Page 1682 - Politics
Kargil on warpath over its demand for equal share in divisional status for Ladakh
Cutting across party lines, prominent politicians from Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir Saturday threatened mass agitation if the governor administration did not review its decision to permanently post the divisional commissioner and inspector general of police (IGP) headquarters in Leh. The decision to submit resignations en-mass from all democratic institutions and taking roads in Kargil, Jammu and Delhi was announced jointly by Chairman Legislative Council Haji Anayat Ali, Chief Executive Officer of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Feroz Khan and former MLA Haji Asgar Ali Karbalia at a press conference here. In a major decision, the Jammu and Kashmir administration Friday sanctioned creation of a separate administrative and revenue division for Ladakh, with its headquarters at Leh. Ladakh will now have a separate divisional commissioner and an inspector general of police (IG) with a full administrative and revenue division at par with Kashmir and Jammu ...
No one can question Modi's honesty, For whom will he amass wealth: Rajnath on Oppn charge
Hitting out at the Opposition for accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of corruption in Rafale deal, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said no one can question Modi's honesty and rival parties should desist from "hoodwinking and misleading" the people. Singh said those levelling "baseless and unfounded" allegations should answer that Modi would amass wealth "for whom, his wife, children? Who is there? Whom will he give it to?" "I feel very hurt. I have known Modi for long... you can level other allegations if you want -- that Modi has worked less or he could have done more -- but no one can raise questions on the prime minister's honesty and intention. You should not do politics by misleading people," the minister said at an interaction with intellectuals to seek suggestions for the BJP's Sankalp Patra (manifesto) for the upcoming Lok Sabha election Asserting that there was no blot of corruption on any of the BJP leaders including prime ministers and chief ministers, he ..
Publicity to Vadra could help Congress bounce back: RSS ideologue
RSS ideologue Seshadri Chari on Saturday expressed fears that "too much publicity" to Robert Vadra, the brother-in-law of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, could help the Congress bounce back, like former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did after the 1980 general election.
Jind bypoll set task for JJP to perform well in LS, Assembly polls: Dushyant Chautala
Accusing the BJP government in Haryana of failing on all fronts, Hisar MP and the convener of the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) Dushyant Chautala Saturday said the Jind bypoll result has set a task for his party to perform well in the Lok Sabha and the Assembly elections. In the recently held Jind Assembly bypoll, the JJP, which came into existence following INLD split, put up a spirited fight and its candidate Digvijay Singh Chautala secured second position as the BJP won the seat. The BJP's Krishan Middha secured 50,556 votes as against Chautala's 37,631. Congress candidate Randeep Singh Surjewala is the third spot. Dushyant Chautala, the grandson of former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, on Saturday exhorted party workers to work harder for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and the Haryana Assembly elections due later this year to garner significant vote share. "The result of Jind by-poll has brought a task for us. We got around 38,000 votes in the first match. It was an ...
BJP will win in Bengal and Odisha: Amit Shah
BJP president Amit Shah Saturday said Bengal and Odisha would be added to the list of the states being governed by his party after upcoming elections. Addressing a convention of the booth level workers near here, Shah said the BJP has made inroads into the North-East. Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is not keeping good health, was also present at the 'Atal Booth Karyakarta Sammelan', which was attended by around 10,000 workers. "Today we have gathered here for the 2019 elections. We are here to resolve that Goa will again give both the seats (South Goa and North Goa) to PM Narendra Modi," Shah said. He said the upcoming elections are important not only for the BJP but also for the entire country. "The BJP has now reached up to North East. We are already in 16 states, but after the coming elections we will also be there in Bengal and Odisha," he said. Lok Sabha elections are due in April-May this year while assembly polls are slated to be held in Odisha during ...
Highlight corruption by BJP-led govts: Rahul Gandhi to Cong state chiefs
Corruption by governments in BJP-ruled states should be highlighted proactively, Congress president Rahul Gandhi told the party's state unit leaders on Saturday. At a meeting of Congress state chiefs and leaders of Congress legislature party, Gandhi also discussed candidate selection and alliances for the Lok Sabha elections due this summer, party sources said. They said Gandhi was of the view that state leaders should proactively highlight cases of corruption of BJP-led state governments. He felt that the achievements of UPA 1 and UPA 2 need to be highlighted to check the narrative that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has done more for the people as compared to the previous regimes, they said. "Today I met with our CLP Leaders & PCC Chiefs from all over India to review our election preparedness & strategy in each state. We discussed a wide range of issues related to the upcoming elections," Gandhi said in a tweet.
