Page 386 - Politics
President dissolves 16th Lok Sabha
President Ram Nath Kovind Saturday dissolved the 16th Lok Sabha with immediate effect on recommendation of the Union cabinet, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement. A communique issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said the President dissolved the Lok Sabha after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi made such a recommendation Friday. "The President has accepted the advice of the Cabinet on 24.05.2019 and signed the Order dissolving the 16th Lok Sabha," it said. The president had on Friday accepted the resignation of Modi and his council of ministers but asked them to continue as caretaker until formation of a new government. Modi is expected to take oath as a new prime minister next week. In the just-concluded parliamentary polls, the BJP scored a resounding victory, bagging 303 out of 542 seats. Its arch rival, the Congress, was way behind at 52.
God has punished Chandrababu Naidu, says Jagan
YSR Congress Party President Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is set to take oath as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister next week, on Saturday said God has punished TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu for his misdeeds.
Amarinder thanks voters, partymen for Congress' good show in Punjab
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Saturday expressed his gratitude to voters for the impressive victory of the Congress in the state in this Lok Sabha polls. Singh also thanked Punjab ministers, party legislators and Congress workers for the good show they put up in the state. "I express my gratitude to all workers of Youth Congress and NSUI for their support and hard work which led to such a good showing in the Lok Sabha polls," Singh tweeted. "I also thank people of Punjab for placing trust in us by giving such a mandate," the chief minister tweeted, reiterating his commitment of making Punjab "number one again". In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress won eight out of total 13 seats in Punjab, bucking the pro-Modi trend seen across northern and central India in this general election. The Congress romped home to impressive victory on eight seats, surprising both the SAD-BJP combine and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and improving its tally from three in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. It had
Iran FM: US troop boost 'threat to international peace'
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Saturday a US decision to deploy 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East is a "threat to international peace," state media reported. "Increased US presence in our region is very dangerous and a threat to international peace and security and must be confronted," Zarif told the official IRNA news agency before heading home from a visit to Pakistan. Washington says the reinforcements, which come after the deployment earlier this month of an aircraft carrier task force, B-52 bombers, an amphibious assault ship and a missile defence system, are in response to "campaign" of recent attacks approved by Iran's top leadership. "Americans make such claims to justify their hostile policies and to create tension in the Persian Gulf," Zarif said. The United States this month ended the last exemptions it had granted from sweeping unilateral sanctions it reimposed after abandoning a landmark 2015 nuclear between major powers and Iran in May last ..
Congress dismisses talk of Rahul Gandhi's resignation
Congress on Saturday dismissed reports that party president Rahul Gandhi has offered to resign from his post following the party's debacle in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections."Reports of Congress president offering resignation are incorrect," party chief spokesperson Rajdeep Singh Surjewala said even as the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting was underway to discuss the Lok Sabha election defeat.Earlier reports suggested that Gandhi had offered to step down and it was rejected by the CWC.Several senior leaders, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh, Motilal Vora, former union ministers RPN Singh, PL Punia and P Chidambaram, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Opposition leader in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, are present at the meeting.Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, is also present in the huddle. Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah are also ...
Akhilesh asks party men to prepare for 2022 Assembly polls
Unfazed by the results of the Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday asked party workers to start preparing for the 2022 Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
33% women to enter Lok Sabha from Odisha
Odisha is sending 33 per cent women to the Lok Sabha after the just held general elections. Seven women have been elected from the 21 parliamentary seats in the state.
At 46 pc BJP gets highest ever vote share in J-K, leads in 27 assembly segments
The BJP, which bagged three Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, has got its highest ever vote share of 46.4 per cent in the state, more than that of Congress, NC and PDP put together, as per EC data. The National Conference (NC), which swept the polls in the Kashmir region and bagged three seats, got just 7.89 per cent vote share. As per official data released by the Election Commission of India, the BJP has taken 46.4 per cent vote share by securing 16,48,041 votes out of total 3,479,155 votes polled in multi-phased elections in six Lok Sabha seats in the state. It is the highest ever vote share of the BJP in the state till now, officials said. The BJP, which won Jammu, Udhampur and Ladakh seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, took lead in 27 assembly segments in these three constituencies of the Jammu and Ladakh region, the data said. There was increase of 12 per cent in the vote share of the BJP from 2014 Lok Sabha elections in which the saffron party polled 34.40 per cent votes, ...
Modi thanks PMO staff, their families for support
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday thanked the staff of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and their families for supporting him during his tenure in the office and asked them to gear up for the second term.
Jagan records highest victory margin in Andhra polls
YSR Congress Party leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is all set to take oath as the new Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh next week, was elected to the state Assembly with the highest margin of over 90,000 votes while Malladi Vishnu of his party won the election with lowest margin of 25 votes.
Rahul Gandhi offers to resign as Congress president
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday offered to step down from his post taking moral responsibility of the humiliating defeat the party faced in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.However, the resignation was turned down by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) which met at the party headquarters in New Delhi to discuss the reasons behind the debacle for the consecutive time in the general elections.Several senior leaders, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh, Motilal Vora, former union ministers RPN Singh, PL Punia and P Chidambaram, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Opposition leader in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, were present at the meeting.Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress's general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, was also present in the huddle. Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah joined in as well.The CWC, sources said, took stock of the party's loss in Uttar Pradesh, the ..
