Congress names Azad and Soz for Rajya Sabha from Kashmir

June 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Both Houses will discuss the Motion of Thanks on the President's address today. ormer Union Minister Girija Vyas and senior Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi will begin discussions in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

May 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Ghulam Nabi Azad and Farooq Abdullah - the two cabinets members from Jammu and Kashmir in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's council of ministers - were Thursday named new ministers of health and and renewable energy, respectively. Azad, who forms a part of the Congress' think tank and played a crucial role in ministerial berth sharing talks with the DMK, will be the minister of health and family welfare.

March 14th, 2009 JAMMU - The National Conference (NC) and the Congress have reached an agreement to share seats for by-elections in Jammu and Kashmir, necessitated after two former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad vacated their assembly seats on being elected to the Rajya Sabha. The NC will contest two of the three assembly seats going to polls.

March 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Thursday named senior party leader N. Janardana Reddy as its candidate for a by-election to the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh.

March 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - By-polls to three assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir will be held April 23 and May 7, the Election Commission said here Tuesday. By-polls in the Hazratbal, Sonawar and Bhaderwah assembly constituencies were necessitated after National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress, who were elected from these seats, resigned after getting elected to the Rajya Sabha.

March 2nd, 2009 BANGALORE - The Congress in Karnataka Sunday finalised names of probable candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and sent the list to Delhi for the party central leadership's approval. The list contains names of two or three candidates for each of the 28 seats.

February 25th, 2009 JAMMU - The newly elected Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly is meeting Wednesday for the budget session and the first item on its agenda is to elect a speaker, officials said Tuesday. The ruling National Conference, party sources said, has decided to stake its claim for the post and will be fielding former deputy speaker Mohammed Akbar Lone.

February 24th, 2009 JAMMU - The newly elected Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly is set to meet Wednesday and the first item on its agenda is to elect a new speaker, officials said Tuesday. 'The House (legislative assembly) will meet at 10 a.m.

February 22nd, 2009 JAMMU - Senior Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's resignation from the state assembly was accepted Saturday. Azad resigned from the membership of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly Thursday after his election to the Rajya Sabha.

February 12th, 2009 JAMMU - National Conference president and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah and his party colleague Mohammad Shafi Uri were Friday elected to the Rajya Sabha. Abdullah polled 27 votes while Uri got 25.

February 5th, 2009 JAMMU - Former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz, both from the Congress, were declared elected unopposed from Jammu and Kashmir to the Rajya Sabha Friday after the scrutiny of nomination papers. The two filed their nomination papers Tuesday against two seats.

February 2nd, 2009 JAMMU - Former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah (National Conference) and Ghulam Nabi Azad and union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz (both Congress) were among the five candidates who Tuesday filed their nominations for four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir. The others who filed nominations Tuesday - the last date for filing nominations - were Mohammad Shafi Uri of the National Conference (NC) and A.V.

February 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Monday renominated Vayalar Ravi, minister of overseas Indian affairs and parliamentary affairs, for the Rajya Sabha election from Kerala. 'Congress president (Sonia Gandhi) has re-nominated Vayalar Ravi for Rajya Sabha election from Kerala,' a statement issued here said.

January 28th, 2009 KOCHI - The Congress party will announce its candidate from Kerala to the Rajya Sabha Jan 30, a senior party leader said Thursday. Senior Congress leader and United Democratic Front (UDF) convenor P.P.

December 31st, 2008 NEW DELHI - The National Conference (NC)-led Jammu and Kashmir coalition ministry is likely to be sworn in Jan 5, as agreement with the Congress over the modalities of ministry formation was reached here Thursday. Leaders of the Congress and the NC - the alliance partners in the state, which has been without an elected government since July - met in the national capital to work out the details of the alliance.