Page 391 - Politics
'Rahul to re-contest from Amethi in 2024'
Though he was defeated on home turf Amethi to BJP's Smriti Irani, Congress President Rahul Gandhi will again contest from the seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a party leader said.
EU's Juncker, Tusk congratulate Modi on poll win
President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and President of the European Council Donald Tusk congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his election victory, a European Union (EU) spokesperson said here Friday.
Odisha CM condoles mountaineer's death
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday expressed grief at the demise of renowned mountaineer Kalpana Das in a mishap on Mt Everest and directed the sports department to bring back her mortal remains. The 49-year-old mountaineer from Odisha died on Thursday while descending from the peak. "The chief minister directed the sports department to take steps through diplomatic channel to bring back the mortal remains of Kalpana Das to Odisha," an official at the Chief Minister's Office said. Das, who was a member of the 'Three Women Expedition' group, died while coming down from the peak. She hailed from Dhenkanal district of Odisha and held a number of records for scaling several high peaks in India, Nepal, South America, Australia and Europe. As per official records, Kalpana had scaled Mt Everest in 2008 from the Nepal side.
Officials: US to send 1,500 troops to Middle East
US officials say the Trump administration has notified Congress it plans to send 1,500 troops to the Middle East amid heightened tensions with Iran. Officials said members of Congress were notified following a White House meeting Thursday to discuss Pentagon proposals to bolster the US force presence in the Middle East. The officials spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because the troop plans have not yet been formally announced. Earlier this week, officials had said that Pentagon planners had outlined plans that could have sent up to 10,000 military reinforcements to the region. Acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan later said planners hadn't settled on a figure. The US began reinforcing its presence in the Persian Gulf region this month in response to what it said was a threat from Iran.
BJP and Cong will look to challenge AAP in 2020 assembly polls
After its spectacular victory in Delhi, a resurgent BJP is keen to sustain the momentum till the Delhi Assembly polls early next year, while the Congress and AAP are realising the need to get their act together to fend off the saffron challenge. According to the Election Commission data, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won all the seven seats, bagged 56.56 per cent votes, followed by the Congress (22.51 per cent votes) and the Aam Aadmi Party (18.11 per cent votes). The upsurge in the vote shares of the BJP and the Congress indicates that an interesting contest is on the cards in the assembly polls. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari asserted that his party will win at least 60 seats in Delhi in the assembly polls and "free" it from the AAP and its chief Arvind Kejriwal. In the 2015 Delhi Assembly poll, the AAP had won 67 seats while the BJP bagged only three seats. The Congress had suffered a rout as 63 of its 70 candidates, including senior leaders Ajay Maken, Kiran Walia, Haroon
What foreign media said about Modi's victory
As India gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi a historic mandate with the ruling BJP returning to power in the Lok Sabha, here's how the foreign media covered Modi's victory.
Heavyweights, prominent names across parties lose in Bengal
Prominent political figures including a state minister, a former union minister, sitting MPs, as also stars from other fields across various parties fell by the wayside in the Lok Sabha polls, that produced a number of upsets in West Bengal.
17th Lok Sabha gets 11 women MPs from Bengal, 3 less than 2014
As many as 11 women candidates from West Bengal emerged victorious in the Lok Sabha elections, three less than the last general elections in 2014.
Market volatility index drops by another 15%
The volatility index or the 'India VIX' cooled by another 15 per cent on Friday after the decisive victory in the general elections for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) brought cheer to investors.
'Vasundhara Raje trying to mend ties with BJP leadership'
Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is going all out in trying to mend her fractured relations with the BJP's central leadership for a two-fold reason - a position for her son in the new Narendra Modi ministry and a senior rank for herself in the state unit, say party sources.
Jaitley does not attend Cabinet, meets officials at home
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday did not attend the Union Cabinet meeting held in the evening as he was reportedly unwell.The Union Cabinet met and adopted a resolution for the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha, setting in motion the process of constituting the new House and formation of the government after the conclusion of the general elections.However, Jaitley took a meeting of top Finance Ministry officials, including Finance Secretary S C Garg, at his residence earlier today. He was said to have been briefed about the preparations for the regular union budget to be presented by the new government.He also met officials of the Enforcement Directorate.Jaitley, who is one of the top leaders in the BJP,, was not seen at the victory celebrations at the BJP headquarters on Thursday night. He has not been seen in public in the last few days and has not reacted to the massive mandate the BJP has got in the elections.Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who chaired the meeting, met ...
It's time Punjab kicks out Congress: Harsimrat Kaur Badal: '
Union Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who won from Bhatinda Lok Sabha seat with a margin of 21,772 votes on Friday took a swipe at Congress stating that it was time that people in Punjab "throw them out".Badal, while speaking to ANI said: "Congress has been swept away from the whole nation. When the whole nation is throwing out the party, it is time for the people of Punjab to realize it too and throw them out"The two-time MP won the election against Amrinder Singh Raja of Congress who came up second place in the south Punjab seat.She visited the Golden Temple on Friday to celebrate her victory. "I have come to the adobe of Guru Sahib as he has given me this opportunity for the third time. He gave an appropriate answer to everyone who was making false claims and resorting to ugly campaigning. Truth has won finally," she said.The Congress party in Punjab, where 13 Lok Sabha seats were at stake, won 8 seats after maintaining its lead against the rival
BJP, Congress claim they alone can take on TRS in Telangana
Buoyed by their impressive gains in the Lok Sabha polls in Telangana, both the BJP and Congress claimed on Friday that they alone can take on the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and emerge as its alternative.
