Page 1146 - Politics
Ex-RJD leader Girinath Singh joins BJP
Former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Girinath Singh on Thursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.I welcome Girinath Singh to the BJP," Sitharaman said.On joining the BJP, Singh said, "My father Gopi Nath Singh was a member of Jan Sangh. I feel this is my 'ghar wapsi'. I have decided to join the party after getting motivated by the work of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das."Singh's entry to the BJP comes weeks before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which will start on April 11. The result will be announced on May 23.
Arvind Kejriwal's bribery remarks: EC says will give advance notice before taking action
The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday gave an undertaking in the Delhi High Court that an advance notice will be given to Arvind Kejriwal before taking any action, including derecognition of his Aam Aadmi Party, for his alleged bribery remarks during Goa Assembly election campaign in 2017. Justice Yogesh Khanna took on record the statement by the poll panel and disposed of Kejriwal's application seeking directions to the EC not to take any action against him or his party based on its January 21, 2017 censure order. In its January 2017 order, the EC had said that if he, in future, repeated such remarks, it would take action against him and his party. On Thursday, the EC's lawyer said a notice would be sent in advance to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor before taking any action against the party under para 16A of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order. Under the Symbols order, the EC has the power to suspend or withdraw recognition of a recognised political party ...
Cong blinded by anti-Modi sentiment, stopped thinking in nation's interest: Modi
The Congress is blinded by its "anti Modi approach" and has stopped thinking in the nation's interest, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Thursday, raising issues of national security and terrorism and questioning the party's statements following the Balakot strike. Addressing a rally in Akhnoor on the outskirts of Jammu, his first in the state after elections were announced, Modi claimed the speeches of Congress leaders receive applause in Pakistan. He said he was surprised at the Congress' reaction to his government's endeavour to teach a lesson to the enemies of the country. "What has happened to the Congress party....the anti-Modi approached adopted by them has blinded them to the extent that they have stopped thinking in the interest of the nation," Modi told the gathering. The prime minister, who is campaigning for Jugal Kishore, the BJP's candidate from Jammu-Poonch, also questioned the Congress' silence on National Conference's Baramulla candidate Akbar Lone's reported .
AAP leader Dilip Pandey meets delegation from Stanford University
Aam Aadmi Party candidate from north-east Delhi Dilip Pandey Thursday met a delegation of teachers and students from Stanford University and discussed the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the current political scenario in the country. The interactive session was also attended by Durgesh Pathak, organisation building in-charge of AAP and member of the party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC). The 20-member delegation comprised of students and teachers of the Law department of the University. The discussions were held on the upcoming general elections, current scenario of the country, Delhi's governance model and AAP, a statement from the party said. "Delhi is facing a ridiculous situation, the powers of the elected Delhi government are limited and has been curtailed by the Modi-led Union Government. "We are fighting these elections on the plank of full statehood to Delhi. Once Delhi gets full statehood, most of the problems Delhi faces due to multiplicity of agencies would be solved,"
UK govt plans third Brexit deal vote on Friday
Britain's government said it intended to hold a third parliamentary vote on Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal on Friday but was awaiting the go-ahead from House of Commons speaker. "We recognise that any motion brought forward tomorrow will need to be compliant with the speaker's ruling and that discussion is ongoing," Andrea Leadsom, who represents the government in parliament, told MPs. "A motion will be tabled just as soon as possible and obviously by later today," Leadsom said Thursday. Commons Speaker John Bercow has previously blocked a third vote on the deal, invoking a 17th-century statute that prevents parliament from voting on the same thing again and again. "The only way we ensure we leave in good time on May 22 is by approving the withdrawal agreement by 11:00 pm on March 29," she said. Leadsom pointed out that EU leaders had granted an extension until May 22 "provided that the withdrawal agreement is approved by the House of Commons this week".
Will seek judicial commission to probe rigging in 1987 assembly elections in J-K: Sajad Lone
People's Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone Thursday said his party will seek a judicial commission, which has punitive powers, to probe and punish the perpetrators of "rigging" in 1987 assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. He also hit out at the National Conference leadership, saying Abdullahs were the "real architects" of erosion of special status to Jammu and Kashmir and they can no longer befool people. "The blatant rigging of 1987 resulted in eruption of militancy and the subsequent bloodshed in Kashmir. For things to change and peace to return to valley, the culprits of 1987 must be held accountable for murdering democracy in the Valley," Lone said at a party convention at Tangdhar in Kupwara district. He said accountability must start from 1975 Accord when National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah ratified previous erosion of the special status in "lieu of power". "Why is Omar Abdullah pained when anyone gets killed in rest of the country while he preferred to ...
