Page 2245 - Politics
Election results show mood of nation: Odisha CM
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday said the results in five states clearly show the mood of the nation.
C'garh poll: 13 women elected as MLAs, including 9 from Cong
Thirteen women have been elected to the Chhattisgarh Assembly in 2018, a rise from the 10 and 11 women who became MLAs after the 2013 and 2008 polls respectively, a state election official said Tuesday. Counting of votes is currently underway for the 90-member House with results and trends as of 7:50pm showing the Congress winning six seats and leading in 62 others, and the BJP winning two and leading in 14 others. Of the 13 women who have been elected in the 2018 polls, the Congress leads with nine women MLAs while the BJP has one. This figure was six for the BJP and four for the Congress in the 2013 polls, the official said. Renu Jogi, wife of former chief minister Ajit Jogi, who was with Congress in 2013, has also won her Assembly seat this time from the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J). The remaining two women legislators are from local outfits, the official said.
Clear message to Modi that People are unhappy and it is time for change: Rahul on poll results
Congress President Rahul Gandhi Tuesday thanked people and party workers for party's good performance in three states of Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh and Madhya Pradesh while asserting that the poll outcome raised "questions" on the Modi government's policies. He also said it was a clear message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that people are not happy with decisions, including demonetisation and those pertaining to farmers and youth. "It's now time for change. We are going to provide these three states with a vision for overall development," Gandhi said and added that they would have liked to do better in Telangana. Gandhi was named to lead the Congress exactly a year ago and took over the charge from his mother Sonia Gandhi a few days later.
Address governance issues, gaps in security structures to deal with cross-border attacks: Saran
India would have been better prepared to deal with cross-border terrorism had governance issues and "major gaps" in security structures been addressed, former foreign secretary Shyam Saran said Tuesday. Saran, speaking at the launch of the book 'India and Pakistan: Neighbours at Odds' by Avtar Singh Bhasin, said a part of the problem has been the issues troubling "our internal defences". Giving the example of terrorist attacks in Pathankot and Uri in 2016, he said there have been "major gaps in governance". "If we look at Pathankot, the deal that we have not been able to address cross-border smuggling, there have been cases where you have fenced gates but some people allow smugglers to come in and it should come as no surprise that terrorists came through it too," Saran said. "In Uri, essentially large number of people died not from the firing by the terrorists but due to explosion of gas cylinders kept in a tent. About 19 soldiers died as a result of that explosion," he said. He said
Kamal Nath gives a tough fight to BJP's 'Kamal' in MP
When Kamal Nath was named the Congress chief in Madhya Pradesh in April ahead of the Assembly polls, many in the party recalled that former prime minister Indira Gandhi described him as her "third son" who helped her take on the Morarji Desai-led regime in 1979. Thirty-nine years later, the senior-most member in the 16th Lok Sabha donned the battle gear to help Indira Gandhi's grandson and Congress president Rahul Gandhi make huge gains for the opposition party in the central Indian state where Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the longest-serving chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and at the helm since 2003. According to available results and leads Tuesday night, the Congress accounted for 111 wins and leads in the 230-member state Assembly. The Congress' tally in the outgoing house was only 58. The BJP, which had 165 MLAs, either won or was leading in 110 seats in a see-saw battle for a majority which is 116. Along with Jyotiraditya Scindia, Nath, 72, was tasked with reviving the fortunes of ..
SP to support Congress in MP
The Samajwadi Party, which is leading in one seat in Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday said it will support the Congress in forming the next government in the state where the Congress and the ruling BJP are locked in a neck and neck fight.
Phoolka meets Pb Speaker, urges him to accept his resignation
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader H S Phoolka, who had stepped down as Punjab MLA in October, Tuesday met the state Assembly Speaker and urged him to accept his resignation. Phoolka said he submitted a letter to Rana K P Singh, informing him that he would not rethink his resignation, adding that the Speaker assured him that his decision would be considered. It was earlier believed that the lawmaker from Dakha had not submitted the resignation in a proper format. The AAP leader had stepped down to press for immediate action against those accused in the sacrilege cases that rocked the state in 2015. Phoolka claimed the Congress government had not taken the desired action against those named in the findings of the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report on sacrilege incidents. In his letter to the Speaker, Phoolka wrote, "I have sent my resignation from the post of MLA vide letter dated 12.10.2018, but I have not received any communication from you regarding the same." "Today I am appearing in
HP govt to hire contractual medical officers
The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to hire contractual medical officers for vacant posts, officials said Tuesday. The government will conduct placement drives at medical colleges in the state, a spokesperson of the Directorate of Health Services said. The interviews will be held in Tanda medical college on December 14, IGMC Shimla on December 17 and Kumarhatti medical college on December 29 from 11 am to 2 pm in the office of the medical superintendent, he added.
