Page 1194 - Politics
BJP, Congress, AAP violate Model Code of Conduct
Three political parties -- the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party -- have been booked for defacement of public property in various areas of the national capital, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh said on Monday.
Kamal Haasan to campaign for Trinamool in Andamans
Popular actor and Tamil Nadu-based Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan, who met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee here on Monday, will campaign for her Trinamool Congress in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
British PM isolated as Brexit strategy hangs in the balance
Accused of presiding over an unprecedented national humiliation in her chaotic handling of Brexit, British Prime Minister Theresa May has all but lost control of her party and her government. The Conservative leader has in the past won praise for her determination and ability to survive what has often felt like one long political crisis since the 2016 referendum vote to leave the European Union. But her approach to the endgame, refusing to accept MPs' opposition to her divorce deal and agreeing to delay Brexit to try for a third time to get it through, has prompted frustration and anger on all sides. Ministers from both the pro- and anti-Brexit camps in her cabinet have in recent weeks joined scores of Conservative MPs in defying the government in parliamentary votes. And this weekend, after yet another bruising Brussels summit for the prime minister, British newspapers were full of moves by her colleagues to oust her. In an editorial, Conservative-supporting Spectator magazine ...
Sadhvi Pragya says willing to take on Digvijaya from Bhopal
Hindutva leader Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who is facing trial in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case under UAPA, is ready to take on Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat if she is given a ticket by "organisation". With the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) yet to announce the name of the party candidate from Bhopal, various names are doing rounds in the party circles, one of them is that of former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The BJP has been holding this seat since 1989. The Congress had last won the seat in 1984. "I am ready to take on Digvijaya Singh if 'sanghatan' (apparently referring to the BJP) asks me to do so," Thakur told PTI over phone from Delhi Monday, after her name started doing rounds as a potential nominee. The surprise candidature of Singh has prompted the BJP to redraw its strategy for Bhopal. "Digvijaya is an anti-Hindu leader. He had called Hindus terrorists," Thakur said. She denied that she had contacted the BJP leadership
NCP releases manifesto; assures complete loan waiver to small, middle income farmers
The Nationalist Congress Party on Monday released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, promising complete loan waiver for small and middle income farmers and resumption of talks with Pakistan. Releasing the manifesto at the party office here, NCP general secretary and chief spokesperson D P Tripathi said the party's endeavour will be to bring radicalised youth of Kashmir Valley into the mainstream and take stern action against those involved in 'brainwashing' them. The Sharad Pawar-led party is contesting on 20 seats in Maharashtra, one each in Laskhadweep, Bihar, Odisha, Meghalaya and Manipur. "According to figures from various organisations working in rural areas, over 90,000 people have committed suicide in the hinterland, of which majority are farmers. We will provide a complete loan waiver to the small and medium income farmers," Tripathi said. The party manifesto was also released in Mumbai. Tripathi said resumption of talks, especially on terrorism, with Pakistan was ...
Sikkim CM Chamling files nomination from two seats
India's longest serving Chief Minister Pawan Chamling filed his nomination from Namchi Singithang and Poklok Kamrang assembly constituencies on Monday for the Sikkim assembly elections.
TMC forms alliance with Kamal Haasan's party for LS polls
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said her party, the Trinamool Congress, has forged an alliance with actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's 'Makkal Needhi Maiam' for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Haasan, who flew down to Kolkata this afternoon, had an hour-long meeting with Banerjee before the decision was announced. The TMC would field one candidate for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Haasan said his party would extend full support to him. "We have formed an alliance with Kamal Haasan's party for Andaman," Banerjee said. "We are proud to say that Makkal Needhi Maiam is an ally with the Trinamool Congress for Andaman... We hope this relationship evolves in the future," Haasan said after the meeting.
Manmohan Singh, Azharuddin among 40 star campaigners of
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, and cricketer- turned-politicians Navjot Singh Sidhu and Mohammad Azharuddin are among the 40 star campaigners who will be canvassing for the grand old party in Odisha. Elections to 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 Assembly constituencies will be held concurrently in the state in four phases - on April 11, 18, 23 and 29. Among others who have found a mention in the list of star campaigners, released by the grand old party on Monday, are senior leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel, ministers TS Singh Deo, Susmita Dev and Jitendra Singh. Actor-turned-politicians Khushboo, Nagma, Raj Babbar and Vijayshanti are also set to visit the state to campaign for the party candidates. The party's state unit president, Niranjan Patnaik, and senior state leaders Chiranjib Biswal, Jaydev Jena, Prasad Harichandan, Jagannath ...
