Page 348 - Politics
Rahul adamant on resignation, old guard back in action
Days after making his emotional outburst public and adamant over quitting the top post, Congress President is unlikely to recall his resignation even as veterans are deep in 'chintan' over future course of action.
Mamata to attend Modi's swearing-in as PM
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as prime minister on May 30 in New Delhi. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo told reporters at the state secretariat that the invitation for the ceremony arrived on Tuesday and she would be attending it as "constitutional courtesy". "I have spoken to a couple of other chief ministers and have decided to attend it. "There are certain ceremonial programmes under the Constitution. We try to attend such events when we get an invitation for the swearing-in programmes of the president and the prime minister," she said. Banerjee's decision to attend the ceremony in New Delhi on Thursday, in which Modi will be sworn-in as the prime minister for the second consecutive term, comes after a heated verbal duel between the two leaders during the just-concluded Lok Sabha election. Modi, who spearheaded the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) poll campaign in West Bengal, addressed ...
Gujarat government plans to expand Porbandar airport
The Gujarat government is planning to expand Porbandar airport to boost tourism and help security agencies land helicopters and aircraft, an official release said. The matter was discussed at a meeting held Tuesday between Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Airports Authority of India chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra in Gandhinagar. The expansion will increase the passenger capacity of the airport and also beneficial for the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy engaged in securing country's maritime interests, the release said. Porbandar is an important tourist centre for being the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi, and hence air connectivity to this place will boost tourism. The plan is to expand the existing run way to 2,600 metres from existing 1,372 metres, it said. This will also help Coast Guard and Indian Navy to land helicopters and aircraft, the release said. Currently, Porbandar airport operates services to Ahmedabad and Mumbai. With a bigger airport, frequency of aircraft with larger ..
All those who 'pretended' to contest LS polls from Punjab on sacrilege issue thrown out: SAD
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Tuesday said all those who "pretended" to contest Lok Sabha polls from Punjab on the issue of sacrilege were "thrown out by people, especially the Sikhs". The party's core committee held a meeting here to analyse the results of the general election in the state. A resolution passed at the meeting "noted with satisfaction that 'Akal Purakh' (almighty) responded positively to the prayer of SAD president Sardar Sukhbir Singh Badal and decimated all those who committed or planned the desecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib (in 2015)". Taking names of a few political leaders, the resolution said, "All of them pretended to contest on the issue of sacrilege and all of them were thrown out by people, especially the Sikhs, and they lost their security deposits - a divine justice," said the resolution. Other than the Congress, various political outfits had made the incidents of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in Punjab in 2015 a poll issue and also targeted the ...
Synergising BRI with India's development strategies top agenda: outgoing Chinese envoy
Synergising the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with India's development strategies and reaching "early harvests of boundary talks" are top on the agenda in the Sino-Indian relationship, says the outgoing Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui. The Chinese side attaches great importance to its relations with India, and is willing to work with the forthcoming new government to make the relations better, Luo said Monday at a farewell reception that was attended by a number of diplomats, foreign policy experts and academicians. Listing out the priorities in bilateral ties, Luo said the two sides should break the circle of ups and downs of bilateral ties and stabilise relations. "We should handle the bilateral relations beyond management and actively reshape the bilateral relations. Third, we should focus on cooperation and narrow down the differences. "Signing a bilateral friendship and cooperation treaty and free trade arrangement, reaching the early harvests of boundary talks, and ...
Pleased to see a strong government come back in India: USA
The United States on Tuesday expressed pleasure with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's return to power, highlighting the strong relationship shared by the two countries.The Minister Counselor for Public Affairs, David Kennedy, told ANI, "The USA has wonderful relations with India and will continue to have excellent relations with India. We are very pleased to see a strong government come back. We wish the prime minister all the best as he is moving forward to form his government."Backing the mandate given by the people of India to Modi, the US official said: "India is a democracy and never criticises the decision made by the people. People have chosen a very strong government and it is going to do its best for the people and serve the mandate."The American official also pointed out US President Donald Trump's statement, wherein he expressed a strong desire for strengthening US-India relations."It is an opportunity for us to continue what already is an excellent relation. We will look ...
Rift widens, Rajasthan Congress leader wants Pilot as CM
Amid a looming leadership crisis in the Congress, the state party committee secretary Sushil Asopa on Tuesday shared a post on his facebook wall supporting Sachin Pilot as chief minister, bringing factionalism within the party to the fore.