Indian elections 'an inspiration to democracies': US
The Indian parliamentary election is "an inspiration to democracies and individuals around the world", State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said on Friday.
BJP-IPFT alliance to remain despite junior ally's separate contest in LS polls: Tripura CM
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has said that despite the BJP's junior electoral partner IPFT contesting the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls separately, their alliance in the state would continue as it was.
CoA to meet NE states on May 27, discuss cooling off, elections
The Committee of Administrators will be meeting the officials of the six North-East states in the National Capital to resolve a few issues, helping them to be fully Lodha Compliant before conducting elections of the state units. With CoA announcing the BCCI elections on october 22 and aiming to finish the state body polls by September 30, the six North-East states need clarity as they go into their maiden elections after acquiring full member status. "There are a few issues that NE states' representatives needs clarity. The major issue is when would be their cooling off period start. They were not full voting members before 2018. So they have a valid claim that their tenure should start with this year's state association elections and cooling off starts after three years," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity. Another teething issue is release of funds so that they can carry on with their infrastructure development and conduct of local matches. "They need funds ..
T'gana SEC postpones counting of votes in civic polls
The Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) Friday postponed the counting of votes, scheduled to be held on May 27, in the rural local body polls. The three-phased rural local body polls concluded on May 14. "...the State Election Commission decides to postpone the counting date from May 27 to another date to be notified shortly," the SEC said in an order. The decision was taken following representations from the Congress, BJP and others that there should only be as short a time as possible between the counting of votes and election to the posts of zilla parishad chairman and others, according to the order. The parties, in their representations, pointed out that any delay in issuing notification to the posts of ZP chairperson and others would lead to horse-trading involving the newly-elected zilla parishad territorial constituency (ZPTC) and mandal parishad territorial constituencies (MPTCs) members. BJP had expressed concern over reports that the election of ZP ...
Sun has set on term of govt, but its brightness will continue: PM
Moments after President Ram Nath Kovind accepted resignation of the Union Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said while the sun has set on the term of the present government, the brightness of its work will continue to illuminate the lives of people. With the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance returning to power with a massive majority in the Lok Sabha election, Modi is set to be sworn in as the prime minister next week. The president has asked the Union Council of Ministers to continue till the next government is formed in the next few days. "The sun sets on this term, but the brightness our work has brought will continue to illuminate the lives of millions. A new dawn awaits, a new term beckons," Modi tweeted. He said his government is even more determined to fulfil the dreams of 130 crore Indians and create the "New India all of us dreamt of". Meanwhile, BJP workers from Varanasi Friday handed him the official certificate of election. Modi won the Varanasi .
Ex-UK PM David Cameron says he shares Theresa May's pain
Former British prime minister David Cameron, who quit after the results of the 2016 Brexit referendum were confirmed, Friday offered his sympathies to his successor Theresa May, who resigned after failing to get the backing from MPs on her revised exit deal with the EU. May is the second consecutive prime minister to be toppled by Brexit - the UK's divorce deal with the 28-member European Union. May announced that she would leave office on June 7. "I know how painful it is to accept that your time is up and a new leader is required," Cameron said, adding his hopes that her "spirit of compromise" is continued by the next Prime Minister. He said May should be thanked for her "tireless efforts" on behalf of the country. The UK was to have left the 28-member economic bloc by March 29 but failed to meet that deadline and now faces a renewed Brexit deadline of October 31. Cameron served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. "I know how painful it is to accept that your .
Guj: Shah, Bhabhor prominent victors, Dhanani among big losers
BJP president Amit Shah and Union minister Jasvantsinh Bhabhor were among the prominent candidates who won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Gujarat. Congressmen Bharat Solanki and Tushar Chaudhari, both former Union ministers, and the leader of opposition in the Gujarat Assembly, Paresh Dhanani were among the prominent losers. The BJP won all 26 seats in the state, just like it did in the 2014 polls. Shah won from Gandhinagar against Congress' CJ Chavda by a margin of 5.57 lakh votes, higher than the 4.83 lakh registered by BJP patriarch LK Advani in the 2014 polls. Shah polled 8.94 lakh votes against Chavda's 3.37 lakh votes. Union minister of Tribal Affairs Jasvantsinh Bhabhor won from Dahod Lok Sabha constituency with a margin of 1.27 lakh, the lowest in the state in the 2019 polls. He had won the 2014 election from the same seat by a margin of 2.30 lakh votes. Two former Union ministers of state were also among the prominent candidates from the BJP to win the ...