Page 1805 - Politics
Sunjay Sudhir appointed as India's envoy to the Maldives
Senior diplomat Sunjay Sudhir has been appointed as India's Ambassador to the Maldives, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Monday. Sudhir, a 1993 batch Indian Foreign Service officer who is presently Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, is expected to take up the assignment shortly, the MEA said in a statement. His appointment comes at a time when the two countries are strengthening ties after a new government came to power in the island nation last year. Meanwhile, the MEA also announced that Vijay Singh Chauhan, presently Consul General, Consulate General of India, Sao Paulo, has been appointed as the Ambassador of India to Burkina Faso. He is also expected to take up the assignment shortly.
Administrative reshuffle effected in West Bengal
In a reshuffle in the IAS cadre, the West Bengal government Monday made Alokesh Prasad Roy as the new Commissioner of panchayat department, a senior official at the state secretariat said. Roy, who was the district magistrate of Purulia, would be replaced by Rahul Majumdar, now ADM of North 24 Parganas district, he said. Ajit Bardhan, principal secretary of state youth services and sports department, was entrusted with additional charge of Commissioner of Jalpaiguri in place of Barun Kumar Ray, who was made the new principal secretary of North Bengal Development (NBD) department with additional charge of the Malda division. Reshmi Kamal, district magistrate of Purba Medinipore, was made the executive director of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, the senior IAS officer said. Partha Ghosh, now joint secretary of the Personnel & Administrative Reforms Department, was made the new DM of Purba Medinipore.
Assam LOP urges Rajya Sabha members to prevent passage of Citizenship Bill
Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia on Monday urged all the non-Congress and non-BJP members in the Rajya Sabha to prevent the passage of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. In a letter to the Upper House parliamentarians, the senior Congress leader said people in the north-east were opposed to the bill as they feared for their "land, language, political authority and indigenous identity". "In this hour of crisis, we must take a cue from the chief ministers of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur, who opposed the bill in the interest of their respective states. The future of the indigenous people of the north-east is at stake, we must rise above politics and take a united stand against the bill," he said. The bill, passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to those Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Christians and Parsees who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before ...
CISF gets best Republic Day tableau trophy
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday presented best tableau trophy to the CISF for showcasing the multi-dimensional functions of the force during Republic Day parade on January 26, an official said.
Two BJP leaders join AAP
Two BJP leaders in Delhi, Dharamveer Awana and Raju Nirmal, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday in the presence of Rajya Sabha MP N.D. Gupta, AAP South Delhi Lok Sabha in-charge Raghav Chadha and Badarpur MLA N.D. Sharma.
Cong slams BJP on attack over Siddaramaiah incident
The Congress on Monday slammed the BJP for its attack over former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah's alleged misbehavior with a woman at an event, saying it does not have the moral, constitutional or political right to talk about women's issues. Siddaramaiah landed in a controversy Monday when he snatched the microphone from a woman during a verbal duel resulting in her dupatta getting dislodged at an event in Varuna in Mysuru. As he faced flak, the senior Congress leader later said the incident was accidental, devoid of any mal-intent and that the woman was like his sister. Attacking the Congress over the incident, the BJP said it shows how much the opposition party respects women and demanded that Rahul Gandhi take action against the former Karnataka chief minister. Responding to BJP's criticism, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said: "We consider it to be fairly rich when the BJP expresses concern about the rights of women in this country." "A government which spends 65 per
Yechury, Raja hit out at Modi govt, says it is 'anti-people'
The CPI(M) and the CPI Monday lashed out at the Narendra Modi-led government, accusing it of being "anti-people" and having failed to address burning issues like unemployment and economic crisis in the country. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI leader D Raja attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the Centre was following "anti-people, anti-farmer and anti-labour policies". Both leaders were here to address a state level joint rally 'Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao' at the grain market here. They held the prime minister responsible for alleged unemployment and economic crisis in the country. In his address, D Raja lambasted the Centre for allegedly "undermining" the constitutional institutions in the country. Yechury told reporters that the left parties would contest all the Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal and Kerala. He said the CPI(M) could enter into an electoral alliance with the regional parties on a state-to-state basis to contest the polls. "The main motive ..
Gadkari eyeing PM post: Opposition
Reacting to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's recent remarks that politicians who do not fulfill promises are "thrashed" by people, the Opposition on Monday said it was a direct attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the politician from Nagpur was eyeing the top post.
79.16% voting in Ramgarh constituency in Rajasthan
Braving a day-long chill, around 79.16 per cent of the 235,625 electorate voted on Monday in Rajasthan's Ramgarh Assembly constituency in a battle which the Congress hopes to win to gain a simple majority in the 200-member House.
