Page 1304 - Politics

India's submarine deal with Russia raised by some US Congress members with FS: Sources

A number of members of the US Congress raised with Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale the issue of India signing a deal with Russia for a nuclear submarine last week, official sources said Saturday. Gokhale clarified that India finalised the deal for leasing of a nuclear-powered attack submarine from Russia and it was not an acquisition or a purchase, they said. However, the issue was not raised by the US administration during Gokhale's three-day visit to Washington earlier this week. Some members of the Congress raised the issue as they have some mis-perception about it, the sources said, adding Gokhale also explained to them that the submarine will only have conventional weapons. In January, the US announced sanctions against Russia under which Washington can punish countries and entities engaged in transaction with defence or intelligence establishment of Russia. The sanctions were imposed for Moscow's alleged meddling in the US presidential election in 2016. On March 7, India sealed .

BJP sitting MP from Prayagraj joins SP

In a major setback to the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party's sitting MP Shyama Charan Gupta from Prayagraj resigned and joined the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) on Saturday.

BJP raking up old issues to divert attention from govt's failures: Mayawati

For BJP publicity more important not education, public interest, Mayawati said

National security likely to be major poll issue in Himachal

National security can become a major issue in the upcoming general election in Himachal Pradesh, where a good number of voters are either ex-servicemen or currently serving in the security forces. Most of these personnel can hold sway in at least three out of the state's four Lok Sabha seats -- Kangra, Hamirpur and Mandi. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is raising the issue of the surgical and airstrikes carried out by the Modi government in its public meetings, while the Congress is reminding the public how a new country, Bangladesh, had been carved out of Pakistan in 1971 during the Indira Gandhi government. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur claimed that the nation was "fully secure" in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hands. "When Modi became the prime minister, several of our jawans were killed in Uri. The Army successfully carried out a surgical strike in retaliation under Modi's strong leadership," Thakur said at a public meeting in his home district of Mandi on Friday. "Forty

Sitting BJP MP in Assam quits over 'ill-treatment'

BJP MP from Tezpur constituency in Assam, Ram Prasad Sarmah, on Saturday announced his resignation from the saffron party ahead of the Lok Sabha polls citing "ill-treatment to old guards".

Sushma Swaraj on Maldives visit from Sunday

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will begin her two-day visit to the Maldives from Sunday aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Saturday.

SCO to hold joint anti-terrorism exercise in 2019

India, Pakistan and the other members states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will take part in a joint anti-terrorism exercise to be held this year by the grouping. The decision to hold the joint exercise 'Sary-Arka-Antiterror 2019' was announced during the 34th meeting of the SCO's Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) council held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Xinhua news agency reported. The SCO, in which China plays an influential role, is also comprised of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan were admitted into the bloc in 2017. Delegations of the competent authorities of India, Kazakhstan, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the RATS Executive Committee attended the meeting. Chaired by Russia, the meeting also declared plans to hold the first stage of the joint border operation "Solidarity 2019-2021," the 7th meeting of the heads of the border services, and training ...

Pak should hand over Dawood, Salahudeen to India to show sincerity in tackling terror: Sources

If Pakistan was sincere in tackling terror, then it should at least hand over to India Dawood Ibrahim, Sayeed Salahudeen and other terrorists who are Indian citizens and residing in that country, government sources said Saturday. They said Pakistan has failed to take any credible action against Jaish-e-Mohammed and other terror groups even after the dastardly Pulwama attack. If Pakistan really wants to send a message that it was serious about addressing India's concerns over terrorism, then it should hand over Dawood, Salahudeen and other terrorists who are Indians, the sources said. Referring to actions by Pakistan such as holding ceratin terrorists in preventive custody, the sources said India considered them to be cosmetic. Cosmetic action will not cut any ice. India has been asking Pakistan to hand over Dawood, Salahudeen and several other terrorists who are wanted in India in connection with a series of terror attacks. The sources said India has shared various key details such as

SP fields Shyama Charan Gupta from Banda LS seat

The Samajwadi Party Saturday announced the name of its one more candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. A party release issued here said that Shyama Charan Gupta will be its candidate from Banda Lok Sabha seat. The party had Friday declared five candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, which included sitting MP Tabassum Hasan from Kairana and Surendra Kumar alias Munni Sharma from Ghaziabad seat. The SP has so far announced the names of 17 candidates of its quota of 37 seats following its alliance with the BSP. Of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the SP will contest in 37 and the BSP in 38, leaving three for the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). The alliance has not fielded any candidate in Rae Bareli and Amethi from where Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will contest respectively.

Gold worth Rs 7 lakh seized in West Godavari

The election flying squad deployed in West Godavari on Saturday seized Rs 7 lakh worth gold and Rs 30,000 cash at Devulapalli junction and Jangareddygudem mandal amid heightened security ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.The police seized the gold and took cash after the man failed to produce the bills, flying squad official Srinivas Murty said on Saturday.The man, who was carrying the gold from Vijayawada to Aswaraopeta in a car, came under the radar of the authorities while they were carrying out checks in the region.Andhra Pradesh will go to polls in a single phase on April 11. Both the Lok Sabha and legislative assembly polls will be held in the state simultaneously.The state assembly has 175 seats while Parliamentary elections will be held across 25 seats. Notably, this would be the first assembly elections in the region post-bifurcation.

Palaniswami meets DMDK chief ahead of Lok Sabha Polls

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday met Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) Chief Vijayakanth.This comes less than a week after the DMDK joined the BJP-AIADMK-PMK alliance in Tamil Nadu ahead of the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. On February 19, the AIADMK formally joined the NDA. Under the joint agreement, the BJP will contest five out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The party will also support the AIADMK in the by-polls which will happen for 21 constituencies in Tamil Nadu.Another regional party in the fray, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), led by S Ramadoss, will support the BJP-AIADMK front in the state in the General elections.The party, which has a strong vote base in northern Tamil Nadu, especially among the OBC Vanniyar community, will contest on six Lok Sabha seats and will be given one Rajya Sabha seat. The DMDK has been allotted four Lok Sabha seats in the ensuing elections..