BBC pays damages to Ukraine president over Trump report
The BBC on Thursday said it had agreed to pay damages to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko over an article that incorrectly claimed Kiev paid USD 400,000 to secure a meeting with US leader Donald Trump. Poroshenko, who is seeking re-election in weekend polls, sued the broadcaster over the report from May last year. The article on the BBC website claimed that Kiev gave Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen a "secret payment of at least USD 400,000" to "fix talks" at the White House in June 2017. "We apologise to Mr Poroshenko for any distress caused and have agreed to pay him damages, legal costs and have participated in a joint statement in open court," the BBC said in a statement on its news site. It did not give any indication of the size of the payment. Poroshenko had said via lawyers that the article harmed his "political and business" reputation and caused him "substantial distress and embarrassment". Allegations of "serious corruption" were especially damaging because
443 candidates, including 170 farmers, in fray for Telangana
Sticking to their guns, over 170 farmers remained in the fray in the Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency from where Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha is seeking re-election with withdrawal of nominations coming to an end Thursday. Election officials said 60 nominations were withdrawn out of the 503 valid nominations. A total of 443 candidates remained in the fray with Nizamabad topping the list with 185 candidates, they said. Telangana, with 17 Lok Sabha constituencies, goes to the polls in the first phase on April 11. The farmers had filed their nominations protesting the alleged failure of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi to ensure minimum support price for turmeric and red jowar (sorghum) produce. They are also demanding setting up of a turmeric board. A total of 648 nominations were filed in the State of which 145 were rejected and 503 nominations were found to be in order after scrutiny, a release from Telangana Election Commission said on ...
Bihar BJP chief fails to pacify rebel; gets mobbed and heckled
Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai was on Thursday mobbed and heckled by supporters of a party rebel, who has filed his nomination as an Independent candidate from Katihar Lok Sabha constituency notwithstanding the seat going to alliance partner JD(U) headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Rai called on BJP MLC Ashok Kumar Agarwal at his residence and spent over two hours trying to persuade him to withdraw his nomination in favor of the JD(U) candidate Dulal Chandra Goswami, who would seek to wrest the seat for NDA from Tariq Anwar of the Congress. The BJP had won the seat three times on the trot in 1999, 2004 and 2009 with support of the JD(U). In 2014, when Nitish Kumar went it alone, the three-time BJP MP Nikhil Kumar Choudhary finished the runner-up while Anwar then with Sharad Pawars NCP and a several-term MP from Katihar, won after a gap of more than a decade. The JD(U)s Ram Prakash Mahto had finished third with just over one lakh votes, way behind the BJP ...
Foreign Secretary Gokhale meets Nepal's top leadership
Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on Thursday held wide-ranging bilateral talks with his Nepali counterpart Shankar Das Bairagi and called on Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli during his two-day visit here. Gokhale, who arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday, also met Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar tweeted. During the talks, the two sides reviewed the past commitments that were made during the visit of Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli to India and return visits of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nepal last year. As India is gearing up for general elections, the meeting of the Joint Commission at foreign ministers' level was postponed. That's why a meeting at the foreign secretary level is taking place to ensure smooth execution of old and new agreements and understandings reached with India, Gyawali was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post newspaper. The minister said that some projects and bilateral issues have been ...
Farooq Abdullah faces political greenhorns in prestigious Srinagar LS seat
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah will fancy his chances of entering Lok Sabha for the fourth time from the prestigious Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir as archrivals PDP and BJP have fielded political greenhorns against the stalwart. Abdullah had lost to PDP candidate Tariq Hameed Karra in Srinagar in the 2014 general elections but won the 2017 bypoll to the constituency defeating Peoples Democratic Party's Nazir Ahmed Khan. Karra has since joined the Congress, which has decided not to field any candidate against 83-year-old Abdullah. The main challenge to Abdullah's bid this time is from PDP's Aga Syed Mohsin, who had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate. The Shia leader had then secured 16,000 votes out of the 3.12 lakh votes polled. The Congress had not fielded a candidate against Abdullah in the 2017 byelection to Srinagar Lok Sabha seat necessitated by Karra's resignation from Lok Sabha and the PDP in 2016 over the handling ..
New Goa minister Pawaskar gets PWD portfolio
A day after being inducted into the Goa Cabinet, minister Dipak Pawaskar was Thursday allotted the portfolio of Public Works Department (PWD) by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. A notification allotting the portfolio of PWD and the museum department to Pawaskar, who has crossed over to the BJP from the MGP, was issued by Joint Secretary (General Administration) Varsha Naik. The PWD portfolio was earlier held by MGP MLA Sudin Dhavalikar, who was dropped from the Cabinet Wednesday by the chief minister. Pawaskar was sworn-in late Wednesday night by Governor Mridula Sinha, hours after he along with another legislator Manohar Ajgaonkar broke away from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and joined the BJP. A first-time MLA, Pawaskar won from the Sanvordem constituency of South Goa in the 2017 polls. Ajgaonkar and Pawaskar split from the parent party in the early hours of Wednesday, formed their own legislature wing and then merged it with the BJP, which is heading the ...
