Page 1131 - Politics
Congress needed in Haryana, not in Delhi: Kejriwal
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said his party needed to ally with the Congress in Haryana, not in Delhi, for the Lok Sabha elections in order to defeat the BJP.
India conveys concerns to Pak over presence of Khalistani separatist on Kartarpur panel
India on Friday summoned Pakistan's deputy high commissioner here and conveyed concerns over the presence of a leading Khalistani separatist in a committee appointed by Pakistan on the Kartarpur Corridor project, official sources said. They said India will wait for a response from Pakistan on the issue and is likely to reschedule a meeting on the Kartarpur corridor which was to be held on April 2 in Wagah on the Pakistani side. Sources said India has sought clarifications on a number of issues from Pakistan including on the presence of Khalistani separatist Chawla in the Kartarpur committee as well as association of other anti-India elements like Bison Singh, Kuljit Singh and Maninder Singh in the project. They said Chawla, a close aide of terrorist Hafiz Saeed, is part of the committee, which was not acceptable to India. The Pakistani Cabinet constituted a 10-member Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) to facilitate Sikh pilgrims after opening of the Kartarpur ...
Blow to Hardik's poll plans as HC refuses to stay conviction
Congress leader Hardik Patel's plans to contest Lok Sabha election hit a roadblock Friday as the Gujarat High Court rejected his plea seeking a stay to his conviction in the 2015 Vispur rioting case. As the last date for filing of nominations is April 4, the Patidar leader has little time to approach the Supreme Court to challenge the ruling. Patel had started preparations to contest from Jamnagar on a Congress ticket after joining the party on March 12. Polling for 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat will be held on April 23. Under the Representation of the People Act and a related Supreme Court ruling, a convict facing a jail term of two years or more cannot stand for election unless the conviction is stayed. Opposing Patel's plea before Justice A G Uraizee, the state government had pointed out that Patel is facing 17 FIRs, including two sedition complaints. He was known for making inflammatory speeches, the BJP government told the court. Hardik's lawyers had said if the ...
BJP demands Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy's resignation
The BJP Friday demanded that Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy immediately step down as he "disclosed to the people beforehand" about the income tax raids in the state. The saffron party alleged that the conduct of the chief minister went against the oath of secrecy he had taken while assuming the office. "You have no authority to continue (as the chief minister). You must resign. How can you put obstacles on a secret operation by the income tax department, Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate? Your conduct is against the Constitution and the federal system of the country," BJP spokesperson Go Madhusudan told a press conference. He was reacting to the ruling Congress-JDS alliance's allegations that the I-T raids were carried out on JD(S) leaders overseeing the elections of Kumaraswamy's son, Nikhil, in Mandya and nephew Prajwal Revanna in Hassan. The crackdown came within a day after Kumaraswamy claimed Wednesday night that the I-T raids had been planned .
Kerala fight is between BJP and Congress: Chandy
In Kerala's bipolar politics dominated by the Left and Congress-led alliances, AICC general secretary Oommen Chandy has said the upcoming Lok Sabha polls are a direct fight between the Congress and BJP, and that there was no truth in the state CPI-M claim that the two parties were hand-in-glove against the Left alliance in Kerala.
Pakistani wives of ex-militants protest in Srinagar
The Pakistani wives of Kashmiri militants who came back in response to the Jammu and Kashmir government's rehabilitation policy protested here on Friday, demanding citizenship rights and travel documents.
52 candidates in fray for five seats in U'khand
Fifty-two candidates are in the fray for the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand, the state election commission said Friday. The last date of withdrawal of nominations for Tehri, Pauri Garhwal, Nainital, Haridwar and Almora (reserved) seats ended on Thursday. Haridwar and Tehri seats will see the maximum number of candidates trying their luck -- 15 each. The minimum number of candidates -- six -- are in the Almora seat, while nine candidates will be battling it out in Pauri Garhwal and seven in Nainital, it said. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and regional outfit Uttarakhand Kranti Dal have fielded their nominees from all the seats, while the Bahujan Samaj Party will contest in four and the Samajwadi Party in Pauri Garhwal. The SP and the BSP are in an alliance. The state goes to polls in a single phase on April 11.
Cong fields sons of Raj CM, Jaswant Singh in first list of 19 candidates
In his electoral debut from his father's home turf Jodhpur, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot will take on Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Vaibhav Gehlot was named in the Congress list of candidates released Thursday night, after speculation in the state that the CM was keen that he is fielded by the party. The BJP had earlier announced the candidate of Shekhawat, who won last time from the same seat dominated by the Bishnoi and the Jat communities. The other prominent name in the list is BJP stalwart Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh who will fight on Congress ticket from Barmer. He had represented the constituency in the 14th Lok Sabha for the BJP. When he switched over to the Congress, he was pitted against then chief minister Vasundhara Raje in Jhalawar. He lost to her. The BJP is yet to declare its candidate for the Barmer-Jaisalmer Lok Sabha seat dominated by Jats, Muslims and Dalits. Both the major political parties BJP and Congress have ...