Rafale allegations won't harm BJP in elections: Goyal
The Opposition's "baseless" allegations about the Rafale fighter jet deal will not affect the BJP's poll prospects, Union minister Piyush Goyal said here Saturday. He was speaking to the media after the party launched "Bharat ke mann ki baat, Modi ke saath", a month-long exercise to seek people's suggestions to help it prepare its manifesto. Asked if the Rafale issue, which the Congress has been raising consistently, alleging corruption, will impact the BJP in coming Lok Sabha polls, Goyal replied in the negative. "We have been going around the country and nobody has ever raised this issue and nobody has ever worried about it, because there is complete trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The people of India trust Modi," Goyal said. "Absolutely baseless" allegations were being made, he said, adding, "These insinuations have no basis at all. So, I don't think this is an issue in the elections." The party is happy that a "non-issue" like Rafale "kept the Opposition busy ..
Guj: Rahul Gandhi to address rally in Valsad on Feb 14
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will address a rally in Dharampur in Gujarat's Valsad district on February 14, its state unit chief Amit Chavda said Saturday. Chavda added that a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), to be attended by top leaders including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and newly-inducted general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra besides the party chief, is also scheduled in the state. "Rahul ji will visit Gujarat for a public rally on February 14. Our request to hold the CWC meet in Gujarat has also been accepted. In the coming days, Sonia ji, Rahul ji, Priyanka ji, Manmohan ji will visit Gujarat," Chavda said. The date and venue of the CWC meet is, however, yet to be finalised, he informed. Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said Rahul Gandhi's rally will be held in Moti Dungri village in Dharampur taluka of Valsad district in south Gujarat. Party sources said the Congress plans a high-decibel campaign in the ...
Point-by-point discussion with India on mutual recognition of degrees going on: Russian Senator
India and Russia are discussing "point-by-point" provisions of proposed agreement regarding mutual recognition of degrees and diplomas, said Yelena Afanasyeva who headed a delegation of Russian senators to promote cooperation between the two countries through Parliamentary Friendship Group. Many Indian students, especially the ones who go to Russia to study medicine, are affected by the absence of this mutual recognition agreement. India and Russia have been discussing the proposed agreement regarding mutual acceptance of degrees and diplomas for many years now. "The representatives of the governments of both sides are now discussing the point-by-point provisions of this document," she told PTI. "One of the difficulties that we have discussed with our colleagues is that the necessity of urging our governments to sign an agreement of mutual acceptance of the diplomas and degrees, especially in the medical sphere," Afanasyeva said. "There was such a document - but between the USSR and ..
Poll panel cautions Delhiites against 'misleading calls' over deletion of names from electoral rolls
The Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi Saturday cautioned people against "misleading calls" claiming deletion of their names from electoral rolls, a day after a BJP delegation met the Chief Election Commissioner and alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had been making such phone calls. The statement from the poll panel drew sharp reaction from AAP national convener and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who said the Election Commission "must not be allowed to become agent of a political party". The office of the Delhi CEO, in the statement, said it had been brought to its notice that "large number of calls have been received from unknown persons/entities/sources by many citizens of Delhi telling them that their names have already been deleted in the electoral roll and the callers will get the same restored in the electoral roll". "The citizens of Delhi are hereby advised to beware of such misleading calls coming from unknown persons/entities/sources. The only authority to add or delete a
PM to address public rally at Guntur Sunday, CM asks cadre to
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public rally at Guntur on Sunday in his first visit to Andhra Pradesh after the ruling TDP severed its ties with the BJP, even as Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu asked his party cadre to observe protest day across the state. Besides addressing the public meeting of the BJP, the Prime Minister will dedicate two petroleum and gas projects worth Rs 6,825 crore to the nation. He will also lay the foundation-stone through remote control system for construction of a coastal terminal of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited at Krishnapatnam in SPS Nellore district. This will be built at a cost of Rs 2,280 crore, according to BJP MP G V L Narasimha Rao. The two projects the Prime Minister would dedicate to the nation include ONGC's Vasishta Gas Field in the Krishna-Godavari basin, set up at a cost of Rs 5,700 crore, and a storage facility of ISPRL, an undertaking of Petroleum Ministry, built at a cost of Rs 1,125 crore, the MP ...
Congress should fulfill manifesto promise on reservation: BJP
BJP leader Arun Chaturvedi Saturday demanded the Congress to find ways through a legal roadmap to fulfill its election manifesto promise of providing five per cent reservation to five communities, including Gujjars, in jobs and educational institutes. "The common people are suffering and its economic burden will come on the state and the Centre. The Congress had promised reservation in its election manifesto so it should find a legal roadmap (to do so)," Chaturvedi said at a press conference. He alleged the Congress government deliberately delayed the bill provisioning reservation to the five communities, including Gujjar, after coming to power in 2008. The governor signed the bill only after BJP MLAs took out a rally in protest, he added. Chaturvedi said the Congress was in government in the state and the Centre in 2008 but did not work on the issue whereas BJP initiated Devnarayan Yojana and other schemes for the benefit of Gujjars. He said the Congress government was trying to ...
