Page 1897 - Politics
Opposition shows strength, non-BJP leaders flock to Kolkata on eve of TMC's mega rally
On the eve of TMC's much touted mega rally, showcasing the strength of opposition ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, galaxy of non-BJP party leaders reached Kolkata on Friday in their bid to come under one umbrella.All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), in a bid to channelise efforts towards dethroning the current BJP-ruled Centre in the Lok Sabha elections, has organised a rally here on Saturday.Among the opposition biggies who reached Kolkata were former Prime Minister and JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda and nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar."Mamata Banerjee has taken lead in bringing all the parties together and also she is working hard to throw this government and bring a secular government. This is a historic decision of Mamata and people of the country will respond," said HD Deve Gowda after arriving at Kolkata airport on Friday afternoon.Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav also arrived at Kolkata on Friday."The country ...
India hits out Pak for saying that New Delhi has no role to play in Afghanistan
India on Friday slammed Pakistan's comments that New Delhi has no role to play in Afghanistan, saying Islamabad cannot decide on behalf of an independent and sovereign country. Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar said it was not for Pakistan to decide as to what role another country has in regional or global affairs. "Pakistan also cannot decide on behalf of an independent and sovereign country Afghanistan and dictate them as to how to conduct their foreign policy," he said. On Thursday, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said India has no role to play in Afghanistan, adding Islamabad played a key role in arranging direct talks between the Taliban and the US to find a peaceful solution to the Afghan issue. "Pakistan should first and foremost introspect its own role and responsibility in the precarious situation in Afghanistan; put an end to all kind of support to cross border terrorism from territories under Pakistan's control, and join ...
EC team reviews poll preparation in Bihar
Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on Friday directed Bihar government to transfer all government officials posted at a place for the last three years or more.
Stage set for Mamata's mega Opposition rally
The stage is set for West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee's mega Opposition rally against the Narendra Modi government. More than 20 national leaders, including former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha, Shatrughan Sinha and Arun Shourie; three present chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, Chandrababu Naidu and H D Kumaraswamy; and former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Akhilesh Yadav and Gegong Apang will attend the meeting, TMC sources said. Most of them have already arrived in the city. "I have met Deve Gowda-ji, Hemant-ji (Hemant Soren of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha) and Akhilesh Yadav. I will meet other Opposition leaders too," Banerjee told reporters. With Bharatiya Janata Party's recent defeats in the Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Banerjee has raised the pitch to be united against the saffron party in the 2019 general election. Bahujan Samaj Party general ...
Postpone publication of electoral rolls: Nirupam
Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam Friday demanded that the publication of electoral rolls be postponed till all the bogus voters were removed from the list. The final voters' list is scheduled to be released on January 31. Nirupam, who had alleged that bogus voters were being enrolled in the voters' list, met Chief Electoral officer Ashwani Kumar over the issue. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Nirupam said, "According to the draft rolls released in September 2018, it was found that many bogus voters were registered in Mumbai." "Based on our research, we have found out that every assembly constituency has 20,000 bogus voters on an average, and almost 1.25 lakh to 5 lakh bogus voters are registered in every Lok Sabha constituency. "We met Ashwani Kumar and urged him that the publication of electoral rolls date be postponed from January 31 since it is impossible to delete the names of all the bogus voters before this date," he said. A lot of genuine voters have .
PM Modi to address three rallies in Bengal: State BJP chief
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address two public rallies in West Bengal this month and another in Kolkata's iconic Brigade Parade Ground on February 8, state BJP leader Dilip Ghosh said on Friday.
Mamata meets senior opposition leaders ahead of January 19 rally
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday called on a number of senior opposition leaders, including former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, who arrived here to take part in Banerjee's mega anti-BJP rally on January 19.
