Page 1132 - Politics
New parties created to divide Kashmiris: Omar
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Friday that the emergence of new political parties in Kashmir was aimed at dividing the people in the Valley.
KCR face of politics of dynasty, appeasement: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday kicked off the BJP's campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana by targeting Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) calling him the face of the politics of dynasty and appeasement.
Prosecute those who don't implement manifesto promises: Freedom fighter
A 93-year-old freedom fighter, who took part in the Quit India movement, suggested on Friday that those who fail to fulfil promises made in the party manifestos should be prosecuted. "There is no option but to prosecute those who make promises and forget them without any consequences," Pandit Ramkishan, former parliamentarian and four-time MLA, said at an interaction on 'Elections Now and Then' here on Friday. "People do not vote on the basis of manifestos nor on development. That is why it is all the more important that the promises brought in black and white carry a legal binding," Ramkishan said. The nonagenarian, who has witnessed elections since the first one in 1952, said the courts had been avoiding interfering in this matter and the political process was avoiding making manifesto a legal binding. Ramkishan feels another issue that is damaging democratic values is the massive expenditure in elections, which is making it impossible for a candidate like him and the poor to ...
"I will vote for BJP candidate Surendran," says P C George
Kerala Janapaksham founder and MLA P C George, who is a voter of Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency, Friday said he would vote for BJP candidate K Surendran, as he was the one and only candidate who visited his home seeking his vote. George, however, said a decision on his party cooperating with the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha polls would be taken in two days. "I will vote for Surendran as he was the only candidate who visited my home seeking my vote. No decision has been taken so far on extending my party's support to Surendran or other NDA candidates," George said hours after the BJP candidate visited him seeking his support. George, who supported protests by Hindu outfits over the Sabarimala issue, had said recently the state committee of the Janapaksham had discussed the issue of cooperating with the NDA in the elections after the Congress leadership did not respond to his demand that his party be made a partner of the United Democratic Front. The BJP has ...
MP: Tribal MLA says liquor contractor misbehaved with him
Tribal leader and Congress MLA in Madhya Pradesh Panchilal Meda Friday offered to resign in protest against police's failure to act against a liquor contractor who allegedly misbehaved with him. The Dharampuri MLA met Chief Minister Kamal Nath later, with the party claiming that the issue was resolved. In a letter to Nath, Meda said a liquor contractor for Dhamnod and Sundarail in his constituency and his men abused Meda and some Congress workers, hurling casteist slurs even inside Dhamnod police station, on March 26. But no action was taken against the contractor, and the administration was in fact helping him in illegal transportation of liquor in the area, the MLA alleged. "Please take action against the guilty or accept my resignation," Meda wrote in the letter which he shared with the media. He also demanded withdrawal of a case registered by the contractor against Congress workers over the fracas. As Meda was speaking to reporters at his house here Friday afternoon,
Gowda breathes easy as Cong rebel candidate pulls out of
In a big relief to JDS patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Congress sitting MP from Tumkur S P Muddahanumegowda Friday pulled out of the contest as the rebel candidate against him. Gowda is the joint nominee of Karnataka's Congress-JDS ruling alliance, which was worried over his electoral prospects after Muddahanumegowda jumped into the fray defying the understanding under which the seat was allotted to the JDS. "Angry" at being denied the ticket, Muddahanumegowda had filed his papers both as party candidate and as an independent but finally yielded to persuasion from the party leadership. The leadership made several attempts to pacify Muddahanumegowda, with Congress president Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal intervening finally. Muddahanumegowda told PTI that he has withdrawn his nomination, respecting the "persuasion" made by the Congress high command. "Rahul Gandhi himself spoke to me (Thursday morning), K C Venugopal spoke to me ..
CPI(M) alleges BJP workers of not allowing ex-CM Manik Sarkar
Former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar was prevented from addressing an election meeting at Mohanbhog, a village in Sipahijala district by a group of BJP workers despite presence of police and paramilitary forces, a senior CPI (M) state leader claimed Friday. Sarkar, who is leader of the opposition in the Tripura assembly, faced BJP workers wrath on Thursday when he had gone to the place to campaign in favour of the party candidate for West Tripura constituency, Shankar Datta. Despite the presence of police and the paramilitary forces, Sarkar was not allowed to address the rally and he had to come back, CPI (M) state leader state secretary Gautam Das told reporters. The village falls in Sarkars home turf Dhanpur. Das said, Datta lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) through Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Sriram Taranikanti and demanded for proper measures against political violence. When contacted, BJP spokesperson, Nabendu Bhattacharya said no BJP ..
