Page 1259 - Politics
BJP to drop all 10 sitting MPs in Chhattisgarh
The BJP will change all its 10 sitting MPs in Chhattisgarh, party General Secretary and state in charge Anil Jain said on Tuesday.
Not job of PM or parties to decide Ram Janmabhoomi: KCR
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Tuesday said it was not job of the Prime Minister or political parties to decide where is the Ram Janmabhoomi.
Resenment brews in BJD, Congress over candidate lists
A day after the ruling BJD and opposition Congress released the list of candidates for the Lok Sabha and Odisha assembly elections, discontent voices came to the fore on Tuesday in both the camps. Some of the senior leaders of both the parties have already resigned, while a few others made clear their intention to join the rival camp. BJD's sitting MP from Kanadhamal, Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh, who has been denied a party ticket for the 2019 polls, said she would either join another party or contest the polls as Independent. "I have told the party chief (Naveen Patnaik) about my willingness. If I don't get a chance to contest from Nayagarh, I may think of joining another party or contest the polls as Independent," Pratyusha, the successor of erstwhile Nayagarh rulers, told reporters. She said that Nayagarh was the bastion of her late husband Hemendra Singh. Patnaik has named Achyut Samant as the BJD candidate for Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat. Kalahandi MP Arka Keshari said ..
EC asks parties not to use defence forces in poll campaigns
The Election Commission on Tuesday directed all political parties and candidates to desist from "indulging in any political propaganda" involving activities of the defence forces.
Mamata to give Holi a miss as tribute to Pulwama martyrs
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee here on Tuesday announced that she would not celebrate Holi this year as a tribute to the CRPF troopers slain in the recent Pulwama terror attack.
Congress announces Ghaziabad candidate
The Congress has announced Dolly Sharma as its candidate for the Ghaziabad parliamentary constituency for the coming general election.
Former forest service officer in fray from Shillong
Former Indian Forest Service officer T.H.S. Bonny on Tuesday filed his nomination papers from the Shillong Lok Sabha seat as a candidate of Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM).
2 Arunachal ministers, 6 MLAs quit BJP; join NPP
Two ministers and six MLAs of the BJP in Arunachal Pradesh Monday joined the National Peoples' Party (NPP) of Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma ahead of the assembly election next month. Home Minister Kumar Waii and Tourism Minister Jarkar Gamlin and the six legislators were denied tickets by the BJP. Waii said the BJP has lost its previous glory in the eyes of the people for its "false promises". "We will not just fight the elections but will form an NPP government in the state," Waii said. Besides the eight BJP MLAs, a legislator of the Peoples Party of Arunachal (PPA) and 19 other saffron party leaders also joined the NPP. The NPP, which is ruling Meghalaya along with the saffron party as an alliance partner, has decided to field 40 candidates in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly polls which will be held simultaneously with Lok Sabha elections in the state. NPP general secretary Thomas Sangma said, "We will go it alone in Arunachal Pradesh and announce the candidates .
May tries to save Brexit plan ahead of EU summit
- British Prime Minister Theresa May will write to EU President Donald Tusk with a plan for delaying Brexit beyond March 29, her spokesman said Tuesday, admitting the parliamentary deadlock had reached crisis levels. The letter will be sent before May heads to a Brussels summit on Thursday, where she has already promised to seek what could be a lengthy postponement of Britain's exit from the European Union. May had hoped to persuade MPs before then to back the divorce agreement she has struck with the EU, but her plan to hold a fresh vote was dramatically blocked by the speaker of the House of Commons. Exasperated European leaders are now demanding London tell them clearly what it wants, warning that the risk still remains that Britain could crash out of the bloc in 10 days, ending its 46-year membership without formal arrangements. Michel Barnier, the European Union's chief negotiator, warned on Tuesday that any extension of the Brexit talks would have "political and economic costs" .
