Page 392 - Politics
BJP increases seats in Assam
The saffron surge in the country saw BJP maintaining its winning streak in Assam in the just concluded polls by increasing its tally and its winning margin in most of the nine of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies it won. The Congress kept its tally intact at three, losing two and gaining an equal number, while the AIUDF managed to retain only one seat, losing one each to Congress and BJP while a sitting independent MP managed to retain his seat. The BJP had contested in ten seats, retained six, wrested three and lost only the Nowgong constituency to Congress. The four seats it had left for its alliance partners - three for AGP and one for BPF - were lost by them. The BJP, with seven members in the last Lok Sabha, gave tickets to two sitting MPs while five others were replaced by new faces with all barring one achieving success. The Congress managed to retain Kaliabor but lost Silchar and Autonmous District to BJP and wrested Nowgong from BJP and Barpeta from AIUDF. The ...
Indian Army successfully test-fires BrahMos supersonic cruise missile
A BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired by the Indian Army from Car Nicobar Islands on May 22, validating the weapon's deep-penetration capability and accuracy.The same day, the Indian Air Force had also successfully tested the air-launched version of the missile from a Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft.The weapon was test fired on a specially designed target chosen at a range of 270 km, "thus validating deep penetration capability by the supersonic cruise missile and accurate engagement of targets in depth," an Army statement said.It was test fired as part of joint training by the Army, Navy and Air Force.Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen MM Naravane, who was present at the launch event, congratulated the unit on attaining the feat.Demonstrating high-level synergy amongst the three forces, the planning involved coordination with a large number of agencies.BrahMos missile "is a major force multiplier" on the battlefield with "impeccable multi-role and multi-platform launch
Record 8 women from Maharashtra to grace 17th Lok Sabha
For the first time, the 17th Lok Sabha will have a record 8 lady members from various parties in Maharashtra, in an indicator of growing women's empowerment.
Gehlot, Pilot in Delhi amid demand for leadership change in Rajasthan Congress
Amid speculation over change in Rajasthan Congress leadership, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot are camping in Delhi since Thursday ostensibly to brief the party leadership about the factors leading to the party's wipe-out in the Lok Sabha polls.
No alliance for Assembly elections in Delhi: AAP
A day after being routed in the Lok Sabha contest, Delhi's ruling AAP on Friday said there is no alternative to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi and said the party will win the Assembly elections due in February without any alliance.
BJP gets one seat in Manipur, NPF bags another
The BJP and the NPF bagged one Lok Sabha seats each in Manipur, while the Congress drew a blank. BJP's RK Ranjan Singh managed to pull a victory in the Inner Manipur seat, defeating his nearest rival, Congress's O Nabakishore, by a margin 16,830 votes. Ranjan polled 2,61,802 votes, while Nabakishore bagged 2,45,877. Of the 32 assembly segments that make up the Inner Manipur seat, Ranjan got highest number of votes, 20,176, from Heingang, represented by Chief Minister N Biren Singh. CPI candidate Nara Singh secured the third spot with 1,33,093 votes. In the Outer Manipur seat, Naga People's Front (NPF) candidate Lorho S Pfoze defeated BJP's H Shokhopao Mate by 73,782 votes. Pfoze got 3,89,745 votes and Mate secured 2,89,745. The NPF got maximum number of votes, 50,013, in the Naga-dominated Mao Assembly segment in the Senapati district. The Congress, which won the seat in 2014, was decimated to the third spot.
BJP felicitates Jitendra Singh for highest ever winning margin in J-K
The Bhartiya Janata Party Friday felicitated Union Minister Jitendra Singh for his victory in the Lok Sabha election with the highest ever winning margin in Jammu and Kashmir. Jitendra Singh won by 3.57 lakh votes defeating Congress's Vikramaditya Singh, the son of Jammu and Kashmir's last prince Karan Singh, in the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat. As per officials, it is the highest margin of victory for any successful candidate in Jammu and Kashmir till now. Singh got 61.38 per cent votes. BJP state president Ravinder Raina, while speaking on the occasion, thanked all the voters of Jammu and Kashmir and whole of India for voting en mass in favour of the BJP. He termed this as the "victory of real democracy over the governance by a selective family". He said that this voting has been done on the base of works done by the BJP central and state leadership on motto of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas'. Jitendra Singh expressed his gratitude towards all BJP leaders and workers who worked with ...
PM Narendra Modi likely to visit Varanasi before swearing-in cermony
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi all set to herald a second term after winning the Lok Sabha elections, there is a possibility of his visit to Varanasi before taking oath. Ravindra Jaiswal, Member of Legislative Council (MLC), informed about the possible visit before he takes oath as the prime minister.Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the hero of BJP's victory, who was also in the fray from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, this time won by a huge margin of 4,79,505 votes. During the election campaign, he did road shows in Varanasi and also participated in Ganga Aarti.Five legislators of Varanasi district, two MLCs and District President of BJP Varanasi met the Prime Minister to deliver a certificate of his victory. The Prime Minister also reviewed the work that was stopped due to Model Code of Conduct in Varanasi.With the official count in the Lok Sabha elections over on Friday, the BJP has secured 303 seats, which is 22 more than it got in the 2014 elections and along with its ...