After 117 years, US returns Balangiga bells to Philippines
The United States on Tuesday returned the trophy bells taken from the Philippines during the 1901 war after 117 long years.Balangiga bells were ferried to the capital city of Manila and were received by Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana at a military base, reported The New York Times."It has been a very long road home. Many Filipinos and Americans worked tirelessly for decades to make today possible," said Kim, the United States ambassador to the Philippines.In July 2017, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had firmly asked the US government to return the bells, stating that they reminded Filipinos of how their forefathers resisted American colonisers."They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. They are part of our national heritage," he had asserted.According to Al Jazeera, Duterte will lead their reinstallation in Balangiga in a ceremony later in the week in an effort to reaffirm the two countries' ties.
I will actively participate in national politics: KCR
Telangana caretaker Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrashekhar Rao said on Tuesday that he would actively be participating in the national politics.Addressing the media here, Rao said: "I will actively participate in the national politics. I spoke to other political parties in India, and we are going to play a crucial part in the national politics."Terming his victory as that of the people of Telangana, Rao, who won from Gajewal seat by over 50,000 votes, said: "This is a victory of all the people in Telangana. I thank all those who supported us. There will be many problems but we will never give up and will always be positive."Elaborating upon the plan of action he has for the state, the TRS chief said: "Our goal is to bring water to one crore acres of land. In the next six months, we will work for poor people, employment for youth and addressing minority issues.""I have seen that there were some problems during the election time. We will clear those ...
MNF chief Zoramthanga stakes claim to form government in Mizoram
After handing down a humiliating defeat to the ruling Congress, MNF supremo Zoramthanga met Governor Kummanam Rajasekhar on Tuesday evening and staked claim to form the government in Mizoram, after a decade.
Poll results slap on face of 'tyrant' BJP: Raj Thackeray
The results of the Assembly polls were a "slap" on the face of the "tyrant" BJP, MNS chief Raj Thackeray said on Tuesday, and asserted that the country needed "Ram rajya" and not a Ram temple. Talking to reporters here, Thackeray also said that although the BJP was calling Rahul Gandhi "pappu", the Congress chief has become "param pujya" (highly revered) with his party's good showing in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. "Today, the country does not need a Ram temple, but needs Ram rajya. The government does not have anything to show to the people as it hasn't done anything in the last four-and-a-half years. Hence, matters of faith are being put forward," he said. The MNS chief said the poll results were a precursor to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections due next year. "The BJP was bound to face this. The results are a slap on its tyrant governance," he said. Thackeray observed that the people of Gujarat started the BJP's decline in the last year's Assembly ...
Opposition ruckus in Kerala Assembly; House adjourned
: The Opposition Congress-led UDF Tuesday created a ruckus in the Kerala Assembly over the Sabarimalaissue, prompting an abrupt adjournment of the House for the seventh day in row. As in the previous days, opposition members began sloganeering since the beginning of question hour, demanding the intervention of the LDF government in ending the 'satyagraha' staged by three of their legislators at the portals of the House since last week. They also demanded lifting of prohibitory orders invoked in and around the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa Temple by police. Demanding the removal of curbs at the hill shrine, V S Sivakumar (Congress), Parakkal Abdullah (Indian Union Muslim League) and N Jayaraj (Kerala Congress-Mani) had launched the indefinite 'satyagraha' on December 3. Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan initially ignored the ruckus even though the opposition legislators gathered in front of his podium and protested, waving banners and placards. But as soon as minister A C Moideen ...
AIMIM wins 7 seats, retains hold in Old City of Hyderabad
The Asauddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Tuesday won seven of the eight seats it contested in the Telangana assembly polls, retaining its hold in its traditional bastion of the Old City of Hyderabad. All the seven sitting MLAs, including Owaisi's brother Akbaruddin Owaisi, were re-elected. MIM won in seven assembly constituencies for the first time in 2009 and repeated the feat in 2014. Akbaruddin Owaisi, the star campaigner for the party, registered an emphatic win in Chandrayangutta seat, his fifth in a row since 1999, with a margin of 80,263 votes. Owaisi polled 95,311 votes while his immediate rival BJP's Sayyad Shahezadi, who was a leader of ABVP, secured 15,048 and TRS candidate M Seetharam Reddy 14,223 votes. Esa Bin Obaid Misri of Congress, a wrestler and bodybuilder, finished fourth with 11,304 votes. Similarly, AIMIM candidate Mohd Moazam Khan was declared elected from Bahadurpura constituency in the city by 82,518 votes against TRS
MNF Chief meets Mizoram Guv, stakes claim to form govt
A delegation of the Mizo National Front (MNF) led by its President Zoramthanga met Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan on Tuesday evening.Zoramthanga staked claim to form the government in the state after his party won 26 seats in the state Assembly poll results announced today.Shortly before Zormathanga visited Governor Rajasekharan, outgoing Chief Minister of Mizoram Lal Thanhawla submitted his resignation before the Governor."This is very disappointing. I did not expect this. I think I underestimated the new formation Zoram People's Movement (ZPM)," he said.Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated the MNF and the Congress for their respective victories in the state Assembly polls and attributed the same to the alleged ignorance of farmers."I congratulate Congress, MNF for their success. It clearly shows the mood of the nation. These states are pre-dominantly agrarian states and BJP govt in the Centre has more or less ignored the Swaminathan report recommendations ...