NPP threatens to quit NDA if citizenship bill is passed in RS
Amid widespread protests in the Northeast over the contentious citizenship bill, National Peoples Party (NPP) president and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma Saturday threatened that his party will quit the NDA if the proposed legislation is passed in Rajya Sabha. The NPP, which is in power in Meghalaya and backs the governments in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland, adopted a resolution to this effect at its general body convention here Saturday, he said. The NPP leaders of all the four northeastern states were present at the meeting. "The party took a unanimous resolution to oppose the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 and based on that decision a resolution passed. If the bill is passed, the NPP will break its ties with the NDA," Sangma told mediapersons here after the meeting. "This decision was taken today at the general body meeting," he added. The bill was passed in Lok Sabha on January 8 and the government is expecting to get the Rajya Sabha nod in this session.
Ambedkar lays down 'rein in RSS' condition for alliance talks
Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar Saturday said the Congress will have to come up with an "agenda" to "rein in the RSS" before seat-sharing talks could take place between the two parties. Addressing a press conference in Ravi Bhavan here, Ambedkar alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh does not believe in the Constitution and was running a parallel government. While one government is being headed by the President of India as per the Constitution, the other was an unconstitutional one helmed by the RSS, Ambedkar claimed. He said the Congress must come with an agenda to ensure the RSS is brought within the "ambit" of the Constitution. Speaking on the police probe against activist Anand Teltumbde, the BBM leader claimed the "5000 page FIR" filed in the case did not have any evidence that would stand under the Evidence Act. "They have filed a 5000-page FIR having no evidence that can stand under the Evidence Act. The documents presented by them ...
Tejashwi to respect SC order over bungalow; says his fight is against Bihar govt's 'spiteful' action
Chastened by the Supreme Court's order to vacate his bungalow, RJD leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday said he would "respect" the order while asserting that his fight was against the Nitish Kumar government's "arbitrary and spiteful" action and it would continue. He, however, alleged that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar himself was occupying "two residences" created by clubbing six bungalows here. The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed Yadav's plea, challenging a Patna High Court order asking him to vacate the government bungalow meant for the deputy chief minister and ordered him to shift to an accommodation for the leader of the opposition. The apex court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader for pursuing a litigation up to the top court even after two benches of the high court dismissed his plea. Yadav said people may not know that as the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, he is entitled to the same ..
Sukhbir Badal promises free power for Haryana farmers if voted to power
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday promised to provide free power to farmers in Haryana, on the pattern of Punjab, if his party is voted to power in the state assembly elections later this year. Addressing a public rally here, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief asked Punjabis to unite to help the party form the next government in Haryana. "The SAD is going from village to village across the state to unite Punjabis. I urge you to also create awareness about the unique social welfare initiatives started in Punjab by Parkash Singh Badal. All these initiatives will be replicated in Haryana also," the SAD president said. Farmers will be provided free power if the party forms the government in the state, he added. Currently, farmers in Haryana are provided subsidised power for irrigation. The SAD will contest the parliamentary and assembly polls in Haryana independently. Urging Punjabis not to divide their votes, Badal said their issues could be addressed only if the SAD comes ..
PDP leader threatens stir over neglect of Pir Panjal region
Choudhary Zulfiqar Ali, senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Minister, has threatened a stir demanding divisional status for the Pir Panjal region.
NPP to contest all Lok Sabha seats in NE
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Saturday said his party will contest all the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the northeast, including Sikkim.
15 lakh trained workers to be 'backbone' of BJP's LS poll campaign: Muralidhar Rao
The BJP will field over 15 lakh trained workers, 15 times more than it had in 2014, to drive its Lok Sabha election campaign, a party leader said Saturday. BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao, who is in charge of the party's training department, said the trained manpower will give the party an edge over its rivals in the general elections as no other political party can claim an "asset" like this. "In all the elections since 2015, this trained workforce has contributed in a big way in swinging poll outcome in the BJP's favour. We are sure that in the 2019 election also, this massive training programme will have a huge impact in ensuring voter turnout and support for the party," he told reporters. Less than a lakh trained workers were fielded by the party for electioneering in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he said. Rao claimed that it was due to this massive organisational backup that the saffron party was able to put its rivals far behind in several state assembly elections since 2015 .
UK starts hiring for new Brexit crisis centre: Report
The UK government has begun hiring for jobs in a new crisis command and control centre to be set up to tackle with a chaotic no-deal Brexit next month, a media report said Saturday. Briefing notes, seen by 'The Guardian', have been issued by the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to recruitment agencies to seek potential recruits for the so-called EU Exit Emergencies Centre (EUXE). "The EUXE centre is designed to be a temporary measure and the authority expects its lifetime to last about six months, with a potential for further extensions in three-month periods, should an ongoing need arise, potentially up to two years," the job description reportedly reads. Applicants are expected to be recruited on a six-month contract with an option for three-month extensions up to two years. Their qualifications must include an "unflappable" approach while briefing ministers and the UK Cabinet Office on any unfolding emergencies in a no-deal scenario. They could earn ..