Page 1019 - Politics
Maldives: Polling concludes, vote counting begins
Voting for the 87-member Maldives Parliament concluded on Saturday in the island nation, with a total of 386 candidates from 10 parties vying for a seat at the People's Majlis for the next five years.According to Maldives Independent, the vote counting has begun and with 207,360 votes cast, the Maldives witnessed a turnout of 78 per cent. The polling was extended for two hours.The Elections Commission is yet to update the elections results on the website but several media outlets have already begun posting provisional seat counts.President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who came into power in 2018 after defeating Abdullah Yameen in the high-stakes Presidential elections last September, cast his ballot for the 19th Parliament on Saturday. He urged all eligible voters to participate in the third parliamentary elections.His Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) needs at least 44 seats in the ongoing elections to implement the promises made during last year's Presidential campaign. Former President ...
Congress considers middle class greedy, selfish: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress party of planning to burden the middle class with more taxes to fund its poll manifesto promise, which he said offered nothing to the middle class.Termed the Congress manifesto as 'dakosla patra' (fraud document), Modi said: "The NDA government's decision of waiving income tax up to Rs 5 lakh has brought numerous benefits to the middle class. Congress has clarified that they consider the country's middle class greedy and selfish and therefore they talk about putting the burden of tax on the middle class. So much tax that it will create problems for the middle class, the Prime Minister said while addressing an election rally here.Stating that the middle class is the biggest power to run the country, the Prime Minister urged people to be "alert as a watchman" as whenever the Congress is faced with a crisis it makes false promises and then becomes Gajni (a movie character who suffers from memory loss).Modi's comments come in .
NCP chief hits back at PM Modi for talking about Pawar family
NCP chief Sharad Pawar Saturday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for claiming there were disputes in the former's family. Pawar said the insinuation was coming from a man who did not have any experience of a family, nor does he know where they are presently. PM Modi, during a rally in Wardha on April 1, had said that Pawar was losing his grip on the Nationalist Congress Party which was hit by a "family feud". "Pawar's grip on the party is loosening. The situation is that Pawar saheb's nephew (Ajit Pawar) is trying to take control of the party. Because of this, the NCP faced problems in ticket distribution," the PM had claimed at the rally. Hitting back, Pawar Saturday said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his rally in Wardha said there are disputesin the Pawar family. That Ajit Pawar has taken control of the family and that the Pawar family is no longer united." "I would like to tell him that we brothers were raised in a cultured atmosphere and our mother ...
NDA may get 275 seats: India TV-CNX survey
The National Democratic Alliance led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi may get a thin majority with 275 seats, only three seats more than the magic mark, in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, a pre-poll survey found on Saturday.
BJP fields Jaipur princess from Rajsamand LS seat
Putting all speculation to rest, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday announced the candidature of Diya Kumari, a member of the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur, from the Rajsamand parliamentary seat.
179 farmers in poll fray to hold public meeting on April 9
Farmers in Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana, who hit the headlines after 179 of them enteredthe fray in the Lok Sabha polls to highlight their demand for remunerative price for their produce Saturday decided hold a public meeting on April 9. The 'Rythu Aikyatha Sabha' (meeting to express the unity of farmers) would be held at Armoor near Nizamabad on April 9, farmers' leaders said. The total number of candidates in the fray in Nizamabad is 185, including 179 farmers, according to official sources. The Election Commission is making elaborate arrangements to conduct the poll on April 11 (when Telangana goes to polls) in view of the high number of candidates in the fray. Meanwhile, the Chief Electoral Officers (CEO) office said that Rs 41,04,71,113 was seized as on April 6 as part of continued implementation of the model code of conduct.
VIP announces candidate for Madhubani Lok Sabha seat
The Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), a constituent of the opposition 'Mahagathbandhan' in Bihar, on Saturday announced former RJD leader Badrinath Purve as its candidate for the Madhubani Lok Sabha seat. According to a release issued by the VIP, announcement to the effect was made by the party's founding president Mukesh Sahni, who is himself contesting from Khagaria. The fledgling outfit, which was floated by the former Bollywood set designer in November last year, is contesting a total of three seats in the state the third being Muzaffarpur from where the candidature of Rajbhushan Chaudhary has been announced. Purve will take on BJP's Ashok Yadav, whose father Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav is the sitting MP from Madhubani, and has announced retirement from active politics. Among the 40 seats in the state, the 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) is yet to finalise candidates for Sheohar, which the RJD is contesting, and Valmiki Nagar which has gone to the Congress. Sheohar has .
