Congress will contest around 440 seats: Jairam Ramesh

September 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) late Tuesday formally announced they will contest the Oct 13 Maharashtra assembly polls together. The Congress and the NCP will contest 174 and 114 seats respectively, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, state Congress president Manikrao Thakre and NCP leader Praful Patel told mediapersons at the Congress headquarters here.

September 19th, 2009 NEW YORK - Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said developed countries should not expect miracles at the Copenhagen Climate Summit to be held in December. Ramesh said the goals sought for emission control by the developed countries should be more realistic.

September 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress party on Thursday announced that it will contest 174 seats in the October 13 assembly elections in Maharashtra, while its partner, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will contest 114. Addressing the media here, Chaudhary Virendra Singh, who oversees Congress affairs in the state of Maharashtra, said, the seat-sharing arrangement has been finalised after several rounds of talks.

September 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is ready to concede more seats to its ally Congress in the Maharashtra assembly elections and seat sharing talks between them are going on smoothly, NCP leader Praful Patel said Wednesday. "The Congress contested a large number of seats last time, they will contest more seats this time.

September 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is ready to concede more seats to its ally Congress in the Maharashtra elections and seat sharing talks between them are going on smoothly, NCP leader Praful Patel said Wednesday. "The Congress contested a large number of seats last time, they will contest more seats this time.

July 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, known for his opposition to the use of English, Wednesday asked union minister Jairam Ramesh to reply to his question in Hindi, saying this was "the Lok Sabha, not London". Mulayam Singh had raised a query during question hour for Ramesh, the minister of state for environment and forest, on the "indiscriminate felling of trees in Lucknow and Noida".

March 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Sunday said that his party and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) would contest all seats in Bihar. "The RJD and the LJP will contest all seats in Bihar," Prasad said.

March 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Party on Saturday announced that it will contest 37 of the 40 seats in Bihar, leaving only three seats for the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). "We have decided to contest 37 seats in Bihar.

March 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has finalised the seat-sharing arrangement in Maharashtra for upcoming Lok Sabha elections. All India Congress Committee (AICC) media department chief M.

March 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Deciding to go it alone in Bihar, the Congress Saturday said it would contest 37 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The decision comes days after a jolt from its allies Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) which unilaterally decided to stitch up a pre-poll tie-up in Bihar and contest 37 seats between themselves.

March 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Ram Vilas Paswan and Lalu Prasad, leaders of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) respectively, held an emergency meeting on Thursday evening. The meeting came after Congress that it might contest over 26 seats in the Lok Sabha polls from Bihar, where the RJD and the LJP have a seat-sharing arrangement.

March 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Party will contest 14 out of 42 seats of West Bengal, where as its ally the Trinamool Congress (TC) will contest from 28 seats. Announcing the seat sharing agreement, AICC in-charge of West Bengal K Keshav Rao that they have entered into a seat sharing pact with the TC with the objective of ending the over 30 years of misrule of the CPI-M, which has shattered the economy of West Bengal.

February 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress president Sonia Gandhi Saturday appointed former union minister Jairam Ramesh as the party's co-ordinator for the coming Lok Sabha elections. 'The Congress president has approved the appointment of Jairam Ramesh as co-ordinator for Lok Sabha elections-related affairs,' a statement released by Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said.

February 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Minister of State for Commerce, Industry and Power Jairam Ramesh resigned from the council of ministers Wednesday to concentrate on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Ramesh, who is a Rajya Sabha member from the Congress, told IANS: 'Yes, I have resigned as a minister.' Asked about the reasons, he said: 'To concentrate on campaigning yaar (friend).'

February 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Minister of State for Commerce, Industry and Power Jairam Ramesh resigned from the council of ministers Wednesday to concentrate on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Ramesh, who is a Rajya Sabha member from the Congress, told IANS: 'Yes, I have resigned as a minister.' Asked about the reasons, he said: 'To concentrate on campaigning yaar (friend).' Ramesh added: 'I have resigned with the full consent to serve my party to help in the ensuing elections.