Page 17 - Politics

Disqualified MLAs moved like they are being shepherded: Himachal CM Sukhu

Firing a fresh salvo at the six disqualified Congress MLAs, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Saturday said they are being driven from one place to other like a shepherd herds a flock. Six Himachal Pradesh Congress MLAs who voted against party nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha elections, along with three Independent lawmakers, have shifted to a hotel in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand amid an ongoing rebellion against Sukhu. Addressing a public meeting at in Mandi, Sukhu said the BJP is shepherding the six disqualified Congress MLAs, who betrayed the party, from one place to another, according to a statement. He also asked why the BJP kept the rebels MLAs in a hotel in Haryana's Panchkula before flying them to Dehradun in a chartered plane and lodging them in a seven-star hotel in Rishikesh. "These MLAs breached the trust of the people of their constituencies and the party by not listening to the call of conscience," he said. Sukhu added that the publi

PM Modi hits out at TMC over corruption, dynasty politics at Siliguri rally

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday intensified his criticism of the TMC on the issue of corruption and dynasty politics and accused opposition INDIA alliance parties such as the TMC and Congress of prioritising their family interests over the nation's development. Emphasising the need to oust the Mamata Banerjee-led party from power in West Bengal, Modi rallied supporters saying, "The door to oust the corrupt TMC government from West Bengal will open from the Lok Sabha polls." "The corrupt TMC government is anti-Dalit, anti-tribal, anti-OBC, and anti-women. The TMC government has committed a scam in the ration scheme itself. Their leaders and ministers are in jail in the ration scam case. The party is looting the people of Bengal," Modi said while addressing a crowd in Siliguri, located in Darjeeling district in North Bengal, commonly referred to as the "chicken neck" of India. Reaching out to the people of North Bengal, where the BJP had bagged seven out of the eight Lok Sabh

PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari elected Pakistan's 14th President

Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari was elected as Pakistan's 14th President on Saturday, becoming the head of state for a second time. Zardari, 68, was the joint candidate of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) while his rival Mahmood Khan Achakzai, 75, was the candidate of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). The new president was elected by the electoral college of the newly elected members of the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies, as per the provisions of the Constitution. A businessman-turned-politician, Zardari is the husband of slain Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto. He received 255 votes while his opponent got 119, Pakistani media reported. Zardari would replace the incumbent Dr Arif Alvi, whose five-year term ended last year. However, he has continued since the new electoral college was not yet formed. Zardari, who served as the president from 2008 to 2013, will also be the first civilian t

11 Himachal MLAs move to U'khand, Union minister says Sukhu govt will fall

Six Himachal Pradesh Congress MLAs who voted against party nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha elections, along with three Independent lawmakers, have shifted to a hotel in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand amid an ongoing rebellion against Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. Two BJP MLAs Vikram Thakur and Trilok Jamwal from Himachal Pradesh were accompanying the legislators, who arrived in Rishikesh from Haryana's Panchkula by a chartered flight late on Friday and checked into Hotel Taj. Congress MLAs Sudhir Sharma, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhuttu, Ravindra Thakur and Chaitanya Sharma have since been disqualified for defying the party whip on the state budget. They have approached the Supreme Court for relief in the matter. Three Independent MLAs Hoshiar Singh, KL Thakur and Ashish Sharma were also with them when they arrived. The Congress currently has 34 MLAs in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly while the BJP has 25. The three Independent MLAs had als

Congress in Kerala in quandary as stalwart Karunakaran's daughter joins BJP

The decision of Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of former Kerala chief minister and Congress stalwart late K Karunakaran, to join the BJP has left the grand old party in a quandary in Kerala before the Lok Sabha polls. Padmaja officially joined the BJP at a function held at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday. The saffron party has suggested that it marks the decline of the grand old party. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran termed Padmaja's decision as "cheating and betraying" the party and a "breach of confidence". He added that there were no reasons for Padmaja to leave the party and it was a "wrong and unfortunate decision". The KPCC chief said that he himself had taken many decisions to protect her interests, but she disregarded all that to leave the party and join the BJP. "Nevertheless, as she is the daughter of the late K Karunakaran, we still have love and respect for her," he said. Emotionally reacting to the development, K Muraleedhara

