Page 1338 - Politics
PDP, BJP want to influence Lok Sabha polls by deception and deceit in J-K: NC
The National Conference Wednesday said the erstwhile coalition partners, PDP and BJP, want to influence the Lok Sabha polls by "deceit and deception" in Jammu and Kashmir as they are still in an "alliance" despite the fall of their government. "We have credible information about the PDP soliciting the advice and direction of the BJP for fielding candidates, convenient to it, for Jammu-Poonch and Kathua-Udhampur parliamentary constituencies to facilitate division of anti-BJP votes to ensure the victory of BJP candidates," the party said in a statement here. The statement, issued by senior party leaders, including provincial president, Jammu, Devender Singh Rana, expressed surprise over the "clandestine PDP-BJP bonhomie" ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and said "the duo were still in an alliance and hand-in-glove to influence the polls by deceit and deception." "The arrangement of convenience is at its final stage," the NC claimed, accusing the PDP of "brightening the BJP prospect" in .
Gehlot offers 'chadar' on behalf of Rahul Gandhi at Ajmer shrine
A delegation led by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday offered a 'chadar' (sacred cloth) on behalf of Congress president Rahul Gandhi at the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti here. Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and AICC general secretary Avinash Pande also accompanied Gehlot while offering the chadar at the shrine during the ongoing Urs, which commemorates the death anniversary of the 12th century Sufi saint The delegation prayed for peace and harmony in the country, party sources said.
Pak regrets India's move to not 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. "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. India and Pakistan agreed to open up a special border crossing linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev - to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district. The corridor ...
I fulfil demands of children of others also, Uddhav's dig at
In a dig at NCP chief Sharad Pawar over entry of Maharashtra Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil's son Sujay into BJP fold, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray Wednesday said he believes in fulfilling demands of sons of others, and do not use them for "cleaning utensils". In a major embarrassment to the Congress, Opposition leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil's son Sujay joined the BJP Tuesday, as he couldn't get ticket to contest his maiden Lok Sabha poll from home turf of Ahmednagar. Sujay called on Thackeray at his residence here on Wednesday to seek the Sena's support for his candidature. Ahmednagar falls in the kitty of the Congress' alliance partner, NCP, which was not ready to vacate the seat for Sujay. "Like my own son, I also care for children of others. It is not Shiv Sena's style to use children of others to wash utensils. Sena is for the common man," Thackeray said. Pawar Tuesday justified not leaving Ahmednagar seat for Sujay to contest. "Sujay Vikhe Patil goes
LS elections in left ruled Kerala to go Green
The coming Lok Sabha polls in Kerala will see the strict enforcement of Green protocol with the election authority banning use of non-biodegradable materials for campaign. The candidates have also been asked to provide details of any criminal cases pending against them. As per the 'green protocol', candidates and political parties can use only eco-friendly boards, banners which can be recycled and materials, including plastics and PVCs, will not be allowed, Chief Electoral Officer Teeka Ram Meena said Wednesday. Political parties should follow the recent Kerala High Court order in this regard and must remove the already installed flex boards. "I have asked the district officers (Collectors) to remove the already fixed flex boards. Non-biodegradable materials are completly banned. Political parties must co-operate. This time we will follow the green protocol strictly," Meena told reporters here. As per a government order to ensure the protocol, polling stations, counting
BJP levelling baseless allegations against Rahul to divert attention from real issues: Cong
The Congress on Wednesday hit back at the BJP for levelling graft allegations against Rahul Gandhi, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Smriti Irani were making "completely baseless" charges to divert attention from real issues such as "rampant joblessness" and "agrarian crisis". The BJP dragged Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra into alleged corruption involving land deals, claiming the opposition party known for "institutionalising" graft has now come to define "family corruption". Responding to the allegation, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked if there was wrongdoing in the deals then why had the BJP not probed them in the last five years. He claimed that facing "imminent defeat in the 2019 general elections, and finding no answer to the rampant joblessness, agrarian crisis, economic slowdown, all-pervading corruption and social unrest, a frustrated Modi government and its perpetually peeved Union ministers ...
BJP's nationalism a strategy to win polls just like SP-BSP alliance: Om Prakash Rajbhar
BJP's nationalism pitch is a strategy to win the elections, Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said Wednesday, drawing a parallel with the alliance between the SP and the BSP, and the entry of Priyanka Gandhi into politics. The chief of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, an ally of the ruling BJP, also said the country's poor do not understand nationalism. "BJP's nationalism is an election strategy (chunaavi daanv). Similarly, SP-BSP alliance is a poll strategy and the move by the Congress to bring Priyanka Gandhi into politics is also an election strategy. Now whose strategy will eventually prove to be right will be clear on May 23," Rajbhar told reporters in Balrampur. He was here to attend a private programme. "How will a poor, who finds it difficult to arrange two square meals a day, understand nationalism. Nationalism is only visible when stomach is filled," Rajbhar said. On Priyanka Gandhi joining politics, he said, "The entry of Priyanka Gandhi has enthused party workers, ..
