Page 1262 - Politics
Will support Pakistan's territorial integrity: China
China on Tuesday told the international community not to target Pakistan following the Pulwama suicide bombing in Kashmir and said it will stand by Islamabad during testing times and firmly support its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
CM asks Amit Shah to tell his supporters to behave in public
Karnataka Chief Minister H DKumaraswamy Tuesday advised BJP president Amit Shah to instruct his party supporters to behave in public and asked if they have any decency. Kumaraswamy was reacting to Shah's tweet flaying police action against those who allegedly raised pro-Modi slogans outside the venue of a function here on Monday at which Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was addressing entrepreneurs. "I advise Amit Shah to instruct his supporters to behave properly in public," Kumaraswamy told reporters here. "While some other party's programme is going on..do they have any decency?...first they have to learn about decency to behave in the public. I advise Amit Shah to instruct his BJP supporters not to disturb other party's programmes," he added. "Hugs for 'Tukde Tukde' gang and arrest of peaceful youth raising pro-Modi slogans? Where are the champions of 'Free Speech'? Yuvraj of Congress must know- time follows the course taken by youngsters. Stop intimidating the youth of ...
Delhi BJP alleges AAP is 'politicising the cow', will lodge complaint with EC
The Delhi BJP on Tuesday alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party was trying to incite communal tensions by "politicising the cow" and said it would lodge a complaint with the Election Commission. The BJP's reaction came on a tweet by AAP Lok Sabha poll candidate Raghav Chadha in which he wrote "door to door campaigning by BJP" and posted a photo of a cow and a calf standing at the doorstep of a house. The post has been liked by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, BJP leader Vijender Gupta said. "We have taken an appointment with the Election Commission of India and will apprise them about how the AAP is politicising the cow, which is a symbol of harmony, and trying to create communal tension," Gupta, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi assembly, told reporters. The tweet is a violation of the model code of conduct (MCC) and the Delhi BJP will lodge a complaint with the poll panel on Wednesday, he said. BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri said complaints have been filed at the Govindpuri, ..
Khobragade's strip-search could have and should have been avoided: Preet Bharara in new book
Preet Bharara, the Indian-American former Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has acknowledged in a new book that the strip-search which Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was subject to following her arrest in 2013 for alleged visa fraud "could have and should have been avoided". In a new book titled Doing Justice - A Prosecutor's Thoughts on Crime, Punishment and the Rule of Law,' Bharara writes about Khobragade's arrest and charges filed against her. The episode had caused a major diplomatic row between India and the US and plummeted bilateral relations to a new low. Bharara writes in his book that in 2013, the State Department arrested a mid-level female Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, for visa fraud in connection with lies about what she would pay her domestic worker. He said the Southern District of New York had agreed to prosecute the case, at the State Department's explicit request". It was not the crime of the century but a serious offense nonetheless and a ..
Longtime Kazakh leader announces shock resignation
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev shocked the nation on Tuesday by announcing his resignation after nearly 30 years in power. The Central Asian strongman, 78, had ruled Kazakhstan since before the collapse of the Soviet Union and leaves no obvious successor. His announcement came a year ahead of the country's next scheduled presidential election and amid growing frustration over falling living standards. In a broadcast address to the nation, Nazarbayev said he had decided to step down and that the chairman of the Kazakh senate would take over. "I have taken the decision to resign from the post of presidency," Nazarbayev said. "The mandate of the presidency will pass to the chairman of the senate for the remainder of my presidential term." The senate chair position is currently held by Nazarbayev loyalist Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, 65, a former prime minister and career diplomat. The announcement came less than a month after Nazarbayev sacked his government, citing a lack of ...
Kartarpur Corridor: India, Pakistan hold technical talks, discuss coordinates
India and Pakistan on Tuesday held a meeting of technical experts to discuss issues related to the Kartarpur corridor, including its alignment, coordinates, and other engineering aspects of the proposed crossing points, sources said. The meeting comes days after the two countries held talks to finalise the modalities for the corridor linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in the Pakistani town of Kartarpur with the Gurdaspur district in Punjab. The technical meeting at the level of experts, including engineers and surveyors, was held at "proposed zero points" in the follow up to the decision reached on the March 14 meeting, the sources said. India has been seeking this meeting for long time and had even suggested to hold it on February 15, 2019. Pakistan, however, had linked it to the meeting on the draft agreement. The experts discussed the alignment of the corridor, the coordinates, and the engineering aspects of the proposed crossing points, the sources said. The outcomes from Tuesday's ...
