Page 1898 - Politics
Karnataka Congress MLAs head to a resort after party meet
In a new twist to the political drama in the wake of "Operation Lotus", the Congress in Karnataka on Friday shifted 76 of its MLAs to a private resort outside the city accusing the BJP of trying to poach them to destabilise the state's JD(S)-Congress coalition government.
BJP defers WB campaign, Amit Shah to address rally on Jan 22
The scheduled rallies of BJP in West Bengal has been deferred by two days to January 22 owing to its national president Amit Shah's ill health, party officials said Friday. "As he (Shah) is not well, we have decided to change dates (of the rallies) so that he can attend them. There has been change in dates. Amit Shah will address the first rally on January 22 in Malda," Dilip Ghosh, president of the West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party said. Shah, who has been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, with swine flu, is doing well and will be discharged in a day or two, the party had said Thursday. On January 23, Shah will address two rallies at Suri in Birbhum district and Jhargram district. On January 24, he will address rallies at Krishnanagar in Nadia district and Jaynagar in South 24 Parganas district, Ghosh said. The BJP has identified West Bengal as a priority state for the upcoming general elections and Shah has set a target ..
Cong objects to state tourism event in bypoll-bound Mandrem
The Goa Congress Friday objected to the hosting of a state-sponsored tourism-related event in the Mandrem assembly constituency, which is scheduled to go for bypoll. The by-election for Mandrem in North Goa has been necessitated after the sitting Congress MLA Dayanand Sopte resigned and joined the ruling BJP. The bypoll date is yet to be announced. Sopte, seeking re-election from the seat, was later named chairman of Goa Tourism Development Corporation. Talking to reporters, Goa Congress spokesman Sunil Kawathankar claimed the event, "Mandrem Paryatan Mahotsav", has been organised to promote Sopte at the cost of state exchequer. He said lakhs of rupees from state coffers were spent to put up hoardings and banners carrying the photograph of Sopte in Mandrem, where the three-day tourism event began Thursday. Kawathankar said a low-key event has been given huge publicity only to promote Sopte. "The BJP is promoting its candidate at the cost of our money. If they wanted to .
Brigade Parade Ground: A tale of mammoth rallies, emotion, political statements
From hosting public reception for Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin to holding mammoth political rallies -- many of them on anti-central government planks, the sprawling Brigade Parade Ground in the heart of the metropolis is steeped in history.
Bhopal may get country's first cremation ground for cows
The country's first cremation ground for cows will be prepared in Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal and the city's municipal authorities are already on the lookout for a site for the purpose.
Chinese security minister directs police to crackdown on 'colour revolutions'
A top Chinese security official has asked the police to crackdown on the "colour revolutions" or popular uprisings, and directed them to defend China's political system headed by the ruling Communist Party. China's police must stress on the "prevention and resistance of 'colour revolutions' and firmly fight to protect China's political security," Public Security Minister Zhao Kezhi said. "(We) must firmly defend our national security, with regime and system security at its core, and firmly defend the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and our nation's socialist system," he was quoted as saying on Thursday at the annual meeting of the Public Security Ministry. "Strike back against all kinds of infiltration and subversive activities by hostile foreign forces," he said. The CPC, which is due to celebrate its 70th year in power this year, jealously guards the one-party system. All organs of the state including the powerful military and police besides courts, function under ..
Rahul remembering 'didi' after 'behenji' abandoned him: BJP
The BJP Friday took a swipe at Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his support to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's opposition rally in Kolkata on Saturday, saying it is natural that he will remember "didi" after "behenji", a reference to BSP supremo Mayawati, abandoned him. At a press conference, BJP leader and Union minister Smriti Irani said the rally, which is expected to see the presence of a number of opposition leaders, "exposes" the saffron party's rivals as it suggest that they cannot fight it on their own. Asked about Gandhi's letter of support to the West Bengal chief minister's show of opposition strength, she retorted,"When behenji has abandoned (him), then it is natural that he will remember didi (Mamata)." Irani was apparently referring to the recent announcement of an alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the BSP in Uttar Pradesh. Both parties ruled out including the Congress in the alliance. Expressing confidence that people will back Prime Minister ...