Samjhauta blast verdict shows govt has no respect for institutions: Omar
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah Friday said reports about prosecution withholding critical information about the Samjhauta Express blast case from the court was a reflection of the respect the BJP-led central government had for institutions of the country. "The judge presiding over the special NIA court has himself said that the prosecution withheld critical information that would have allowed a guilty verdict to be passed. Clearly, this government has no respect for institutions," Abdullah told reporters at a press conference here. The former chief minister said the disrespect for the institutions was seen across the length and breadth of the government. "Whether NITI Aayog chairman being hauled up by the Election Commission for giving political statements or the way they have treated Reserve Bank of India and reduced it to a subsidiary of the government, rather than an independent body. "We are yet to see a decision from the Election commission of India where the Prime ...
Triangular contest in Baramulla Lok Sabha seat
Although there are nine candidates in the fray, the main contest for the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir will be between Muhammad Akbar Lone (National Conference), Raja Aijaz Ali (Peoples Conference) and Abdul Qayoom Wani of the PDP.
Only Modi can give befitting reply to terror: Shah
BJP President Amit Shah on Friday said that only Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and no one else, can give a befitting reply to terror and Pakistan.
Congress declares two candidates for assembly bypolls in Goa
The Congress Friday announced two candidates for the assembly bypolls in Goa next month, naming former minister Mahadev Naik from Shiroda and fielding Sudhir Kandolkar from Mapusa. By-elections are scheduled in Shiroda, Mapusa and another assembly constituency Mandrem on April 23. The same day voting will take place for the two Lok Sabha seats in the coastal state. Naik, a former minister who had quit the BJP last month, will contest from his traditional Shiroda assembly segment in North Goa. All-India Congress Committee General Secretary Mukul Wasnik cleared the names of both the candidates, who were earlier in the BJP, in a statement released in New Delhi. The opposition party is yet to announce its candidate for the Mandrem assembly seat. The by-elections in Shiroda and Mandrem were necessitated after their sitting Congress MLAs resigned and joined the ruling BJP. The Mapusa seat fell vacant following the death of its sitting MLA Francis D'Souza of the BJP. The BJP ...
Kunhalikutty, Kummanam Rajasekharan file nominations in Ker
: UDF candidates P K Kunhalikutty and E T Mohammed Basheer of IUML and BJP veteran Kummanam Rajasekharan were among the prominent leaders to file nominations Friday for the coming Lok Sabha elections in Kerala. Eight candidates, including, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) nominee and sitting MP in Idukki, Joice George, had filed papers on Thursday, when nominations for the April 23 polls in the southern state opened. Kunhalikutty, who is seeking his electoral luck again from Malappuram constituency, filed the nomination after a meeting Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) supremo, Panakkad Hyderali Shihab Thangal. A number of Congress and IUML leaders and activists accompanied Kunhalikutty. Malappuram is considered to be a fortress of the United Democratic Front, where rival fronts the CPI(M)-led LDFand BJP-headed NDA are fielding V P Sanu and V Unnikrishnan respectively. Former Mizoram Governor Rajasekharan, who is eyeing to wrest the prestigious Thiruvananthapuram .