What went wrong in Amethi for Congress?
What went so horribly wrong for Congress President Rahul Gandhi that he lost from his familys pocket borough Amethi Lok Sabha constituency?
Time for constructive politics with focus on states: Stalin
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) President M.K.Stalin on Saturday said that those days were over when it was believed that only Hindi-speaking states made India.
Jaganmohan Reddy unanimously elected YSRC legislature party leader
Y S Jaganmohan Reddy was Saturday unanimously elected as the leader of the YSRC legislature party, sources said. The meeting of the newly elected MLAs at the YSR Congress office here lasted for 45 minutes before the decision was made, the party sources said. Thanking the MLAs for electing him as the legislature party leader, Reddy said,"in 2019, people voted for us out of faith and belief, in 2024 they should give us a bigger mandate because of our performance." He also sought the support of the newly-elected MLAs to help him earn the "performing Chief Minister," within a year, a YSRC legislator told PTI. The Reddy's election would be conveyed to Governor E V L Narasimhan later Saturday for the party to stake claim to form the government in the state, the sources added. The party had earlier announced that the swearing-in ceremony would be held on May 30 at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium located in the city. In a spectacular performance, Reddy's YSR Congress had won 151 of 175 ...
PM Modi made 'lot of efforts' to enhance India's economy: China's CPC leader
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a "lot of efforts" to enhance India's economy and improve people's livelihood in the last five years, a senior official of the ruling Communist party has said. Mu Degui, a member of the standing committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Guizhou Provincial Committee, said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, governance in India has improved. "India and China share a long-time friendly relations," he told PTI here. Asked about his reaction on Prime Minister Modi's victory in the 2019 general elections, Mu praised him and his efforts. Mu, who is also the Director General of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Publicity Department, said: "We have noticed that after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over the office, he has made a lot of efforts to enhance India's economy and improve people's livelihood and governance". China on Friday said it attaches high importance to its bilateral relations with India and is keen to work with Prime ...
Kamal Nath absent from CWC meet to discuss LS poll rout
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath was conspicously missing from the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting held here on Saturday to discuss the reasons for the party's abysmal performance in the 2019 general elections.
Cong Working Committee meets to review Lok Sabha poll debacle, Rahul may offer to quit
Top Congress leaders from across the country Saturday got together to review the party's drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, as the Congress Working Committee meeting got underway here. The CWC meeting, chaired by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, is being attended by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Uttar Pradesh (East) in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and chief ministers of four party-ruled states -- Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh -- and the Union Territory of Puducherry. The meeting will go into the reasons behind the party's debacle and discus as to why its poll narrative failed to convince the people. The Congress president is expected to offer his resignation taking moral responsibility for the party's poor performance in the polls. Senior leader and former Union minister P Chidambaram was also present in the meeting alongside his party colleagues including Ak Antony, Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sheila Dikshit, Mallikarjun ...
After saffron surge in WB, Saumitra Khan exudes confidence of sweeping assembly polls
After lotus bloomed in West Bengal by winning 18 seats in the Lok Sabha, Saumitra Khan, BJP's candidate from Bishnupur constituency on Saturday exuded the confidence of sweeping assembly polls in the state in 2021.Speaking to ANI in New Delhi, Khan said, "In next assembly polls, the TMC will be finished. They will only be able to get as less as 60 seats out of 295. There will be no contest with TMC in West Bengal assembly elections."Reportedly, Khan who won by a margin of 78,047 votes, did not address a public rally or held a single roadshow as he was barred from entering Bankura by Kolkata High Court, in connection with criminal cases. He is facing four criminal cases at present.The ruling TMC has won 22 out of 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.The Mamata Banerjee-led party had won 34 parliamentary seats in West Bengal in the 2014 general elections.BJP has made huge strides in the state by garnering 18 seats, 16 more than it had bagged in the 2014 polls. While Congress has ...
Jagan Mohan Reddy elected YSRCP Legislature Party leader
Newly-elected legislators of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday unanimously elected party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy as their leader, paving the way for his swearing-in as the new chief minister of the state.
US to deploy 1500 additional troops to Middle East as 'protective measure': Trump
Amid simmering tensions between Washington and Tehran in recent weeks, United States President Donald Trump on Friday said that his country will deploy about 1500 additional troops to the Middle East as a "protective measure"."We're going to be sending a relatively small number of troops," Trump told reporters at the White House here, as cited by Xinhua. "We'll see what happens."Taking to Twitter shortly after the development, US Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan deemed the move a "prudent response to credible threats from Iran," while announcing that the Pentagon has informed Congress about the deployment."The @DeptofDefense has informed Congress I approved the combatant commander's request to deploy approximately 1,500 additional troops & defensive capabilities to the @CENTCOM area to increase our force protection posture. This is a prudent response to credible threats from Iran"In a press briefing on Friday afternoon, Pentagon officials said that about 600 troops ..