Page 1365 - Politics
By-election to Thattanchavady segment scheduled along with LS
The by-election to Thattanchavady Assembly segment in the Union Territory would be held on April 18 along with the election to the lone Lok Sabha seat here, Chief Electoral Officer V Candavelou said Sunday. Thattanchavady by election was necessitated following disqualification of sitting legislator Ashok Anand belonging to opposition AINRC on November 8 last year after he was convicted by a CBI court in a graft case. According to the poll schedule, the notification for the polls would be issued on March 19. The last date for filing of nominations is March 26, while the scrutiny of the papers would be done on March 27 . The last date for withdrawal of nominations is scheduled for March 29 and the counting of votes would take place on May 23, he told reporters here. The voter strength in the Union Territory comprising 30 Assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat is 9,59,785 while the Thattanchavady segment has a strength of 29,317 voters of whom 13,846 are men, 15,468
PIB Principal Director General's term extended
The government has extended the term of the Principal Director General (Press Information Bureau), Sitanshu Kar, for a period of six months.
NDA hopes for YSR, BJD, TRS booster to cross 300 in LS (IANS Election Special)
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will keenly watch the performances of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Telananga as the three key regional players slated to do well in the Lok Sabha battle are potential post-poll partners.
Guj to have single phase poll for 26 Lok Sabha seats on Apr 23
Polls for 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat will be held in a single phase on April 23. The schedule for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls nationwide was announced Sunday by Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora in New Delhi. "We welcome the announcement of dates for the elections. We have been preparing for the elections and now our entire focus will be on it. We will win all 26 seats of the state," Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani told reporters. "We will hold meetings at the constituency level for candidate selection. The names will be forwarded to our central parliamentary board after scrutiny by the state parliamentary board," he added. Senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said the election will bring about a "good change" and common people, including youth, farmers, labourers, tribals, backwards and the deprived will be heard. It will end the five-year rule of those showing-off and indulging in "jumlas" (poll gimmicks), he claimed. The Congress, in its first list ...
LS seats not adding up for UPA even after possible post-poll tie-ups (IANS Election Special)
The Lok Sabha seats are not adding up for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) even after possible post-poll alliances.
Palestinian president appoints ally Shtayyeh as new PM
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas appointed long-time ally Mohammad Shtayyeh as prime minister on Sunday, a senior official said, in a move seen as part of efforts to further isolate Hamas. Abbas asked Shtayyeh, a member of the central committee of the Palestinian president's Fatah party, to form a new government, Fatah vice president Mahmoud al-Aloul told AFP. Official Palestinian news agency WAFA also reported the move. Some analysts view bringing in Shtayyeh to replace outgoing prime minister Rami Hamdallah as part of Abbas's efforts to further isolate political rival Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip. Shtayyeh, 61, is a long-term Abbas ally, while Hamdallah was politically independent. The previous government was formed during a period of improved relations and had the backing of Hamas. This government is instead expected to be dominated by Fatah, though other smaller parties will be represented. Hamas will not be included. Hamas said the appointment reflected
Aide says Trump would be 'disappointed' by a N Korea test
Donald Trump's national security advisor said Sunday that the US president would be "pretty disappointed" if North Korea conducted a new missile test, but he refused to confirm reports that such a test may be near. John Bolton appeared notably cautious when asked on ABC's "This Week" about a report that satellite imagery appears to show preparations at a North Korean site for the possible launch of a missile or space rocket. "I would rather not get into the specifics on that," he said. "I'm not going to speculate on what that particular commercial satellite picture shows." On Friday, the website of NPR posted a satellite image that the public broadcaster said showed intense activity around the North's Sanumdong site, where missiles and satellite-launching rockets have previously been assembled. NPR quoted an expert on the North's weapons programs, Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, as saying, "When you put all that together, ...
Modi govt will be best remembered for wasting its historic mandate: Cong
After the announcement of the 2019 general election schedule, Congress hit out at the Modi government saying it will be best remembered for "wasting" its historic mandate and that all its promises remained "unfulfilled". Lok Sabha elections will begin on April 11 and continue for over a month till May 19 across seven phases, followed by counting of votes on May 23, the Election Commission announced Sunday, kick-starting the countdown for a mega electoral battle where the BJP will pitch for a re-election of the Modi government amid the opposition's efforts for a united fight to unseat it. In a press conference after the announcement of the poll schedule, Congress leader K C Venugopal said, "On May 23, people will change Modi government that believes in all talk and no work. All its promises have remained unfulfilled which is why their manifesto is missing from the BJP website now." Regarding forging an alliance for the polls, he said, "We will make an announcement regarding tying up ...
Delhi to vote in Lok Sabha polls on May 12
Voting for the seven parliamentary constituencies of Delhi will take place on May 12, the Election Commission announced, here on Sunday.
BJD govt pushed Odisha under Rs 1 lakh cr debt burden: Pradhan
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Sunday attacked the BJD government in Odisha alleging that it has pushed the state under a debt burden of Rs 1 lakh crore. He also charged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik with depriving the people of the benefits of central schemes such as the Ayushman Bharat medical insurance plan. "Odisha faces a debt burden of more than Rs 1 lakh crore because the BJD government has cheated the people of the state," Pradhan claimed at a party programme at Angul. The Naveen Patnaik government did not accept these schemes as it was afraid that implementation of such programmes will increase the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the state, he said. "But the BJD must realise that the people of Odisha are now impressed with the performance of the BJP-led government at the Centre," Pradhan said. If the BJP forms government both at the Centre and in Odisha, development of the state will be fast-tracked, the Union petroleum minister said. People of .
