Page 1213 - Politics

BJP to support independent candidate Sumalatha in Mandya

Independent candidate and multi lingual actress Sumalatha received a big boost Saturday with the BJP deciding to support her in Mandya to take on Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamys son Nikhil in the Lok Sabha polls. Sumalatha, widow of actor-turned-politician M H Ambareesh, decided to contest as an independent after being denied a ticket by the Congress, which is now facing trouble in the district over conceding the seat to it's ruling coalition partner JD(S). BJP's Central Election Committee Secretary Jagat Prakash Nadda announced the partys decision to support Sumalatha, as he read out the list of candidates for various Lok Sabha seats across the country in Delhi. With Congress ruling out fielding Sumalatha for Mandya, saying it would go to JD(S), clamour had grown within BJP to induct her and field her as the candidate, as a section believed it would help the saffron party, which doesn't have much presence in the Vokkaliga bastion. However, BJP's state leadership was one

Disqualify defected Telangana MLAs, demands Congress

Telangana's main opposition Congress urged the state Governor on Saturday to disqualify nine legislators who defected to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Thousands demand second referendum at anti-Brexit march in London

Thousands of people took to the streets of central London on Saturday for one of the biggest anti-Brexit marches to demand another referendum over Britain's membership of the European Union (EU). Protesters descended upon the capital from up and down the UK to participate in the Put it to the People march, dubbed as one of the UK's largest attracting an estimated 1 million people to demand that the British people are given another chance to vote on Brexit after MPs have failed to break the impasse over the issue in Parliament. Here in London, thousands of people from across our city and country have come together to send a clear message: Enough is enough it's time to give the British public the final say on Brexit, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a Twitter statement as he joined the march. Campaigners marched from Park Lane to Parliament Square in the heart of London, followed by a rally in front of the House of Parliament. They have found the backing of a series of anti-Brexit ...

BJP releases 5th list of 48 Lok Sabha candidates

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday came out with its fifth list of 48 candidates, spanning the six states of Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka.

Retired Major, ex-AAP leader Poonia joins BJP

Former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Major (retd.) Surendra Poonia joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of senior leaders J.P. Nadda and Ram Lal, here on Saturday.

UK hails ISIS wipeout in Syria, vows to continue fight against terrorist ideology

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Saturday hailed the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS) after the capture of the terrorist network's last held territory of Baghuz in Syria and vowed to carry on fighting the terrorist ideology. Prime Minister May praised the extraordinary courage of British forces that have fought in Syria and Iraq alongside a US-led global military coalition. "The liberation of the last Daesh (ISIS) held territory is a historic milestone that would not have been possible without their (armed forces') commitment, professionalism and courage, May said in a Downing Street statement. But we must not lose sight of the threat Daesh poses and the Government remains committed to eradicating their poisonous ideology. We will continue to do what is necessary to protect the British people and our allies, she said. UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt echoed her views on the historic moment achieved by the tireless work of the global forces against terror. Daesh once imposed ...

AAP takes out rally, starts poll campaign in Delhi

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) launched its Lok Sabha election campaign by taking out a rally, here on Saturday.

Amit, Rajnath, Sushma to kick off BJP's UP campaign

With less than 20 days to go for the Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to kick off its poll campaign in key state Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.

Party dissidents lock BJP state HQ in Odisha, anger overflows

BJP dissidents angry over denial of party tickets to them continued to gherao the state party headquarters and kept its main gate locked for the second day on Saturday. This forced the party to induct Kandhamal MP Pratyusha Rajeswar Singh at the residence of senior BJP leader K V Singhdeo during the day. The state will witness simultaneous election to 21 Lok Sabha and 147 state assembly seats in four phases from April 11. The BJP has so far announced candidates for 15 of the state's 21 Lok Sabha seats and 121 of 147 assembly seat. Protests were in the beginning held by supporters of Amiya Dash who has been denied a BJP ticket from Ekamra-Bhubaneswar Assembly seat. BJP has fielded Babu Singh, who recently joined the saffron party after quitting BJD, from the constituency. Though the supporters of Dash withdrew their agitation on Friday night, they resumed the protest before the state BJP office on Saturday. They were later joined by dissident BJP leaders from Aul, ...

Off-the-cuff remark raises a storm for Ashok Chavan

An off-the-cuff remark by Maharashtra Congress President Ashok Chavan, in an audio-clip that went viral on Saturday, sparked of speculation whether he was going to quit before the 2019 elections.

Swamy moots India, China, US 'trilateral system'

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy here on Saturday said China's stance on Pakistan would change by September, and added India, China and the US should cooperate with each other by becoming the part of a 'trilateral system'.

Adityanath to launch Lok Sabha poll campaign from Saharanpur

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will begin his campaign for the Lok Sabha elections from Saharanpur on Sunday. UP BJP spokesperson Chandramohan said that before addressing a public meeting, Adityanath would visit the Shakumbhari Devi temple in Saharanpur and offer prayers. He said the chief minister would highlight the achievements of the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state.