K Muraleedharan to lock horns with Jayarajan in Vatakara
After much deliberations, Congress in Kerala has finally decided to field K Muraleedharan, a three time MP, from Vatakara parliamentary constituency. The state unit has approved four names and the AICC is expected to release the list shortly. A member of the Kerala assembly, Muraleedharan, son of veteran Congress leader and former Chief Minister, late K Karunakaran, was busy campaigining for Shashi Tharoor here, when he was informed about his candidature. Former Kannur district secretary of CPI(M) and marxist strongman P Jayarajan is the LDF candidate from the constituency. After sitting MP, Mullapally Ramachandran, who is the KPCC president, declined to contest, saying his hands were full, Congress listed out several names, but they were reportedly not agreeable to the high command. As an appropriate candidate eluded the party, Ramachandran was asked by the high command to contest, which he politely declined once again. Ramachandran said "He (Muraleedharan) is the best
Shivpal Yadav's party claims support of Apna Dal faction, announces pact with Peace Party
Shivpal Yadav's Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) Tuesday claimed it has the support of the Apna Dal faction led by Krishna Patel, days after that party announced a tie-up with the Congress. The PSP-L also announced a pact with Mohamed Ayub-led Peace Party in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls. The Apna Dal faction, however, has not made clear whom it will support if both the Congress and Shivpal Yadav's party are contesting in the same constituency. While the PSP-L said it is not averse to an alliance with the Congress as well to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). When contacted, Apna Dal (Krishna Patel) spokesperson R B S Patel parried a direct reply. "We have a pact for seats with the Congress but we are giving policy-based support to all secular and like-minded parties," he said, without elaborating further. At a press conference here, Shivpal Yadav, who was flanked by Peace Party leader Mohamed Ayub, said, "We have entered into an alliance with the Peace ...
Rahul launches election campaign in Northeast
Launching his party's election campaign in the Northeast from Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, Congress President Rahul Gandhi arrived here on Tuesday evening for a two-day visit to Manipur.
Poll panel meets representatives of Internet firms
Representatives of Internet companies, including social media platforms, on Tuesday had an inconclusive meeting with Election Commission officils on the use of social media for campaigning in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls while the Model Code of Conduct is in force.
AP Cong list show several first-timers
With some senior leaders deserting the party in the run up to the polls, the list of candidates released by the Congress for the April 11 Lok Sabha and State assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh show several first-timers and only few notable faces. There were just five notable faces in the list of 22 Lok Sabha candidates and a mere two among 132 Assembly nominees. State Congress chief N Raghuveera Reddy and former minister Sake Sailajanath are the only two known faces in the Assembly candidates list. Former Union Ministers M M Pallam Raju, Chinta Mohan and J D Seelam, former MP Kanumuri Bapiraju and AICC secretary Sheik Mastanvali are the prominent candidates being fielded for Lok Sabha. These were the only leaders who did not leave the party post-bifurcation of the state in 2014 though the Congress was left buried by the Andhra Pradesh electorate. Though former Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy returned to the Congress last year, he too has not been active in the ...
NCP stalwart Vijaysinh Mohite Patil's son set to join BJP
In another embarrassment for the Congress-NCP combine in Maharashtra, and especially for the Sharad Pawar-led party, ahead of the next month's Lok Sabha polls, NCP stalwart Vijaysinh Mohite Patil's son Ranjitsinh is all set to join the ruling BJP with the "consent" of his father. The development comes days after senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil's son Sujay crossed over to the BJP in the wake of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP spurning the Vikhe Patil senior's request to leave aside Ahmedanagar Lok Sabha seat for his son. Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, currently the NCP MP from Madha in western Maharashtra, had served as a deputy chief minister in the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government. The Mohite Patil senior said he was "in agreement" with his son's decision. It is not known immediately whether Vijaysinh will also join the BJP, as is being speculated. Addressing supporters in the family bastion of Akluj in Solapur district, Ranjitsinh asked them whether he should ..
Fadnavis hiding corruption charges against 16 ministers: Munde
Senior NCP leader Dhananjay Munde Tuesday hit out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for "covering up" corruption charges against "16 of his ministers". He was speaking at a function "Rashtra Maharashtra" organised by the BBC Marathi News Service. "We have nailed 16 ministers in the Devendra Fadnavis government on corruption charges with clinching evidence. However, Fadnavis has tried to cover them up and has, therefore, committed a sin," Munde, the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Council, claimed. Munde said there were no charges of corruption against Fadnavis, though he added that he would continue to probe to find out more. Hitting out at the ruling BJP for "politicising" the martyrdom of soldiers, Munde said the party was taking credit for the brave deeds of the armed forces personnel. On Amit Shah's claim, at some political rallies, that 250 terrorists perished in the February 26 IAF air strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Balakot in Pakistan, .
