Page 2719 - Politics
Walk at least 150 km for voter connect: Maha BJP to MLAs
In a novel initiative to increase voter connect, Maharashtra BJP has asked party MLAs to walk at least 150 km during the 'Sampark Abhiyan' with voters. This will help increase the legislators' dialogue with voters in their respective constituencies, a party official said Tuesday. "We decided to zero in on the figure 150 to mark the 150th birth anniversary year of Mahatma Gandhi which the party wants to commemorate in a constructive way," the official told PTI. "We have given a detailed chart to all 121 BJP MLAs in Maharashtra, with instructions for the campaign, the purpose of these visits and how the party wishes to reach out to the people," he said. BJP won 122 seats in the 2014 Assembly elections but an MLA quit recently, reducing the party's to 121. Asked about the stress on walking so much distance, the official said, "This distance is not much for MLAs from rural areas as their constituencies are large. It looks a bit on the higher side for urban MLAs, whose ...
Allahabad now officially renamed Prayagraj
Allahabad will now on be officially known as Prayagraj.
Digvijay says Cong votes get reduced if he campaigns
A controversy has been kicked off in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh by a viral video in which senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh is heard saying that his party's votes get reduced if he campaigns for it. The video was recorded on October 13 but it emerged Tuesday, the day when Congress president Rahul Gandhi is in the state to campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections. Significantly, Singh, the two-time former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, has been conspicuous by his absence in the programmes and rallies which Gandhi has been addressing in the state over the last few weeks. ".. mera kaam keval ek. Koi prachar nahi, koi bhashan nahi. Mere bhashan dene se to Congress ke vote kat-te hai, mai jata nahi" (I have only one job, no campaigning, no speech. When I deliver a speech, Congress votes get reduced, so I don't go)," Singh is heard saying in the video. In the video, in which he is seen talking casually to party workers at the residence of MLA Jitu Patwari here, Singh
Turkey police shoot driver 'planning Israel protest'
Turkish police on Monday shot a tractor driver in the leg after he refused to stop, state media reported, with the suspect claiming he was planning a protest at Israel's embassy in Ankara. The 45-year-old was detained after damaging several vehicles with the tractor in the capital despite calls to stop by the police, state-run news agency Anadolu said. The driver claimed that he was on his way "to protest in front of the Israeli embassy" in Ankara but no details on the planned action were given by Anadolu. However, an Israeli official, who did not wish to be named, said "to the best of our understanding, the incident was not related to Israel or its embassy". The Ankara governor's office said in a statement that the incident was being investigated but officials could find no links to terror. The office did not mention the planned protest and the incident took place near the Israeli ambassador's residence in Ankara, not the embassy. Relations between Israel and Turkey, one of the ...
Sirisena under pressure to quit Lanka unity government
President Maithripala Sirisena has come under intense pressure from a section of his party to take his Sri Lanka Freedom Party out of the ruling coalition with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe's United National Party, sources said. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party's policy making Central Committee will have a crucial session Tuesday night, party sources said. "We will be analysing the current political situation and certain problems related to the party," Prof Rohana Laxman Piyadasa, the general secretary, said. The meeting comes in the wake of a reported dialogue between Sirisena and his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa. The new party of the former president wants Sirisena to dissolve the Parliament to hold fresh elections. However, the earliest a parliamentary election could be held is after February 2020. It was reported that Sirisena and Rajapaksa had met due to the former's growing dissatisfaction with Wickremesinghe as the prime minister. Rajapaksa had mooted the idea for a caretaker .
I've never registered for any political party: Mattis
US Defence Secretary James Mattis has said that he never spoke to the President about resigning from his position and was continuing with his job, after Donald Trump called him a "sort of a Democrat" and said that the Pentagon chief may be leaving his post.
