Page 2244 - Politics
Chhattisgarh polls: 'Swayamvar' underway for CM post; Singhdeo, Sahu, Baghel and Mahant in fray
When the Congress was running a feisty campaign to return to power in Chhattisgarh after 15 long years, it was often asked about its face against the saffron party's longest-serving chief minister Raman Singh -- Armed with a big majority now, the grand old party has quite a few options. TS Singhdeo -- scion of an erstwhile royal family, leader of Opposition in the outgoing assembly and a key contender for the top post -- said during the poll campaign that the chief minister would be selected through a 'Swayamvar'. The process to select the chosen one seems to be underway and a decision could be announced as early as Wednesday about who would be the next chief minister -- only the second from the Congress in this Naxal-affected state. Congress had formed the first government of the state after it was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000, but its then chief minister Ajit Jogi has since then left the party and fought the latest assembly polls in alliance with Maywati's BSP as the third ..
Rao to be elected TRS legislature party leader on Wednesday
: TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, who led his party to a two-thirds majority in the December 7 assembly elections in Telangana, will be formally elected leader of the legislature party Wednesday, party sources said. A meeting of the legislature party has been convened at 11.30 AM here Wednesday, the sources said. Asked when Rao would be sworn in as Chief Minister, a senior TRS leader told PTI: "Tomorrow, he (Rao) will take a call on that. It (swearing-in) will definitely happen before December 15... after the 15th it's not auspicious". Meanwhile, Rao met the Governor E S L Narasimhan at the Raj Bhavan Tuesday to stake his claim to form the government for a second time. Rao had dissolved the Assembly in September eight months ahead of schedule in a political gamble that paid off handsomely in the elections, with his party the TRS decimating its rivals, winning 84 of the 119 seats in the assembly. The Congress won 18, while the Asadudding Owaisi led AIMIM, which supported ...
KCR demolishes opposition in Telangana, wins a landslide
K Chandrasekhar Rao's TRS Tuesday steamrolled a feeble opposition challenge to win the assembly elections by a landslide, riding pro-Telangana sentiments and the success of a raft of populist schemes launched by his government. Rao, 64, who emerged as the mascot of Telangana pride when he led the massive movement that convulsed undivided Andhra Pradesh and ended with the creation of the youngest state of the country in 2014, powered his party winning 82 seats in the 119-member assembly. Its candidates are leading in six places, sources in the state office of the state's chief electoral officer said. Rao himself won by a margin of over 51,000 votes from his Gajwel seat, trouncing V Pratap Reddy of the Congress. Rao's son K T Rama Rao and nephew T Harish Rao, both ministers in his caretaker government, also won by impressive margins. The newly elected lawmakers of the TRS are meeting here at 11.30 am on Wednesday to formally elect Rao as the leader of the legislature ...
Gehlot: Magician at heart could become CM
Ashok Gehlot didn't make the Congress disappear altogether in Rajasthan and, in any case, the party's good showing in the assembly polls wasn't a solo act. But on Tuesday the Congress, as it inched to the halfway mark of 100, appeared close to picking the magician at heart for the chief minister's job. Gehlot has said magic is in his soul. At a conjurors' convention in 2015 which he inaugurated by performing a little trick of his own the veteran told the audience he would have followed in his magician father's footstep had he not joined politics. This he did thanks to Indira Gandhi, according to some accounts. She is said to have noticed his work with refugees in the northeast and roped him in. In his early years as a politician, he headed the Rajasthan unit of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and was later seen as a staunch loyalist of the Gandhi family. Some in the party called him 'gilli billi', a tag which referred to his past when he performed magic as an assistant ..
Madhya Pradesh: ex-minister Suresh Pachouri loses from Bhojpur
Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Suresh Pachouri on Tuesday lost from Bhojpur Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh for the second time in a row against BJP minister and sitting MLA Surendra Patwa. Patwa, nephew of former chief minister Sunderlal Patwa, retained the seat by a margin of 29,486 votes. Pachouri had lost the Assembly election in 2013 too from the same seat.