Will go to LS polls with target of bagging 74 plus seats from UP: Nadda
Union minister and BJP Lok Sabha election in-charge for Uttar Pradesh J P Nadda Monday said the party will go to Lok Sabha polls with a target of bagging 74 plus seats from the state. Addressing a meeting of party convenors in Chandauli, Nadda said, "In 2014, the strength of our party in UP was 36 lakh workers. Now our strength is 1.80 crore workers. We will go to Lok Sabha polls with the promise of making Narendra Modi the Prime Minister again." Nadda said the "clean image" of the prime minister and various welfare measures initiated by the Centre and the state government will ensure BJP's victory in the polls. He urged the party workers to gear up for the Lok Sabha election without bothering about the rival political parties. UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey, on this occasion, said, "Winning against the BJP has become a challenge for all the parties and hence they are engaging in 'gathjod' (alliances). "People who had never united in the past are now coming together owing to
BJP not desperate for tie-up, can take on Cong-NCP combine: CM
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Monday countered the Shiv Sena's claim of being "the big brother" in the Sena-BJP alliance, saying his party is not seeking a tie-up desperately and can take on the Congress-NCP combine. He was speaking at the valedictory event of a day-long meeting of the state working committee of the BJP in Jalna. "BJP does want an alliance with the Shiv Sena but we are not desperate for it. We want the alliance as custodians of Hindutva and a strong force against corruption. We (BJP) are competent to fight the Congress-NCP combine," he said. The chief minister said his party believes in Hindutva and wanted to keep the opposition alliance away from power. Several BJP ministers in the state have stated earlier that an alliance with the Sena, which has often been critical of the BJP-led government, is needed to keep anti-Hindutva forces at bay. The Sena had said last January that it would go it alone in all future elections. Earlier Monday, ..
Congress MP Mausam Benazir Noor joins Trinamool
In a setback to the Congress in West Bengal, the party's Lok Sabha MP Mausam Benazir Noor on Monday joined the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress.
Assembly polls in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand may be clubbed with LS elections
Assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand--all three ruled by the BJP-- may be advanced by several months to be held with the Lok Sabha elections in April-May this year.
Congress downplays Kumaraswamy's threat, says all is well
Amid the growing strains in its ties with the JD-S, the Congress on Monday sought to play down Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamys threat to quit, saying issues are being resolved.
Row over Guj BJP chief's remarks against Cong leaders
Gujarat BJP president Jitu Vaghani has kicked up a controversy with his remarks targeting the Congress as the opposition party accused him of using "distasteful" language against party chief Rahul Gandhi and his family and said it reflected the "low level mentality" of BJP leaders. As Congress took strong objection to his comments, Vaghani on Monday said his remarks were misconstrued as he was just highlighting the "VIP culture" in the opposition party and offered to apologise if he had hurt sentiments. "....He was born with commandos around his cradle...I am not sure if commandos were there when he was being fed milk," Vaghani had said without taking any name while addressing a gathering in Radhanpur town of North Gujarat Sunday. As Congress leaders condemned his remarks, Vaghani clarified that his words were taken out of the context. "I was only trying to point out the VIP culture in the Congress and trying to compare it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ground connect. It is ...
Close House if we cannot solve issue: Jharkhand Assembly Speaker
Jharkhand Assembly speaker Dinesh Oraon on Monday expressed anguish over the state government's failure to come up with a solution for the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) issue being raised since 2015.
Congress no more a mainstream party, no party wants alliance with it: BJP
The BJP on Monday hit out at the Congress saying that it earlier used to be a mainstream party but now it has been reduced to a small player that no party is ready to align with for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Javadekar dares Rahul, Kumaraswamy to take action against Siddaramaiah
The BJP on Monday hit out at former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over his indecent behaviour with a woman in the state and dared Congress president Rahul Gandhi and State Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to take action against him.
LS polls will be battle to save India's basic ideology: Tewari
Congress leader Manish Tewari on Monday asserted that the battle in the upcoming Lok Sabha election would be for saving the basic ideology of India and alleged that under the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) rule, dissenting voices were branded as "traitors". He called upon all secular powers, even if they did not agree with the Congress but believed in the "idea of India", to join hands to defeat the saffron party in the upcoming general election. "In the last 55 months, such an atmosphere has been created in the country that if you oppose the BJP, you are a traitor. If you oppose the government, you are seditious...," Tewari said at an event organised by the Congress's minority cell in view of Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary on January 30. The battle in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls was not about who would form the next government, the Congress leader added. "This fight is to to save the basic ideology on which the Indian republic is based," he said. Speaking at the event, Rashtriya ...
Development of tribals priority of my govt: Gehlot
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday said development of tribals was the priority of his government as he urged people to vote the Congress to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. "I would appeal that you will leave no stone unturned in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Tribals will be benefitted if the Congress wins. This should be our resolve that the Congress forms the government at the Centre and Rahul Gandhi becomes prime minister," he said. Gehlot was addressing a farmers' meeting in tribal-dominated Dungapur district. The chief minister said the government will push for the Dungarpur-Banswara-Ratlam highway to enhance road connectivity in the region. Targeting the BJP, he said only two faces -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah -- were ruling the country. "It was not a good sign for democracy," Gehlot added.