German far-left party demands Berlin expel outspoken US envoy
Germany's far-left Die Linke party demanded Friday that parliament vote to expel the controversial US ambassador Richard Grenell, a close confidant of President Donald Trump. The small opposition party wants Grenell, 52, to be declared persona non grata for having "actively interfered" in German politics on issues from Iran to defence spending and telecom equipment. Although the motion, a copy of which was seen by AFP, has little chance of succeeding, the fact it has been made at all is a sign of the badly strained transatlantic relations in the Trump era. The US president has harshly criticised NATO ally Germany and its Chancellor Angela Merkel on issues ranging from immigration policy to defence spending and car exports. Last week Wolfgang Kubicki of the opposition liberal Free Democrats also demanded that Grenell be sent home for "behaving like the high commissioner of an occupying power". For almost a year, Grenell, a hawkish supporter of Trump's "America First" stance, has ...
EC rejects plea seeking 50% sample match of VVPATs
The Election Commission on Friday rejected the plea by 21 opposition parties seeking 50 per cent sample matching of the EVMs with the corresponding Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs), and said that it should be allowed to continue with the present system.
US, China resume talks to end trade war
China and the US on Friday resumed their negotiations to end the trade war amid a bitter spat between them over Beijing's trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects which Washington said have national security element and less of an economic offer for host countries. Top US and Chinese trade officials have been holding a series of talks to end the tariff war between the world's two largest economies, kicked off by US President Donald Trump last year who demanding Beijing to reduce the USD 375 billion trade deficit, protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) technology transfer and more access to American goods in to China's markets. Trump has already increased the tariffs on over USD 250 billion Chinese exports to the US and threatened to extend it on USD 200 billion Chinese imports to 25 per cent. He, however, held back his threat to impose additional tariffs on the rest of Chinese imports after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a truce in December ..
Cong workers raise pro-BJP slogans, refuse to support Gowda's
Karnataka PWD minister and JDS leader H D Revanna besides local Congress leaders were left red-faced Friday when Congress workers straightaway refused to support his son Prajwal Revanna in the Lok Sabha polls at an event in Hassan. Prajwal, grandson of JDS patriarch and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, is the candidate of the ruling alliance for Hassan, which Gowda was representing. The embarrassing incident occurred in front of Revanna who had come to seek support from Congress workers at a public event. An ardent believer in astrology, Revanna had arrived at the venue holding seven to eight lemons in his hand to ward off bad omen that could eclipse his son's political prospects. Usually Revanna carries at least one lemon with him. As soon as he took his seat on the dais holding lemons, the Congress workers created a din shouting that they would prefer voting for the BJP rather than supporting the JD(S). The compere's repeated pleas to stay silent were in vain as ...
Nepal's 2-day investment summit starts with high hopes
The third Investment Summit began here on Friday. The Government of Nepal is showcasing as many as 77 viable projects worth the US $ 31.93 billion in two-day summit."With India, we have duty free arrangements for most of our products, both primary and industrial goods while China has granted a significant number of our tariff lines duty free access to its market," Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said while addressing the inaugural session of the Summit."Modern alternative port has helped reduce hassle at crowded Kolkata-Haldia port. Digital tracking and transshipment systems, introduced recently, has eased the transportation process. A new transit route through the use of inland waterways is under progress," he said."This will not only provide an alternative transit route, but will also connect landlocked Nepal to the sea through the waterways," Prime Minister Oli informed the investors about the latest trade technique which Nepal has adopted with the help of India.The two-day ...
Congress MP from Tumkur withdraws nomination in support of Deve Gowda
Congress' sitting local MP S P Muddahanumegowda on Friday decided to withdraw his nomination for the Lok Sabha elections. Today was the last day for the withdrawal of nomination from 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state.Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) president HD Deve Gowda is contesting from Tumkur seat.Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dinesh Gundu Rao and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara had met Muddahanumegowda and urged him to withdraw his nomination in support of Gowda.After the meeting, KPCC president Rao termed him as "one of the ablest parliamentarians." He also admitted "injustice" has been done to him."In this coalition, he is the only MP to lose his seat. He is one of our ablest parliamentarians. Definitely, injustice has been done to him. I have already expressed that view as the party president. It is the party's responsibility to rectify the mistake in the future," said Rao while talking to reporters.Deputy Chief Minister ...
