Page 1337 - Politics
Vikhe Patil must clear stand on son's entry in BJP: Thorat
Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister Balasaheb Thorat Wednesday asked his senior party colleague Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil to make his stand clear on his son joining the BJP. Sujay Vikhe Patil, the son of senior Congressman Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil who is also the Leader of Opposition in the assembly, joined the BJP Tuesday. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said he will suggest the BJP leadership to field Sujay Vikhe Patil, a neurosurgeon by profession, from the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat. Talking to PTI at Sangamner, 80km from here, Thorat said the Vikhe Patil family has been associated with the Congress for the last five decades and the party has treated its members well. However, the Vikhe Patils have "betrayed" the Congress at a crucial time, Thorat said. Thorat said Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil should clarify his stand on his son joining the BJP, the principal political opponent of the Congress. The former minister said Ahmednagar district is a traditional
Separatist leaders arrested for terror funding accuse NIA of delaying case
A number of Hurriyat Conference leaders arrested in a terror funding case accused the NIA on Wednesday of delaying the case, which also involves Lashkar-e-Taiba chief and 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed. The NIA had accused Saeed and others, including Hizbul Mujahideen head Syed Salahuddin, of "conspiring to wage war against the government" and fomenting trouble in the Kashmir Valley. Some of the accused arrested in the case, including Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, Mohammad Akbar Khanday and Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal, besides hardline pro-Pakistan separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani's son-in-law Altaf Shah alias Altaf Fantoosh, told the court that their bail applications are pending for a long time and the probe agency was seeking repeated adjournments. The submissions were made after the NIA sought adjournment on their bail matter on the ground that its Special Public Prosecutor was not available today. Meanwhile, Naval Kishore Kapoor, an UAE-based businessman arrested .
Immensely happy to see more seats reserved for women: Patnaik
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has said that he is elated to see more and more seats are being allocated to women in the upcoming elections in the country. Patnaik's reaction came a day after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee allocated 17 of the state's 42 Lok Sabha seats to women. Patnaik, in a public meeting in Kendrapara on Sunday, announced that one-third of the Biju Janata Dal's candidates for parliamentary constituencies in Odisha would be women. "Immensely happy to see All India Trinamool Congress led by @MamataOfficial nominate over one-third women candidates for ensuing Lok Sabha Elections 2019. With the gathering momentum, India could see a sea change in electoral & development domain," Naveen said in a tweet. He said the move is a great tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. "Gandhiji was a great votary of #WomenEmpowerment and advocated higher representation for women in legislative bodies. Allocation of 33 per
BJP, Cong trade charges over land deals involving Rahul, Priyanka
The BJP Wednesday questioned land deals involving Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to allege the Congress has come to define "family corruption", even as the opposition party termed the charges "baseless" and an attempt to divert attention from "rampant joblessness" and "agrarian crisis". BJP leader and Union minister Smriti Irani cited a media report on land deals allegedly in favour of the Congress president and his sister, who is also a party general secretary, claiming that the country has come know that not only the "jija" (Robert Vadra) but his brother-in-law Rahul Gandhi was involved in this "family package of corruption". Referring to the report, Irani told a press conference that Rahul Gandhi purchased land in a deal involving H L Pahwa, who was raided by the Enforcement Directorate, and Mahesh Kumar Nagar, who also had a role in land transaction involving Robert Vadra. "Investigation has revealed that C C Thampi had funded this land deal involving Pahwa and Gandhi. The
BJP Telangana chief throws down challenge to Rama Rao
The BJP's Telangana president K Laxman Wednesday threw down a challenge to TRS working president K T Rama Rao asking if he was ready to quit politics if the NDA came to power on its own after the Lok Sabha elections. Laxman claimed Rama Rao had said during the December Assembly polls that he would quit politics if the Telangana Rashtra Samithi failed to come to power. Rao recently said during campaigning that neither the NDA nor UPA would be able to form a government on its own post Lok Sabha polls and that TRS should get 16 Lok Sabha seats (leaving Hyderabad represented by AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi) to ensure a better deal for Telangana in release of funds and getting development projects. "Let KTR (K T Rama Rao) take up my challenge. If NDA comes to power on its own, is (he) going to quit politics as he was saying during the assembly elections...Can he take up the challenge?" Laxman told PTI here. He asserted that the NDA would come to power without requiring ..
