Page 235 - Politics
Prayers & gratitude: When Modi, Rahul came to Kerala
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi making simultaneous appearances in Kerala, BJP and Congress cadres heard their leaders in a mood vastly different from the rancour of not-too-distant elections.
TN CM refutes charge of dual leadership as reason for poll rout
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK Joint Coordinator K. Palaniswami on Saturday refuted the charge that the party fared badly in the Lok Sabha polls owing to dual leadership.
'Kejriwal asked AAP workers to choose between me and him': Alka Lamba
AAP's disgruntled Chandni Chowk MLA Alka Lamba Saturday claimed that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked party workers of her constituency to choose between her and the party. Lamba also accused Kejriwal of "dividing" the party at a time when it should be kept united. "Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, in his meeting with party workers, proposed an option in front of the workers of Chandni Chowk assembly constituency that either choose between the party and MLA Alka Lamba," Lamba tweeted. No immediate response was available from the AAP. Lamba has been at odds with the party for quite some time now. In April, she had engaged in a bitter Twitter spat with AAP's Greater Kailash MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj, who had taunted her to resign from the party. Following this, Lamba had addressed a large crowd outside Jama Masjid and said the party was repeatedly demanding her resignation. Lamba had alleged that the party leadership was "weakening" her and she was being accused of ...
Modi bats for making Indo-Pacific a region for shared prosperity
India underscored its firm commitment to make the strategic Indo-Pacific an area for shared economic growth as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday addressed the Maldivian Parliament, amidst China flexing its muscles in the region. Modi arrived in the South Asian archipelago nation on Saturday to strengthen the bilateral ties on his first foreign visit since being elected to a second term, reflecting the importance India attaches to its 'Neighbourhood First' policy. "The Indo-Pacific area is our lifeline and also the highway to trade. This is the key to our shared future in every sense," the Prime Minister said. Modi underlined that at the Shangri-La Dialogue forum in Singapore last June, he had stressed on working together "to create openness, integration and balance" in the Indo-Pacific region. India, the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military maneuvering in ...
State sponsored terrorism biggest threat, says Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that state sponsored terrorism was the biggest threat to the world and dealing with terrorism and radicalisation the biggest challenge before global leaders.
Outcome budget an admission by AAP govt of its 'complete failure': BJP
The outcome budget for 2019-20 is an admission by the AAP government of its "complete failure" to govern the national capital, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said on Saturday. If Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal could not fulfil his promise of providing free Wi-Fi services in the four-and-a-half years, how would he be able to provide free travel to women in Metro trains and buses, Tiwari asked. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has recently proposed to provide free rides to women in Metro trains and buses. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Friday presented the outcome budget of his government, which showed that its ambitious project to provide Wi-Fi was delayed and would materialise next year. "Through its outcome budget, the Kejriwal government is admitting that it has completely failed to run the city government," Tiwari said. He said the Delhi government had to install CCTV cameras in the city, provide free Wi-Fi services, and start new buses including e-buses, but failed to do so. "These ..
J&K government vows to make J&K Bank institute of excellence
Hours after J&K Bank Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) Parvez Ahmed was sacked and his office and residence were raided by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), the Jammu and Kashmir government said on Saturday that it would take long-term measures to improve the functioning of the bank and make it an institute of excellence.
Mamata should work in cohesion with Centre: Anurag
Union minister Anurag Thakur said on Saturday West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, instead of boycotting the Niti Aayog meeting, should work in cohesion with the Centre for the welfare of the people. Thakur said Banerjee should learn a lesson from the Trinamool Congress' performance in the Lok Sabha election. There are certain elements that remain busy in demonstrations rather than working for the welfare of the masses and Banerjee is one of them, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader claimed. Thakur claimed that if the TMC chief continued to work like that, she would face its consequences in the assembly election. The minister of state for finance and corporate affairs was talking to the media in Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur district. Talking about the upcoming Union budget, Thakur said the main priorities of the Centre would be to continue with the "people-oriented" schemes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, especially 'pucca' houses for the poor and water taps in every ...