Lok Sabha polls in seven phases April 11-May 19, vote count on May 23
Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19, the Election Commission announced on Sunday setting a two-and-half month-long process for people to either vote in the Narendra Modi-led dispensation once again or choose an alternative.
It's time to make India Congress-mukth: Karnataka BJP
Betting on the return of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, Karnataka's BJP unit here on Sunday hoped that the April-May elections would make India free from the Congress.
Guj: PAAS leader Hardik Patel to join Congress on Mar 12
Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel Sunday said he would join the Congress on March 12 in the presence of its chief Rahul Gandhi. The Congress would be holding its Working Committee meet here on March 12 and then hold a rally in Adalaj in Gandhinagar later in the day. However, Patel's plans to contest the Lok Sabha polls, the schedule of which was announced by the Election Commission of India on Sunday, may be possible only if he clears legal hurdles. He has been convicted and sentenced to two years in a riot case connected to the 2015 Patidar quota agitation, which bars him from contesting polls. "To give shape to my intentions to serve society & country, I have decided to join Indian National Congress on 12th March in presence of Shri Rahul Gandhi & other senior leaders," Patel tweeted Sunday. "I would also like to state that if there is no legal hindrance and party decides to field me in electoral politics, I would abide by the party's decision. I am ..
BJP, Congress poll-ready in Goa, say leaders
Two Lok Sabha seats and by-elections to three Assembly constituencies in Goa will be held on April 23, state Chief Electoral Officer Kunal (he does not use a surname) told reporters on Sunday.
BJP chief welcomes announcement of poll dates
BJP President Amit Shah here on Sunday welcomed the announcement of dates for the Lok Sabha elections and sought another term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
First time in Baghdad: Iran's president to visit Iraq
Iran's president is making his first official visit to Iraq this week as he faces mounting pressure from hard-liners at home in the wake of the Trump administration's unraveling of the nuclear deal. Hassan Rouhani's trip billed as "historic and noble" by his foreign minister is meant to solidify ties between Shiite power Iran and Iraq's Shiite led-government, a strong Tehran ally. It is also Iran's response to President Donald Trump's snap December trip to Iraq and the American president's comments that U.S. forces should stay in Iraq to keep an eye on neighbouring Iran, with which Iraq shares a 1,400-kilometer-long (870 miles) border. At the time, Trump slipped into Iraq at night, without stopping in Baghdad, to greet U.S. service members at a base far from the Iraqi capital where he extolled the American troops' fight against the Islamic State group. Rouhani later mocked Trump's visit, asserting that flying into Iraq under the cover of darkness meant "defeat" for the U.S. in Iraq .
J&K parties anguished by EC decision to defer Assembly polls
Most of the mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday expressed disappointment and anger at the Election Commission's decision not to hold Assembly elections simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.
NDA will marginally fall short of majority but form government (IANS Election Special)
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will fall marginally short of a majority in the Lok Sabha but will comfortably form the government with post poll tie-ups. In the eventuality of no Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance of opposition parties) in Uttar Pradesh, the Narendra Modi-led NDA will walk home with over 300 Lok Sabha seats.
Union minister flays Cong, NC for blaming BJP for Masood Azhar's release in 1999
Union Minister Jitendra Singh Sunday attacked the Congress and NC for blaming the BJP for the terror outfit JeM founder Masood Azhar's release in 1999, saying the two parties "were part of the decision and will face difficulty if they go into the past". The minister also defended the National Investigation Agency's summons to separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, asking if being a religious leader grants one immunity from law "to receive hawala funds and encourage terrorism". Singh accused Congress president Rahul Gandhi and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah of suffering from selective amnesia of history. "Rahul Gandhi is a victim of selective learning of history, while Farooq Abdullah is a victim of selective recall of history," he told reporters here, responding to a question on the two leaders' recent statements blaming the BJP for the release of Jaish-e-Mohammad's founder Azhar in exchange of the passengers of the hijacked Indian airlines flight IC-814 in ...
Shah urges people to bless BJP in Lok Sabha polls
BJP president Amit Shah urged people on Sunday to "bless" his party in the Lok Sabha election, saying the Modi government has taken bold decisions for their welfare in its first term and will ensure India's giant leap to make everyone "happy and prosperous" in its second. Welcoming the poll announcement, Shah made a strong pitch for the re-election of the BJP-led dispensation at the Centre, saying it has achieved "phenomenal results" in various spheres of governance during this term. Shah put out a series of tweets with hashtag #PhirEkBaarModiSarkar (Modi government once again). "PM Narendra Modi's government has dared to take bold and futuristic decisions for the welfare of 130 crore Indians. It has struck at the root of corruption and celebrated honesty.#PhirEkBaarModiSarkar will ensure India's giant leap, where everyone will be happy and prosperous," he said. "I urge 130 crore people of India to bless BJP in the upcoming polls," he added. Shah said India has emerged as the ...