Citizenship bill: Centre likely to call NE CMs meeting to resolve concerns
Amid strong protests over the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill, the Centre is expected to soon call a meeting of the chief ministers of all northeastern states to address concerns, sources said. A decision in this regard was taken after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh discussed the matter in detail with Mizoram and Meghalaya chief ministers in a meeting here. The controversial bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8. However, large scale protests were witnessed in the northeastern states including Assam and Mizoram over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's attempt to pass the bill in the Upper House of Parliament. "There was a serious discussion on the bill in the meeting. The centre has assured that it will look into the concerns of northeastern states before moving ahead," a highly placed government source said. "Most likely, a meeting of chief ministers of all northeastern states will be called soon to resolve their ...
In BJP vs BJP, Kalia becomes Chandigarh mayor
Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Rajesh Kalia was on Friday elected as mayor of Chandigarh.
Uproar in R'than Assembly over farm-loan waiver
The Rajasthan Assembly was adjourned thrice on Friday following an uproar in the House, with the BJP seeking clarity from the ruling Congress over the farm-loan waiver order. Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria dubbed the state government's loan-waiver order "handicapped" and claimed it was creating confusion among the farmers. "What was the purpose of bringing out a 'handicapped' order? It should be clarified how much money was deposited in the farmers' bank accounts as the government had promised to waive the loans in 10 days," the BJP leader said. Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore asked the government the date when the funds would be deposited in the bank accounts of the farmers, saying rhetoric would not suffice. On December 19, two days after being sworn in, the Congress government waived short-term crop loans from cooperative banks and loans of up to Rs 2 lakh taken by farmers from other banks. In the run-up to the assembly elections, the Congress had promised to
Pakistan to host next round of Afghan peace talks: report
Pakistan will host the next round of talks between the US and Afghan Taliban in Islamabad, it was decided on Friday during a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, according to a media report. Quoting diplomatic sources, GEO News reported that Pakistan decided to extend an invitation to the Afghan Taliban representatives to come to Islamabad and hold talks. It is expected that Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar would also be part of the peace talks, it said. The decision to hold the next round of talks between the US and Afghan Taliban in Islamabad was taken on Friday during a meeting between Qureshi and Khalilzad, the report said without giving a date for the negotiations. US President Donald Trump has been pressing Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to facilitate Afghan peace talks, with Washington reportedly making it a condition for a future summit between the two leaders in Washington. During the meeting between ...
Nation wants new government, new Prime Minister in 2019: Akhilesh Yadav
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said the nation wants a new government at the Centre and is waiting for a new Prime Minister to take over.
Germany urges Russia to destroy missile to save nuclear treaty
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Friday called on Russia to destroy a controversial missile system Washington says breaches a key arms control treaty. "We believe Russia can save this treaty," Maas said after talks with Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov, referring to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF). "It affects our security interests in a fundamental way." Tensions have raged between Russia and the United States over the fate of the INF agreement signed in 1987 by then US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. US President Donald Trump has promised to walk away from the agreement and Russian leader Vladimir Putin threatened a new arms race, saying Europe would be its main victim. Washington says Moscow's 9M729 missile system violates the treaty and warned it would withdraw from the agreement if Russia does not get rid of it. Russia denies the claim, accusing the United States of violating the treaty which forbids ground-launched short- ..
Pompeo, NKorean official to meet about possible Kim summit
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to meet former North Korean spy chief Kim Yong Chol on Friday for talks aimed at finalizing a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The State Department announced the late-morning meeting, and other administration officials indicated it likely will be followed by Kim Yong Chol's visit to the White House, where he could meet with Trump. Those officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, talks in Stockholm included North Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, said Swedish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Diana Kudhaib, who declined to give further details. Sweden's TT news agency said also attending were US special envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, who was influential in securing the first Trump-Kim summit. Sweden has had diplomatic relations with Pyongyang since 1973 and is one of only a ...