PM feels he can control any Indian state by blackmail: Rahul
Launching a frontal attack on the AIADMK-BJP alliance in Tamil Nadu, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Wednesday alleged the state government was controlled by the Prime Minister's Office, something that has never happened before. In his first public rally to launch the UPA poll campaign in the southern state, Gandhi said "today, the government in Tamil Nadu is controlled by the Prime Minister's Office." The accusation has been often repeated by the DMK to target the ruling AIADMK. "Never was a government in Tamil Nadu controlled from Delhi," he said. The Congress president said Prime Minister Narendra Modi felt he could "capture" any Indian institution and control any state by "blackmail" and that he can pressure different states from Delhi. In his first rally after his party inked a poll pact with the DMK, he said Modi had stated that he wanted to be "chowkidar and not Prime Minister." "After saying that, the chowkidar gave Rs 30,000 crore to Ambani," he alleged. The Prime Minister's ...
DMK chief Stalin says Rahul will be PM after LS polls
Sticking to his Rahul Gandhi for PM pitch, DMK President M K Stalin Wednesday said the Congress chief will assume the top office within a few weeks. Sharing the stage with Gandhi at a grand UPA poll rally here, Stalin declared that the coming Lok Sabha election was a war to dislodge Prime Minister Narenda Modi and asserted the UPA would repeat its 2004 success by winning all 40 seats. "Within a few weeks, Rahul Gandhi will become the Prime Minister. In your (Gandhi's) hands the country will be safe we believe," he said. Stalin had proposed Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the opposition alliance at a function in Chennai in December last year where Karunanidhi's statue was unveiled. However, the proposal had drawn lukewarm response from several other opposition leaders who were not keen on naming prime ministerial candidate before the polls itself. The DMK leader said he had made the pitch for Gandhi as PM following in the footsteps of his father late M ...
Sri Lankan government divided on UN rights body representation
The Sri Lankan Government appeared to be at loggerheads over the country's representation at the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Commission where a resolution to address the human rights concerns in the island nation will be taken up next week. Colombo is once again under international pressure to implement fully the measures identified by the UNHRC in 2015 to address human rights concerns after the United Kingdom and Germany on Tuesday tabled a resolution at the UN body in Geneva. The UN rights office calls for international investigations into alleged war crimes and encourages member states to prosecute Sri Lankans suspected of war crimes in accordance with universal jurisdiction principles. The resolution which Sri Lanka is expected to co-sponsor was also endorsed by Canada, Germany, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. There is a clear division within the government over its representation and the approach as was evident in Parliament on ...
Punjab Cong chief accuses Centre of not clearing foodgrain godowns
Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar Wednesday accused the Centre of not clearing the godowns ahead of the wheat harvesting season, charging it with trying to put the state government in "poor light" during election time. Jakhar said the state government had suggested the Election Commission of India (ECI) to hold the Lok Sabha polls in the state before the commencement of wheat harvesting for the smooth procurement of crop. "The state government had requested the ECI to conduct elections in Punjab before the start of wheat harvesting (in April). But Punjab has been put in the last phase for the polling," he said. "There is no inch of space in the godown for storing fresh crop. No effort has been made by the Centre to make space for the incoming crop. Where will we stock the wheat," Jakhar questioned while accusing the BJP-led central government of deliberately trying to "sabotage" the Congress government here. Any problem in crop lifting will lead to harassment of farmers, Jakhar ...
Left parties to contest three Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand
The Left parties Wednesday decided to contest three out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand. "The Left Front have decided to contest three seats --- CPI(M) from Rajmahal, CPI from Hazaribagh and CPI (ML-Liberation) from Koderma," CPI(M) Jharkhand unit secretary G K Bakshi told reporters here. He said the CPI(M) state committee would endorse the decision in its meeting on March 15 in Ranchi. "The agenda of the CPI (M) for the April/May Lok Sabha elections is to defeat BJP, get maximum number of left candidates elected and ensure formation of secular government," Bakshi said. He also said that the Left parties decided to support candidate of such opposition party in the rest of the seats, who could be seen as strong opponent against the BJP candidate. "CPI(M) has always supported former MP A K Roy as well as MCC from Dhanbad seat. So if MCC fields candidate from Dhanbad, it would be the fourth seat of Left Front," claimed Bakshi. Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC) ...