Indian Army Special Forces to get American assault rifles, parachutes
In a major boost to the firepower of Army's elite Special Forces, India is going to buy assault rifles, ammunition, and several other specialised equipment from the United States."Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is going to chair an important meeting where the proposal to buy the equipment worth over Rs 1,000 crore from the American Department of Defence is expected to be discussed," sources told ANI."The meeting is likely to discuss an array of equipment including assault rifles, ammunition and combat free fall parachutes for the Special Forces units of the Parachute Regiment of the Army," sources said."If the proposal goes through, the equipment would be acquired from the United States in a government-to-government deal under the Foreign Military Sales route," they said.The Indian Army already has American M4A1 assault rifles, which have been specially used in counter-terrorist operations and they have been successful.The Army is also looking at buying more carbines for the ...
Indo-Pak tensions dominates first strategic dialogue between China, Pak
The Indo-Pak tensions following the Pulwama terror attack became the focal point of the first strategic dialogue between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China as Beijing urged the global community to take a "fair perspective" of Islamabad's commitment to fight terrorism. Pakistan is facing intense international pressure to rein in the terror groups operating from its soil in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack by a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber on February 14 that killed 40 CRPF soldiers. JeM is one of the terror groups operating from Pakistan. The meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi came days after Beijing foiled for the fourth time the efforts to designate JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council. Heaping praise on Pakistan's counter terrorism efforts, Wang said, "China commends Pakistan's recent strong counter terrorism measures taken at home. We fully support Pakistan in ...
Cong seeks Salman Khan's help to capture BJP's Indore citadel
The Madhya Pradesh Congress has requested Bollywood megastar Salman Khan to breach the BJP's Indore citadel in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls. The actor was born in Indore's Palasia area in 1965 and has spent a substantial part of his childhood in that city before moving to Mumbai. "Our leaders have already talked to Salman Khan to campaign for us in Indore. We are sure the actor would campaign for us," MP Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said. Indore, Madhya Pradesh's largest city and commercial capital, has been in the iron grip of the BJP ever since current Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan defeated former chief minister and senior Congressman Prakash Chandra Sethi in 1989. Sethi, a one-time lieutenant of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was the sitting MP at the time but lost to Mahajan by over 1.11 lakh votes. Eight-time MP Mahajan, affectionately called 'Tai' (sister), has retained the seat since then and the BJP has also had a sizable share of victories ..
Arunachal Pradesh remained backward due to Congress 'misrule': Rijiju
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju Tuesday hit out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleging that Arunachal Pradesh had remained the most backward state in the country due to his party's 40-year long "misrule". The BJP leader, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh, also said due to the focussed attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the entire Northeast is poised to become a key economic hub of India. "Rahul Gandhi has said that only the Congress party can develop Arunachal Pradesh. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi that in the last 40 years of Congress rule in Arunachal Pradesh, why the state has remained the most backward in India with regards to roads, communication, telecommunication, airports, railways, health and other social parameters," Rijiju said. His remarks came after Gandhi, at a rally in Itanagar, said the Congress will restore restore the special category status to all states of the northeast if voted to power at the Centre. Rijiju said people had suffered long due to the Congress ..
California Congressman sues Twitter for $250mn
Devin Nunes, a Republican Congressman from California, has sued Twitter and several of its users for more than $250 million, alleging that the open communication platform failed to curb defamatory and malicious tweets against him.
37 companies if CPMF in Tripura
A total 37 companies of central para military forces (CPMF) have arrived in Tripura for the two-phase Lok Sabha election in the state, top police official said Tuesday. The CPMF personnel would be deployed in Tripura for the first phase of elections scheduled to be held here on April 11, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Arindam Nath said. Around 100 companies of CPMF would arrive in the state for the Lok Sabha elections and preventive arrests would be stepped up to ensure law and order situation before, during and after the polls, he said. "We have stepped up preventive arrests and execution of non-bailable warrants. Nearly 200 persons have been arrested till now. The highest number of preventive arrests were made in West Tripura district," he informed. Tripura Chief Electoral Officer Sriram Taranikanti said that central security forces were deployed in confidence building measures in different parts of the state. "They are engaged in area domination, patrolling and other .
Former CBI top official to contest Visakhapatnam LS seat
Former CBI Joint Director V.V. Lakshminarayana will contest the elections from the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha constituency on a Jana Sena ticket, the party announced on Tuesday.