BJP eyes all 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh Minister and BJP leader Swatantra Singh Dev Friday claimed his party would win all the 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, where the saffron outfit lost power last year after a 15-year rule. He also accused the Congress of putting hurdles in the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. "The BJP is going to win all 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh," Dev, the BJP in-charge for general elections in the state, told reporters here. The BJP had won 26 Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 polls and the remaining three went to the Congress. Asked about the Ayodhya issue, the UP minister said, "Only Congressmen are putting hurdles in the construction of Ram temple." He said Congress leaders were raising objections in the Supreme Court in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case, thus delaying its hearing. Dev is here to finalise the party's strategy for the general elections in Madhya Pradesh. He said development of all will be the main poll plank of the BJP ..
Absence of 4 MLAs at CLP meet shows chinks in Cong: BJP
BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao Friday said the absence of four Congress MLAs, including former Karnataka minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, at the crucial Congress Legislature Party meeting here clearly shows the chinks prevalent in the country's grand old party. "The fact of the matter is the grand old party of India is in total disarray. Congress is facing some internal problems, therefore they have convened CLP meeting to display an apparent show of strength," Rao, who is also incharge of BJP affairs in Karnataka, told PTI. His remarks come in the wake of four Congress MLAs - Umesh Jadhav, Ramesh Jarkiholi and Mahesh Kumathalli and B Nagendra - skipping the CLP meeting that was called as a show of strength in a counter to an alleged bid by the BJP to topple the coalition government in Karnataka. "With this kind of political turmoil in existence, the Kumaraswamy government cannot survive. The only thing is we cannot say when it would collapse. Whether it would ...
Congress to recluse its MLA's in Resort, 3 legislatures skip CLP
Three Karnataka Congress MLAs on Friday abstained from a meeting of the Legislature Party meeting which decided to move rest of the 76 legislators to a resort to prevent poaching.The meeting was convened by the party to assess whether its flock was intact amid speculation that some of the MLAs had switched over to the BJP.The party, which had threatened to invoke anti-defection law against those absenting themselves, decided to issue show cause notices to those who did not make to the meeting.Congress leader Siddaramaiah, who chaired the CLP meeting said: "76 MLAs were present physically out of the 79. I will send notice to absentees and seek an explanation. Then I will speak to the high command."Congress MLA Sowmya Reddy said, "We are working together well. Let us work. We are all going to Eagleton resort."The stay at the resort would probably be a one-day affair, as "a show of strength", Reddy said, adding "We will also have discussion on upcoming parliamentary ...
India lodges protest with Pak over constitutional status to Gilgit-Baltistan
India on Friday lodged a strong protest against a recent order by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the so-called "Gilgit-Baltistan" which is deemed as interference in India's internal affairs, by summoning the Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan here.The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday gave written orders regarding the constitutional status of Gilgit-Baltistan and granted fundamental rights to the people residing in the region.A press statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday reiterated that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, which also includes the so-called 'Gilgit-Baltistan' has been, is and shall remain an integral part of India."Pakistan Government or judiciary have no locus standi on territories illegally and forcibly occupied by it," the statement read."Any action to alter the status of these occupied territories by Pakistan has no legal basis whatsoever," the statement added.India rejected such continued attempts by Pakistan to bring material .
Chief Justice of Meghalaya meets J&K Guv
Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir, the Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court, met governor Satya Pal Malik at the Raj Bhavan here Friday, officials said. The Jammu and Kashmir Governor and the chief justice exchanged views on various important issues relating to making the legal system more effective for meeting the aspirations of the people at large and their felt needs and demands, the officials added.
Cong running malicious campaign on Rafale deal, 'public sab janti hai': BJP
The BJP on Friday alleged that the Congress was running a "malicious campaign" against the government on the Rafale deal and has "abandoned" national interest for its false propaganda. Rejecting the Congress' charges against the government, BJP leader and Union minister Smriti Irani told reporters that the opposition party's "malicious campaign has been exposed" as she noted the Supreme Court verdict on the matter and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's over 90-minute reply in Parliament. She was responding to a question about the allegations of corruption levelled by the Congress against the Modi government. In an apparent dig at Congress leaders, including its president Rahul Gandhi and senior leader P Chidambaram, who targeted the government Friday, Irani said those who are on bail are running a false propaganda. "The Congress' game of running a malicious campaign on this issue and abandoning national interest for their own politics has been exposed," she said. "The Supreme Court