Ministerial aspirants lobby as Kumaraswamy struggles to save
Ministerial aspirants startedlobbying Tuesday, with Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamyreportedly planning cabinet expansion or reshuffle in a bid to savethe Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government in Karnataka. The development came as Kumaraswamy himself swung into action by personally meeting disgruntled legislators, mainly from the Congress and made attempts to pacify them. Senior Congress legislator, V Muniyappa, who is also political secretary to the Chief Minister, met Kumaraswamy andis said to have expressed his desire to become minister this time. "I have seniority, I have six terms, I have experience both administrative and political, so why can't I claim?" Muniyappa told reporters in response to a question. Claiming that he has not made any demand for ministerial post to the Chief Minister during the meeting, he said "I have not spoken to the CM about it, I have come for a discussion aboutconstituency, but I have asked my party about it." Meanwhile, ...
Netherlands looks to intensify cooperation with India under Modi's leadership
Citing the close and good relationship with India, Netherlands has expressed optimism in continuing ties with the new government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi."We have very good and close cooperation with the Modi government. We can increase investment and trade relations with India. We are looking to intensify cooperation with new Indian govt and under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi," Dutch Ambassador Marten van den Berg told ANI.Speaking on the sidelines of Global Entrepreneurship Summit in New Delhi, Berg said, "Relations between Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Mark Rutte are very good. There are always high expectations and we will definitively continue this good cooperation."Talking about the points of collaboration between the two countries, the ambassador added, "As an ambassador, I'm very much looking forward to connecting systems of innovation from the Netherlands to India. Work closely with sustainable development goals."Netherlands and USA are co-hosting .
No decision on Modi-Imran Khan meeting on sidelines of SCO summit next month
No decision has been taken on a possible meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan next month on the sidelines of a summit in Bishkek, official sources said on Tuesday. Modi is attending the annual summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Kyrgyz capital on June 13-14 where Khan is also expected to be present. "A decision on the issue will be taken by the new government," said a government source, without completely ruling out the possibility of a meeting between Modi and Khan. There has not been any meeting between the two leaders since Khan took over as prime minister of Pakistan in August last year. Another source termed as "entirely speculative" reports in some section of the media that the two prime ministers are meeting in Bishkek. India has not been engaging with Pakistan following the attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together. The government's ...
Shah meets Modi ahead of swearing-in ceremony on May 30
BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leaders are understood to have discussed the contours of the new government which will be sworn in on Thursday. There is a view within the BJP that Shah may join the government after playing a crucial role in the party's return to power with an unprecedented majority. Shah has refrained from commenting on the matter. Though there was no official word on what transpired in their meeting but both leaders are believed to have discussed the formation of the second Modi government, including choices for ministerial berths and portfolios. Sources suggested the new council of ministers will reflect the saffron party's rise in strength in states like West Bengal and Telangana. Many leaders are of the view that most key members of the previous dispensation could be retained. There has been speculation that Arun Jaitley, who held the finance portfolio in he previous government, may opt out due to health reasons but ...
Gujarat opposition leader offers to quit over Cong poll rout
In the wake of stunning defeat of the Congress in Gujarat, its senior legislator and Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani has offered to resign from his post taking moral responsibility for the rout. Dhanani joins various Congress leaders across the country who have either resigned or offered to quit from their respective post after the Rahul Gandhi-led party's humiliating defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The Congress could not open its account in Gujarat, where the ruling BJP won all the 26 Lok Sabha seats at stake. In 2014 too, the opposition party had failed to win any seat in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Our Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani has offered to resign, taking moral responsibility of the defeat, before state Congress in-charge Rajiv Satav," party sources said Tuesday. Dhanani had himself contested from the Amreli Lok Sabha seat, where he lost by a margin of over two lakh votes to BJP candidate Naran Kachhadiya. Gujarat Congress ...
Sacked from CPM for hailing 'CM Modi', former Congress MLA Abdullakutty praises 'PM Modi'
Former Congress MLA AP Abdullakutty on Tuesday heaped praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that one should not forget the latter's work for the poor of the country while criticising him.Abdullakutty in a Facebook post said that the BJP's landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections is the affirmation of the people's faith in Prime Minister Modi's vision and policies.It is worth noting that the former MP was suspended from CPM in 2009 for praising Modi who was then the chief minister of Gujarat. Later he joined Congress and was elected to the Kerala Assembly in 2011."It is an acceptance of Narendra Modi's developmental agenda. The secret behind his popularity is (that) he has used Gandhian values in his governance. Mahatma Gandhi said that when you frame a policy, you remember the poorest man you met in your life. Modi has done it promptly," he wrote on Facebook.Hailing Modi government's schemes, the former CPM MP said that the prime minister provided toilets to 9.16 crore .