Maha ATS gets India content of Naxal-leaning website blocked
The India-related content of a Naxal-leaning website was blocked by the Union government on the recommendation of the Maharashtra police's Anti-Terrorism Squad. A senior police official Tuesday said monitoring of the content uploaded on the website www.bannedthought.net had revealed Naxal and Maoist propaganda as well as distorted anti-India news. He said the website is allegedly connected to the proscribed Communist Party of India (Maoist) and would upload biased and distorted content concerning tribal issues and encounters in Naxal-affected areas of the country. The website was also providing a platform for the spread of Naxal ideology among people living in urban areas, the official stated. The Maharashtra ATS had, through the state government, taken up the matter with the Centre following which the order to ban and block the India-related content of the website was issued, the official informed. The website claims it is not affiliated to any political party but ...
Results clear indication of discontent, anger against BJP: CPI(M)
The CPI(M) on Tuesday said the imminent defeat of the BJP in the three Hindi heartland states was a clear indication of the people's discontent with the Narendra Modi government. "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," a party statement said. The Left party said the results had shattered the myth of BJP's electoral invincibility. "Instead of addressing the people's issues, the BJP governments' policies had only deepened people's misery and tried to divert their attention into issues aimed at sharpening communal polarization," the party said, adding that the attacks on Muslims and Dalits and the "atmosphere of hatred and violence" fostered to divide the people had been unsuccessful. It hoped that the new governments formed in the
Small parties, independents may be key to govt formation in MP
As Madhya Pradesh appeared headed for a cliffhanger with the ruling BJP and Congress locked in a close fight, small parties and independents may play a crucial role in deciding who forms the next government in the state. As per the results and trends available at 7.30 pm Tuesday, the Congress tally in the 230-member House is 111 (won 13 and leading in 98 seats), while BJP is a close second with 110 (won 15 seats and leading in 96 constituencies). Counting for the elections, held on November 28, began at 8 am Tuesday, a poll official said. In the 2013 poll, the BJP had won 165 seats, securing a comfortable majority in the Assembly, while confining the Congress to 58 seats. This time, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) are leading in two seats each while a tribal political outfit, Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), is leading in one seat and independents are ahead in three segments. These smaller parties and independents might play a crucial role if the ...
People want relief from 'autocratic' BJP; in Lok Sabha polls, AAP will defeat it in Delhi: Gopal Rai
The Aam Aadmi Party Tuesday said Assembly poll trends in five states show people want to get rid of an "autocratic" BJP government at the Centre, and announced it will launch from December 14 a door-to-door campaign to defeat the saffron party here in the Lok Sabha polls next year. AAP leaders huddled at party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence Tuesday evening to discuss emerging political scenario and preparations for the Lok Sabha elections, as trends showed electoral reverses for the BJP in Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and gains for the Congress. The AAP, however, ducked questions on possibility of an alliance with the Congress. "We will start campaigning on all the seven Lok Sabha constituencies in Delhi from December 14. In view of these results, I believe that people will support the AAP and we will defeat the BJP," senior party leader Gopal Rai said when asked about alliance with the Congress. "The AAP believes the process of BJP's defeat
We accept people's verdict: TJS chief
The TJS, part of the Congress-led 'People's Front' which received a drubbing in the Telangana assembly elections, Tuesday said his party accepted the people's verdict. Telangana Jana Samiti president M Kodandaram congratulated the TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao on his party's emphatic victory. "We believed in certain values and programmes and wanted to work together for their implementation. But then, in the elections, we could not get necessary support, and we accept the result, and congratulate TRS for its victory," Kodandaram told PTI. However, the TJS would continue to work for values for which it is committed, the kind of agenda that it prepared, and would continue to work for their implementation, he said. "And we hope the new government would adhere to the constitutional values and nurture democracy in the State, and ensure equitable opportunity for all sections of the society," Kodandaram said. The party would study on what went wrong for the opposition alliance .