Turkey's Erdogan brands Netanyahu 'tyrant' who 'massacred' children
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Wednesday accused Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being a "tyrant" who "massacred" Palestinian babies, in the latest exchange between the two leaders. "Hey Netanyahu, behave yourself. You are a tyrant, you are a tyrant who massacred seven-year-old Palestinian children," Erdogan told a rally, in response to the Israeli leader branding him a "dictator". Turkey and Israel have tense relations and Erdogan, who sees himself as a champion of the Palestinian cause, is a vocal critic of Israeli policies.
India, Pak to meet on Kartarpur corridor on Thursday
India and Pakistan will Thursday hold their first meeting to finalise the modalities for setting up of a corridor linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistani town of Kartarpur with Gurdaspur district in Punjab, three months after the two countries agreed on the project. In the meeting, to be held held at the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border, New Delhi is likely to press for hassle free travel of Indian pilgrims to the Pakistani side besides asking Islamabad to insulate them from any propaganda by Khalistani separatists, official sources said. Last year, there were reports that pro-Khalistan banners were shown to a group of Indian pilgrims while they were on their way to two Sikh shrines. The Indian delegation will comprise representatives from Union Home Ministry, External Affairs Ministry, BSF, National Highways Authority of India and Punjab government, they said. On reports about denial of visa to Pakistani journalists wanting to visit India to cover Thursday's meeting, ...
C Lalrosanga Mizo National Front Lok Sabha candidate
The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) Wednesday announced that C Lalrosanga, a former Director General of Doordarshan, would be the party's official candidate for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Mizoram. Chief Minister and MNF president Zoramthanga announcing the name of Lalrosanga also said that the MNF would not have alliance with any party and would contest the Lok Sabha polls alone. Lalrosanga is a former Indian Broadcasting Programme Service (IBPS) office and he retired as Director General of Doordarshan. Zoramthanga also announced that Zodintluanga, a former student leader would be the party's candidate for the byelection to the Aizawl West-I seat, which would be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls. The MNF president said the party would have no truck with the BJP or any other political party and would contest the polls alone. Meanwhile, the BJP state unit president Prof John V Hluna announced that the saffron party would contest both the election to the lone ..
Labour leader Corbyn demands general election after PM May's Brexit defeat
Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has demanded a general election after embattled Prime Minister Theresa May's second major parliamentary defeat on the Brexit, saying she must let the people decide who should lead them into the next phase of the UK's divorce deal with the EU. He also pledged that his party would vote against a no-deal Brexit outcome in Wednesday's vote and signalled that he would continue to press for a customs union with the 28-member European Union. "The prime minister has run down the clock and the clock has been run out on her," the 69-year-old leader said in the House of Commons. "It's time that we have a general election and the people can choose who their government should be," Corbyn said on Tuesday after May suffered a humiliating 391 to 242 defeat when her Brexit deal was rejected by Parliament for a second time. In January, May's Brexit plan was rejected by the MPs with a 230-vote margin. But despite Corbyn's call for fresh poll, the party is ...
Parties cannot seek votes in the name of Lord Ayyappa: CEO
Political parties in Kerala were Wednesday asked by the poll authority to refrain from soliciting votes in the name of Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity of Sabarimala, in the coming polls. Sabarimala had witnessed frenzied protests over the women's entry issue after the CPI(M)-led LDF government had decided to implement the September 28, 2018 Supreme Court verdict, allowing women of all age groups to offer prayers at the hill shrine. The parties must not use the name of Lord Ayyappa for soliciting votes and creating disharmony, Chief Electoral Officer Teeka Ram Meena told an all-party meeting here. "Sabarimala is a religious place. If somebody is using the name of a temple or a mosque for soliciting votes, it is a clear violation of the model code of conduct," he said. Meena said political parties should be responsible enough to decide to what extent they should use the Sabarimala issue during the campaign in the April 23 Lok Sabha polls. "I cannot ban any action by a ...
'BJP's 1st list of candidates for LS polls from Karna to be
Karnataka BJP President B S Yeddyurappa Wednesday said the party would finalise its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls on March 16 and that virtually all the 16 sitting party MPs were likely to get tickets to contest. Calling the Congress-JD(S) rule in Karnataka as "Tughlaq Darbar", he said the alliance would benefit the BJP in the polls, as they "lack" understanding between each other. "I'm confident that because of the state government's failures and achievements of the central government, we will win at least 22 Lok Sabha seats. I have this confidence and we are all working unitedly in that direction," he said. Speaking to reporters here, he said the state BJP Core Committee would meet on March 15-16 after which he would travel to Delhi with state leaders and "the first list of about 20-22 seats out of 28 will be cleared." BJP had won 17 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, but lost one seat (Bellary) to Congress in the by-polls. Out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka,
Rahul slams BJP again over JeM chief's release, Rafale
Congress president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday reiterated that the BJP government had released JeM chief Masood Azhar and asked what the Narendra Modi regime had done to protect the 40 CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama attack. Addressing a press conference here, the Gandhi scion said: "The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) needs to explain why they sent that criminal (Azhar) back to Pakistan." Attacking National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, yet again, Gandhi stressed that he was involved in the Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) chief's release. Gandhi had earlier ridiculed Doval by saying that he had "escorted" Azhar -- who was in an Indian jail and released due to the IC 814 hijacking episode -- to Kandahar in a "special aircraft" in 1999. "Why was Azhar released... National Security advisor is involved in that (in his release)," Gandhi said. "What did the government do to protect the CRPF personnel..." he further asked. Targeting the Union government on the Rafale aircraft deal, Gandhi alleged .