US moves draft resolution directly in UNSC to blacklist JeM chief Masood Azhar
Mounting the international pressure to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, the US, supported by France and the UK, has directly moved a draft resolution in the UN Security Council to blacklist the Pakistan-based terror group's chief. Two weeks after China put a hold on a proposal to list Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council, the US on Wednesday circulated the draft resolution to the powerful 15-nation Council to blacklist the leader of the Pakistan-based terror group and subject him to a travel ban, an assets freeze and an arms embargo. UN sources told PTI that this is the "first time" the US, the UK and France have moved a draft resolution directly in the Security Council to designate Azhar. The previous have been listing proposals in the Sanctions Committee of the Council to designate Azhar. Unlike a listing proposal, which is generally under a 10- day no objection period, the draft resolution is not under any no-objection
Congress main cause of poverty in India, says Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for 'wiping out' the Congress from the country and said if the party remained in any corner of India, poverty will never go.
Tej Pratap quits RJD student wing
Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, on Thursday announced he had quit as head of the RJD's student wing.
Tej Pratap Yadav resigns as RJD students wing mentor
RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son of party president Lalu Prasad, Thursday resigned as the 'sanrakshak' (mentor) of the party's students wing. "I am resigning from the post of Chhatra Rashtriya Janata Dal Sanrakshak. Those who think I am ignorant are ignorant themselves. I am well aware of who is worth what," he tweeted. The sudden development comes as a major embarrassment to the party which has been beset by speculations of fierce rivalry between Tej Pratap and his younger brother Tejashwi Yadav. Tejashwi has been declared as the political heir apparent of the RJD supremo.
Seeing no prospects of ticket, ex-BJP MLA quits Congress
Former Gujarat BJP MLA Shamji Chauhan quit the Congress Thursday, claiming that the party cheated him by not offering Lok Sabha ticket from Surendranagar as promised. The Congress has not announced its candidate for Surendranagar yet. However, local Congress MLAs Soma Patel and Rutvik Makwana are considered to be front-runners for the nomination. Sensing that he stands no chance, Chauhan bid adieu to the party Thursday. He had represented Chotila in Surendranagar district as a BJP MLA from 2012 to 2017. After the BJP denied him ticket in the last Assembly polls, he joined the Congress in August2018. "When I had joined the Congress, party leaders had promised that I will be given Lok Sabha ticket from Surendranagar. Even Makwana, after winning Assembly election, had promised that the party will give me ticket in 2019. But all of them stabbed me in the back. The Congress will have to pay the price for this breach of trust," Chauhan, who belongs to the Koli community, ...
China asks US not to complicate Azhar's listing by forcefully moving resolution directly in UNSC
China on Thursday urged the US not to complicate the listing of Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by "forcefully moving" a resolution directly in the UNSC, undermining the authority of the UN's main anti-terrorism body. The US, supported by France and the UK, has moved a draft resolution in the UN Security Council to blacklist the Pakistan-based terror group's chief, two weeks after China put a hold on a proposal to list Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council. Asked about the development, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing that Washington move only complicates the issue. "This is not in line with resolution of the issue through dialogue and negotiations. This has reduced the authority of the Committee as a main anti-terrorism body of the UNSC and this is not conducive to the solidarity and only complicates the issue. "We urge the US to act cautiously and avoid forcefully moving forward this draft ...
Trump threatens to shut Mexico border, again
President Donald Trump renewed Thursday his threat to close the vital US-Mexico border, claiming America's southern neighbour was doing "NOTHING" to slow the flow of illegal immigrants to the United States. In a flurry of early morning tweets, Trump warned: "May close the Southern Border!" "Mexico is doing NOTHING to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country. They are all talk and no action," he added. "Likewise, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have taken our money for years, and do Nothing. The Dems don't care, such BAD laws." Trump has previously made similar threats, including in December in the early days of America's longest ever federal government shutdown, when he vowed to seal the frontier "entirely" if Congress does not approve billions of dollars in funding for a wall. Lawmakers demurred and Trump declared a national emergency instead to bypass Congress and unlock the money to fulfill his 2016 campaign promise to build a border wall. The move drew ...
I-T denies Karnataka CM's charges on raids
The Income-Tax Department on Thursday refuted Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy's charges of "revenge politics" and said the raids on contractors in the state were based on credible information.