AAP gives fresh proposal of alliance with Cong in 3 states: Sources
The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday made a fresh bid to forge an alliance with the Congress in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, with the former demanding five seats in the national capital, sources said. AAP leader Sanjay Singh discussed the proposal with NCP president Sharad Pawar, they said. According to the sources, the AAP wants to contest on three seats in Punjab, two in Haryana and five in Delhi. "It is now up to the Congress to take the decision. We have learnt that the party is also willing to forge an alliance with the AAP in Delhi," they said. However, the Congress is yet to respond to AAP's proposal and a final call will be taken by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the sources said. When asked about the prospect of an alliance with the Congress, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said all the parties must forgo their petty difference and unite against BJP if the country and its institutions have to survive. Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai earlier told reporters there would be no alliance with the ...
Sitting MP, Independent candidate file nominations in Tripura
Sitting CPI(M) MP Shankar Prasad Datta and an Independent candidate filed their nominations for two Lok Sabha seats of Tripura Tuesday, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sriram Tarani Kanti said. Datta submitted his papers here for the West Tripura constituency while Subir Kumar Jamatiya filed nomination for East Tripura (ST) seat at Ambassa in Dhalai district, the CEO told reporters. Tripura has two Lok Sabha seats and elections for West Tripura and East Tripura would be held in two phases on April 11 and 18 respectively. Both are held by the CPI(M).
Haryana Cong plans state bus tour from Mar 26-30
The Haryana Congress Coordination Committee met for the first time Tuesday, led by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and it decided to hold a bus tour from March 26 to 30. The meeting was held at AICC headquarters a day after party general secretary incharge of Haryana Ghulam Nabi Azad announced the committee comprising 15 members. The members are all senior leaders, including state party president Ashok Tanwar, Congress Legislature Party Leader Kiran Choudhry and former minister Kumari Selja. A member of the committee, Adampur MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi did not turn up for the meeting, raising questions on the Haryana Congress' claims of unity. The bus travel in the state has been planned to ensure that the warring factions of the state Congress move together and display unity ahead of Lok Sabha elections. The tour will start in Faridabad and end in Jhajjar. Before the tour the Haryana Congress will hold a workers' meeting on March 23. Azad, meanwhile, ruled out any alliance in ..
Ambedkar targets Pawar over Dawood's surrender proposal
Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar Tuesday targeted NCP president Sharad Pawar, demanding to know why underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's proposal to surrender to the Indian authorities in 1990s was ignored. At the relevant time, Pawar was the chief minister of Maharashtra. Addressing a press conference here, Ambedkar said Dawood had met senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani in London and expressed his willingness to surrender to the authorities and face the law in India. The only condition put forward by Dawood, a key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, was that he should not be subjected to third degree (torture) post surrender, said Ambedkar, who heads the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA). Jethamalani had met Pawar and apprised him of Dawood's willingness to surrender, Ambedkar said. The Maratha strongman ignored the proposal and said the then Congress-led government was with him in this decision, he said. "When this proposal became public in 2015, Narendra Modi was the prime ...
Former TDP MP quits party
In a setback to the TDP in Telangana ahead of Lok Sabha polls, party polit bureau member and former MP Nama Nageswar Rao Tuesday quit the party. In a letter to TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, he said he has decided to resign as the party's "existence has become a question in Telangana" despite his and the TDPs best efforts to rejuvenate it, he said in the letter shared with the media. Rao had served as MP from Khammam. He unsuccessfully contested the Assembly polls in December last on TDP ticket. The Telugu Desam Party managed to win only two seats in the Assembly polls in the 119-member house. It had contested the elections in alliance with the Congress and others.
KCR slams Cong, BJP; favours federal front
Accusing the Congress and BJP of failing to ensure comprehensive development in the country in spite of the natural resources it is endowed with, TRS president and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao Tuesday favoured a federal front government in the country. Campaigning in Nizamabad, Rao alleged that Hindutva followed by the BJP was "political Hindutva." "Dont we have resources? There are (resources) in the country. But, there is no intelligence to use... There is no water policy in the country because of the alleged misrule of the two parties (Congress and BJP)," he said. Irrigation projects are not built to provide water to agriculture, he claimed. The situation should change, he said. "If federal front government comes, if a true peoples government comes and governance is done with people as the central point, these are problems that can be solved and not problems that cannot be solved. The existing policies need to change completely," Rao said. People were ..