CM accuses DMK of trying to win through 'back door'; slams
AIADMK top leader and Chief Minister K Palaniswami Saturday accused arch rival DMK of trying to secure victory in the polls through the "back door" by confusing people through false promises in its manifesto. He said no single assurance in the M K Stalin-led party's manifesto could be implemented. Waiver of crop and educational loans availed by farmers and students, bringing down the prices of LPG cylinders, scrapping the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, quota in private sector are among the poll promises of the DMK. Hiking the Income Tax exemption limit to Rs eight lakh, devolving 60 per cent of the total tax revenue of the Centre to states were among the other assurances of the DMK and it has also made separate assurances for each of the 18 Assembly seats that will witness bypolls on April 18. "Not even a single project announced in the DMK's poll manifesto can be implemented. What has Stalin done so far,? He intends securing votes by confusing people," the Chief
Govt should remove all bottlenecks for law abiding
Government should remove all bottlenecks for law abiding entrepreneurs in a quest to create jobs, Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy said Saturday. He, however, did not elaborate or indicated the bottlenecks at the convocation speech of IIM-Calcutta. Murthy said the government should be an impartial regulator. First duty as a civil servant should be an impartial regulator," he said, adding "All government should stick to minimum government and maximum governance." He said that governance and transparency should get importance. Murthy also advocated that government should resist temptation of getting into or staying into a business. "Jish desh mein sarkar byapari hota hai us desh mein log bhekhari ho jate hai (In a country where government turns into a businessman, people of that country slips into poverty), he said. Murthy said no country can progress unless every citizen is happy. He reminded Roosevelt's four freedoms: the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom to
World considers Modi a 'Feku', says Raj Thackeray
In a stinging attack, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is known as a "Feku" (fibber) the world over for his penchant of resorting to lies.
Tunisia president, 92, says doesn't plan to run for re-election
Tunisia's 92-year-old president said Saturday he did not plan to stand for re-election in the November polls, in order to make way for someone younger. "In all honesty, I don't think I will put myself forward," President Beji Caid Essebsi told the Nidaa Tounes party which he founded in 2012, adding it was time "to open the door to the youth". His speech before thousands of members at the party's congress came several days after Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the 82-year-old ailing leader of neighbouring Algeria, resigned in the face of huge protests ending two decades in power. Essebsi, Tunisia's first democratically elected president, urged his party however to overcome bitter internal divisions and to bring Prime Minister Youssef Chahed back into the fold. Tensions have flared between Chahed and Essebsi's son, Hafedh Caid Essebsi, leading to the premier being sidelined from Nidaa Tounes and forming his own rival party, Tahia Tounes. Essebsi's secularist Nidaa Tounes won the 2014 elections ...
PM Modi wasted mandate on changing names of Cong schemes: Raj
MNS chief Raj Thackeray Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi frittered away the huge mandate he had won in 2014 and spent the last five years in changing names of the schemes that were launched by the previous Congress regime. Addressing a gathering of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai, Thackeray referred to a recent statement from the US which stated that all the F-16 jets in Pakistani fleet were accounted for, contrary to the Indian government's claim that one intruding jet was shot down after the Balakot aerial strike. "Why did PM Modi lie on this? He should answer that. Modi had got such a rare opportunity, as the BJP had won the majority vote in 2014, 30 years after (late PM) Rajiv Gandhi secured such a huge mandate. What did you do in five years?" Thackeray questionned. He also drew a parallel between the "acche din" promise and a similar slogan given by the then US President Franklin Roosevelt in 1940s and by German .
