Page 27 - Politics

Internal discord persists in TMC amid calls for unity ahead of LS polls

Internal strife within the Trinamool Congress (TMC) showed no signs of abating on Wednesday, with senior leaders continuing to trade verbal jabs, even as the party leadership issued a subtle call for setting aside grievances and focusing on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The recent controversy unfolded after West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee had in November advocated the need to give due respect to senior members and rejected the notion that elderly leaders should retire from active politics. Following this, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata Banerjee's nephew, proposed a retirement age in politics, citing declining work efficiency and productivity with advancing age. The party has since become a battleground for allegations and counter-allegations between senior and young leaders. The tensions reached a new low when five-time TMC MLA Tapas Ray criticised veteran leader and TMC's Lok Sabha party leader Sudip Bandopadhyay, accusing him

Those engaged in violence to be responsible if AFSPA reimposed : Manipur CM

Chief Minister N Biren Singh Tuesday said that he is "highly upset" with the ongoing violence in Manipur and elements who engage in it will be held responsible for any stringent government action, including the reimposition of AFSPA. "Whatever is going on in the society now is too much. The government will find it really hard to tolerate if anyone or any group keeps on taking the law into their own hands. The central government will not keep on looking. If AFSPA is again reimposed, they will be held responsible," he said after visiting those injured in a firing incident at Lilong Chingjao area in Manipur's Thoubal district. "Elements who continuously engage in violence should be held accountable if the government takes any stringent action, including reimposition of the unwanted AFSPA ... I am highly upset (sic). The government cannot watch all these forever," he said. AFSPA was extended for six months in the hill areas of the north eastern state for six months since October last .

Concerns of South to be taken care of during delimitation of LS seats: Govt

Concerns of Southern states will be taken care of during the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies, a senior government functionary said on Tuesday, assuring the five states they would not suffer and asking them not to have any apprehension about the exercise. Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body. The job of delimitation is assigned to a high-powered body. The body is known as Delimitation Commission or a Boundary Commission. In India, such Delimitation Commissions have been constituted four times: in 1952 under the Delimitation Commission Act, 1952; in 1963 under Delimitation Commission Act, 1962; in 1973 under Delimitation Act, 1972 and in 2002 under Delimitation Act, 2002. "The census will be carried out after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. After the census is over, the delimitation of the constituencies will be carried out on the basis of the coming ...

BJP to form seat clusters under leaders, hold nation-wide rallies: Shelar

The BJP will form separate clusters of three assembly segments and as many Lok Sabha constituencies which will be assigned to senior leaders as part of its nationwide preparations to face elections, Mumbai unit chief Ashish Shelar said on Tuesday. "Accordingly, nationwide tour plans have been scheduled wherein the party president JP Nadda, Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh will hold meetings by forming clusters of three to four Lok Sabha constituencies across the country," Shelar told reporters after attending a meeting organised by the BJP. Before organising mega rallies, the state president will hold meetings in every Lok Sabha constituency by forming a cluster of three Assembly constituencies at a time, he said. "Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule will begin his tour soon," Shelar added. He said a meeting of "super warriors", a group of BJP workers who will oversee the election process in every Assembly segment, will be held in Mumbai. "The aim is to r

ED conducts searches in money laundering case against AAP MLA Khan

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday undertook fresh searches at about four-five premises in the national capital as part of a money laundering probe against AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan linked to alleged irregularities in recruitment of staff for the Delhi Waqf Board, official sources said. The raids are being carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said. About four-five premises are being covered by the ED officials, they said. The agency had in October raided the premises of the 49-year-old legislator who represents the Okhla constituency in the Delhi assembly. It had also arrested three of his alleged associates in this case in November. The ED had alleged that Khan acquired "huge proceeds of crime" in cash from illegal recruitment of staff in the Delhi Waqf Board and invested these for purchasing immovable assets in the name of his associates. "The searches (in October) were conducted in the case related to illegal ..

Merger with Congress: YS Sharmila to meet AICC leadership in Delhi on Jan 3

Y S Sharmila, founder of YSR Telangana party, will travel to Delhi on Wednesday to finalise the merger of her party with the Congress, sources here said on Tuesday. Sharmila, who chaired her party meeting today, said she and other leaders will meet the top leadership of the Congress including AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi and make a "crucial" announcement in Delhi tomorrow. Sharmila is the daughter of former chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, and younger sister of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. Sources told PTI that Sharmila will be given a post in Congress at the national level and is likely to be made in-charge of elections for Southern states after the merger of YSRTP with Congress. Everything will be clear in one or two days. Please be patient, she told reporters after the meeting, when asked. The Congress leadership assured Sharmila that her colleagues in Telangana will be suitably placed, the

PM Modi seeks public's feedback on progress achieved by India in 10 years

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday sought people's feedback on the progress achieved by India in various sectors in the last 10 years. With Lok Sabha polls months away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'NaMo' app last month had launched a survey to gauge the popular mood on a variety of issues, including people's views about the performance of his government and that of the MPs. In a post on X, Modi said, "What do you think of the progress achieved by India in various sectors in the last 10 years? Share your feedback directly with me through the Jan Man Survey on the NaMo App!" He also shared the link for participating in the survey. The 'Jan Man Survey' seeks people's responses on various aspects of governance and leadership and its questions include both central-level development and specifics related to constituencies.

