Page 2227 - Politics
Conservative MPs begin Theresa May confidence vote
Conservative Party MPs in Britain began two hours of voting Wednesday on a no-confidence motion in Prime Minister Theresa May, initiated by anti-EU lawmakers opposed to her Brexit plan. The British leader, who earlier vowed to fight "with everything I've got", needs a majority of her MPs -- 159 -- to back her in the vote to remain in Downing Street. The result is expected around 9:00 pm (2100 GMT).
We want to know every legislator's view: Surjewala on new CMs
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Wednesday confirmed that the process of appointing chief ministers for the state of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh is underway, adding that the party believes in knowing the viewpoint of every elected legislator.Speaking to ANI, Surjewala said, "The process of electing the Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan is presently underway. The Congress party believes in the democratic process of knowing the viewpoint of each elected legislator".Surjwala further stated that senior leaders A. K. Anthony, Mallikarjun Kharge, K. C. Venugopal, along with the General Secretary in-charges, have returned to their respective states. He added that despite a unanimous decision to leave the final decision with party president Rahul Gandhi, the latter wants to go by the choice of the elected legislators."After consulting with everybody we will announce a Chief Ministerial candidate and a government that truly reflects the will
Activists protest against proposed amendment in RTI Act
Opposing the proposed amendments to the RTI Act and demanding operationalisation of anti-corruption laws, hundreds of activists from various parts of the country gathered here on Wednesday.
Sukhbir asks Punjab CM to refrain from sabotaging Kartarpur Sahib Corridor
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh should refrain from saying or doing anything that might scuttle the access to the sacred shrine at Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan, said SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday.In a statement, Badal described the proposed opening of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor as "a great and glorious collective achievement of the entire Khalsa Panth, beyond political or partisan lines.""Although the movement for the opening of the corridor was started and pursued persistently and with religious fervour and zeal by the SAD stalwarts like Master Tara Singh, Parkash Singh Badal, and lakhs of the party followers, the corridor still remains a non-partisan achievement ofthe Sikh masses.Badal said that the Government of India must be conscious of the worries expressed by Captain Singh on the security aspect and must have factored these into their decision on the opening of the corridor."We need to thank first the Government of India for taking the initiative to
BJP put up good fight in Assembly polls: UP CM Adityanath
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said the BJP "put up a good fight" in the assembly elections that took place in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan recently.Addressing media persons here, he said, "In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan people tried to spread lies but despite that, we put up a good fight under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The support the people extended to us made the fight easier for us.""Victory and defeat are the two sides of a coin called democracy. We did not question the authenticity of democratic means and EVMs," added Yogi.BSP on Wednesday extended its support to the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to help the party form the government in the states.Speaking exclusively to ANI, Mayawati said, "Even though we don't agree with many of Congress' policies, we have agreed to support them in Madhya Pradesh and if need in Rajasthan too."In the 230-member strong Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh, BJP got 109 seats; ...
Ministries told to fill up SC, ST, OBC vacancies through Special Recruitment Drive, says DoPT minister
The Department of Personnel and Training has (DoPT) issued instructions to all ministries and departments to constitute an in-house committee to identify backlog reserved vacancies, study of the root cause of backlog reserved vacancies, initiate measures to remove such factors and fill up such vacancies through Special Recruitment Drive.In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that instructions provide for appointment of Liaison Officers in each ministry and department to ensure effective implementation of the reservation policy for Scheduled Castes (SCs)/Scheduled Tribes (STs) and for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).Instructions also provide to set up a Special Reservation Cell within the ministry/department to assist the Liaison Officer in discharging his duties effectively. However, the DoPT collects data from the ministries/departments .
Rahul to decide CM candidates, say Congress leaders
Newly elected Congress legislators have provided their feedback to observers and Congress president Rahul Gandhi will take the final call, were the identical sentiments expressed by Congress observer for Chhattisgarh Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader from Rajasthan Sachin Pilot on Wednesday.Addressing the media after meeting of the Congress legislators, Kharge said, "It has been unanimously decided that the head of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders will be decided by Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi had said that even if a resolution is passed unanimously, every MLA should be talked to and their opinions have to be considered."Sharing similar views, Rajasthan Congress unit chief Sachin Pilot, who is also a front runner for the chief ministerial candidate in the state, said, "It's a normal procedure for Congress party legislators to give their feedback to observers. Observers give feedback to Congress President and then a final decision is taken. We have authorised Congress .
Ahead of oath taking tomorrow, KCR shares vision for Non-Congress, Non-BJP third front
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrashekar Rao will take oath as the Chief Minister of Telangana on Thursday, December 13.Only a couple of ministers will be sworn-in with Rao, while the rest will take their oaths five days later.Addressing the media on Wednesday, the TRS Chief also made his national ambitions clear and gave a roadmap for a non-Congress, Non-BJP third front.Replying to speculations of his enhanced role in the national politics and his vision for the same, KCR said, "At present no name has been decided for the national front. The national front with non-Congress and non-BJP will directly approach the people in the country. Both Congress and BJP have failed in the country. We need new economic development in the country.""Rythu Bandhu scheme will be implemented in the whole country, after forming the third front. He also said that he is aware of all the budget details which are required to implement the Rythu Bandhu Scheme. There is no proper water system .
C'garh polls: SC, ST votes propel Congress to victory
The constituencies with high population of Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) communities in Chhattisgarh, have contributed hugely in steering Congress towards a thumping victory in the state. The state has 29 seats- in the 90-member assembly- reserved for ST candidates, and the Congress won 25 of them, besides bagging seven of ten SC reserved seats. Both the leading parties- BJP and Congress had been focusing on the tribal region- Bastar (south) and Surguja (north)- ahead of the polls to woo tribal communities that comprise around 32 per cent of the state's population and said to have always influenced the outcome of the assembly polls. Despite winning 18 of the 29 tribal- reserved seats in 2013 polls, Congress had failed to form a government in the state. However, this time it has improved it tally and won 25 of the total number of ST seats. The BJP, which had won 11 ST reserved seats in the previous polls, finished with just three this time. Former Chief ...
Rath Yatra: BJP delegation to meet WB officials
A three-member Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation will meet with West Bengal government officials on Thursday at the Lal Bazaar Conference Room to hold discussions regarding BJP's Rath Yatra, which was slated to be held in several parts of the state.Mukul Roy, J. P. Majumdar and Pratap Banerjee will represent the BJP in the meeting, while Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and the Director General of Police will participate on behalf of the government.A divisional bench of the Calcutta High Court had on December 7 directed three BJP representatives to meet the West Bengal officials by today. The decision regarding the matter will be taken by the state government and relayed to the BJP by December 14.The court had also accepted the BJP's plea for organising Rath Yatras in Cooch Behar and other regions of the state.Earlier, a single bench of the court had refused to give permission to the BJP to hold the Yatra. The judicature had upheld the concerns cited by the West Bengal government
BJP ahead in Assam panchayat polls
The BJP has won the highest number of seats in the first day of counting of panchayat polls in Assam Wednesday, with 45 per cent of declared results going in its favour, followed by the Congress, the state election commission said. Addressing a press conference Assam State Election Commissioner H N Bora said the counting to all the 26,808 posts would continue the whole night and was likely to take entire Thursday. Ballot papers were used in the panchayat polls. "Till now, we have results for 1,218 posts. Out of this, 1,089 posts are gaon panchayat members (GPM), 71 gaon panchayat presidents (GPP) and 58 anchalik panchayat members (APM). No final result of any zila parishad member (ZPM) is available," he added. The BJP has bagged 481 GPM posts, followed by 294 by the Congress, 115 by AGP, 15 by AIUDF, five by CPI(M), two by CPI and Independents emerged victorious at 175 seats, Bora said. The BJP won 33 GPP posts, Congress 20, AGP 10, AIUDF two posts and Independents six. The BJP bagged
TRS MPs' meeting in Hyderabad Thursday to decide Par strategy
A meeting of TRS MPs would be held here Thursday to formulate the party's strategy for the ongoing Parliament session, party sources said. The meeting is being held on a day when TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao will be sworn in Chief Minister of Telangana for the second straight term. Also, a meeting of the party's state executive would be held in the party headquarters, Telangana Bhavan, on Friday, the sources said.
Dissident TRS leader who won on AIFB ticket pledges support to
Dissident TRS leader Korukanti Chandar, elected to the Telangana assembly from Ramagundam constituency on a All India Forward Bloc ticket, Wednesday announced his support to the ruling party, TRS sources said. He decided to support the TRS in the interest of development of the state and employment generation to youth, they said. Chandar contested the December 7 assembly polls on Forward Bloc ticket after failing to get nomination by the TRS with which he had been assoicated with. He defeated TRS nominee Somarapu Satyanarayana by a margin of 26,090 votes. TRS won the assembly polls with a thumping majority of 88 seats outof total 119 segments and party supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao is being sworn in chief minister Thursday.