Cong and Rahul Gandhi stood with those who raised anti-India slogans: BJP
The BJP Friday alleged that the Congress stood with those who raised anti-India slogans, days after police filed a chargesheet in a sedition case against former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and others. BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani also dared Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to repeat in public the slogans that Kumar and other accused had allegedly raised in JNU. Addressing a press conference at the BJP office, Irani said, "On the one hand the BJP-led central government resolves to ensure a strong India, a resurgent India. On the other hand, the Congress continues to support the forces which proclaimed on the streets of the national capital 'Bharat Tere Tukde Hongae' (India will break up)." She also alleged that a Congress leader "hid behind" a fig leaf of how sedition is looked upon but did not pay heed that there was a criminal conspiracy and an attempt to riot among those who spoke against India and its interest. Earlier, Congress leader Kapil Sibal had said the sedition
Deve Gowda, Pawar, Akhilesh reach Kolkata for mega opposition rally
The stage is set for a mega rally of opposition parties in Kolkata on Saturday, which the host TMC said would sound the "death knell" for BJP in the general election later this year. Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, socialist leader Sharad Yadav, JMM chief Hemant Soren and former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Gegong Apang have reached Kolkata for the rally. Chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, H D Kumaraswamy, N Chandrababu Naidu, former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's M K Stalin, and dissident BJP lawmaker Shatrughan Sinha are likely to attend the rally being projected as a show of unity against the BJP. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who may skip the rally, extended his support to TMC chief Mamata Banerjee Friday. He hoped it would send a powerful message for a united India. Congress has deputed its leader in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun ..
'Historical necessity' to build anti-BJP platform: CPI
The CPI Friday said it was a "historical necessity" to build a powerful anti-BJP nation-wide platform to defeat the saffron party at the hustings. Communist Party of India general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy also said Congress was the main opposition party in the country and without it, there cannot be a strong opposition. "I am not defending (Congress)...I have several differences with the Congress and its policies. But, today the most important point is to defeat communalism, to defend the Constitution, to defend secularism and for these reasons for the time being we think there is a necessity to build a powerful anti-BJP nation-wide platform. It may not be a front some parties may be in the front and some parties may be outside but there is a necessity that is a historical necessity and anybody trying to wreck it is working on behalf of BJP," Reddy said. He expressed confidence that the BJP would be defeated in the 2019 general elections and a strong opposition
Government appoints Rakesh Asthana as BCAS chief
A day after the government curtailed his tenure in the CBI as Special Director, Rakesh Asthana, who had a bitter fight with ousted agency chief Alok Verma, was on Friday appointed as the new Director General of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).
Sheila Dikshit divides Delhi affairs responsibilities
Newly appointed Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit has divided party responsibilities among her three working presidents for a focused organisational approach in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections. Working president Haroon Yusuf will take care of party activities in East Delhi Municipal Corporation and four Legislative Assemblies -- Timarpur, Burari, Okhla and Jangpura, said a senior Delhi Congress leader. Working president Devender Yadav, a former MLA, will look after affairs related to Youth Congress and South Delhi Municipal Corporation. Working president Rajesh Lilothia will be responsible for works related to North Delhi Municipal Corporations and all the departments of the Delhi Congress, he added.
Chidambaram says govt 'wronged' country on Rafale, only JPC can probe deal; Govt rejects charges
A fresh row erupted Friday over the Rafale deal with the Congress alleging that the NDA government has wronged the country by reducing the number of aircraft bought under the deal as it "denied" the IAF the jets it "desperately" needed and gave a "windfall" to Dassault Aviation by paying more per aircraft. The government, however, rejected as "factually inaccurate" the media report which was cited by the Congress to target it and said it would be best to await the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which has been given access to all the files relating to the contract. The report claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to buy 36 Rafale jets, instead of 126 as negotiated by the previous UPA government, while bypassing mandated procedures pushed the price of each aircraft up by 41.42 per cent. Addressing a press conference, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said the government did not buy the 90 more aircraft needed by the Air Force and paid Rs 186 crore
Election Commission likely to announce Lok Sabha dates in early March
With the country already in election mode, the formal schedule for the coming Lok Sabha polls is expected to be announced by the Election Commission in the first week of March and the process is likely to over seven to nine phases.