Congress has not learnt any lesson from its debacle in Lok Sabha polls: Shah Nawaz Hussain
BJP national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain on Saturday criticised Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his remarks that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is using "poison of hatred" to divide India."Congress will never mend its ways. Earlier, Sonia Gandhi in Gujarat had used terms like 'zeher ki kheti', 'maut ka saudagar'," he said reacting to Gandhi's speech in his parliamentary constituency Wayanad today."They lost two Lok Sabha elections consecutively in 2014 and 2019. But the party has not learnt any lesson from its loss in the recent election. They keep insulting the Prime Minister and keep using such hateful language for him," he said.On the second day of his visit to Wayanad, Congress President Rahul Gandhi renewed his attack against Narendra Modi, alleging that the Prime Minister is using "poison of hatred" to divide India."At the national level, we (Congress leaders) are fighting poison. Mr Narendra Modi uses poison. I am using a strong word but Mr Narendra Modi uses poison of ...
Schemes promoting personal gains discontinued: Arunachal CM
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Saturday said state government-sponsored projects that left scope for personal gains have been discontinued to curtail corrupt practises. Chairing a review meeting here on next fiscal's state budget, Khandu said all schemes and projects must undergo a proper procedure and be reflected in the budget. "Individual-motivated projects... have been stopped. Such steps will enable greater transparency in the entire project implementation process and unnecessary harassment to government employees and public leaders... will be minimised," he said. The chief minister said inclusion of new proposals must be discouraged at the revised estimate stage, and only the budgeted projects that require additional funding may be considered. "To strengthen the department (finance, planning and investment), manpower shortage will also be addressed...," he said. On budget preparation, Khandu said the department should focus on a long-term ...
State-sponsored terrorism biggest threat, world community must come together to fight it: PM Modi at Maldivian Parliament
In his first travel abroad after taking charge for a second term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted that state-sponsored terrorism is the biggest threat and called the world community to fight twin challenge terrorism and radicalization."Terrorism is a danger not just for a country but the entire civilization. State-sponsored terrorism is the biggest threat today. It is important for the world community to come together to fight the challenge of terrorism and radicalization," he said addressing the Maldivian Parliament, Majlis.The Prime Minister also stressed on the need to have a global conference on terrorism saying, "Terrorism is a danger not just for a country or region but an entire civilization. State-sponsored terrorism is the biggest threat today. It is time for a global conference on terrorism."Stating that the decision to invite him was taken in the very first meeting after Mohamed Nasheed became Maldives' parliamentary speaker, Modi said the gesture has ...
Congress headed for trouble in Maharashtra
After rumblings in its units in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana in the wake of the Lok Sabha poll debacle, the Congress could be headed for a problem in Maharashtra where its 10 MLAs, at least, are said to be considering switching to the ruling BJP.
Is this new India where daughters are raped, murdered: Akhilesh Yadav
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday took a jibe at the ruling BJP's 'new India' slogan while referring to the murder of a minor girl in Aligarh."Is this the new India, where daughters are raped and murdered? Girls are not safe under this government," said Yadav, also the president of Samajwadi Party (SP), while talking to reporters.Yadav was at Raniganj village in the district to meet the families of those who died after consuming spurious alcohol."BJP government has entirely failed to maintain law and order in the state. What is the government doing? Is this what a civil society looks like? It is unfortunate that these incidents are happening even today," he added."The incident which took place in Aligarh is still fresh in the nation's memory but other similar cases have surfaced in Hamirpur and Kaushambi," he said.
Haryana govt to fill 20,000 vacancies before assembly polls
With an eye on the assembly polls in October, the BJP government in Haryana will soon initiate the process to fill around 20,000 vacant posts at various departments. According to an official statement, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced at a function in Jhajjar Saturday that the process to fill 20,000 vacant posts will be completed in next three months. This includes around 5,000 vacancies in the police department. Listing the achievements of the state government in the heath sector at the function, the CM said in 2014, 700 students enrolled in MBBS, which increased to 1,450 in 2019. He said the Metro would connect the National Cancer Institute at Badasa village in Jhajjar with New Delhi. "The government has prepared a plan for solutions to problems of every section of society," he added. Speaking at the function, Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar said like the Lok Sabha elections, people would bring the BJP back to power with an "overwhelming majority" in the assembly
BJP fumes over Mamata for not attending NITI Aayog's meeting, says her behaviour is against Bengal's development
Hitting out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for deciding not to attend NITI Aayog's meeting, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Saturday said that she does not believe in constitutional institutions and her behaviour has become a hurdle in the development of the state."Mamata ji's behaviour and language is not helping West Bengal get respect in any way. Bengal is full of literate people and it is a cultural state but its chief minister's behaviour is very objectionable. This is the reason she has become a hurdle in the development of the state," he told ANI."She does not listen to anyone whether it is the Supreme Court, High Court or the central forces. She does not believe in the Indian Constitution. Bengal is ruled by Mamata's constitution," he said.Banerjee wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that NITI Aayog has no financial powers to support the state-run schemes and it is fruitless for her to attend the meeting.On June 15, the first ...
