Page 2683 - Politics
Maldives top court upholds presidential election result
The top court in the Maldives on Sunday upheld the recent presidential election result, and dismissed a petition by the outgoing incumbent, who accused the electoral commission of vote-rigging.
Chg polls: Rahul to address farmers' rally in Raipur on Oct 22
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will Monday kick off his party's campaign for Chhattisgarh assembly elections by addressing a rally of farmers here. Farmers are being seen as a major vote bank in the state by the ruling BJP and opposition Congress--the twp dominant players in the state politics. "The AICC Chief will arrive at the Swami Vivekanand airport at around 2.10 pm Monday. He is scheduled to address a rally of farmers from the Science College ground at around 3 PM," said state Congress spokesperson Sushil Anand Shukla Sunday. Gandhi would hold meetings with senior party leaders during his brief visit. He will also meet delegations of people representing various sections of the society before leaving for Delhi in evening, said Shukla. This will be Gandhi's first visit to the state after the poll code came into effect on October 6. Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on November 12 and November 20. Counting of votes will be taken up on December
3 soldiers killed, 2 Pakistani intruders neutralised in J-K's Rajouri
Three security force personnel lost their lives, while two Pakistani intruders were neutralised during an encounter along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Sunday.Another security personnel was injured during the encounter, which took place in the Sunderbani sector.The security forces also recovered two AK-47 rifles from the slain Pakistan nationals. The operation is still underway.Earlier today, an encounter also broke out between terrorists and the security forces in Larro area of South Kashmir's Kulgam district.
Congress made India dynastic dictatorship: Subhas Chandra Bose's kin
Chandra Kumar Bose, vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) West Bengal unit, on Sunday led a scathing attack on the Congress party, saying they have distorted the history of India's freedom struggle and converted the country into a dynastic dictatorship.Speaking to ANI, Bose said, "Right from 1857 onwards, with the sepoy uprising, Mangal Pandey's Andolan (movement), then Shaheed Bhagat Singh's sacrifice, Rajguru, Binoy Badal Dinesh, and many others, this entire history of India's freedom struggle has been completely distorted and obliterated by the Congress regime. The Congress party has converted India into a dynastic dictatorship."Bose berated former Congress leader and India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru."Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was the first prime minister of undivided India. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of the divided dominion of India, not of united India. So this history must be told to the youth of our nation," Bose said."It ..
BJP govt will be dislodged in Raj: Pilot
Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot Sunday said the people of the state would celebrate Diwali twice this year, first on November 7 and again on December 7 when the Congress will come to power here. Speaking at a 'Booth Jitao, Bhrashtachar Mitao' event here, Pilot said the BJP will be removed from the state and a new government will be formed on December 7. He said the BJP and Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje were conspiring to remove tickets of 100 to 150 sitting MLAs to win the upcoming election, whereas the Congress workers were seeking the public's blessings to do the same. He said Congress leaders and workers were establishing contact with the people at 50,000 booths in the state today.
Israel opens Gaza crossings after tension subsides
Israel opened two crossings into the Gaza Strip on Sunday following a decrease in the amount of violence along the border, authorities said.
J-K Guv thanks administration, people for peaceful elections
Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Sunday expressed his gratitude to the administration and the public alike as the local body elections in the state concluded peacefully."I would like to thank everyone-- the police, the administration, other security forces, and the people. It is because of them that the elections were concluded peacefully, without violence," Governor Malik said.He categorically thanked the people in the state for coming out to vote."I would especially like to thank the people for coming out and vote. It is a positive sign that people came out to vote on the last day. As many as 10,000 people came out to vote in Srinagar. The development is taking place gradually," he said.Though the governor refused to comment on the candidates who won, he assured of extending his support in every way possible. "No matter who becomes the Mayor, all we want is to extend them all the support we can from the Centre and the state," he said.Speaking about the ground level ...