Expert View: India govt 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.
Assembly election results clear message to Modi: Rahul
Observing that the Assembly election results in five states were a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said oppostion parties will unitedly fight and defeat the BJP in 2019 elections with the central themes being unemployment, agrarian distress and corruption.
MP polls: Ex Cong minister Bisahulal Singh wins from Anuppur
Former minister and Congress candidate Bisahulal Singh has won from Anuppur Assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh, defeating BJP's Ramlal Rautel by 11,561 votes, as per the Election Commission. BJP's national general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya's son Akash, who contested his maiden election from Indore-3 seat, won by defeating former Congress MLA Ashwin Joshi by a margin of 5,751 votes. Former Congress minister N P Prajapati won from Gotegaon by a margin of 12,583 votes, defeating BJP's Kailash Jatav. Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kailash Joshi's son and minister in the BJP government Deepak Joshi lost from Hatpipalya by 13,519 votes to Congress's Manoj Choudhry. BJP's Dilip Kumar Makwana won from Ratlam rural seat, defeating Thawarlal Bhuriya of the Congress by 5,605 votes. BJP's Aashish Govind Sharma defeated his Congress rival Om Patel in Khategaon by a margin of 7,772 votes. Om Prakash Sakhlecha of the saffron party defeated Rajkumar Rameshchandra Ahir of the ...
Over 66 lakh tweets on assembly polls recorded in Oct-Dec
Micro-blogging platform Twitter Tuesday said it has recorded over 66 lakh tweets related to assembly elections in five states between October 1 and December 11. "From breaking news, to behind the scenes action, to political parties, candidates and citizens engaging on all the hot election topics, Twitter gave Indian citizens a front row seat to the #AssemblyElections2018 across the states of Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana," Twitter said in a statement. It added that throughout the state elections campaign, politicians and political parties used Twitter to communicate with people all over India. "The parties' official positions and announcements around policies and key social issues accounted for some of the top-tweeted moments in the past two months as voters went to the polls," it said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi emerged as the top mentioned leaders on Twitter during the assembly elections, Twitter ...
Poll results shatter BJP's 'electoral invincibility' myth: CPI-M
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Tuesday said the Assembly results of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have "shattered the myth of the BJP's electoral invincibility."In a statement, the CPI-M said, "The defeat of the BJP in the elections to the state assemblies of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, is a clear indication of the people's discontent and anger at the policies followed by the Modi government and the BJP state governments that have imposed unbearable burdens on the people. These results have shattered the myth of the BJP's electoral invincibility."CPI-M further stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP has only focused their efforts on diverting the people's attention towards "issues aimed at sharpening communal polarisation" while ignoring the real issues."The new governments that will be formed in the former BJP-ruled states must respect the people's verdict and adopt policies aimed at improving people's livelihood and reducing ...
13 of 19 Rajasthan ministers lose elections; CM Vasundhara Raje retains her seat
As many as 13 of 19 ministers in the outgoing Vasundhara Raje government have lost the Assembly elections in Rajasthan as results and trends brought electoral reverses for the ruling BJP. However, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and her five cabinet colleagues have won their respective constituencies. Raje (Jhalrapatan), Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria (Udaipur), Education Minister Vasundev Devnani (Ajmer North), Women and Child Development Minister Anita Bhadel (Ajmer South), Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Rathore (Churu) and Higher Education Minister Kiran Maheshwari (Rajsamand) have retained their respective seats. The chief minister won the Jhalrapatan seat with a margin of 34,980 votes by defeating her nearest rival and Congress leader Manvendra Singh, the son of veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singh. She had won the seat in 2013 elections with a margin of 60,896 votes. Among the ministers who lost the elections are: Agriculture Minister Prabhu Lal Saini (Anta), Food & .
May meets Merkel in bid to save Brexit deal
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday met German Chancellor Angela Merkel here as part of a whistle-stop tour to meet European leaders in an attempt to salvage her Brexit deal, a day after postponing a parliamentary vote on it in the face of overwhelming opposition.