Goa power tussle: BJP's Rane lured 2 MLAs, claims Congress
The Congress party's Goa unit in-charge, A Chella Kumar on Tuesday accused state health minister Vishwajit Rane, of poaching two Congress MLAs to join the BJP.His remarks come in the wake of two Goa Congress legislators, Dayanand Sopte and Subhash Shirodkar, leaving for New Delhi to meet BJP president Amit Shah ahead of joining the BJP.Speaking to ANI, Chella Kumar said, "Before they left, I had a talk with them, they told me that we will be back, we will not leave the Congress. Particularly, Sopte told me - 'people in the Mandrem constituency have voted against the BJP and defeated the then-chief minister by a huge margin. How can I go against the wishes of the people? Don't trust these gossips, I am a principled man, I will not leave the Congress party'."The Goa Congress chief claimed that he sensed fear on their faces when he spoke to them."Then when I enquired, I got a message that Vishwajit (Rane) is the man who has convinced these two and took them to Delhi. I think he has ...
Nitish appoints Prashant Kishor as JD-U Vice President
Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United President Nitish Kumar on Tuesday named Prashant Kishor as the party Vice President, a month after the election strategist joined the party.
Pompeo holds talks with Saudi king on missing journalist
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks with Saudi King Salman on Tuesday on the disappearance of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The US chief diplomat was dispatched by President Donald Trump to hold "face to face meetings with the Saudi leadership" on what happened to Khashoggi, who has not been seen since he walked into his country's consulate in Istanbul on October 2. Later, Pompeo is scheduled to have dinner with Salman's powerful son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the same issue amid reports the kingdom is preparing to say the journalist was killed by mistake.
Nitish appoints Prashant Kishor JD(U) vice president
Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar Tuesday appointed Prashant Kishor as the party's vice president, effectively making him the second most powerful person in the party. Kishor, who has worked for a number of parties as a poll strategist,recently joined the ruling party in Bihar. He is seen to be close to Kumar, also the state's chief minister. Party spokesperson K C Tyagi said Kishor's appointment will help it reach out to social segments out of its traditional support base.
Congress must respect its leaders: Shivraj Chouhan
After Digvijaya Singh's latest statement on assembly election campaigning, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday slammed arch-rival Congress party saying it should respect at least its leaders.Speaking to media, Chief Minister Chouhan said,"At least Congress must pay respect to its leaders. I never thought that Congress would make the condition of their leaders so awful."Digvijaya Singh, who was chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for two terms, said earlier in the day that his party will lose votes if he campaigns or gives speeches in public events.While speaking to his party workers, Singh had stated, "Whoever gets ticket, even if rivals, make sure that they win. There is only one work for me that I abstain from public events and not campaign for the party because my speeches cut Congress votes." It was unclear whether he was sarcastic or serious in his statement.The election in Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to be held in a single phase on November 28. Counting ..
Nitish elevates Kishor as JD(U)'s vice president
Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar appointed Prashant Kishor as the party's vice president Tuesday, effectively making him the second most powerful person in the party over a month after he joined it. Having worked for a number of parties as a poll strategist, Kishor has emerged as a trusted aide to the Bihar chief minister who would count on his relations across party lines and campaign skills to steer the JD(U) to success in the Lok Sabha polls. Party spokesperson K C Tyagi said Kishor's appointment would help it reach out to social segments outside its traditional support base as he counted his skills and past track record as a valuable asset for the Bihar-based party. He will help the party chart a new course outside the traditional methods of socialist politics, Tyagi said. However, the rapid rise of Kishor, who is in his early 40s, is likely to cause heartburn among JD(U)'s senior leaders as Kumar has come to rely increasingly on him for managing the party's political ...