Chhattisgarh: Cong MLAs authorise Rahul to pick their leader
The newly-elected Congress MLAs in Chhattisgarh passed a resolution Wednesday evening authorising party chief Rahul Gandhi to nominate a new leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the state, its leader Mallikarjun Kharge said. The meeting of Congress MLAs was still underway. "At a meeting here in the evening, the MLAs unanimously passed a resolution. Now Rahul Gandhi will take a call on who will be CLP leader," Kharge told reporters. "As per the internal democracy in our party, we are asking each and every MLA their opinion but the final decision has to be taken by Gandhi," he said. The Congress ended 15-year-rule of the BJP in the state in the Assembly elections by winning 68 of the 90 seats.
Delhi government to hold two-day special Assembly session
The Delhi government will convene a two-day special Assembly session next week, on December 20 and 21, the government announced on Wednesday.
Mizoram poll: 3 reasons for Cong failure to break 10-yr jinx
Liberal liquor policy, advent of the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) and anti-incumbency factor were believed to be reasons due to which the Congress government in the Christian-majority Mizoram, the party's last bastion in the northeastern region, fell. In the assembly election results declared Tuesday, the Congress failed to break the 10-year-jinx and came a poor third behind the Mizo National Front (MNF), which won 26 seats and the ZPM, which won 8 seats and is a new entrant in the state poll scenario. The Congress managed to bag only five seats compared to the 34 it had won in the 2013 Assembly elections. Chief minister-designate Zoramthanga of the MNF on Wednesday said the people might have rejected the Lal Thanhawla regime for its liberal policy towards liquor as against the expressed will of the churches. He has already announced that his government would impose total prohibition. Outgoing chief minister Lal Thanhawla said his party's electoral setback might be due to the opening
LS polls: West Bengal Congress likes to go it alone
Buoyed by the party's win in three states, the Congress in West Bengal on Wednesday said it would like to fight the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state alone. WBPCC president Somen Mitra said the state state unit would convey the decision to the party's central leadership. "Our party high command has never asked us to go for an alliance. Rather it has asked us to strengthen our organisation in the state. We want to fight Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal," Mitra said at a party programme here. His comments came a day after the resurgent Congress won the assembly elections in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan defeating the BJP and emerged as the single largest party in Madhya Pradesh. Recently opposition parties including the Congress and the Trinamool Congress have met in Delhi to discuss ways to defeat the BJP led government at the centre. The Trinamool Congress leadership in West Bengal has maintained that they want to contest in all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the ...
Omar Abdullah congratulates Rahul Gandhi for Cong's success in assembly polls
National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Wednesday congratulated Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for his party's success in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh assembly polls. The three states were previously ruled by the BJP. "Congratulations to the Congress & especially to its leader Rahul Gandhi for the great success in these elections. He took the blame & the brickbats for all the set backs & now deserves the credit for these victories. It was nice to have something to celebrate on counting day," Abdullah tweeted. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister slammed the BJP for dismissing suggestions that the party's electoral reverses in the Hindi heartland states were a reflection on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his policies. "And for my friends in the BJP - you can't blame Rahul Gandhi for losing elections & not apply the same yardstick to Modi ji. If those were Rahul's losses then these 3 heartland state losses belong to the Prime Minister ...
'No renegotiation' of Brexit deal, says Paris
There will be "no renegotiation" of the Brexit divorce deal concluded between the European Union and Britain, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned Wednesday. "There will be no renegotiation," he told the French National Assembly as British Prime Minister Theresa May fights to sell the deal to the British parliament. "There were long negotiations lasting several months that ended with a text agreed by both parties, which was to have been submitted yesterday to the British parliament, and which the British prime minister decided to hold back because of lack of support," Le Drian said. The key stumbling block is the so-called "backstop" which aims to avoid the return of a "hard border" between the two Irelands, he added. May is to meet Thursday in Brussels with leaders of the 27 remaining EU leaders to discuss the deal, "but there will be no renegotiation" of the deal, Le Drian said. "Observations might be made, and, as you know, the prime minister is in trouble with her own
Pompeo, at UN, urges tougher action on Iran missiles
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday urged the United Nations to tighten restrictions on Iran's missiles, saying the Islamic republic had hundreds of projectiles that could strike US allies. Pompeo headed to New York for a Security Council meeting on Iran, which recently confirmed a medium-range ballistic test, arguing it is legal and necessary for its defence. "We risk the security of our people if Iran continues stocking up on ballistic missiles," Pompeo told the Security Council. "We risk escalation of conflict in the region if we fail to restore deterrence. And we convey to all other malign actors that they too can defy the Security Council with impunity if we do nothing," he said. Iran has "hundreds of missiles which pose a threat to our partners in the region," Pompeo said, likely referring to Israel and Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia. Pompeo said the United States would press to preserve a UN arms embargo on Iran due to expire in 2020. "We also call on the Council ..