Steps to maximise young voters' participation in Mizoram
The Mizoram Election office was taking a number of steps to encourage young and first time voters to exercise their franchise in the coming Lok Sabha polls, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ashish Kundra said Friday. The CEO said that there were over 52,000 first time voters in Mizoram voters' lists of over 7,84 lakh electorate. Election to the lone Lok Sabha seat in the state is scheduled to be held on April 11. Kundra expressed concern over low turnout of of young voters in the polls and said a Young Voter's Club has been set up in the state to encourage young voters to exercise their franchise. He said "Top 25 Instagram users have been roped in as 'brand ambassadors' to encourage young voters to exercise franchise in the coming polls." Those instagram users having large following would encourage and would make appeal to the youth to cast their votes and participate in the electoral process. The CEO appealed to the media to prepare a programme like 'Mipui aw' or voice of
Priyanka attacks Modi for 'ignoring' Varanasi, fuels speculation if she will contest against him
A day after hinting that she is not averse to contesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attacked him for ignoring his own Varanasi constituency. On Thursday night, reacting to a suggestion from a party worker that she should fight the elections from her mother Sonia Gandhi's Rae Bareli constituency, Priyanka Gandhi had quipped, Shouldn't I fight from Varanasi? She fuelled more speculation on this possibility on Friday by targeting Modi over the state of the constituency that sent him to Parliament in 2014. But when reporters asked her a direct question, she said, If the party tells me, I will fight from anywhere. At a nukkad sabha street corner meeting -- in Ayodhya, she lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, calling it pro-rich, anti-farmer and against the interests of the armed forces. Referring to her own recent visit to Varanasi, Priyanka Gandhi said she was told about the road from the airport to ..
Jaitley calls 'Mahagathbandhan' a political circus, recipe for chaos
Taking a swipe at the grand alliance of opposition parties, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Friday said the 'mahagathbandhan' is a 'non-bandhan', political circus and a recipe for chaos. Several political parties, mostly traditional BJP opponents, have come together to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the ensuing general elections beginning April 11. In a blog post, Jaitley said that over the last several months, India was "exhausted" with the talk of a 'Mahagathbandhan'. The rationale, he said, was that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP were very strong and could not be challenged by individual party. Stressing that Indians judge politicians by their merit and capacity and no longer by any traditional loyalty, he said: "We were promised a 'coalition of rivals' because India had to be saved. We were promised a common minimum agenda. Each leader amongst the aspirant Prime Ministers wanted to become a 'sutradhar' (anchor) of the alliance. He/she would periodically .
Central agencies threatening me: Sudin Dhavalikar
Three days after being left out from the Pramod Sawant-led coalition government, former Goa Deputy Chief Minister Sudin Dhavalikar on Friday said he is being threatened by the central enforcement agencies.
Omar Abdullah Friday slams Arun Jaitley for advocating repeal of J&K's special status
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah Friday hit out at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for advocating repeal of Jammu and Kashmir's special status, saying any such talk will raise questions on the accession of the state to India as well. He told reporters that the BJP and its leadership would have to tread carefully on this issue and the terms and condition cannot be renegotiated. "If you want to debate Article 370 and Article 35A, then I am sorry, there will be questions raised on the accession as well, because accession was on these very terms," he told reporters. Article 370 grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir while Article 35A empowers the state legislature to define the states "permanent residents" and their special rights and privileges. Abdullah said Jaitley's claim that poverty in Jammu and Kashmir is because of Article 35A is completely wrong. "He either forgets or has not been informed well enough that before the advent of militancy (in 1989) there was no such ...
IPS officers' transfer case: Andhra HC refuses to interfere in ECI order
The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday observed that it cannot interfere in the orders of the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding the transfers of IPS officers in the state.The ECI had recently ordered the transfer of Andhra Pradesh DG (Intelligence), and SPs of Kadapa and Srikakulam. Later, the TDP government had filed a petition in the High Court.Senior advocate D Prakash Reddy argued in support of ECI. Advocate General D Srinivas, who represented the state government, argued that the ECI has no right to transfer DG (Intelligence), who has no connection with election duties.The High Court bench led by Justice Praveen Kumar, heard arguments of both the parties and observed that it cannot interfere in ECI's orders.In the wake of High Court's order, the Andhra Pradesh government has transferred DG (Intelligence) AB Venkateswara Rao who has been ordered to report to senior officials at the police headquarters.
Nepal showcases investment potential
Declaring that the pre-condition of political stability for economic development now stands fulfilled in Nepal, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Friday inaugurated the Nepal Investment Summit 2019, saying that political transformation cannot be sustained without an economic one.
Natesan must quit as SNDP Yogam head: Sudheeran
Senior Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran on Friday asked SNDP Yogam General Secretary Vellapally Natesan to resign from the post after he blessed his son Tushar Vellapally, the NDA candidate from the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat.