Page 2243 - Politics
AIADMK hits out at DMK, says Stalin-led party is "weak"
The AIADMK Tuesday mocked at its arch rival DMK for trying to form a grand alliance of Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu, saying it was doing so since it was "weak." "Only the weak enlist the support of other parties and those who are strong do not have a necessity to do it... we are strong always," senior AIADMK leader and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar told reporters here after a party meeting of district secretaries and senior office bearers. The Minister made the remark when asked on the DMK appearing set for alliance with several other Opposition parties in the state besides its present allies the Congress and IUML. "We are ready to face bypolls (to 20 constituencies in Tamil Nadu) whenever it comes, be it alongside Parliamentary polls or ahead of it," he said adding in Tamil Nadu it is always "the wave of Amma." Eighteen Assembly constituencies were declared vacant after the disqualification of AIADMK MLAs -who represented these segments- were upheld recently by ...
Vasundhara Raje congratulates Cong, says proud of work done by her govt
As the Congress headed towards victory in Rajasthan, outgoing chief minister Vasundhara Raje Tuesday night said she is proud of the development work done by her government and respects the mandate of the people. Raje, who submitted her resignation to Governor Kalyan Singh at Raj Bhawan here, congratulated the Congress party. She said that the BJP will raise people's issues in the state assembly and will play a positive role for public welfare. "I am proud of the development works done by the BJP government in five years and believe that the upcoming government will continue the works and projects," Raje said in a statement. She thanked the people of the state, BJP workers, the prime minister and the BJP chief, saying they stood by her as family. "Raje handed over her resignation to the Governor tonight, a Raj Bhawan spokesperson said.
US adds Pak, China to its blacklist for religious freedom violations
Pakistan, China and Saudi Arabia are among countries added to a US blacklist of nations that violate religious freedom, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday. Pompeo said he has designated Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as "Countries of Particular Concern" in a congressionally mandated annual report. The development comes a year after the US State Department put Pakistan on a watchlist without legal consequences.
New MNF government in Mizoram may assume office on Saturday
The new Mizo National Front (MNF) government is likely to assume office on Saturday, party president and Chief Minister-designate Zoramthanga said here on Tuesday night.
DMK lauds Rahul, AIADMK says scenario may change for Parl poll
: The ruling AIADMK Tuesday said the mood of the people for the Parliamentary election next year cannot be judged based on the poll outcome in the five states, while main opposition DMK lauded Congress for its good show. Senior AIADMK leader and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar, when asked if the mood of the people would reflect in the 2019 Parliamentary polls, said the electoral scenario could change. "The situation keeps changing," he said ading that the mood of the people cannot be fully guaged based on the results of the five states. "These are state Assembly polls. Nobody can predict the mood of the people for Parliamentary polls... the heart of the people is like a deep mine," he said. DMK President M K Stalin in a tweet, said "I congratulate Thiru @RahulGandhi and the @INCIndia party for the excellent performance in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and MP." The leader of opposition said that the results would "reinforce our fight against the fascist BJP regime and help in ...
Results would enable TRS to play a crucial role in national
Buoyed by the emphatic victory in the Assembly elections, Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao Tuesday said the results would enable the TRS to play a crucial role in national politics. He said a national party will emerge that will form a coalition with a consortium of regional parties to take on the BJP and Congress. "...Congress-mukt Bharat..BJP-mukt Bharat...that is needed...we will unveil the whole thing in Delhi in 10 days," Rao told a press conference. Raising the pitch for a 'non-BJP, non-Congress' federal front, the Telangana leader, who is set to take the state's reins for a second time, said there was need to strengthen the federal structure of the country keeping in mind the requirements of the states. "The(proposed) federal front is for the people of this country, not for any individual. This is not aligning mere political parties. It is aligning the masses of India. The practice was usually to align certain leaders and certain parties, he ...
Cong likely to decide Rajasthan CM on Wednesday
As the Congress is inching closer to cross the majority mark in Rajasthan Assembly, the party is likely to decide who will assume the office of chief minister in a meeting scheduled to be held here on Wednesday.Addressing media persons here on Tuesday, Congress general secretary and in-charge for Rajasthan Avinash Pandey, said: "Congress president Rahul Gandhi has sent KC Venugopal here and all elected MLAs will meet at the Congress office on Wednesday at 11 am. We all will discuss the future plan. After listening to everyone's opinion, we will inform the party high command. In the evening, another meeting will be held."Crediting Congress president Rahul Gandhi for steering the party to victory, Pandey said that all promises made by the Congress to the people of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh will be fulfilled.Meanwhile, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said that the people of Rajasthan have chosen the Congress to get rid of "misrule and anti-people policies" of ...
Drubbing of BJP is a message for PM, says Rahul
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the drubbing faced by the BJP in assembly elections was a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he had failed to fulfill his promises and asserted that a united opposition will defeat BJP in the next year's Lok Sabha polls as well.Addressing a press conference here, he said that "it is time for change" and that the Congress will provide a new vision to the country to address the problems like unemployment, agricultural crisis.To a question, he said while the congress was determined to fight the ideology of BJP, it did not want the country to be "mukt (free) of anybody," an apparent swipe at Modi who has been talking of "Congress Mukt Bharat"."I have been saying it for some time, with the resurgent Congress party in the states and other states where the BJP is ruling and the combined opposition, it is going to be very difficult for the BJP to win election. This is a clear message to the PM and BJP that country is not happy with ...
BJP set to lose Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh; Likely to meet same fate in MP
The BJP was ousted from power in Chhattisgarh after three terms and lost Rajasthan after one term in the Assembly elections which were dubbed by the Opposition as semi-final before the Parliamentary polls due by May next year.The saffron party also appeared to fall short of the majority figure of 116 seats in Madhya Pradesh, according to the latest results and trends available.Among two other states which went to the polls, Telangana saw the TRS retaining power with a sweeping majority while in Mizoram, the Mizo National Front won with a thumping majority.A buoyant Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the drubbing faced by the BJP was a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he had failed to fulfill his promises and asserted that a "resurgent" Congress, along with a united opposition, will defeat BJP in the next year's Lok Sabha polls as well.The Congress was set to form government in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and was close to majority in Madhya Pradesh as well.In Rajasthan, ...
Selection of CMs for Raj, Chhattisgarh and MP will be done smoothly: Rahul Gandhi
With Congress set to form governments in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and was locked in a close fight in Madhya Pradesh, party president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday said the selection of chief ministers in the three states will be done "smoothly". "We have defeated the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh... There will be no issue over (selection of) chief minister. It will be done smoothly," he said. He was replying to a question on who will be the party's chief ministers in the three Hindi heartland states. While senior party leader Ashok Gehlot and state Congress chief Sachin Pilot were in the race for the post of chief minister in Rajasthan, the contenders for the top post in Chhattisgarh are T S Singh Deo, state party president Bhupesh Baghel and OBC leader Tamradhwaj Sahu. In Madhya Pradesh, state Congress chief Kamal Nath and senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia are vying for chief ministership. Gandhi also said that the party effectively "ironed out" tensions among the ...
Four policemen gunned down by Jaish terrorists in Shopian; weapons snatched
Four policemen, who were guarding a minority pocket in south Kashmir's Shopian district, were gunned down Tuesday by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists, police said. At the time of the attack, the policemen, wearing 'pehran' (a gown worn in Kashmir during winters), were braving cold in their pre-fabricated guardroom outside the minority pocket at Zainpora area of the district. The pocket houses six Kashmiri pandit families, but only one family was present there at the time of the incident. A senior police official said that six terrorists of banned outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed were led by former Special Police Officer Adil Bashir, who decamped eight weapons from a PDP legislator in October this year and deserted the police force. Quoting eyewitnesses, the police officer said that militants fired indiscriminately, killing three policemen on the spot and critically injuring one. The injured policeman was rushed to an Army hospital, where he succumbed to injuries, the official ...
Prominent winners and losers in Mizoram
Prominent winners and losers in Mizoram are as follows:
Trump says US military could build Mexico border wall
President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to order the military to build a multi-billion dollar barrier along the US-Mexico border if Democrats refuse funding for the controversial project. Tweeting ahead of a White House meeting with opposition Democratic party leaders, Trump claimed that the wall was needed to prevent "large scale crime and disease" brought by illegal immigrants. "If the Democrats do not give us the votes to secure our Country, the Military will build the remaining sections of the Wall. They know how important it is!" he tweeted. Opponents say the wall, arguably Trump's main campaign promise in his 2016 election, is not only a waste of money but has been used by the president to whip up xenophobia. Chuck Schumer, the senior Democrat in the Republican-dominated Senate, and Nancy Pelosi, who is likely to become speaker in the newly Democrat-controlled House in January, were meeting with Trump later Tuesday. But the president was unlikely to persuade them to agree to ..