AGP betrayed people of Assam by realigning with BJP: Congress
Leader of opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia Wednesday said the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has betrayed the people of the state by realigning with the BJP, which had sought the passage of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament. The AGP has "shamelessly" joined hands with the saffron party, knowing well that the Bill will be enacted if the BJP retains power at the Centre, the senior Congress leader asserted. In January, the regional party had withdrawn its support to the BJP government in Assam in protest against the Centre's decision to go ahead with the bill, which seeks to grant nationality to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan after six years of residence in India. "The lure of power has prevailed over the responsibilities of the regional party. By joining hands with the BJP once again, the AGP betrayed the people of Assam," Saikia said, hours after the two parties announced that they would the forthcoming Lok Sabha
Pak regrets India's refusal to issue visas to journalists for Kartarpur meeting
Pakistan on Wednesday expressed disappointment over India's decision to not issue visas to Pakistani journalists to cover the first meeting between the two countries on the Kartarpur Corridor. The meeting will take place on the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border on Thursday. "Regrettable that India has not given visas to Pakistani journalists for the Kartarpur meeting tomorrow," Dr Mohammad Faisal, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tweeted. It is not known how many journalists had applied for visas to cover the meeting. "Hope the #PakKartarpurSpirit and meeting tomorrow will bring a change for the better for people of both countries," he added. A Pakistani delegation will visit India on Thursday for the meeting, which would be followed by an Indian delegation's visit to Islamabad on March 28. Faisal also pointed out that the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor in Pakistan last year was covered by over 30 Indian journalists. "They also met Prime ...
EC biased against nationalist leaders: BJP MLA OP Sharma after notice for MCC 'violation'
The Election Commission has issued a show cause notice to Delhi BJP MLA Om Prakash Sharma for posting photos featuring him, IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media, prompting the legislator to dub the poll body "bias against nationalist leaders". The Election Commission (EC) has asked him to take down the post and reply to the show cause notice by Thursday. Sharma told PTI he has deleted the post mentioned by the EC, but said he did not understand why was the poll body was so "allergic" to a person cheering the heroic act of its soldiers and rejoicing over an act of national honour. "The Election Commission is biased against nationalist leaders like me," he said. The Election Commission Sunday announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls. The model code of conduct is in place across the country since the announcement of poll dates. Polling in Delhi will be held on May 12. The posters, shared on social media by the BJP MLA on March 1, .
Pb voters will teach Congress a 'lesson' in LS polls: Sukhbir
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal Wednesday claimed that voters in Punjab were keen to "teach" Congress a "lesson" in the upcoming general election for "betraying" every section of the society. Speaking here following the working committee meeting of the party, Badal said that he had visited 85 assembly segments of the state last month and found that people had made up their mind to "teach a lesson" to the Congress. "The Lok Sabha elections will witness the SAD sweeping the state and will pave the way for the assembly election victory in 2022," Badal said, adding that the Akali Dal would observe March 16 as 'Vishvasghat divas' (betrayal day). The working committee also discussed the party's strategy and poll campaign as well as authorised Badal to nominate candidates for the Lok Sabha polls. The SAD chief hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for forming a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for reexamining the anti-Sikh riot cases. He also thanked Modi for taking ...
I am contesting polls for future of my children and to save democracy: Priya Dutt
Congress party leader Priya Dutt on Wednesday said, she is contesting elections for the future of her children and to save the 'democracy' and the 'constitution'."I am fighting for the future of my children; this is the fight for saving our democracy and constitution," said Priya Dutt told ANI on Wednesday."All those who want that our country should move ahead as united will have to work," Hence I am in this race and I am fighting this election, " she added.Dutt had entered electoral politics in 2005 and has been contesting from the North Central Mumbai Parliamentary constituency. She had fought three general assembly elections, the last one being in 2014.She won the Mumbai North West seat in two elections after the death of her father, Sunil Dutt. In the 2014 election, she lost to Poonam Mahajan of the BJP.The 52-year-old Congress leader had written to party president Rahul Gandhi in January that she doesn't want to contest the elections, asserting that her political commitments took
Kejriwal appeals to Congress on alliance between AAP and JJP
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday appealed to the Congress to join the proposed alliance between his party and JJP but his offer was snubbed by his Haryana-ally, which said it can "never have any truck" with the Congress. Kejriwal earlier on Wednesday told reporters that an alliance between AAP, Congress and Jannayak Janata Party would defeat the BJP in the state. "Let's come together in Haryana to defeat the BJP," Kejriwal said. However, within minutes after Kejriwal's comments, the JJP issued a strong-worded statement, saying it can "never have any truck" with the Congress. "The JJP has been formed on the ideology of late Choudhary Devi Lal who has always fought against Congress so JJP will never enter into any alliance with the Congress and will not be part of any alliance which includes Congress," JJP's national general secretary KC Bangar said. The JJP can enter into an alliance with only like-minded parties whereas the ideology of Congress does not match with its views, he ...
15 surgical strikes took place under Cong rule, but it never talked about it: Raj CM
Accusing the Modi government of "politicising" actions of defence forces, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday claimed 15 surgical strikes took place during the Congress rule, but the then dispensation never talked about it. He said former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi had made huge contributions for the nation, but the Modi government has never highlighted the same and instead defamed the Gandhi family. "The countrymen are innocent. They think that Prime Minister Narendra Modi got the surgical strikes done, but 15 surgical strikes have taken place earlier. Under the Congress rule, surgical strikes took place 15 times, but it was never said that such action has taken place," Gehlot told reporters here. He said it was not a standard thing (on part of the government) to highlight such developments. "Modi became the prime minister and satellites were launched by ISRO, but it was presented as if the satellites were launched only in his rule. It took ...
Centre trying to levy income tax from ST people: Lalduhoma
Opposition Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) legislature party leader Lalduhoma Wednesday alleged in the Mizoram Assembly that the BJP-led government at the Centre was trying to levy income tax from Schedule Tribe people in the state. Moving a Calling Attention Motion during Zero Hour Lalduhoma said Scheduled Tribe people were exempted from paying income tax under section 10 (26) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. "The Ministry of Finance recently issued a notification instructing the public sector banks to collect 10 per cent of annual interest from Rs 10,000 or above," he said. He said anyone who wants to have Income Tax exemption certificate would have to go to Silchar in neighbouring Assam, the nearest Income Tax department office, about 150 km from Aizawl. Accusing the BJP-led government of trying to remove concessions and privileges of the tribal people, he urged the state government to take immediate action on this. Replying to the statement made by Lalduhoma, Chief ...
AAP and BJP engage in a tug of war on twitter over the issue of full statehood for Delhi
The ruling AAP and the BJP engaged in a tug of war on Twitter on Wednesday, with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia questioning the saffron party why it failed to keep its electoral promise of granting full statehood to Delhi. In a series of tweets in Hindi, Sisodia argued with Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana, who challenged the deputy chief minister for a public debate on the issue of full statehood for Delhi. Naming his father former Delhi Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal also slammed Khurana and and claimed that he was "speaking against his father who had martyred for full statehood to Delhi." A furious Khurana also challenged Kejriwal for an open debate if he had "courage" to face his questions. Sisodia asked Khurana, why Delhi was deprived of full statehood despite BJP promising it in its election manifesto. "Harish Khurana ji what I understand was also comprehended by late Madan Lal Khurana Sahab, but its sad that you have still not ...
AIADMK allots one LS seat to G K Vasan's party
The AIADMK Wednesday allotted one Lok Sabha seat to the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) led by former union minister G K Vasan as it almost concluded the alliance formation for the coming elections in Tamil Nadu. The seat-sharing agreement was signed by leadership of the two parties here. The decision on inducting the TMC into the alliance was announced by AIADMK Coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam here. According to the pact, the TMC which became the eighth partner in the alliance led by the AIADMK and also comprising the BJP and PMK among others, will support the ruling party in the bypolls to 18 assembly constituencies on April 18. Also, the Vasan-led party would back the AIADMK in three more vacant assembly segments as and when bypolls were held, he told reporters here. The DMK has approached the Election Commission and the Supreme Court seeking conduct of bypolls to the three seats alongwith polling for the 18 seats, which will be held together with ..