Page 2433 - Politics
PM openly hurls abuses at Opposition leaders: Manmohan Singh
Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed to maintain the dignity of his post as he uses abusive language against the Opposition party leaders openly in public.While addressing a press conference the senior Congressman said: " I feel that Narendra Modi is not using the post of Prime Minister in the right manner. It doesn't suit him to use abusive language against the Opposition leaders openly in public."He added that Prime Minister uses abusive language particularly when he visits Congress ruled or non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states.Recalling his last speech as Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh said that he regret using harsh words against Narendra Modi in 2014 when he said that his becoming a Prime Minister would prove to be a "disaster" for the country."I now recognise that I used a harsh word in 2014 that I should not have used. I don't want to repeat it but I think the time is up when the public at large would ...
Congress covered up, buried the cases in 1984 anti-sikh riots: Jaitley
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday claimed the two NDA governments led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi made significant efforts to investigate the 1984 anti-Sikh riots resulting in conviction and sentencing in two cases.
TRS is BJP's proxy: Chidambaram
In the midst of allegations and counter allegations in poll bound Telangana, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram has accused the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) of being a "proxy" of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and both working in tandem in the state. As the poll date is inching closer, the leader asserted that TRS should be ousted since it has failed to stand up against the BJP and its policies.Addressing media here on Wednesday, Chidambaram said: "The TRS has not stood up to or opposed the BJP. That stance puts them squarely in the column of the BJP; the battle in Telangana is to defeat the TRS which is a proxy of the BJP."The former union finance minister further said that flawed decisions of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government like demonetisation and implementation of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) have derailed the country's economic growth and are the primary reason behind the low employment levels.Chidambaram further accused the .
BJP leadership knew about attack on Kejriwal, wants him 'eliminated': Sisodia
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Wednesday alleged that the BJP leadership had knowledge of the attack on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the opposition party wants the AAP leader "eliminated". On Tuesday, a man flung chilli powder at Kejriwal outside his office in the Delhi Secretariat. The chief minister's spectacles broke but he was not injured in the attack. The attacker, identified as Anil Kumar Sharma, has been arrested. "(Union) Home Minister Rajnath Singh called Kejriwal and asked him to file a complaint in the attack on him. Is this the way an attack on a chief minister should be probed?" Sisodia asked at a press conference. Sharma's Facebook profile shows that he is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said. "The Facebook profile of the accused and his comments after being apprehended yesterday makes it amply clear that he is an member of the BJP. "His profile photo is of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his entire social media presence is filled ...
The godfather of Brexit who gave Theresa May a lifeline: Michael Gove
LONDON (Reuters) - As Prime Minister Theresa May battled to save her draft Brexit deal in the face of resignations from her team and threats of a leadership coup, many believed one man could deal the fatal blow. But he didn't.
G20 draft communique avoids explicit anti-protectionist pledge: FT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Group of 20 industrialized nations is drafting a communique that will exclude an explicit pledge to fight protectionism, which could help avoid a repetition of friction between U.S. President Donald Trump and world leaders at last year's summit, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
Kamal Nath asks Muslim Congress workers for '90% polling'; BJP calls it 'disgusting'
In a video which went viral on social media on Wednesday, Madhya Pradesh state Congress President Kamal Nath is seen asking Muslim workers of his party to ensure "90 per cent polling" in the community-dominated booths to "save" the party from a "big loss".
India, Nepal agree to set up hotline for effective coordination in checking smuggling
India and Nepal have decided to set up a hotline to ensure effective coordination between them to check smuggling, officials said Wednesday. In a meeting, various matters of mutual cooperation were discussed with the chief of India's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, D P Dash and Director General, Customs, Nepal, Toyam Raya, they said. The two top officials had met in Kathmandu on Monday and Tuesday for the 19th annual Indo-Nepal Director General-level talks, the officials said. Both sides discussed measures to increase cooperation along the borders to combat smuggling, improve border management and facilitate trade, they said. They also agreed to establish a hotline between the two countries for effective coordination, the officials said.
