrow, another round of by elections is being held in three Lok Sabha and 33 Assembly seats in 10 states.
The Beed Lok Sabha seat fell vacant following the death of senior BJP leader Union minister Gopinath Munde in a road accident here in June and the Kandhamal seat following the demise of BJP MP Hemendra Chandra Singh a few days ago.
The Model Code of Conduct comes into effect immediately in Maharashtra and Haryana and in all the districts where bypolls are being held, Sampath said.
Notification for polls will be issued on September 20 and last date for filing nomination is September 27 for all seats except Kandhamal for which the notification will be on September 19 and last date of nomination is September 26.
Asked about elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which is witnessing worst-ever floods, Sampath said the Commission was watching the situation very closely and "a decision will be taken after things come to some shape".
The term of 90-member Haryana assembly expires on October 27 while that of Maharashtra, which has 288 seats, ends on November 8.
"We still have time for Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
The term of the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly ends on January 3 next year, while that of the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly expires on January 19.