Mizoram CM resigns; admits 'underestimating' Opp strength
Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla resigned Tuesday evening following the debacle by Congress in the assembly election and admitted that he had "underestimated" the opposition strength. The five-time chief minister said he also underestimated the "extent of the anti-incumbency wave". Thanhawla had been at the helm of the government in the north eastern state for two consecutive terms since 2008. His resignation was accepted by Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan who asked him to continue in office till alternative arrangements were made.
IAF to start courier service from Kargil
The Indian Air Force (IAF) will start air courier service from Jammu and Kashmir's Kargil district from December 25. Feroz Ahmad Khan, the chairman and the chief executive councillor (CEC) of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), announced on Tuesday that AN-32 Air Force Courier services from Kargil to Srinagar and Kargil to Jammu would start from December 25. The decision was taken during a review meeting attended by Khan. Various issues related regarding the operation of flights were discussed. The CEC instructed the officers concerned to ensure that all required arrangements and other modalities were put in place in time to ensure hassle-free operation of the courier services during the winter season, an official spokesperson said.
Firebrand leader Raja Singh Lodh is only BJP candidate to win
: Firebrand leader Raja Singh Lodh will be the sole torch-bearer for the BJP in the Assembly as all other party candidates bit the dust in the December 7 Telangana polls. Singh, known in many quarters for his "inflammatory" comments, and who has over 60 cases against him, mostly for "hate speeches", retained his Goshamahal Assembly constituency in Hyderabad. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had, in fact, campaigned for him in the segment. BJP's Telangana state unit President K Laxman and floor leader in the dissolved Assembly Kishan Reddy lost in Musheerabad and Amberpet segments respectively. The BJP contested in 118 Assembly segments out of the total of 119, leaving one seat to its ally, the Yuva Telangana party. Seeking votes for change and claiming itself to be the alternative to TRS and Congress, the BJP had conducted a high octane campaign with a galaxy of top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Narendra Modi, canvassing
Lanka SC to rule on President Sirisena's sacking of Parliament, snap polls
Sri Lanka is on the edge, ahead of a crucial Supreme Court ruling on President Maithripala Sirisena's controversial sacking of Parliament and call for a snap election that pushed the country into unprecedented political turmoil. As many as 13 petitions have been filed against Sirisena's November 9 order sacking the 225-member Parliament, almost 20 months before its term was to end, and setting the election date for January 5. The Supreme Court on November 13 had issued an interim order ruling Sirisena's gazette notification as temporarily illegal and halted the preparations for snap polls. The hearing in the case was concluded last week as the court reserved its judgment. So far there is no indication as to when the apex court will give its ruling. A senior Sirisena loyalist Wimal Weerawansa said on Monday that the president would ask the Supreme Court through the attorney general to expedite the delivery of the verdict in the case. "The courts are going on vacation from December 14. .
Assembly polls show 'mood of nation': Patnaik
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik accused Tuesday the BJP-led central government of "ignoring" interests of farmers and said the assembly elections in five states show mood of the nation. He congratulated the Congress, the TRS and MNF for their performance in the polls. "This (election results) shows the mood of the nation," Patnaik told reporters here. He claimed that the BJP suffered in all the five states -Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telengana and Mizoram - due to the government's "anti-farmer" policies. "The central government has done very little for the farmers," Patnaik said.
Shaktikanta Das appointed new RBI Governor
The government on Tuesday appointed Shaktikanta Das, who as Economic Affairs Secretary steered the monetary situation post-demonetisation, as the new RBI Governor, a day after Urjit Patel resigned amidst a tiff with the government on the RBI's autonomy.
Get rid of Modi-Shah leadership, Maharashtra farm panel chief to BJP
Coming down heavily on the "anti-farmer" policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a prominent farm activist on Tuesday urged the BJP to "get rid of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah" after the election defeat in five states.
Election results will have bearing on Goa politics: Congress
The Assembly results in five states, in which the BJP could not garner adequate votes, will have a "far reaching impact" on Goa's politics, which is currently plagued by turmoil, state Congress President Girish Chodankar said on Tuesday.