Will review Goa govt's performance periodically: Sardesai
The Goa Forward Party Tuesday said it would periodically review the performance of the state government under Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. The GFP, with three MLAs, is an ally in the BJP-led state government and its president Vijai Sardesai is one of the two deputy chief ministers in it. Sardesai said his party had kept its word to Manohar Parrikar, who died Sunday, to keep the coalition in the state intact. "Words cannot express the deep sense of loss I feel personally. I find solace in the fact that I have kept my word to my chief minister till the end, even though this is not the way I wanted it to end," Sardesai said. "We will have periodical review of our achievements from here on. If we find something amiss, we will adopt corrective measures," he said. He said the government's intention was to continue with the development work seen under Parrikar. Praising Parrikar, he said, "I stand vindicated seeing the development of Goa under Parrikar. Our faith in each other
Barnier warns any Brexit delay would come at 'cost' to EU
The European Union's chief negotiator warned Tuesday any extension of the Brexit talks would come at a cost to the bloc, urging London not to take one for granted. Michel Barnier said when EU leaders meet to consider any request to postpone Brexit beyond March 29 they would expect Britain to explain why it might help. Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to send a letter in the coming hours to ask EU leaders to delay Brexit as Britain seeks an orderly divorce. The leaders, who will meet May on Thursday at their Brussels summit, are expected to approve an extension to avoid the chaos of a cliff-edge split. But it is still not clear whether May can command a House of Commons majority to approve the deal she signed in November and remains the only one available. Barnier told reporters the leaders would decide but that any "long extension... should be linked to something new, a new element or new political process." "Extending the uncertainty without a clear plan would add to the ...
Egypt tightens restrictions on media, social networks
Egypt's top media regulator has put into effect tighter restrictions that allow the state to block websites and even social media accounts with over 5,000 followers if they are deemed a threat to national security. The move is the latest step by the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to suppress dissent. In recent years, Egypt has launched an unprecedented crackdown on reporters and the media, imprisoning dozens and occasionally expelling some foreign journalists. The new regulations, published in the official gazette late Monday, allow the Supreme Media Regulatory Council to block websites and accounts for "fake news," and impose stiff penalties of up to 250,000 Egyptian pounds ($14,400), all without having to obtain a court order. Prominent Egyptian journalists have called the measures unconstitutional, saying they grant far-reaching powers to authorities to censor the media, in violation of basic press freedoms. Chief regulator Makram Mohammed Ahmed refused to ...
Mattis returning to research role at Stanford think tank
The Hoover Institution at Stanford University is announcing that former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will join the public policy think tank to research and write about domestic and international security policy. Mattis resigned three months ago after a series of policy conflicts with President Donald Trump. Trump has not yet nominated a successor; Patrick Shanahan, who was the deputy secretary during Mattis' tenure, has been serving as the acting secretary since Jan. 1. Mattis, a former Marine general, had been working as a national security specialist at Hoover when Trump nominated him to head the Pentagon in December 2016. A Hoover announcement said Mattis will start May 1. The announcement quoted Mattis as saying he believes he has an obligation to pass along lessons, for the benefit of future generations.
South Korea, India need to discuss policy aspect of new tech: Korean Ambassador
South Korean Ambassador Tuesday said India and Korea need to discuss policy aspect of new technologies to develop ethical artificial intelligence. "India and Korea need to discuss policy aspect....to create ethical AI in near future," Shin Bongkil, Ambassador, Embassy of Republic of Korea to India, said at an Assocham event here. He said there are four major areas -- digital transformation, future manufacturing, future utilities and healthcare -- for bilateral cooperation. Bongkil said India is strong in software and Korea in hardware and cooperation among the two countries has potential to lead the fourth industrial revolution.