Trump has no problem with release of Mueller report: White House
US President Donald Trump would have no problem with the release of the Mueller report into Russia's meddling in the 2016 US election, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday. "I don't think the president has any problem with it," Sanders said on NBC's Today show. "He's more than happy for any of this stuff to come out because he knows exactly what did and what didn't happen and now frankly the rest of America knows.
Rahul to address two poll campaign rallies in Rajasthan Tuesday
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Rajasthan Tuesday for a day during which he is slated to address two poll campaign rallies, besides a meeting of his party workers. Gandhi would be addressing rallies in Suratgarh town of Sriganganagar district and Bundi district headquarters with the same name. He will later address his party workers at Ramlila Maidan in Jaipur. "Preparations for the meetings have been completed for Gandhi's visit to the state, a party leader said. The workers' meet would be attended by shortlisted booth-level activists from all 200 assembly segments of the state. This is Gandhi's first visit to the state for poll campaigning in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. Rajasthan, which has 25 Lok Sabha seats, will go to polls in two phases. Elections on 13 seats will be held on April 29 and on remaining 12 seats on May 6.
Two candidates file papers for lone LS seat in Nagaland
Two candidates filed their papers for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland on Monday, the last date for filing of nomination, officials said. The election to the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland and the byelection to the Aonglenden Assembly constituency will be held on April 11. Two candidates - Hayithung Tungoe of National People's Party (NPP) and Dr M M Thromwa Konyak of Indian Christian Secular Party (ICSP) submitted their documents on the last day of filing nominations for the Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland, the officials said. The ruling Peoples Democratic Alliance (PDA) consensus candidate and Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) party nominee Tokheho Yepthomi and Congress candidate K L Chishi had already submitted their documents on March 22. Chishi is also a former chief minister of the state. Four candidates - Yepthomi, Chishi, Tungoe and Konyak - have filed their nomination papers for the Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland, the officials said. Five candidates have
Hamas denies firing rocket that hit house near Tel Aviv: Hamas official
A Hamas official denied Israel's accusation that it was behind Monday's rocket strike north of Tel Aviv which wounded seven Israelis and led Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to vow a strong response. "No one from the resistance movements, including Hamas, has an interest in firing rockets from the Gaza Strip towards the enemy," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, evoking the possibility that it may have been caused by "bad weather". He added that the same message had been delivered to Egypt, which has acted as mediator between Israel and Hamas. Israel's army said the rocket was fired by Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, from the Rafah area in the south of the enclave. It hit a house located in the community of Mishmeret, around 20 kilometres north of Tel Aviv, police said. The rocket would have had to travel some 120 kilometres from Rafah to hit the house. Rocket fire from Gaza at that distance is rare. Netanyahu said he was cutting short a trip to ..
Rahul Gandhi should tell people why Cong govt in Raj failed to fulfil promises: BJP
The BJP said Monday that before starting his campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Rahul Gandhi should tell people why the Rajasthan government failed to fulfil the promises made by his party during the assembly polls. Former minister Arun Chaturvedi alleged that the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in the state mislead youths over the promise of unemployment allowance and farmers' loan waiver, and deliberately stalled the execution of schemes introduced by the Narendra Modi government. "The Congress president had promised that farmers' entire loan will be waived in 10 days of the government's formation in the state. Three months have passed but nothing happened. They took vote on promising entire loan waiver but the government failed to deliver," he told reporters. "The party had also promised unemployment allowance of Rs 3,500 monthly but they announced Rs 3,000 monthly and such a criteria of giving the allowance was fixed that most of the unemployed persons ..
End arms sales to Riyadh, UK parties urge government
Five British parties have urged the government to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia, saying it has contributed to a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
Indian cricketers in IPL should be allowed to vote wherever they are: Ashwin
Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin Monday said Indian cricketers criss-crossing the country to play the ongoing IPL should be allowed to cast their votes in the upcoming general elections at cities where they might be when polling is held in their respective constituencies. Ashwin's request came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi tagged several sports personalities including him, Shikhar Dhawan, Dipa Karmakar, Hima Das and Sakshi Malik on twitter, urging them to create awareness for higher voting. "I would also like to request you @narendramodi sir to enable every cricketer playing in the IPL to be allowed to cast their votes from which ever place they find themselves at," Ashwin wrote in response to the's tweet. Ashwin might have directed his request to the Prime Minister but the country's election process is administered by the Election Commission of India (ECI), an autonomous constitutional authority. Political leaders are not involved in the conduct of the polls. The general ..