TDP chief Naidu to meet BJP leadership over possible pre-poll alliance

Amid buzz that the Telugu Desam Party may join the NDA, its supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday left for New Delhi from Hyderabad, and is expected to meet the senior BJP leadership to finalise an alliance and seat-sharing formula in Andhra Pradesh. This is Naidu's second visit to Delhi to meet the BJP leadership in the run-up to the Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. AP BJP chief D Purnadeswari is already camping in the national capital. "This visit will be to finalise the alliance with the BJP, if possible. As there is not much time left for election notification, we want to get a clarity on the alliance," TDP sources told PTI. Naidu is expected to meet Amit Shah later Thursday, the TDP sources said. Further, the source noted that Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan is also expected to leave for New Delhi tonight to team up with Naidu to finalise the alliance and the seat-sharing formula. Recently, the TDP and Janasena combine partially announced a list of 119 seats and n

Valley breathing freely and tourism flourishing: PM Modi in Kashmir

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said while he has a roadmap for the development of the country for the next 25 years, the opposition only has "anger and abuses" to offer and no solutions. Addressing a conclave organised by Republic TV, Modi highlighted the speed and scale of the work done by his government so far and said in the last 75 days, he has laid the foundation stone or dedicated to the nation projects worth Rs 9 lakh crore. "I have a roadmap for the development of the country for the next 25 years. But on the other side (opposition), there is only anger, abuses and disappointment. They neither have any issue to raise nor any solution to offer," the prime minister said. Modi said this decade is for strengthening the foundation of a capable and a developed India. This decade will be of India's high-speed connectivity, high-speed mobility and high-speed prosperity, he said. He said people of the country are "seeing and feeling" the scale and speed of his government's

Best of BS Opinion: What's behind the US market disconnect? & more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Pakistan's PM Sharif thanks PM Modi for felicitating him on his re-election

Pakistan's newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for felicitating him on his re-election. Sharif, 72, took the oath as prime minister of Pakistan on Monday, assuming the cash-strapped country's reins for a second time, nearly a month after an inconclusive election marred by allegations of vote rigging. "Thank you @narendramodi for felicitations on my election as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Sharif said in a post on X. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi congratulated Shehbaz on taking oath as the 24th prime minister of Pakistan. "Congratulations to @CMShehbaz on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan," Modi posted on X. In his victory speech in the National Assembly soon after he was elected as the 24th prime minister and for a second time since 2022, Sharif said his government would not allow the country to become part of some "great game" and would maintain cordial relations with neighbours based on the ...

Cong's poll body meets to finalise 1st list of candidates for LS elections

The top leadership of the Congress is attending a meeting in the national capital on Thursday to finalise the party's candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi and general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal, as well as other senior leaders who are part of the Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) were present at the meeting. Finalising candidates for Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Telangana, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim and Manipur, among others, is expected to be discussed during the meeting. The Congress has not declared any candidate so far. Last week, the BJP came out with its first list of 195 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Congress sources said the party is likely to declare its first list of candidates soon to enable the candidates to start their poll campaign. Speculation is rife over Rahul Gandhi's candidature from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's from Rae

LS polls: Cong to hold discussion on candidates for 10 States in CEC meet

According to sources, the states of Chattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim and Manipur will be put for discussion

One person's different stand doesn't mean family has split: Supriya Sule

NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule has said if one member of a large family takes a different stand, it does not mean there is a split within the family. She also noted that BJP leaders these days do not talk about alleged corruption of her party. Sule, however, did not name Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who parted ways with his uncle and Sule's father Sharad Pawar last year to join the Shiv Sena-BJP government. "Our family has around 120 to 125 members, including small kids, and in such a big family, if one person puts forth a different opinion, it does not signify a split," Sule told reporters in Pune on Wednesday. "Our family is united and it will remain united forever," the Lok Sabha member from Baramati said. Asked about Union minister Amit Shah's statement that Sharad Pawar wanted to make her chief minister, Sule said she was thankful to Shah for "freeing the NCP of corruption". "Whenever he used to come to Maharashtra, he used to refer to the NCP as 'naturally co

PM Modi hits out at TMC over Sandeshkhali incident, party retorts

PM accused the West Bengal government of using all its might to save the "oppressor of women", a reference to suspended Trinamool leader and Sandeshkhali strongman Sheikh Shahjahan

Former US ambassador Nikki Haley ends presidential campaign: Report

Haley's decision to suspend her campaign comes a day after Super Tuesday, when Trump beat her soundly in 14 of the 15 Republican nominating contests