Panel to probe clash between rival factions of HP Cong
A day after supporters of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and former Himachal Congress chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu clashed here, the party Friday constituted a two-member committee to probe the incident. Talking to media persons at the Congress Bhawan here, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Kuldeep Singh Rathore said the panel would submit its report within 15 days. "A two-member impartial, high-power committee comprising advocates Nareshwar Singh Chandel and Rupinder Singh Thakur has been constituted to look into the the clash and submit a report within 15 days," he said. The HPCC chief also directed officials to supply all relevant records to the panel including the video clipping of Thursday's scuffle at the headquarters of the party's Himachal Pradesh unit shortly after he took charge as the new state-level president. Terming the incident as unfortunate, Rathore reiterated that indiscipline in the party would not be tolerated at any cost and stern action .
4 Cong MLAs skip CLP meet, exposes chinks in ruling coalition
Exposing chinks in the ruling coalition in Karnataka, four dissidents Friday skipped the Congress Legislature Party meeting here that was called as a show of strength against an alleged bid by the BJP to dislodge the H D Kumaraswamy government. The absence of four lawmakers posed no imminent threat to the seven-month old Congress-JDS government in the numbers game but suggested that all was not well within the Congress which is still wrestling with dissidence. The Congress would issue notices to absentee MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi, who was dropped as minister in the recent cabinet rejig and is said to be extremely unhappy over it, B Nagendra, Umesh Jadhav and Mahesh Kumatahalli, CLP leader Siddaramaiah told reporters after the meet. He said 76 MLAs were present at the meeting, also attended by Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, besides other state leaders. Siddaramaiah said Jadhav had
Delhi government can't shirk its responsibility of contributing to RRTS: SC
The Supreme Court on Friday told the Arvind Kejriwal government that it could not shirk its statutory responsibility of contributing its share of funds to Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project linking Delhi with Meerut.
Defence Ministry approves Army proposal to induct women as jawans
In a historic decision, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday gave a nod for induction of women as jawans in the Army's Corps of Military Police.So far, women were allowed to enter the Army only as officers and that too in select branches."The women will be inducted in graded manner to eventually comprise 20 per cent of total Corps of Military Police of the Army," the Defence Ministry tweeted.The proposal to induct women in military police was first mooted by Chief of Army Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, who had about a year ago said that women will be first inducted in military police.The decision to induct more women in the services has come in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's directions to give more role to the women power in the defence forces.Explaining the reason for need of women as jawans, the Army officials said many times, "when people go to the operation, we have to face the people and many a times ladies come in front of us and that is when they can be handled by ...
BJP slams Sibal's call to scrap sedition law
The BJP on Friday slammed Congress leader Kapil Sibal's call for scrapping the sedition law, saying the opposition party supports those wanting to divide the country rather than contributing towards making a new India.Addressing a press conference, BJP leader and Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani said that the Congress has a "venomous approach" towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi."On one hand, the BJP-led government at the Centre resolves to ensure a strong, resurgent India, by strengthening the possibilities of not only our young but also our families. On the other hand, the Congress continues to support forces who raise slogans like 'Bharat tere tukde honge'.""The Congress president has publicly stood with such forces, publicly supported the statement of 'Bharat tere tukde honge'. As citizens of this country, let us ask the Congress president and the Congress party, would they have the guts to stand in public places and repeat that slogan against India and its interests?" ...
Chandrababu Naidu deceiving people of Andhra Pradesh: KTR
In a blazing attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Working President K T Rama Rao on Friday said that it was TDP which worked with BJP in the last four-and-half years and yet Naidu is criticising TRS and BJP today to hide his administrative failures and win elections in Andhra Pradesh.He stated that the people of Telangana voted TRS back to power because they believed in the welfare schemes introduced by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. But today, the people of Andhra Pradesh are not ready to vest faith in Chandrababu Naidu because of his incompetent governance.He made the above remarks during the joining program of Congress leader Vanteru Prathap Reddy into TRS at Telangana Bhavan today.KTR called BJP as 'Build up Jatiya Party' and stated that a line of central leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, six chief ministers and 11 central ministers campaigned in