PM holds constitutional post but talks of politics 24/7: Singhvi
Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Sunday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he talks of politics 24/7 and keeps on blaming others despite holding a constitutional post."Prime Minister holds a constitutional post and talks about politics 24/7 and blames others. Was it right for him to talk about that on an auspicious day like today?," Singhvi said in a press conference here on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day.Singhvi continued, "He sometimes drags Netaji into politics, sometimes he drags Sardar Patel. Is it befitting of a PM?"The Congress leader's reaction came after Prime Minister Modi questioned as to why it took 70 years to build the memorial and accused the grand old party of "setting up dust on the stone laid by senior BJP leader LK Advani."Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister had launched an attack on Rahul Gandhi led-Congress party for not paying tribute to the policemen who sacrificed their lives by failing to construct the long pending
BJP desperate to rewrite history, appropriate Netaji's legacy: Cong
Accusing the BJP-led Centre of making a "conspiratorial attempt" to appropriate the legacy of Subhas Chandra Bose, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi Sunday said the saffron party was "desperate to rewrite history". In a veiled attack on the Nehru-Gandhi clan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday alleged that the contribution of several great leaders such as Sardar Patel, B R Ambedkar and Bose to the country's freedom struggle was "deliberately" forgotten to glorify "one family". He also said it was high time more Indians got to know about the historic role these stalwarts had played. Donning the famous Azad Hind Fauj cap, the prime minister hoisted the national flag at the Red Fort and unveiled a plaque to mark the 75th anniversary of the proclamation of the Azad Hind government by Bose. At a press conference, Singhvi said the Congress had always endeavoured to protect, preserve and propagate the ideals of Bose, the brave patriot and secularist. "Those who do not have their ..
On country's security, government will take 'big and bold' decisions:Modi (Third Lead)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said his government is committed to taking "big and bold" decisions on country's security, and that whosoever poses a threat to India's sovereignty, will be dealt with "double the strength."
UP BJP leaders to handle media management in poll-bound MP
To give an edge to the BJP in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, four spokespersons from the party's Uttar Pradesh unit have been dispatched to the neighbouring state for effective media management, a party leader said Sunday. The spokespersons will be responsible for disseminating information pertaining to various welfare measures initiated by the Centre and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state, where voting will be held on November 28. Alok Awasthi, Tarunkant, Shalabh Mani Tripathi and Rakesh Tripathi have already left for Madhya Pradesh, a senior UP BJP leader told PTI here Sunday adding that they were likely to remain there till the last day of campaigning. "Alok Awasthi will be doing media management in Shahdol division of MP. It covers Shahdol, Umaria, Anuppur districts," the leader said. "Similarly, Tarunkant has been assigned the Rewa division and will look after the districts of Rewa, Satna, Sidhi and Singrauli," the leader added. Shalabh Mani Tripathi will ...
Telangana development hit due to TRS govt, claims BJP leader
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav Sunday alleged Telangana was lagging behind in development due to "inefficient" government run by caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and urged the people to vote for his party in coming polls to usher in goods days for the state. Addressing a party workers meeting at Malkajgiri here, he also alleged Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government was corrupt and said the party should be voted out in the December 7 assembly elections. ...Telangana is lagging behind in terms of development despite having good resources and quality human resources. Telangana deserves better. Telangana deserves BJP," he said. He urged the people to vote for the BJP if they wanted "goods days to come", saying it was committed to development. Taking a dig at the TRS for going in for premature dissolution of the assembly, he said it took the decision because it failed to run the government for full five years. The BJP leader accused KCR (as Rao is popularly ..
Maldives: Abdulla Yameen loses election challenge
Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen on Sunday suffered a humiliating legal defeat after the country's top court rejected his plea to annul the last month's presidential elections.A five-judge bench of the court unanimously ruled that Yameen did not provide sufficient claims on concerns of vote rigging and electoral fraud. The court also rejected Yameen's request to oversee a police investigation into the charges, Maldives Independent reported.The Maldivian top court said that there was no legal basis to hold a fresh election or a criminal investigation. Following the ruling, people waiting outside the court erupted in celebrations and called for Yameen's arrest.Yameen claimed that the country's election commission had deliberately used pens with disappearing ink and specially treated ballot papers that wiped off his votes.In the hotly-contested presidential elections, held on September 23, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party's candidate, emerged victorious .
BJP, allies likely to win 20 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in Northeast: Party leader
The BJP and its allies are expected to win around 20 out of 25 parliamentary seats in the eight northeastern states in the next polls, a senior party functionary has said. At present, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies have 11 seats in the region, out of which seven are from Assam. In the next Lok Sabha election slated for early next year, the BJP is confident of winning seats in states where it had earlier lacked representation, the senior leader, who looks after party affairs in the region, said. Since the last parliamentary election in 2014, the party has won assembly polls in two states -- in Assam and Tripura -- on its own. Besides Mizoram, the seven other northeastern states are today governed by the BJP or its allies. This will also reflect in next year's parliamentary election, the BJP leader said. Elaborating further, he said as per their surveys, the BJP is likely to win all parliamentary constituencies in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura, having two seats
Top Chinese official in Macau dies in fall from home: Beijing
China's top representative in Macau has fallen to his death from the building where he lived, authorities said Sunday. Zheng Xiaosong, 59, the Chinese government's liaison officer in the semi-autonomous former Portuguese colony, had been suffering from depression, Beijing said in a statement. Zheng "fell to his death from his Macau residence on the evening of October 20, 2018 due to depression", the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council said. The statement gave no more details but the wording suggested Zheng had killed himself. Mainland officials were to travel to Macau on Sunday to express their "condolences to comrade Zheng Xiaosong's family" on behalf of the Chinese government, it added. The director of Macau's judiciary police said they were investigating Zheng's death, Hong Kong media reported. Zheng, a member of the ruling Communist Party's Central Committee, was reportedly involved in talks between London and Beijing ahead of the handover of Hong Kong in ...