Somalia's president dodges impeachment move
A bid to impeach Somalia's president for alleged abuse of office was ruled "invalid" Tuesday after the parliamentary clerk said over a dozen MPs had denied signing the motion. "We have received written statements from 14 lawmakers who claim their names have been used wrongly in the list of signatories of the motion against the president," parliamentary clerk Abdikarim Haji Abdi Buh said in a statement. "These legislators are not withdrawing from the impeachment motion, but are confirming that they have totally never signed the document," he added. The removal of the signatories leaves only 78 out of 275 legislators supporting the impeachment of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, which falls short of the legal requirements rendering the motion "invalid", according to Buh. The impeachment document had accused the president, commonly known as Farmajo, of violating the constitution "by engaging (in a) secret memorandum of understanding with foreign countries." It specified control over .
Poll verdict rejection of BJP's misrule and communal agenda: Left parties
Left parties on Tuesday said the results of the five assembly polls showed that the people had rejected "misrule" of the Narendra Modi government and called on democratic forces to unite to counter the BJP in the next year's parliamentary elections. The Congress was on Tuesday set to wrest Rajasthan and Chattisgarh from the BJP which was trailing marginally in Madhya Pradesh in a cliffhanger while the TRS stormed back to power in Telangana and the MNF dislodged the Congress in Mizoram. The CPI contested in around 40 seats in the five states and drawn a blank, while CPI(M) has wrested two seats from the BJP in Rajasthan. "The election result of five states demonstrate that people have rejected BJP misrule and communal agenda of polarising the masses and anti-people economic policies. It is a verdict against arrogance and dictatorial rule of Narendra Modi", S Sudhakar Reddy, general secretary, CPI told PTI. He appealed to "all secular, left and democratic forces to unite to defeat the ..
Expert Views: India appoints Shaktikanta Das as RBI governor
(Reuters) - India's government named Shaktikanta Das, a seasoned financial bureaucrat, as the new governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday, replacing Urjit Patel, whose abrupt resignation roiled financial markets.
Legal challenge filed against ousted Sri Lankan PM
A local Sri Lankan Municipal Councillor on Tuesday filed a petition in the Court of Appeal against ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe continuing to be a member of Parliament.
Assembly polls results show people have made nation
Terming the "Congress Mukt Bharat" slogan of the BJP as "arrogance," former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda Tuesday said the people have made the nation "arrogance-free" through their verdict in the assembly elections in five states. "The intentions of making India 'Congress-free,' 'opposition-free' shows the arrogance of BJP. The people have made this nation 'arrogance-free' by voting out BJP," Gowda said in a tweet. "At least now, the BJP should put some efforts to make this nation 'problem-free' and stop the unwanted 'travel-spree', he said in another tweet. Reacting to the poll results, Gowda's son and Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said the elections in the five states and its results were an indication of the outcome in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Claiming that the election results showed that the mood of the nation was towards secular forces, he said, it was a "snub" to those who wanted to suppress opposition voices, with a plan to bring a single party rule .
Guj govt declares holiday in Jasdan for Dec 20 bypoll
In view of the upcoming by-election to the Jasdan Assembly seat in Rajkot district of Gujarat on December 20, the state government Tuesday declared a holiday for the constituency on the day of polling. To help voters in exercising their franchise without any trouble, the government declared December 20 as a public holiday for all the areas which fall under Jasdan constituency. In a release, the General Administration Department (GAD) said, registered voters working in government offices outside the limits of the constituency can avail half-day leave to come to Jasdan and cast their vote. Government employees can also seek permission from their superiors to come late or leave early in order to exercise their franchise, the GAD said. While the BJP has fielded state cabinet minister Kunvarji Bavalia, opposition Congress has chosen Avsar Nakiya as its candidate for the bypoll. The by-election was necessitated after Bavaliya, who won from Jasdan on Congress ticket in 2017 ...
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasudhara Raje resigns
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Tuesday night handed over her resignation to Governor Kalyan Singh here. "Raje handed over the resignation to the Governor tonight," a Raj Bhawan spokesperson said. The Congress was heading towards victory in the desert state, winning 81 seats and leading in another 18 out of 199 seats. The BJP was trailing with 67 seats in its kitty and leading in six others.