Is India really in safe hands, asks Mayawati
BSP president Mayawati on Wednesday on asked if the nation were in safe hands, while reminding the BJP of the fact that the maximum number of soldiers was killed during its tenure at the Centre."BJP has forgotten that this country has always respected brave soldiers and their martyrdom. Why the most number of soldiers was killed during its rule? Why the threat to the country's security is most? Is the nation really in safe hands," she wrote on her Twitter handle.Mayawati further questioned the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh for "distributing" lucrative posts in the municipal corporations just before the announcement of Lok Sabha elections, which will be held in seven phases beginning April 11. The last phase of polling is scheduled for May 19, while the counting of votes will take place on May 23. "UP's BJP government distributed lucrative positions in municipal corporations and other bodies without any shame just before the announcement of Lok Sabha elections. Enjoy, these are ..
Andhra Pradesh: Former YSR Congress leader Vangaveeti Radhakrishna to join TDP
Former YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader Vangaveeti Radhakrishna will join the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Wednesday.Radhakrishna is a popular leader from Vijayawada who had quit Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP in January.As many as 25 MLAs and 3 MPs have quit YSR Congress Party to join TDP in the run up to Lok Sabha elections.Unhappy with Reddy, party functionaries and former MLAs K Vishnuvardhan Reddy and V Venugopal Reddy have also decided to join the N Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP in Andhra Pradesh.On Friday, YSRCP leader Chalamalasetty Sunil joined the TDP along with his followers. He had contested from the Kakinada Lok Sabha constituency in the 2014 elections on the YSRCP ticket.Former YSRCP leader Subramaniam Reddy, who had unsuccessfully contested against CM Chandrababu Naidu in Kuppam thrice, had joined in TDP in the presence of Chandrababu on Monday. Subramaniam has leveled serious allegations against YSRCP chief while joining TDP.Earlier, former Union Minister Kotla Surya Prakash .
Will campaign for BJP vigorously even if denied ticket: Sakshi Maharaj
BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj on Wednesday said that he will vigorously campaign for the party even if he is denied a ticket for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.Talking to the media here, he said, "I am certain I will get the ticket. However, if the party takes a different decision, I will still campaign for the party vigorously."His remarks came a day after a letter written by the BJP leader to Uttar Pradesh party chief Mahendra Nath Pandey on March 7 surfaced in the media.The Lok Sabha member wrote in the letter that the consequences "may not be positive" if BJP denies him a ticket to contest from the Unnao seat in the polls."If the party takes a different decision (related to my candidature) for Unnao constituency then this may hurt sentiments of crores of workers from the state and across the country. Its consequences may not be positive," he had said.He had also said that BJP should allow him to contest the general elections as he is the only Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidate in ...
BJP alleges Gandhi-Vadra link in graft
Against the backdrop on Rafale fighter jet deal case, the BJP on Wednesday sought to turn the tables on Congress President Rahul Gandhi by linking him with arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and accusing him of working in the interest of his own family.
UNSC set to decide on designating JeM chief Masood Azhar as 'global terrorist'; all eyes on China
The fate of the proposal to designate Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed's chief Masood Azhar as a "global terrorist" by the UN Security Council will be known on Wednesday and all eyes are on China, after it blocked the move thrice since 2009. The proposal to designate Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council was moved by France, the UK and the US on February 27, days after the Pulwama terror attack carried out by a suicide bomber belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) that led to a flare-up in tensions between India and Pakistan. The Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee members have 10 working days to raise any objections to the proposal moved by France, the UK and the US. The no-objection period deadline ends 3 pm local time (New York) Wednesday (12:30am IST Thursday). The Committee makes its decisions by consensus among its members. China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, and an "all-weather ally" of Pakistan, has blocked India's ..
HC irked over no rehab plan for coastal road-hit fishermen
The Bombay High Court Wednesday pulled up the Maharashtra government for failing to come up with a rehabilitation plan for fishermen who will be affected by the state's coastal road project. A division bench of Chief Justice N H Patil and Justice N M Jamdar was hearing a petition filed by two fishing societies raising grievances against the coastal road project that proposes to connect the Marine Drive area in south Mumbai to suburban Kandivali. In the last hearing, the court had directed the state fisheries commissioner to hold discussions with the representatives of the two petitioners-- Worli Koliwada Nakhwa and Worli Machimmar Sarvodaya Sahakari Society. On Wednesday, government lawyer Purnima Kantharia submitted details of the meeting in the court following which the bench said that the government had still not come up with a rehabilitation plan for the affected persons. "What is your (government) plan for the 700-odd fishermen families who will be affected by the project? What ..