Macron looks to revive fortunes with cabinet reshuffle
French President Emmanuel Macron reshuffled his cabinet on Tuesday, appointing new interior, agriculture and culture ministers after a weeks-long search for new talent to try to revive his government's flagging fortunes. Two weeks after political veteran Gerard Collomb resigned unexpectedly as interior minister, Macron appointed the ultra-loyal head of his Republic on the Move party, Christophe Castaner, to replace him. The centrist also fired his agriculture and culture ministers, seen as weak links in his cabinet, which is a complicated blend of experts and more experienced politicians, from the left and right. Collomb's departure on October 2 was a blow to Macron and coincided with a slump in the president's popularity after a summer overshadowed by a scandal involving a close aide, several verbal gaffes and disappointing economic data. His resignation came hot on the heels of that of popular environment minister Nicolas Hulot in August, creating a sense of disarray in the ...
J-K municipal polls: Ganderbal records 7.9% voter turnout, Srinagar 2.3% till 12 pm
Central Kashmir's Ganderbal district witnessed a voter turnout of 7.9 per cent while Srinagar district recorded 2.3 per cent till 12 noon in the fourth and last phase of the municipal elections in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.Voting, which started at 6 am, recorded 6.4 per cent turnout in Ganderbal district and 1.6 per cent in Srinagar till 10 am. Voting will continue till 4 pm to elect representatives of 37 wards. The electorate, comprising a total of 250794 voters, will seal the fate of 156 candidates in the districts.A total 38 candidates are in fray in 12 wards in the municipal committee Ganderbal with a total 8491 electorate exercising their franchise. Similarly, 113 candidates are in fray contesting for 24 wards of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation. A total 241043 electorate are exercising their franchise.Repolling is being conducted at a polling station in Makhdoom Sahab (Ward No 41), where five candidates are in fray with a total electorate of 1260 voters.In the wake of the ..
Vincent Kompany's father elected as Belgium's first black mayor
Manchester City skipper Vincent Kompany's father Pierre Kompany has become the first black mayor in Belgium.Pierre's party, Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH), has topped the municipal elections in Ganshoren, which is a Dutch and French speaking suburb, CNN reported.Celebrating the appointment, Vincent posted a video on his Instagram and wrote, "?History! We are so proud of you dad. Came over from the DR Congo, as a refugee, in 1975. Now gained the trust of your local community becoming the first ever black elected mayor in Belgium! It was long overdue but it's progress. Massive congrats!"In the video, the Belgian footballer can be seen with his brother Francois, who plays for Belgian side KSV Roeselare. Congratulating their father, Vincent and Francois said that they are happy over this development."He is the first black mayor in Brussels. It has never happened before. It's historic. We are all happy. Congratulations to my dad," they said in the video.Pierre Kompany had arrived in ...
Macron announces partial cabinet reshuffle
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday announced a long-awaited partial cabinet reshuffle prompted by the recent resignation of several ministers, his office said.
2 Congress MLAs resign from Goa Assembly
Two Congress MLAs from Goa who left for Delhi late on Monday, met BJP chief Amit Shah on Tuesday and soon after resigned from the state assembly, an official said.
Koreas and UN Command discuss demilitarising border
The two Koreas and the US-led United Nations Command held talks Tuesday on demilitarising a section of the heavily fortified border dividing the peninsula, as a diplomatic thaw gathers pace. "The three parties examined the progress in removing landmines at the Joint Security Area (JSA)...and discussed other practical matters regarding steps toward disarming the area," Seoul's defense ministry said in a statement. The JSA, also known as the truce village of Panmunjom, is the only spot along the tense, 250-kilometre frontier where troops from the two countries stand face to face. It was a designated neutral zone until the "axe murder incident" in 1976, when North Korean soldiers attacked a work party trying to chop down a tree inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), leaving two US army officers dead. South and North Korea -- which are technically still at war -- agreed to take measures to ease military tensions on their border at a meeting in Pyongyang last month between President Moon ...
Australia to consider recognizing Jerusalem as Israeli capital
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday that he was open to recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving the Australian embassy there as well as to review the nuclear agreement with Iran.
Germany well-prepared for all Brexit scenarios: German government official
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany is well-equipped for all Brexit scenarios, a government official said on Tuesday, adding that a swift Brexit deal would be best both for businesses and citizens.