Piyush Goyal attacks Rahul Gandhi, says Cong degrading politics
Union Minister of Railways and former Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday attacked Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi stating that they were degrading the value of politics.Goyal said ,"Congress is completely frustrated and have given up. They are attempting to degrade the level of the elections. Perhaps Rahul does not have the basic decency."The Union Minister referred to Rahul Gandhi's attack on Prime Minister stating that Narendra Modi had booted out his guru L K Advani and did not practice the basic tenets of Hinduism.Talking to ANI, Goyal said, "I feel the Congress does not know how to behave, which is why they are using such rubbish statements but the people of India will show them their position.Goyal added, "Rahul Gandhi should worry about the country rather than playing dirty politics. They are totally exposed now and don't have any option to escape.""They are frustrated and worried that they don't have any chance in the election. Even they had threatened the ...
Explosion rattles Iran, kills 3
An explosion took place at a shipbuilding plant which is located 37 kilometres west of the port of Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz.Citing local media, Sputnik International reported that at least three staff in the Iranian defence industries were killed in the blast that occurred in an under construction submarine in Southern Iran.A local website reported that the blast happened after three batteries on the vessel exploded."Three Defence Ministry staff were martyred after a submarine battery exploded at the Shahid Darvishi shipyard in (the Gulf port of) Bandar Abbas..., which builds and repairs military ships and submarines," the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported.More details are awaited.According to Sputnik, Tehran has been developing light and heavy weapons ranging from mortars and torpedoes to tanks and submarines.
There could be a post poll alliance: Sitaram Yechuri
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechuri Saturday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah as 'Duryodhona' and 'Dusshana' and said there could be a post poll alliance. "BJP is trying to show themselves as the largest political party and campaigning that no party can defeat them. I can remember only two brothers out of 100 Kaurava brothers Duryodhan and Dushwashan. There are two names we can remember from the largest party (BJP) - Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. They claim themselves to be undefeatable as well," Yechuri said. The CPI(M) general secretary said there could be a post poll alliance after the elections because it has happened earlier also. The CPI(M) general secretary said the main agenda in 2019 Lok Sabha elections is whether a secular democratic republic of India will exist anymore or not in future. "This question is coming repeatedly because attacks were rampant against every constitutional pillar of the country in last five years under .
TRS, BJP trade barbs in Tgana
The ruling TRS and opposition BJP traded barbs at each other Saturday as campaigning for the April 11 Lok Sabha elections in Telangana is set to end in the next few days. State BJP president K Laxman reminded TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar of his 'unfulfiled' promises like making a Dalit the CM and to restrict himself to state politics, while TRS working president K Rama Rao accused the saffron party of remembering Hindutva only during elections. "You (Chandrasekhar Rao) said (you will make) a Dalit as Chief Minister. It did not happen.You said water to every household...it did not come. You said you would not go anywhere and take care of Telangana. But now you are askingpeople whether you should go to national politics," Laxman told reporters. Rama Rao, speaking at a road show in Hyderabad, alleged that BJP remembered Hindutva only during elections. The NDA government has done no good to Telangana, Rama Rao, son of the Chief Minister, alleged. The TRS ..
Will DMK's 'anti-Hindu' comments get AIADMK-BJP votes?
The BJP and its alliance partners in Tamil Nadu are claiming consolidation of Hindu votes in their favour owing to the "anti-Hindu" speeches of leaders of the opposition DMK and DK, but the DMK rules out this issue impacting its poll prospects.
EC show cause to govt school principal for allowing poll meet on premises
The election commission Saturday issued a showcause notice to a government school principal here for allegedly allowing the local MLA to organise an election meeting on the premises on the pretext of a Holi get-together. District Election Officer Kumarpal Gautam served the notice to the principal of the government middle school at Madiya village of the Nokha town, asking him to file a response within 24 hours. It is alleged that the principal allowed Nokha BJP MLA Biharilal Bishnoi to organise an election meeting on the pretext of the get-together on the Holi day, March 21. A video of the said event later circulated on social media platforms. On Friday, a local resident filed a complaint with the election officer alleging that the government school premises was used for a poll meeting. It is also alleged that the election meeting was organised without taking prior requisite permission in view of the imposition of the model code of conduct. After the complaint was received, Gautam ...
BJP can't stop me by changing police officers: Mamata
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday dared the BJP government at the centre to transfer as many state police officers they wanted and claimed that the saffron party won't be able to stop her or her party Trinamool Congress in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Iran, Iraq vow to boost ties despite US pressure
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, here on Saturday, pledged to strengthen bilateral economic and political relations despite pressure from the US on Baghdad to break ties with Tehran.