BJP eyeing 50 plus seats in assembly polls to form govt in J-K
Buoyed by the Urban Local Bodies (ULB) election results in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP said Sunday it is hopeful to win over 50 assembly seats in the next elections and form a government on its own in the state. The BJP swept the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) elections and made some advances in Kashmir, by winning 100 wards in the Valley, in the four-phased ULB elections in the state that were marred by boycott by the NC and PDP. BJP state president Ravinder Raina said Sunday the party is hopeful of achieving the magic figure of 50 plus in the next assembly elections to form its own government in Jammu and Kashmir. He said a two-member team of senior leaders is visiting Ladakh Monday to look into the reasons for the poor performance of the party in the region and take appropriate steps for "course correction" to win the electorate of the region. "The BJP got thumping majority in Jammu and the graph of the party is increasing in Kashmir where we were not getting a worker to lift the
Israel freezes demolition of Bedouin village in West Bank
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has frozen plans to demolish a strategically located Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank that have drawn international concern, his office said Sunday. The surprise move, which came as Israeli forces were completing preparations for the evictions and demolition of Khan al-Ahmar, raised the ire of Netanyahu's rightwing coalition partners, while the village's Palestinian residents remained skeptical that an amicable solution was possible. "The intention is to give a chance to the negotiations and the offers we received from different bodies, including in recent days," a statement from Netanyahu's office said about Khan al-Ahmar. But speaking later ahead of a meeting with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Netanyahu appeared to play down the latest move and insisted the village would still be razed. "It's our policy and it will take place," he said. "I have no intention on delaying it indefinitely, but for a short, limited ...
Afghan polling centres plagued by problems as casualties surge
Problems plagued hundreds of Afghan polling centres Sunday in the shambolic legislative election's second day of voting, fuelling criticism of organisers and eroding hopes for credible results after a ballot marred by deadly violence. As voting restarted in more than 20 provinces, an AFP tally of official casualty figures showed the number of civilians and security forces killed or wounded in poll-related violence on Saturday was nearly 300 -- almost twice the figure released by the interior ministry. The huge discrepancy adds to concerns about the lack of transparency and credibility of the long-delayed election that is seen as a dry run for next year's presidential vote. At some of the 253 polling centres opened for voting on Sunday, election workers still struggled to use biometric verification devices and voter rolls were "either incomplete or non-existent", Electoral Complaints Commission spokesman Ali Reza Rohani told reporters. "Most of the problems we had yesterday still exist
Amritsar: Police commando, photojournalist injured as protesters clash with cops; traffic restored
A punjab police commando and a photojournalist were injured Sunday when security personnel removed protesters from a rail track where 59 Dussehra revellers were mowed down by a train, officials said. The agitated protesters blocking the track were removed and train services resumed this afternoon, 40 hours after the horrific accident, a railway spokesperson said. On Friday evening, a gathering of more than 300 people were on the tracks to watch the burning of a Ravana effigy when the speeding train struck leaving 59 dead and scores injured. The first goods train started from Manawala to Amritsar at 1416 hours, Northern Railways spokesperson Deepak Kumar told PTI, adding this is being followed by mail/express trains. The railways got the clearance from local authorities at 12:30 pm to restore services, the railway spokesperson said. "Train services resumed on the affected rail track near Joda Phatak," Senior Divisional Security Commissioner (Railways), Firozpur Division, S Sudharkar ...
UK says Saudi explanation of Khashoggi death not credible
Britain on Sunday said Saudi Arabia's account of the death of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside its Istanbul consulate was not credible and the culprits must be "held to account". "I don't think it's credible," Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab told the BBC, adding there was a "serious question mark over the account that has been given". "We support the Turkish investigation into it and the British government wants to see people held to account for that death.