In blow to Mamata, 3 MLAs, 60 councillors from Bengal join BJP (Roundup)
In a huge blow to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, two Trinamool Congress MLAs and more than 60 councillors joined the BJP here on Tuesday along with a CPI-M MLA, with BJP veteran Kailash Vijayvargiya predicting many more defections.
Varuna exercise demonstrated high level of interoperability: France
India and France held a mega naval exercise in strategically-located Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, in a demonstration of high level of interoperability and deepening cooperation between the two navies. While the first phase of the Varuna exercise took place off the coast of Goa, the second leg was held in Djibouti where China set up its first overseas military base nearly two years ago. "The second phase of the Indo-French naval exercise, christened as Varuna 19.2, which was held from May 22nd to 25th, brought together a French nuclear attack submarine, currently deployed in the Indian Ocean, and an Indian submarine," the French embassy said in a statement. "Organised under the operational control of the French Joint Forces Commander in the Indian Ocean (ALINDIEN), this exercise was an opportunity to reinforce our capabilities for joint action in a critical and strategic field while demonstrating the high level of interoperability achieved," it added. The naval exercise between ...
Uncertainty looms large over Amaravati construction as Jagan takes over
With the change of guard in the state, uncertainty looms large over the construction of the capital of Amaravati after YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy announced a probe into possible land scam in the capital region.Former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP government had acquired 33,000 acres of land from farmers under land pooling system for the construction of the new capital.Under the system, the farmers were assured that those who gave up their lands would be given flats. With the change in the ruling party, whether that will materialise is what many have been wondering. While TDP said that people will teach a lesson to YSRCP if it won't oblige, the latter responded that they will act in a transparent manner.As per 'the 91 (4) agreement' between farmers and the State government, the latter has to hand back plots with physical infrastructure to all farmers who gave lands. However, this process has not been completed yet."It is the duty of the present government and ...
Austria: Kurz-led government dissolved after vote of no-confidence
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen on Tuesday officially dissolved the Sebastian Kurz-led government, a day after the latter lost a vote of no confidence.This comes after a corruption scandal enveloped a leading party in Kurz's now-dissolved coalition government. The Freedom Party's (FPO) former leader and the former Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache was taped while allegedly offering government contracts to a Russian-speaking woman in Ibiza in exchange for favourable media coverage in the run-up to the elections in 2017.While Strache has stepped down as FO's leader, he has outrightly dismissed the allegations against him as a "political attack".Meanwhile, Austria's interim Vice Chancellor Hartwig Loger will be serving as Austria's chancellor until the next leader to replace Kurz is chosen, according to Sputnik. Parliamentary elections are slated to be held in September in the wake of the corruption allegations.Kurz has assured the President that his party is "ready for
DMK to soon decide on no-trust motion against Speaker
The DMK would decide on its no-confidence motion decision against Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal once the assembly is convened.
Gehlot returns from Delhi visit
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot returned to the state after his New Delhi visit on Tuesday. Gehlot was in New Delhi to take part in the Congress Working Committee meeting, which analysed the reasons for the party's poor performance in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls. On Wednesday, Gehlot will be present in the party's state-level executive committee meeting to be held at the party's state office. Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot and Congress national general secretary Avinash Pandey will also be present.
BJP aiming for two-third majority in next assembly election in West Bengal: Vijayvargiya
Buoyed by major gains in Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, the BJP is aiming for more than two-third majority in the assembly elections due in 2021 and is even prepared for early polls in the state, its general secretary and West Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya said on Tuesday. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won 18 out of 42 seats in West Bengal, which was a multi-fold increase from its tally of only two seats in 2014 elections. The party's vote share also zoomed to 40.25 per cent in 2019 from 16.8 per cent in 2014. It has only three MLAs in the 294-member Assembly. On a day when three MLAs from West Bengal joined the BJP, Vijayvargiya took a swipe at the Trinamool Congress saying "it is just the first phase", and more leaders will come into the BJP's fold "in seven phases just as the elections were held in seven phases". Attributing the party's success in Lok Sabha polls to BJP's organisational strength, Vijayvargiya told PTI that he along with other leaders ..