BJP replaces 4 sitting MPs with fresh faces in Assam
The BJP has dropped four sitting MPs of Assam and replaced them with fresh faces, including two ministers, to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Sitting MPs Bijoya Chakravarty, Ramen Deka and Kamakhya Prasad Tasa were not named in the party's first list of candidates, while Ram Prasad Sarmah's name did not figure in the second list. The party selected former city mayor Queen Ojha for Guwahati seat in place of former union minister and three-time MP Bijoya Chakravarty, while BJP state general secretary Dilip Saikia was nominated in place of two-time MP and the party's former state president Ramen Deka for Mangaldai constituency. Power Minister Topon Kumar Gogoi is contesting in Jorhat in place of sitting MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, while Labour, Employment and Tea Tribes Welfare Minister Pallab Lochan Das has been named as the candidate for Tezpur instead of Ram Prasad Sarmah. Sharma in a Facebook post on March 16 had said, "I have left BJP today. I really feel ...
JF-17 used to shoot down Indian aircraft, says Pak military
Pakistan's military has said for the first time that JF-17 Thunder combat aircraft developed jointly with China were used in retaliation to India's pre-emptive strikes on a JeM terror camp in Balakot as it once again denied that US-made F-16 jets were involved in the attack. Referring to the aerial dogfight with the Indian Air Force jets after the February 14 Pulwama terror attack claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said the Indian jets violated the Pakistani airspace on February 26, dropping payloads without inflicting any casualties or damage to infrastructure. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, who was handed over to India later. "The aircraft which engaged those targets and fought them were JF-17. As regard to how to use F-16, in what context [they] were used or not - because at that point of time our entire Air Force was
Former RJD chief of Jharkhand Annapaurna Devi joins BJP
Former Rashtriya Janata Dal's Jharkhand unit president Annapaurna Devi Monday joined the BJP, a day after she met its senior leaders following the announcement of seat-sharing arrangement among opposition parties that left her upset. She joined the party in presence of Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das and its general secretary Bhupendra Yadav. Sources said she may be fielded as BJP candidate in the Lok Sabha polls from Kodarma seat against opposition's candidate Babulal Marandi. The RJD had expelled her from the party as reports of her joining the BJP emerged. Besides Devi, former MLA Janardhan Paswan also joined the BJP.
Goa BJP hopeful of ally MGP not contesting assembly bypoll
The ruling BJP in Goa Monday expressed the hope its ally MGP's leader Dipak Dhavalikar will respect "coalition dharma" and not contest the upcoming bypoll from the Shiroda assembly constituency against its candidate. The BJP has fielded Subhash Shirodkar from the seat, where voting will take place on April 23. Dhavalikar, a former MLA, is president of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), a key ally in the BJP- led coalition government in the coastal state. Dhavalikar, whose brother Sudin is one of the two Deputy Chief Ministers of Goa, has announced he will contest the Shiroda by-election, putting the BJP in a spot of bother. Goa BJP president Vinay Tendulkar claimed Dhavalikar had assured Nitin Gadkari, the saffron party's in-charge of the state, that he would not contest the Shiroda by-election. "I am optimistic that Dhavalikar will respect coalition dharma and not contest the upcoming by-election against the official candidate from the Shiroda constituency," he ...
Modi to address rally in Jammu on March 28
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public rally in the outskirts of Jammu city on March 28 in support of party candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, a senior BJP leader said Monday. Sitting BJP MPs Jugal Kishore Sharma and Jitendra Singh are seeking re-election from the Jammu and the Udhampur parliamentary constituencies in the state. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public rally to be held at Panchayat Doomi, tehsil Bhalwal, in Jammu on March 28," BJP national vice-president and J&K in-charge Avinash Rai Khanna told reporters here. Khanna reviewed the arrangements of the rally at a meeting of party leaders here after inspecting the venue site. BJP state president Ravinder Raina and other senior leaders from the state were present in the meeting. The grand start of the BJP's 'Vijayrath' in the region will take place from this rally, Khanna claimed. He told party leaders that people will be visiting in large numbers to listen to their popular leader and ...