Page 1921 - Politics

Prime Minister to visit JK next month

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to visit Jammu and Kashmir on February 3 to lay foundation stones of various projects including one for the All India Institute of Medical Sciences here, a BJP spokesman said Wednesday. The prime minister will also address a public rally during his visit, the spokesman said. He said senior BJP leaders led by national vice president Avinash Rai Khanna and state president Ravinder Raina inspected the rally site. Khanna asked the leaders to personally review all arrangements for the rally so that the people do not face any inconvenience in reaching the site to listen to their favourite leader, the spokesman said. The leaders also visited the site where the prime minister will lay the foundation stone for the AIIMS, the spokesman said, adding they also examined the stage and reviewed other arrangements for the rally. Besides AIIMS, Modi is also likely to lay foundation stones for several other important projects including the Jammu-Akhnoor-Rajouri-Poonch ...

Dikshit backs Tytler's presence at her charge taking ceremony amid attacks by AAP, BJP

A controversy erupted over presence of Jagdish Tytler, facing allegations of involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, in the charge taking ceremony of Sheila Dikshit as Delhi Congress president on Wednesday, with opposing parties terming the incident as an exposure of "anti-Sikh" face of the party. Dikshit backed Tytler saying he was a Congressman and hit back at the BJP and the AAP charging them of having a narrow view of looking at things. "Its a very narrow way of looking at things. After all he is a Congressman. The Congress has not shunted him out and he has not gone away from the party. So, why make an issue out of a non-issue," she told PTI. Tytler, who remains sidelined in the party, was seated along with other party leaders including Dikshit on the stage where the charge taking function took place at the Delhi Congress office. The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) alleged that the incident exposed Congress's anti-Sikh face and demanded that the party leaders clear their stand on ...

Sri Lanka asks IMF to revive USD 1.5-billion bailout

Sri Lanka has appealed to the International Monetary Fund to revive a USD 1.5-billion bailout suspended during the island nation's political crisis late last year, the finance ministry said Wednesday. In October, President Maithripala Sirisena sparked weeks of high political drama, even featuring brawls in parliament, by sacking Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister and dissolving the legislature. Courts and the parliament subsequently held that the president's actions were unconstitutional and restored the status quo after more than seven weeks of upheaval that alarmed the international community. The crisis prompted three international credit rating agencies to downgrade Sri Lanka and the IMF to suspend its bailout programme - that began in 2016 - just as it was about to disburse another instalment. Sri Lanka's finance ministry said in a statement the request to revive the bailout was made during talks between Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and IMF chief Christine Lagarde in .

Cong may not contest in some UP seats: Ghulam Nabi Azad

Senior Congress leader and in-charge of the party's Uttar Pradesh affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday said that while the party prepares to fight in all 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, it may leave out some seats from contesting."We may leave out some places, but we will prepare for all 80 seats. It is possible four or five are left out," he told media here.Azad, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, also dismissed the possibility of a tie-up with any political party for the General elections. "No, we are not discussing (a tie-up) with anyone," Azad said."We will wrap up the (strategy) meetings for all the districts in the state today. Preparations are underway in full swing. There is the possibility of give and take in a few seats, but we are preparing for all seats," Azad said.When asked to comment on the decision by SP-BSP alliance not to contest from Amethi and Rae Bareli, two traditional Congress strongholds, Azad said: "They haven't contested from those seats in ...

LJP has vote base in UP, would like to contest there for strengthening NDA: Chirag Paswan

BJP ally Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) on Wednesday expressed its desire to contest elections in Uttar Pradesh and outlined that a step in this direction can benefit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).While replying to media queries, LJP leader Chirag Paswan said: "We already have finalised the seat sharing arrangement for Bihar. I would like that LJP should also fight the upcoming Lok Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh. We have a vote base there and we would want that NDA should get benefitted from it. We want that all NDA parties should fight election together in Uttar Pradesh."Maintaining that his party always had a strong vote base in Uttar Pradesh, he added, "Once we had 16-17 MLAs from Uttar Pradesh. This time we didn't fight the assembly election in Uttar Pradesh as we honestly fulfilled our responsibility of being an ally. All LJP cadres supported the NDA candidate in Uttar Pradesh and we didn't fight the assembly elections".On December 23, BJP president Amit Shah had announced ..