Pak elections this year were less fair than two previous polls: Report

A Pakistan independent organisation on Wednesday stated that the latest general elections were less fair than the two previous polls and demanded an independent probe into the allegation of electoral fraud. The Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) issued a report detailing its assessment of the recently concluded general election, expressing deep concerns over a decline in fairness. Overall, the quality of General Election 2024 has scored 49% which is not only below 50% score but is also lower than the overall score of the past two elections 52% for GE-2018 and 57% for GE-2013 indicating greater concerns about the quality of the most recent General Election, PILDAT said in its report titled General Election 2024 Records Lowest Fairness Score Since 2013'. These overall scores, particularly the steady decline in them since 2013, are emblematic of the weakening of the democratic processes in general and electoral system in particular in Pakistan and

UP Cabinet expansion: NDA partners with SBSP, RLD gets representation

Four new ministers were inducted on Tuesday in the Council headed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as NAD partners SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar and RLD's Anil Kumar were administered the oath of office alongside two BJP leaders. They were sworn in as ministers by Governor Anandiben Patel at the Raj Bhavan in the presence of Adityanath. Apart from SBSP's Rajbhar and RLD's Kumar, Dara Singh Chauhan and Sunil Kumar Sharma from the BJP are the new entrants into the state Cabinet, in what is being seen as an attempt by the BJP to consolidate its position in several regions of the state ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. While Rajbhar represents the Zahoorabad assembly constituency of the Ghazipur district, Anil Kumar is an MLA from Purkazi (SC) in Muzaffarnagar. Sunil Kumar Sharma is the BJP MLA from Sahibabad assembly constituency in Ghaziabad district. Dara Singh Chauhan is a member of the UP Legislative Council. This is the first Cabinet expansion in Adityanath's

ED attaches Rs 12 cr worth assets of former TMC member Shajahan Sheikh

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said it has attached over a dozen properties worth Rs 12.78 crore of suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh including bank deposits, an apartment, and agricultural and fishery land in Sandeshkhali and Kolkata in West Bengal. A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach these assets, the agency said in a statement. A team of ED officials was attacked by a nearly 1,000-strong mob on January 5 when they went to raid Sheikh's house at Sandeshkhali in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. The strongman allegedly has close links with arrested former state food minister Jyoti Priya Mallick, who is being probed by the federal agency in a money laundering case linked to the multi-crore ration distribution scam in West Bengal. Sheikh was arrested on February 29 by the West Bengal Police in the ED attack case, 55 days after he went underground following the alleged assault on the ED team. The TM

Congress to give final shape to manifesto for LS polls, to focus on justice

The Congress is likely to wind up internal deliberations for giving final shape to the party manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and is likely to come up with some innovative measures like an apprenticeship scheme to deal with unemployment. The party's manifesto committee, which is headed by former finance minister P. Chidambaram and has senior leaders like Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Shashi Tharoor and Anand Sharma, among others, is likely to wind up discussions on the manifesto on Tuesday. The key members of the panel met at the party headquarters on Tuesday afternoon and gave final shape to the document. The key members of the panel also met here on Monday. "The committee will hold the last round of talks before finalising the party manifesto today and will make its final recommendations," a sources said. The 50-page document will be presented before the party top leadership and then the Congress Working Committee for final approval. Among those who participated in the ...

Day after quitting Cong, Guj leaders join BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls

Former Gujarat Congress chief and ex-MLA Arjun Modhwadia along with the party's former working president Ambarish Der joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, a day after they quit the grand old party. The two leaders joined the saffron party at its state headquarters 'Kamalam' here along with several others. State BJP chief C R Paatil inducted them into the party by offering them saffron caps and scarves. Modhwadia and Der resigned on Monday, expressing anguish over the party's decision to "boycott" Lord Ram temple consecration ceremony held in Ayodhya in January. Interestingly, both leaders announced their decision to quit Congress just three days ahead of the scheduled entry of Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Gujarat. One of the senior-most and most influential opposition leaders in Gujarat, Modhwadia, 67, was associated with the Congress for nearly 40 years. He had also served as the leader of the opposition and as the state unit president. ...

Calcutta HC judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay says he will resign on Tuesday

Calcutta High Court judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, whose rulings on various education-related issues in the state stirred political debates, said he will resign on Tuesday. Justice Gangopadhyay declined to comment on whether he intends to enter politics, stating that he would address all media inquiries after submitting his resignation. "I will resign from the post of Justice of Calcutta High Court on Tuesday," he told reporters outside his residence here on Sunday. Justice Gangopadhyay said he will submit his resignation to the President of India in the first hour on Tuesday, with copies sent to the Chief Justice of India and the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court. He has issued several directives instructing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to probe allegations of irregularities in the recruitment processes of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government-sponsored and -aided schools.