BJP will return with absolute majority: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday expressed confidence that the BJP will return to power with "absolute majority" after the April-May Lok Sabha election, saying the people have made up their mind to ensure victory of the National Democratic Alliance in 300-plus seats. He also said that people have already decided in favour of the BJP and are, therefore, not searching for a "competing face". In an interview to 'Republic Bharat' news channel, he also said the timing of the launch of the anti-satellite missile was based on "open space" available to carry out the test. "Call it an adventure or an initiative, they don't happen suddenly. You need to tell the global community that you want space at a particular time in (outer) space to ensure there is no space traffic or collision, you need to ask for an open space, you need to fix that space. It is a long process," he explained. Modi rejected suggestions that the index of opposition unity is high as compared to 2014. "If you go granular, .
Ahmednagar Congress leader declares support to BJP candidate
The bickering within the Congress -NCP alliance became evident Friday after an office-bearer of the Ahmednagar unit of the Rahul Gandhi-led party declared support to Sujay Vikhe-Patil, the BJP candidate from the Lok Sabha seat in Western Maharashtra Sujay's father, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, is a senior leader of the Congress in Maharashtra. The Congress leader was keen to field his son from Ahmednagar on its ticket, but the NCP, which had been contesting the seat as per the arrangement between the two parties, did not relent. Sujay Vikhe-Patil, who is pitted against NCP's Sangram Jagtap in the constituency, earlier this month joined the ruling BJP. Balasaheb Haral, general secretary of the Ahmednagar unit of the Congress, said the Vikas Aaghadi in Ahmednagar taluka, a local front which also has Shiv Sena on board, has decided to support Sujay Vikhe-Patil in the election. Haral, however, said the decision to support the BJP candidate was of the Aaghadi and not of the ...
CPI(M) writes to CEC over returning officer of Tripura West parliamentary seat
Alleging that the EC was not responding to its complaints against the Tripura West parliamentary seat's returning officer, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Nilotpal Basu Friday wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner stating that it was against the poll panel's principle of ensuring a level playing field. In his letter, Basu said that despite a delegation led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary, Sitaram Yechury, there was no "tangible response" from the Election Commission (EC). "We had complained against the antecedents of the Returning Officer of the constituency whose act of stopping the publication of the CPI(M) mouthpiece in the state was reversed by the High Court," he said. "Even after such a judicial stricture, which clearly established his bias against the main opposition party, CPI(M), he continues to be on duty as the Returning Officer. This is clearly against the convention followed so far by the Election Commission, for ensuring a level playing field," .
Go beyond group considerations in party: Congress leader
Denied party ticket for the Lok Sabha polls, senior Congress leader and five-time MP K V Thomas Thursday lamented "excess group activities" in the state unit and said it was not good for the party. However, he said groupism was not the reason for denial of ticket to him for contesting from Ernakulam seat, which he had represented five times. "I agree with senior leader P C Chacko who had said there were excess group considerations in the Congress party in the state. Giving considerations to group is reflected on many things... even in selecting booth-level presidents of the party," he said. This was not good for the party, the former union minister said responding to a query at a Meet-the-Press programme organised by the Ernakulam Press Club here. Things should be seen beyond all group considerations. Good party workers should be given adequate considerations in the party, he said. Thomas claimed he had informed the party leadership six months ago that he was ready to ...
Shivpal sees BJP candidate as main competition for Firozabad LS seat; to file papers on Saturday
President of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) Shivpal Singh Yadav Friday said his main competition for the Firozabad Lok Seat will be the BJP candidate. "The BJP has not declared the name of its candidate yet. The BJP has tacit understanding with SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav. I am the one who was the most vocal against the BJP," Yadav told reporters, when asked about nephew Akshay Yadav's candidature against him here. Yadav is expected to file his nomination for the Firozabad seat on Saturday. His party is contesting LS elections from nine states. Shivpal said, "Till now our party has declared 41 candidates in nine states. We are supporting 'Netaji' (Mulayam Singh Yadav) in the Mainpuri seat and our party workers will ensure his victory." When asked whether he would campaign for Mulayam, Yadav said, "If 'Netaji' calls me, I will surely go to campaign for him.
Our manifesto will reflect people's voice, not one man's: Rahul Gandhi
As he braces for a mega electoral battle, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi says his party's soon-to-be released manifesto will reflect the people's voice and not just one man's view, a clear reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In an exclusive interview to PTI, Gandhi also said the manifesto will lay major thrust on jobs creation, addressing agrarian distress and strengthening the education and health sectors besides charting a roadmap to boost economic growth. The 48-year-old Congress president said the Congress-led UPA is storming back to power as people have rejected Modi's politics of "false promises". "We want India's voice and aspirations to prosper. We don't believe in one man's voice. We believe in everyone's voice and choices. It requires tremendous discipline and hard work to do, but it works," he said. The Congress chief said the party's manifesto is the result of extensive nationwide consultations and is a very "powerful" document aimed at redressing key challenges ...