Campaign of united colours of SP-BSP to be rolled out after Holi

The united colours of the SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh will be ready for rollout as soon as Holi gets over, say party leaders who are busy finalising strategy to send out a message of togetherness ahead of the elections beginning next month. The parties, which have cobbled together an alliance to counter the BJP in the politically crucial state, are aware that they have been viewed as poles apart and that they have to work at better management and posturing to emerge victorious in the Lok Sabha elections. Flags with the colours of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party are ready and regular meetings are being held to fine-tune logistics of rallies, joint appearances and booth management. "On Wednesday, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav held a meeting with BSP president Mayawati in connection with the joint meetings and rallies that are being planned for the coming Lok Sabha polls," Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary told PTI. Meetings are being held constantly as ...

Ex-Uttarakhand CM BC Khanduri's son joins Congress

Manish Khanduri, the son of former Uttarakhand chief minister Major General (retd) BC Khanduri, joined the Congress party on Saturday. Manish was inducted into the party by Congress president Rahul Gandhi ahead of the latter's public rally here.The seat from which he will be contesting the ensuing Lok Sabha election is still not clear.

TDP candidate injured in faction feud in Kurnool

As tensions rose between Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and YSR Congress in the wake of the Lok Sabha elections, supporters of the two political quarters clashed in Khaggal village of Kurnool district on Sunday.During the clash, P Thikka Reddy, TDP's candidate from Mantralayam Assembly seat sustained injuries. Not only that, a cop who tried to prevent the clash was also injured in the incident.To control the mob, the police present at the spot fired gunshots in the air, following which Reddy's gunman also fired into the air.Reddy sustained injuries on his leg and was immediately taken to Kurnool government hospital.Lok Sabha and assembly elections will be held simultaneously in Andhra Pradesh on April 11. The results will be announced on May 23.

Opposition should not have ego over seat-sharing: Tejashwi Yadav

Calling upon the Opposition, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday said that the Constitution and the country are under threat and therefore, they should not make any strategic mistake by holding their egos high in seat sharing with allies."There is unprecedented trouble on the constitution and the country. If the opposition makes any strategic mistake this time then nobody knows whether general elections would take place in this country or not. If you didn't give up your ego on increasing your few seats while curtailing that of your allies, the citizens who have faith in Constitution will never forgive," tweeted Yadav.In another tweet, he criticised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying that he is an "opportunist" who had betrayed the mandate of the people of Bihar."Despite us being the largest party, we made Nitish Kumar Chief Minister in 2015, in order to save the Constitution and reservation from the BJP. We also gave the post of president of Vidhan Sabha to him, but the ...

Hold is not block, we are optimistic: India on Azhar

Undeterred by the recent setback at the UN Security Council (UNSC), India will continue pushing for the listing of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist by the world body."India is disappointed with China. India is still working with members of the sanction committee. There is no bigger statement, half of UNSC co-sponsors proposal. Hold is not a block. India is optimistic," sources said on Saturday.There has been mounting global pressure against Pakistan to dismantle all terror infrastructure on its soil following the Pulwama terror attack, which claimed the lives of over 40 CRPF personnel.Pakistan-based terror outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack, which has seen the global community come together to support India in its fight against terrorism.Towards this, USA, UK and France moved a proposal in the UNSC to list UN-proscribed group JeM's chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. China, for the fourth time, used a ...

Danish Ali joins BSP

Danish Ali, who was the general secretary of the Janata Dal (Secular) until recently, joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Saturday.Ali joined the BSP in the presence of the party's general secretary Satish Mishra in Lucknow. He was seen as one of the top leaders in JD(S) and was also involved in preparing the list of probable candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.When asked about the reason for leaving JD (S), Ali said his ideologies match with those of the BSP. "Despite all my efforts, I could not have raised it in my 'janmabhoomi, my 'karmabhoomi'....The way in which there is a threat to the constitution today, it has become essential to use our energy with strong leadership," Ali told ANI. "My ideology matches with Mayawati's ideology. We both strive to uplift the poor and weaker sections of the society. I now want to invest my energy for making the lives of the poor better." Speaking about his role and responsibility in the BSP, Ali stated, "I never asked for ...

World don't need leaders like Hitlers, Mussolinis and Modis: Digvijaya Singh

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday drew a comparison between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, adding that the world needs leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.A day after Congress president Rahul Gandhi's tweet condemning the mass shootings in New Zealand that killed 49 people, Singh asserted that the world needs the doctrine of love, peace and compassion promoted by Sanatan Dharm, Gautam Budha and Mahavir and not that of hatred and violence.Comparing Modi with Hitler and Mussolini, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister tweeted, "I totally agree with Rahul ji. World needs the Doctrine of Love Peace and Compassion promoted by Sanatan Dharm Gautam Budha and Mahavir and not that of Hatred and Violence. We need Mahatma Gandhis Martin Luther Kings and not Hitlers Mussolinis and Modis.".

China opposed Azhar's listing as it wants to 'resolve' some issues with Pak

On China blocking Azhar's listing as a global terrorist, sources said India will show patience as long as it takes

Rahul scared of losing Amethi Lok Sabha seat: BJP

With pressure building on Congress President Rahul Gandhi to contest from a southern seat, tentatively in Karnataka, other than his traditional stronghold Amethi, BJP on Saturday mocked the Gandhi scion for fearing a loss from the family borough in Uttar Pradesh.