Indebted Maldives sending envoy to China
The Maldives foreign minister will visit Beijing before the end of 2018, officials said Wednesday, likely seeking to renegotiate the archipelago's Chinese debt. China has loaned billions of dollars to countries around the Indian Ocean and beyond for infrastructure development, stoking fears of a debt trap. The new Maldives government of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has called for a review of Chinese-bankrolled projects initiated under predecessor Abdulla Yameen. Former president Mohamed Nasheed, now Solih's mentor, has accused China of a land grab in the strategically placed Indian Ocean archipelago, and called a free-trade agreement (FTA) agreed with Beijing under Yameen one-sided. The announcement of Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid's upcoming trip to China came after he held talks with the Chinese ambassador in Male, Zhang Lizhong, on Monday. The duo "discussed progress of on-going Chinese projects... and future cooperation in areas of importance to the Maldives," the foreign ...
Chandrababu Naidu will not share stage with Sonia at Telangana rally: Cong
TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu will not share the stage with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi at her November 23 election rally in Telangana, state AICC in-charge R C Khuntia said Wednesday. This ends speculation over whether the Andhra Pradesh chief minister would join Gandhi at her public meeting in Medchal after the two parties, along with others, forged an alliance for the upcoming Telangana Assembly polls. Last month, the Congress forged the alliance, 'Prajakutami' (People's Alliance), with the TDP, the Telangana Jana Samithi and the Communist Party of India to take on the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in the December 7 elections. But Naidu would campaign with Congress president Rahul Gandhi at some places during the latter's visit to the state on November 28 and 29 and December 3, Khuntia told PTI. "Not all but (at) some meetings (Naidu and Rahul Gandhi will share stage)," he said. Khuntia said the Congress is planning to release its election manifesto on November 23.
Congress has lost a much loved, respected member: Rahul on Shanavas demise
Congress president Rahul Gandhi condoled the demise of senior party leader and MP from Kerala M I Shanavas Wednesday. "With the passing of Shri M I Shanavas, two term Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad, Kerala, the Congress family has lost a much loved and respected member. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends in this time of grief," Gandhi said on Twitter. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad expressed grief on the passing away of Shanavas. "I am deeply saddened by the passing away of Shri M I Shanavas. He was a senior fellow Congressman and a popular leader who was elected from Wayanad constituency in last two Lok Sabha elections. In his death, I have lost a personal friend and Congress in Kerala has lost one of its trusted and prominent leaders," said Azad. He also expressed his deepest sympathies to his family and prayed that his departed soul may rest in peace. Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said the people of Kerala have lost a very ...
Maha govt waived Rs 59 L in rent from ex-ministers: RTI reply
The Maharashtra government waived a rent of Rs 59 lakh due from BJP leaders Eknath Khadse and Vijaykumar Gavit for overstaying in their official residences, a reply under the Right to Information (RTI) has said. Khadse was revenue minister in the BJP-led government until 2016 when he resigned over charges of corruption. Gavit was a minister in the earlier Congress-NCP regime. As per the reply to a query filed by RTI activist Anil Galgali, Khadse owed a rent of Rs 15.49 lakh while Gavit owed Rs 43.84 lakh to the Public Works Department. Galgali had sought information from the PWD about whether they paid off the dues. The PWD's reply said the rent was waived as a "special case" upon orders of the General Administration Department. PWD had sought Rs 15,49,974 from Khadse for overstaying at 'Ramtek', an official bungalow, beyond the permissible period after he resigned. Khadse resigned on June 4, 2016 but vacated the bungalow on November 19 that year. The senior BJP leader ...
BJP seeks EC action against Kamal Nath for his "communal" appeal for votes
Accusing Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath of seeking votes on religious grounds, the BJP Wednesday urged the Election Commission to take action against him and his party. The party also accused him of hatching a "criminal conspiracy against free and fair polls" in the state, as it in its complaint to the EC referred to a purported video in which Kamal Nath is allegedly asking a group of Muslims to ensure that the Congress gets 90 per cent of votes in their booths. The Congress will suffer badly in the November 28 polls in the state if it does not happen, Kamal Nath, who has so far not responded to the charge, allegedly said. A BJP delegation, including Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and S S Ahluwalia besides Rajya Sabha member and party spokesperson Anil Baluni, submitted a memorandum to the commission in which the party also sought action against a news channel over "paid opinion polls". There has been no official response from the Congress. "This is a case of ...