Kumaraswamy voices displeasure over disgruntlement in Cong on

Voicing his displeasure over disgruntlement in the Congress over seat sharing with his party JD(S) for the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Saturday said it was the grand old party's duty to address it. The Chief Minister said he would neither plead in front of anyone nor allow his self esteem to be hit. "...it is something that is not related to my party. They have given 8 seats to my party. We have to field candidates in eight seats, we will do so," Kumaraswamy said to a question about Congress' rebel candidate in Tumkur. Former prime minister and Kumaraswamy's father H D Deve Gowda is contesting from Tumkur. Speaking to reporters here, he said, "The issue is not related to me, it is related to Congress leaders, ask them." "I have already said in Mandya that I will not plead before anyone and will not allow my self esteem to be hit. We also have strength, our party workers are there. So I will not discuss about it, I will do my duty. Let ...

Fire breaks out at Sudan's old presidential palace

Thick plumes of smoke billowed into the sky Saturday as a fire ripped through Sudan's old presidential palace in the capital Khartoum, the presidency and an AFP journalist reported. Police cordoned off the streets heading to the palace, built in 1832 on the bank of the Blue Nile, as smoke billowed from the building. The fire broke out due to a short circuit in some of the offices on the second floor of the palace, the presidency said. "Most offices in the old republican palace are not in use... the fire has now been brought under control," Mohamed Saleh, an official at the presidency said in a statement. He did not say whether there were any casualties. The palace was the official seat of the Sudanese government in the decades following the country's independence in 1956. But in recent years, President Omar al-Bashir had shifted to a new palace from where he runs his administration's daily affairs. The 75-year-old leader is facing a wave of angry protests against his iron-fisted rule .

Karnataka Congress MP dares to re-contest against Gowda

Defying the pre-poll alliance between the ruling allies in Karnataka, outgoing Congress Lok Sabha member S.P. Muddahanumegowda on Saturday dared to re-contest from Tumkur constituency from where Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda is contesting and filing nomination on Monday.

Syria Kurds urge Damascus to choose dialogue: commander

The top military commander in Syria's autonomous Kurdish region urged Damascus on Saturday to choose the path of dialogue after his forces sealed a key victory over the Islamic State group. "We call on the central government in Damascus to prefer the process of dialogue," Mazloum Kobane, the overall commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said in a statement. He read part of the statement at a ceremony to pay homage to his fallen comrades and celebrate the capture of Baghouz, the very last pocket of territory held by IS, which SDF forces took after weeks of fighting. The statement urged the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to "start practical steps to reach a political solution based on the recognition" of autonomous institutions and of the SDF's special status. Syria's eight-year conflict has seen the country's Kurds carve out a large de facto autonomous region in the oil-rich northeast. The Kurdish-dominated SDF has acted as the ground force of the US-led military ..

Four smaller BJP allies in Maha not to get LS seats: Jankar

Four smaller allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra will not get any seats to contest in the Lok Sabha elections, minister and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) leader Mahadev Jankar said here. The BJP promised to do justice to these allies in seat-sharing for Assembly polls which are due later this year, he said. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Republican Party of India (A) chief and Union minister Ramdas Athawale, Jankar, Rayat Kranti Sanghtana leader Sadabhau Khot and Vinayak Mete of Shiv Sangram Saturday at the CM's official residence here. Speaking to reporters later, Jankar said the discussion focused on ensuring the NDA's victory. "The chief minister assured us that no injustice will be done to allies," he said. Fadnavis told them that the BJP will not cede any seats for these four parties for the Lok Sabha elections, but they would get preference in seat-sharing for Assembly polls, Jankar said. "The chief minister has also spoken to (Shiv Sena .

3 ex-BJP leaders rejoin party

Three Uttarakhand BJP leaders, who were expelled during the assembly election two years ago, had rejoined the party on Saturday. Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat welcomed Suresh Chandra Jain, Asha Nautiyal and Sandip Gupta into the party fold, saying that the three Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have to increase the party's voting percentage and they have only 20 days' time to accomplish the task. Rawat said he was happy that they had decided to return and see Narendra Modi back as prime minister. Jain is the former MLA from Roorkee, Nautiyal is a former MLA from Kedarnath and Gupta a former district president. Jain and Gupta had contested as Independents after being expelled from the party. Their supporters who joined the party included a former municipal chairman, zila parishad members, councillors and village heads. Uttarakhand will go to polls in a single phase on April 11.

Uma Bharti appointed BJP's national vice-president

The BJP on Saturday appointed Union minister Uma Bharti, who has decided not to contest the Lok Sabha polls, its national vice-president. Bharti, who represents Jhansi in the Lok Sabha, was brought in as a senior office bearer after she conveyed to the BJP leadership her wish to not contest the coming general elections. The Hindutva leader has said she wants to go on a 18-month-long pilgrimage from May.

JKNPP patron Bhim Singh to contest LS polls from Jammu

Veteran politician and chief patron Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) Bhim Singh will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Jammu parliamentary constituency which is going to polls in the first phase on April 11. The decision to field 77-year-old leader from Jammu parliamentary constituency was taken at a meeting of senior party leaders after days of hectic deliberations, a spokesman of the JKNPP said. He said Singh would file nomination papers before the returning officer at Jammu on Monday, the last day for the filing of nomination papers for the constituency. The spokesman said the candidate for UdhampurDoda parliamentary constituency, which is going to polls in the second phase on April 18, will be announced on Monday. Earlier on Wednesday, Singh had announced that his party would contest all the six Lok Sabha seats in the state. Born on August 17, 1941, Singh had founded the JKNPP in 1982 after parting ways with the Congress. He nominated his nephew, Harsh Dev ...