Amit Shah to take meeting of state committee general secretaries next week
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has called a meeting of all State Committee General Secretaries of the party on June 13 and 14.The meeting has been called to discuss the upcoming state committee elections among other issues.This will be the first such meeting of organisational office bearers after BJP's victory in the Lok Sabha elections 2019.
People saw development work of BJP govt, re-elected it: Jitendra
Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday that the BJP's victory in the recent parliamentary election was because of the development work and various pro-poor schemes initiated by the Narendra Modi government. "There are many lessons to be learnt from the results of the recently held Lok Sabha election, particularly from the record victory margin of more than 3.57 lakh votes in the Udhampur constituency. The biggest lesson is that the voters could see 'vikas' (development), which others could not," Singh told a gathering in Kathua district. He said opposition parties and a section of the media carried out a sustained campaign against the Modi government but the people, particularly the youth, did not get misled and voted for development. Singh, who represents Udhampur constituency in Lok Sabha, was given a rousing welcome on his arrival in Kathua for the first time after being inducted into the Union council of ministers. Another important lesson from the election outcome is that
BJP for extension of MP monsoon session;Cong says no precedent
Reviving a debate on the survival of the Congress-led government in Madhya Pradesh which has wafer-thin majority in the House, the BJP Saturday demanded that duration of the upcoming monsoon session be extended to 25 days during which the opposition party will seek division of votes on financial matters. In a letter addressed to Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava stated that duration of a session in which budget is presented was never "shortened" to just 19 days having 15 sittings. "The session period should be extended to 25 working days (125 hours)," he stated. As per an official release issued Friday, Governor Anandiban Patel approved holding of the monsoon session from July 8 to July 26. When asked about the strategy to be adopted by the BJP during the session, Bhargava told PTI the party would try to corner the government on its "failure" on delivering on various fronts in the last six months. "People are in great distress in Madhya ...
PM Modi is a liar, doesn't have truth on his side: Rahul in Wayanad
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "a liar and does not have the truth on his side.""He is a liar. He lies and he does not have the truth on his side. The Congress party has truth on its side," said Rahul on Saturday while addressing the people at Pulapally."We will continue to use love and affection to fight with Mr Narendra Modi," said Gandhi. It was the second day of his visit to Wayanad.Gandhi, who netted 7,05,034 votes in Wayanad, won by 4,31,063 votes against his nearest rival PP Suneer of the Left Democratic Front (LDF).In Kerala, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) bagged 19 out of the 20 seats.However, under his leadership, the Congress party could only win 52 Lok Sabha seats nationally, marking its second consecutive electoral debacle in the Lok Sabha polls.
Cabinet expansion only to curb resentment: Chavan
Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan claimed Saturday that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced a cabinet expansion only to address the growing resentment within the BJP. Talking to reporters here, Chavan alleged that the purpose of the expansion was not to improve governance. "The new ministers will not be able to function as the code of conduct for assembly polls will come into force soon. Fadnavis only wants to show that he is giving a new face to his ministry by inducting new people," he said. "The cabinet is being expanded only to put a lid on the growing discontent in the state BJP," Chavan alleged. Ahead of the monsoon session of the state legislature which will start from June 17, Fadnavis announced Friday that there would be an expansion of the council of ministers. Asked about minister Girish Mahajan's claim that some Congress legislators were in touch with him and were ready to switch sides, Chavan said, "Despite trying hard, the BJP will not be ...