Page 2287 - Politics
Both TRS, Congress express confidence of win in Telangana
The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi and opposition Congress-led 'People's Front' Friday expressed confidence that they would win the Telangana Assembly polls. There is a "very, very positive" mood among voters towards the party, caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) told reporters at his native village Chintamadaka where he cast his vote in the Assembly polls. "...pro-incumbency government is again coming back with a huge majority without any doubt," KCR said. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is going it alone in the polls and so is the BJP. Polling concluded Friday in the 119 Assembly segments in the state. State congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy said the 'People's Front' , comprising the Congress, TDP, CPI and Telangana Jana Samiti, would get over 80 seats in the 119-member House. Reddy, who spoke before the polling concluded, said the number could go up if the voting percentage was higher. BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao alleged that KCR ...
74 per cent cast their vote in Rajasthan
About 74 per cent of the 4.74 crore registered voters had cast their vote in Rajasthan where elections were held Friday for 199 of the 200 assembly seats. At the close of the polling, the Election Commission said the turnout 73.85 per cent, less than a percentage point short of the 75.23 registered in 2013. Officials said the final figure could be higher. Polling began at 51,687 booths across the state at 8 am. The police reported a few clashes among supporters, but said polling was largely peaceful. Paramilitary jawans opened fire in the air to disperse miscreants trying to force their way into a booth at a village in Alwar's Shahjahapur. In Bikaner's Kolayat, two groups clashed outside a polling booth and a vehicle was torched. In Sikar too there was a clash. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot and other leaders were among those who exercised their franchise. Raje (Jhalrapatan), Pilot (Tonk), former chief minister Ashok Gehlot (Sardarpura) ..
BJP has 'anti-Muslim', 'anti-Pakistan' approach: Imran
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has an "anti-Muslim" and "anti-Pakistan" approach and claimed New Delhi rebuffed all his gestures due to the upcoming general elections.
Trump names ex-Bush official William Barr as new attorney general
President Donald Trump on Friday nominated William Barr, a conservative lawyer who was attorney general in the administration of the late George H W Bush, to lead the Department of Justice. Barr would replaced Jeff Sessions, who Trump forced to resign last month amid rising pressure on the White House from the Russia collusion investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Barr is "A terrific man, a terrific person," Trump said. "He was my first choice from day one.... respected by Republicans, respected by Democrats," he said.
OPEC, Russia close to slashing oil output despite U.S. pressure
VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC and its Russia-led allies moved closer on Friday to clinching a deal that would cut oil production by more than the market had expected despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to reduce the price of crude.
Merkel bows out as CDU prepares to vote on successor
German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave an emotional farewell speech to her ruling Christian Democrats Union (CDU) party as she stepped down as its leader on Friday and was given a standing ovation of over six minutes.
Congress likely to form government in Chhattisgarh: Exit Polls
The Congress is likely to get enough seats to form a government in Chhattisgarh after spending 15 years in the opposition, a majority of exit polls predicted on Friday evening.
Parrikar health status petition: Goa CS finally responds to HC directive
Goa Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma on Friday finally filed an affidavit before the Panaji Bench of the Bombay High Court, in connection with a petition filed last month seeking public disclosure of the health status of ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Sensing defeat in polls, Modi govt unleashing vendetta against Vadra: Cong
The Congress on Friday slammed the ED raids against Robert Vadra's associates and claimed that sensing defeat in state polls, an "unnerved" Modi government was unleashing "vendetta" against party chief Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law to divert the narrative. Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "is acting like a don". There was no immediate reaction from the BJP on Congress's comments. The Congress attack came after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Friday carried out searches against three people linked to Vadra in connection with its probe into alleged "commissions received by some suspects in defence deals" and illegal assets stashed abroad. This is for the first time that Vadra's associates have been linked to alleged commissions received in defence deals by the ED. "Sure shot defeat in five states has unnerved Prime Minister Modi to again use the same old trick -- unleash revenge and vendetta against Mr. Robert Vadra to divert the .
Trump nominates Heather Nauert as UN Ambassador
President Donald Trump Friday nominated chief State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as US' next envoy to the UN to replace the outgoing Indian-American Nikki Haley. In October, Haley announced that she was leaving the post by the end of the year. The 46-year-old former South Carolina governor has served nearly two years in the post. She is the first Indian-American ever appointed to a Cabinet position in any US presidential administration. Trump told reporters at the White House that "Heather Nauert will be nominated for the ambassador to the United Nations". Nauert, 48, is an unorthodox choice, given her little experience in government or foreign policy before she took up the role at the state department. She was made the state department spokeswoman in April 2017, her first government position. This year, after former Secretary of State Rex W Tillerson was fired, she was named the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs. Prior to that, Nauert, worked for .
UK PM May deploys ministers to sell Brexit deal to public
British Prime Minister Theresa May sent 30 members of her government around the country Friday to rally popular support to pressure lawmakers to approve her Brexit agreement on leaving the European Union. The Brexit deal is proving a tough sell, and May is coming under increasing pressure to delay a parliamentary vote scheduled for next week in hopes of wringing concessions out of the EU. With three days of British lawmakers' five-day debate on the deal complete, an analysis by Britain's Press Association showed that just 27 of the 163 lawmakers who have spoken out indicated they would back the deal, compared with 122 who say they will vote against it. That latter number includes 29 members of May's own Conservative Party. The biggest sticking point is the so-called backstop, which could keep the U.K. in a customs union with the EU indefinitely if the two sides can't agree on another way to prevent physical border controls between Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., and the ..