Sale of 30th tranche of electoral bonds will start from January 2

The government has approved the issuance of the 30th tranche of electoral bonds that will open for sale on Tuesday. Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency to political funding. General elections are due later this year as the term of the 17th Lok Sabha is coming to an end. "State Bank of India (SBI), in the XXX Phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorised Branches w.e.f. January 2 to January 11, 2024," the finance ministry said in a statement on Monday. The sale of the first batch of electoral bonds happened in March 2018. Electoral bonds are encashed by an eligible political party only through a bank account with the authorised bank. SBI is the only authorised bank to issue electoral bonds. The authorised SBI branches include those in Bengaluru, Lucknow, Shimla, Dehradun, Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai, Patna, New Delhi, Chandigarh, ...

'Awami League has found way to create illusion of multiparty election'

Sreeradha Datta tells how this week's general elections in Bangladesh could turn out to be a friendly contest for the ruling Awami League

Elections in 41 countries in 2024: Impact on world politics, economy

It is not only India that is set to witness its biggest electoral battle in 2024, but over 40 per cent of the world. Archis Mohan explains why these polls will have ramifications for global politics

AI-powered deepfakes rise in 2023; concerns of its impact on privacy

From politics to films and even war, the year 2023 has demonstrated that not everything one sees or hears on the internet may be real. With the ever-evolving Artificial Intelligence technology rapidly becoming a part of people's lives, a sharp rise in deepfakes has raised concerns in the country about its potential to influence electoral politics, especially during the Lok Sabha polls slated to be held next year. Deepfakes are manipulated videos or other digital representations that use artificial intelligence to create cogent videos or audio of individuals they never did or said, posing a risk of spreading misinformation and damaging their reputation. According to the '2023 State of Deepfakes Report' by 'Home Security Heroes' -- a US-based web security services company -- deepfake videos saw a five-times increase since 2019. In 2023, India witnessed scores of troubling instances related to deepfake videos, like the one involving actor Rashmika Mandanna, whose face was superimposed

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Tripura BJP announces 18-member state committee ahead of 2024 LS polls

The Tripura unit of the BJP on Saturday announced the formation of an 18-member state committee, months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year. The party also named the chiefs of its different units in the state, including the Yuva Morcha (youth wing) and Mohila Morcha (women's wing). Subal Bhowmik, who returned to the party fold, was declared as one of the panel's six vice-presidents. The committee also has three general secretaries and six state secretaries, according to a release issued by the BJP's Tripura unit. Mimi Majumder, who was denied a ticket in the 2023 assembly elections, has been made the Mohila Morcha president. She replaced Jharna Debbarma, who was made the chairperson of the Tripura Commission for Women, recently. Sushanta Deb, a young MLA from Sepahijala district, will head the party's Yuva Morcha, with outgoing president Nabadul Banik given the post of chairman of Tripura Industrial Development Corporation (TIDC). The party's tribal wing, Janajati Morcha, got

Security wing's decision to buy 22 SUVs, KCR had no role: BRS MLC Kavitha

BRS MLC Kavitha on Saturday took exception to Telangana Chief Minister K Revanth Reddy's comments that the previous BRS government bought 22 Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles "without anybody's knowledge", hoping that the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led government would come back to power and use them. Speaking to reporters in Warangal, Kavitha said the security arrangements of a Chief Minister and other VIPs are dealt with by the police and other security agencies and politicians do not have any role in those issues. "Ultimately, the protocol of any CM is decided by the security wing, Intelligence and the police. There is no role of politicians in that. It (the purchase of vehicles) was decided like that and it was unfortunate that the current CM (Revanth Reddy) thinks so, but it is not the case," she told reporters when asked for her reaction on the issue. Addressing a press conference, Revanth Reddy recently said officials have informed him that the previous BRS government bought 22 Land ...

Congress National Alliance Committee meet with UP leaders begins in Delhi

The committee coordinator and members Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel, and Salman Khurshid are present in the meeting

Raj cabinet expansion to take place today; MLAs to take oath as ministers

The development comes as newly elected Chief Minister of Rajasthan Bhajan Lal Sharma met Governor Kalraj Mishra and requested him for the swearing-in ceremony of the Council of Ministers

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Key meeting of Janata Dal (United) national executive in New Delhi

A key meeting of the Janata Dal (United) national executive began here on Friday amid a buzz that party president Lalan Singh may step down to make way for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kumar, Singh and other senior leaders of the party are attending the meeting. It will be followed by the party's national council meeting later in the day which will ratify decisions taken in the executive. Both Kumar and Singh have played down the reports of key changes being adopted in the party and have called these meetings routine.

Tharoor talks about youth in politics; hints at 2024 being his last contest

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a Congress programme here on Thursday, Tharoor, however, said there was no finality about it since it is politics

Actor and DMDK Founder Vijayakanth passes away in Chennai's MIOT Hospital

The hospital said in a statement that the 71-year-old actor was on ventilator support following his admission for pneumonia