Theresa May to face no-confidence motion following defeat over Brexit deal

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn on Wednesday (local time) tabled a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Theresa May after she suffered a humiliating defeat as her controversial Brexit deal plan was voted down by the MPs at the House of Commons by a resounding majority of 230.Before going for voting over the deal, Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, took to Twitter, saying: "Theresa May's deal is bad for our economy, for our democracy and for the country. Labour will vote against it tonight."The opposition leader further stated that Prime Minister May has "reached the end of the line" and therefore, it is time to call for general elections in the country."If Theresa May's botched deal is defeated today she'll only have herself to blame after two wasted years negotiating with her cabinet and her bickering backbenchers instead of the European Union (EU). We need an election to have the chance to vote for a government that can bring people together," Corbyn ...

Amit Shah to hold five rallies in Bengal this month, Modi may arrive in February: State BJP Chief

BJP President Amit Shah will hold five public rallies in three days in West Bengal starting on January 20, a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's mega-opposition rally in Kolkata, party's state President Dilip Ghosh said here on Wednesday.

British MPs pause Brexit turmoil for letter-box debate

With the fate of Brexit in the balance and an embattled prime minister in trouble, a decision by British MP to debate the height of letter boxes raised more than a few eyebrows. The 10-minute rule motion, a procedure allowing MPs to state their case for a new bill, was held just after Prime Minister Theresa May faced angry questions in parliament. "Having delivered newspapers as a boy, I fully understand the challenge of low-level letterboxes. However, I feel that our government have slightly more important things to discuss this afternoon," @TweetingBeattie wrote on Twitter. "Gotta smile at our democracy sometimes," said @AidanMelville, while @acoulton wrote: "Crazy times". But Liberal Democrat lawmaker Richard Newby said he was "pleased" parliament was "getting its priorities right". "Anyone who's ever been leafleting knows how irritating low-level letterboxes can be," he wrote. In parliament, Conservative MP Vicky Ford, who brought the motion, said her proposed legislation to amend

C.P. Joshi elected as Rajasthan Assembly speaker unanimously

Veteran Congress leader C.P. Joshi, an MLA from Nathdwara, was on Wednesday elected unanimously as Rajasthan Assembly Speaker.

Meghalaya Congress women workers demand scrapping of Citizenship Bill

Congress women workers in Meghalaya on Wednesday took out a protest march demanding the scrapping of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 that was passed in the Lok Sabha.

BJP's bid to topple Karnataka government fails, says Congress Minister

The Bharatiya Janata Party's bid to topple Karnataka's coalition government by poaching Congress legislators has failed, Congress leader G. Parameshwara said on Wednesday.

KCR, Jagan to hold further talks on proposed front

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao on Wednesday held preliminary talks with YSR Congress Party President Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy on the proposed Federal Front and they agreed to hold further talks, sources in the two parties said.

Barring PDP, all parties want early polls: J&K Guv

Batting for early assembly elections, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya PalMalik has said all political parties, except Mehbooba Mufti-led Peoples Democratic Party, want early polls. The governor, however, hastened to add that it is the Election Commission of India, which has the mandate to hold the polls and decide the schedule. "The government has sought opinion from everybody - all political parties and security agencies. We have talked to all. The government cannot decide it, it is for the Election Commission to decide (the poll schedule)," Malik told PTI here in an interview. The governor made the remarks in reply to a query if the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls be held together in view of the security scenario in the state. "There is a difference of opinion among political parties (on timing of the state assembly polls). Some want it to be delayed by two months, others by four, while yet others want it to be held as soon as possible," he said. Malik said while the state BJP .

Rahul Gandhi wishes Jaitley speedy recovery

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday sent his and his party's best wishes to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who has left for the US for a medical check-up following a kidney transplant last year, and wished him a speedy recovery. "I'm upset to hear Arun Jaitley Ji is not well. We fight him on a daily basis for his ideas. However, I and the Congress party send him our love and best wishes for a speedy recovery. We are with you and your family 100% during this difficult period Mr Jaitley (sic)," Gandhi wrote on Twitter. Jaitley, 66, who had a kidney transplant operation and follow-up check-ups at AIIMS last year, left for the US on Sunday night for a "regular medical check-up", sources said, adding that he would be back by this weekend. This is Jaitley's first overseas visit since his kidney ailment was confirmed in April last year.

Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted on issues relating to lottery

GoM for lottery shall submit its report to GST Council in next Meeting for consideration of the GST Council

Karna turmoil; Yeddyurappa likely to meet BJP MLAs in Gurugram

The power play between the ruling Congress-JDS coalition and BJP in Karnataka continued Wednesday, as the two sides escalated their war of words and went into an overdrive to keep their flock together. The Congress and JDS continued to present a picture of confidence about the brewing crisis blowing over, with Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy saying things were "under control" and there was no reason for worry. As the ruling partners unleashed a scathing attack on the BJP for allegedly trying to topple the government, the saffron party MLAs continued to be ensconced at a resort in Gurugram, fearing poaching attempts. According to Congress sources, a few ministers from the party have even offered to step down in the larger interest and to keep the coalition intact. The party leadership is also looking into the option, they added. It was not known how long the 104 BJP MLAs, who went to New Delhi to attend the party's national council meeting but extended their stay, would ...

TDP calls KCR, Jaganmohan Reddy 'Modi's puppets'

: The Telugu Desam Party Wednesday called Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy 'Modis puppets' and dubbed the proposed Federal Front as a 'puppets front'. In a strong reaction to the meeting Jagan had with TRS working president K T Rama Rao in Hyderabad to discuss the Federal Front, Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister and TDP politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said the relationship between the TRS and the YSRC that so far remained secret has now come out in the open. But the YSRC debunked TDP's charge and maintained that the meeting between the two leaders was only related to the Federal Front and not for a tie-up between TRS and the YSRC. "All those who did injustice to Andhra Pradesh are now ganging up. The meeting between KTR and Jagan happened under the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both Jagan and KCR are Modi's puppets," Yanamala said in a statement. The YSRC chiefs claim that he would secure ...

Tarigami welcomes J&K governor's outreach to separatists

Senior CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami on Wednesday welcomed the outreach of Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik to separatists and called for a time-bound inquiry into the three major incidents of civilian deaths in the past six months. "Governor Malik's offer of reaching out to the separatist leaders is a welcome step, but, as a confidence building measure (CBM), it is essential that the governor's administration at least orders a time-bound inquiry and fixes responsibility in three major incidents of the civilian killings in the last six months," Tarigami said in a statement here. In a bid to build bridges between the Raj Bhawan and the Hurriyat Conference, Malik had on Tuesday urged the separatist to apprise him directly of the cases of "atrocity and injustice" to the common people that they may come across. "I have a message for Hurriyat that they should not consider me as an alien," Malik had told PTI in an interview. Tarigami said three people, including a young girl and two .

No danger to K'tka govt, will bring MLAs before public in 48 hours: Danish Ali

Asserting that there is no danger to the Karnataka government and the coalition will bring MLAs before public within 48 hours, Janata Dal (Secular) leader Danish Ali on Wednesday criticised the BJP government for trying to 'loot the public mandate'."BJP has been exposed once again. They have looted the country and people are seeing that they now are trying to loot the public mandate in Karnataka. There is no danger to the Karnataka government. We will bring all our MLAs before public within in 48 hours. BJP has locked down all its MLAs. All Congress-JD(S) MLAs are together. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy led government is stable and strong".He also outlined that there is no requirement for the JD(S)-Congress coalition to prove the majority and said, "JD(S)-Congress is neither required to go to the Governor nor needs to prove its majority. It is up to the Bharatiya Janata Party to show what they are claiming".Ali further added that none of the party legislators is missing and added that

Jaganmohan Reddy welcomes KCR's efforts to form Federal Front

: YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy Wednesday welcomed TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao's efforts to form a non-BJP, non Congress Federal Front, saying it was necessary for regional parties to unite to highlight the 'injustice' done to them. He said this at a joint press conference with Rao's son and Telangana Rashtriya Samithi working President K T Rama Rao after initial talks were held between the two parties. "We welcome the initiative. In order to protect the rights of the states, there is a necessity to increase the number (of MPs from regional parties in Parliament) and for regional parties to unite. The proposed national platform mooted by KCR, where all states (regional parties) can come forward with substantial number of MPs, can highlight the injustice being done to the states. For further discussions, KCR will come and meet me at a later stage. We will discuss at length within our party on how to take forward this in future," Reddy, the leader of the ...