Modi acting like don: Congress
Terming the Enforcement Directorate (ED) "raids" on the premises of Robert Vadra-owned Skylight Hospitality as "political vendetta", the Congress on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of acting like a "don" and "persecuting and hounding everyone opposed to him".
Tight race between BJP, Cong in MP, C'garh; edge for Cong in Raj: Exit polls
Exit polls Friday predicted a tight finish between the BJP and the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and a win for the opposition party in Rajasthan. They also predicted that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi in Telangana will retain power. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan are all ruled by the BJP presently. While Republic TV-Jan Ki Baat gave 108-128 seats to the BJP and 95-115 to the Congress in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh, India Today-Axis said the saffron party could win 102-120 seats as against 104-122 for the Congress. However, the Times Now-CNX exit poll predicted a majority for the BJP in MP with 126 seats and gave the Congress a tally of 89 seats. On the other hand, ABP News exit poll said the Congress is likely to get a majority by bagging 126 seats. The BJP, it added, would get 94 seats. In the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly, exit polls broadcast by Republic-C Voter predicted 35-43 seats for the BJP and 4-50 for the Congress while the News Nation ..
Madhya Pradesh HC dismisses Congress plea on EVM malfunction
Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by the Congress party alleging Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) malfunctioning.The court has refused to interfere in the matter expressing satisfaction on the action by the Election Commission of India (ECI).The court has reserved its decision on the plea over counting of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips along with EVMs.On December 4, a Congress party delegation led by senior leaders Kamal Nath and Kapil Sibal visited the ECI and highlighted the issue of alleged faults in EVMs, particularly in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The delegation demanded that EVMs be protected in a secure place and counting be done in an impartial and fair manner.The counting of votes for assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram, is scheduled to be held on December 11.
Exit polls give mixed predictions for Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh
Exit polls conducted by various television channels on Friday gave mixed projections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assembly elections. In Telangana, the polls showed a clear advantage for incumbent TRS.The results will be declared in all the states on December 11.In Rajasthan, two exit polls predicted a clear edge for the opposition Congress. While Times Now-CNX gave Congress 105 seats in the 200-member Assembly and 85 to BJP; India Today-Axis My India predicted 119 to 141 for the Congress and 55-72 for the BJP. On the other hand, the Republic-C Voter poll gave Congress 81-101 and 83-103 to the BJP.The half-way mark in the state is 101.According to the poll conducted by Times Now-CNX in Madhya Pradesh, the ruling BJP is expected to get 126 seats in the 230-member Assembly while the Congress is likely to settle for 89, which is 27 short the majority figure. It has given BSP 6 seats and other 9.The poll conducted by India Today-Axis My India predicts 104-122 for Congress
Rath Yatra row: Calcutta HC directs BJP delegation to meet WB top authorities
A division bench of Calcutta High Court on Friday modified and disposed a single bench judgement passed by the court yesterday and directed three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) representatives to meet West Bengal Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) by December 12 in connection with the BJP's Rath Yatra.The decision regarding the matter will be taken by the state government and relayed to the BJP by December 14.Earlier in the day, the court accepted the BJP's plea for organising Rath Yatras in Cooch Behar and other regions of West Bengal.The court on Thursday refused to give permission to the BJP to hold the Yatra. The judicature had upheld the concerns cited by the West Bengal government that the programme may stoke communal tensions and cause violence in the region. The Advocate General of State had submitted a confidential intelligence report in a sealed envelope to the single judge bench.The BJP had planned to hold three Rath Yatras beginning with ...
Over 72% voter turnout in Rajasthan
The total voter turnout for the Legislative Assembly in Rajasthan was 72.7 per cent on Friday. Nearly 41.53 per cent of the electorates had already cast their votes till 1 pm, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI).Voting for 199 out of 200 seats in the state began at 8 am and concluded at 5 pm. It was held in 51,687 polling booths out of which 259 were managed exclusively by women officials and security personnel.Voting in Alwar district's Ramgarh constituency has been postponed due to the death of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Laxman Singh.Earlier in the day, vehicles were set ablaze and vandalised in a clash which broke out between two groups at a polling booth at Subhash school in Sikar's Fatehpur due to which voting remained affected for half an hour. Voting resumed after police dispersed the miscreants. Voting had to be halted for sometime in two polling booths in Ahor constituency of Jalore due to EVM malfunctioning following which voters created a ...
White House Chief of Staff may resign soon: Report
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is expected to resign in the coming days, CNN reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the situation.
72.65% voting recorded in Rajasthan elections (Fifth Lead)
Overall 72.65 per cent voting was recorded in Rajasthan when polling in the Assembly elections came to a close on Friday. The elections were largely peaceful barring a few sporadic incidents of violence.
EPCA pulls up government officials for using hired private vehicles as taxis
The Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority Friday said several officials of the central and state governments are using hired private diesel vehicles as taxis for commuting within Delhi and NCR and sought an explanation for it. EPCA member Sunita Narain said around 25,000 hired private vehicles which are of nature of taxis are being used by them and the EPCA will be writing to the central and state governments to ask what action they would be taking to resolve the situation. The EPCA expressed concern over private vehicles being used as taxis by the state and central governments officials in the Delhi-NCR and said one of the solutions proposed was that government officials should only be allowed to hire CNG and petrol cars. "The EPCA will write to central as well as to the Delhi government that it has come to their notice that they are using private diesel cars for commuting within Delhi and NCR as this is nature of taxis and as the Supreme Court order very ...