Congress MP from Kerala passes away
Senior Congress leader M I Shanavas died early Wednesday at a private hospital in Chennai, Tamil Nadu after a prolonged illness. He was 67 and leaves his wife, son and daughter, family sources said. The Member of Parliament, who represented the Wayanad constituency twice-- 2009, 2014, in the Lok Sabha, breathed his last at around 1 am. He had undergone a liver transplant on November 2. His mortal remains were brought to Kochi in the afternoon and kept for public homage. The funeral will be held Thursday at Kochi. Congress President Rahul Gandhi described Shanavas as a "much loved and respected member" of the Congress family. In a tweet, he said "With the passing of Shri M.I. Shanavas, two term Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad, Kerala, the Congress family has lost a much loved and respected member. My thoughts & prayers are with his family & friends in this time of grief." Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with senior congress leader and former chief minister Oommen ...
Work for construction of Sela tunnel to start soon: DGBR
The work for construction of a tunnel through Sela Pass in Arunachal Pradesh to cut down the distance to China border will start in January next year, a top Border Roads Organisation (BRO) officer said Wednesday. The bhoomi puja for starting the work of construction of Sela tunnel in Tawang district will be held in January next year, Director General Border Roads (DGBR) Lt Gen Harpal Singh said here. The BRO will construct the tunnel through Sela Pass, which would cut down the distance to China border through Tawang by 10 km. The tunnel would also cut down by at least an hour of travel time between the Army's 4 Corps headquarters at Tezpur in Assam and Tawang. Moreover, the tunnel would ensure that National Highway 13 and especially the 171-km stretch between Bomdila and Tawang, remains accessible in all weather conditions. For the work, tenders have been floated and administration from Tawang and West Kameng districts has ratified joint surveys, the DG informed during a
I would like to be PM, says Goa BJP President
Badgered by the media over whether he was likely to replace ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar as Chief Minister, an irate state BJP President Vinay Tendulkar on Wednesday said that he would like to be Prime Minister instead.
Cong manifesto is post-dated cheque of bankrupt bank: Rajnath
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday described opposition Congress' manifesto for November 28 Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh as a "post-dated cheque of a bankrupt bank". The Congress does not fulfil its promises even partially, Singh said, speaking to the reporters here. "Congress' promises in the manifesto are like post-dated cheque of a bankrupt bank," the senior BJP leader said, alleging that it promised a farm loan waiver in Karnataka, but issued arrest warrants against farmers after the polls. However, Singh parried the question when asked why the BJP did not fulfil its own promise of loan waiver in the 2008 Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government has done "unparallelled work" for farmers, he said. To a question on BJP's slogan 'Abki Baar -- 200 Paar' (More than 200 seats this time), he said, "I can not give the exact figure. But I can tell you that BJP is winning with a clear majority." He took a dig at the ...
Israeli minister says Trump peace plan a 'waste of time'
A senior Israeli minister said Wednesday that US President Donald Trump's long-awaited plan for peace with the Palestinians was "a waste of time". "I think that the gap between the Israelis and Palestinians is much too big to be bridged," Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said at a conference organised by the Jerusalem Post newspaper. "I think personally it's a waste of time," she said when asked what she thought about the peace initiative Trump is expected to unveil in the weeks or months ahead. Shaked is part of the far-right Jewish Home party, a key member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition. She and other members of her party openly oppose a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians have already vowed to block Trump's peace plan and severed ties with his administration after his December decision to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and declare the city Israel's capital. The Palestinians also see the city as the capital of their ...
Kejriwal hands over Rs 1 cr cheque to BSF martyr's family in Sonipat
Delhi chief minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday visited Sonipat in Haryana and handed over anex-gratia cheque of Rs 1 crore to the family of martyred BSF jawan Narender Singh. Pakistani troops had slit the throat of the Border Security Force (BSF) jawan after fatally shooting him along the international border (IB) near Jammu on September 18. Accompanied by AAP's Haryana unit president Naveen Jaihind, Kejriwal arrived in the afternoon and met the martyr's family in their native village Thana Kalan. Kejriwal had also visited the village on September 21. The Aam Aadmi Party government had earlier approved a proposal to amend a rule on awarding ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore to the kin of slain security personnel to include those who have settled in the national capital after joining service. Addressing a gathering at the village on Wednesday, Kejriwal said, "We are all proud of his sacrifice." He questioned why successive governments do not give befitting reply to ...
With dynasty politics, Congress cannot save democracy: Amit Shah
Accusing the Congress of practising dynasty politics, BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday said a party which has no internal democracy cannot save democracy in the country.