BJP's vote share increased to 51 per cent, faced no anti-incumbency: Yogi Adityanath
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday asserted that they have increased the vote share as there was no anti-incumbency in the state.Addressing a media briefing, here on Friday, Adityanath said, "In the state, we have won 64 seats out of 80. In these elections, our vote share had also increased. In 2014, we had won 42.03 per cent vote and now in this election, it has increased to about 51 per cent."UP CM also outlined the public-welfare initiatives taken by BJP's government in last five years and said, "This is the first elections where there was no anti-incumbency factor against central or state government. Supply of electricity, law and order, roads were not an issue in these elections and hence the opposition started to indulge in personal attacks."Asserting that the elections were concluded peacefully in the state, Yogi said that the need for re-polling did not arise on even a single seat of Uttar Pradesh.Mahendranath Pandey, the president of the BJP's UP unit, ...
Rahul may offer to quit in CWC meet tomorrow
Severely mauled for a second time in consecutive Lok Sabha elections, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) will be meeting here on Saturday to take stock of the situation as party President Rahul Gandhi is likely to offer his resignation accepting moral resonsibility for the debacle.Though there was no official word on the agenda for the meeting, sources said Gandhi's offer may not be accepted and the party may reaffirm its faith to work under his leadership.Gandhi apparently wants to send a signal that he was also accountable for the party's performance which was not any better than the 2014 results. In the last elections, the Congress won 44 seats, the lowest-score in its history, and improved its tally marginally by 8 to reach 52 in the current elections.The CWC is expected to discuss the reasons for the party's debacle, especially in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where it had won the Assembly elections only five months ago and in Karnataka where the the ...
Trinamool suspends Mukul Roy's son for six years
A day after suffering reverses in the Lok Sabha battle, West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Friday suspended its MLA and BJP leader Mukul Roy's son Shubhrangshu Roy for six years alleging that he was "demeaning the party".
AAP wins 1 seat across India, its highest vote share in Delhi at 18 per cent
The Aam Aadmi Party won only one seat out of over 40 it contested across nine states and Union territories and it recorded its highest vote share in the national capital at 18.10 per cent. The AAP had fielded candidates in Delhi, Chandigarh, Bihar, Goa, Punjab, Andaman and Nicobar, Haryana, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. But only its candidate from Sangrur in Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, could win. Mann won by a margin of over one lakh votes after beating Congress candidate Kewal Singh Dhillon. In 2014, AAP had won four Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, and though it lost on all seats in Delhi, it came second on the seven constituencies. This time in Delhi, AAP ranked third in most constituencies with an exception in South Delhi and North West Delhi where it ranked second. The vote share of AAP in the nine states remained dismal. In Delhi, it got 18.10 per cent which was the highest for the party. In UP, the party had 0.01 per cent vote share, 0.36 per cent vote share in Haryana, 7.38 per cent in ...
BJP will give befitting reply to any violence: West Bengal BJP president
West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Friday criticised the Trinamool Congress for leashing violence on party's workers in the state and said his party is strong and capable for responding with a befitting counter-reply."If there is violence, BJP will not stay silent. Today BJP is strong enough to give a befitting reply to any sort of violence," Ghosh said while addressing a press conference in the capital. He also urged the party workers to not indulge in violence.During the general elections, BJP and TMC had frequently accused each other of resorting to violence.Asked about the TMC leaders in touch with the BJP, he said, "That is a long list."As for the Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee, Ghosh advised her to take a trip to Haridwar with a "cool mind"."I will ask Didi to do some rethinking. Maybe she should visit Haridwar with a cool mind. That will be better for her and Bengal," said Ghosh."Today, 75 per cent area in the country is ruled by BJP. Was any harm caused to anybody? ...
Congress turncoats, local leaders played spoilsport for Rahul in Amethi
A day after Congress President Rahul Gandhi lost in his home turf of Amethi against Union Minister and BJP candidate Smriti Irani, local people blamed the party's turncoats and local leaders for the rout.
AAP's Delhi vote share at 18% in 2019 from 33% in 2014
The vote share of Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the 2019 general elections has shrunk to just 18 per cent, from 32.90 per cent in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, with the party slipping to the third position in five of the seven constituencies and three of its candidates losing their deposits as well.
Panaji Assembly bypoll loss to be analysed, says Goa CM
The election for the Goa Assembly speaker will be held during the monsoon session scheduled for July, state chief minister Pramod Sawant said Friday. The 40-member House does not have a full-time speaker after Sawant left the post to become CM. Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo is the officiating speaker currently. Addressing a press conference after the Lok Sabha and bypoll results, Sawant said the party would analyse the defeat in Panaji Assembly constituency, a stronghold of the ruling party. The seat was won by the Congress, while the BJP managed to win from Shiroda, Mandrem and Mapusa Assembly seats, taking its tally in the Goa House to 17. The BJP also lost the South Goa Lok Sabha seat to the Congress. "The organisation in Panaji will be built extensively to ensure victory in the next polls. We are still trying to analyse how Panaji voters gave lead to BJP in the Lok Sabha polls but not so in the bypoll," Sawant said.
BJP wins 36.1 per cent votes in Assam
BJP has garnered 36.1 per cent vote share in Assam, its alliance partners Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodo Peoples Front (BPF) together 10.71 per cent, while Congress registered 35.3 per cent and AIUDF 8.61 per cent, EC data said. In terms of seats the BJP has won nine of the 14 seats, Congress three, one by All India United Democratic Front and the remaining one by an Independent contestant. AGP which put up candidates in three constituencies and BPF in one drew a blank. BPF's lone contestant and Social Welfare Minister Pramila Rani Brahma was defeated by Independent sitting MP Naba Kumar Sarania who retained Kokrajhar(SC) seat, the data said. As per the Election Commission's party wise votes share, BJP contested in 10 of the 14 parliamentary constituencies and amassed 6,484,596 or 36.1 per cent of the total votes polled. Runners-up Congress put up candidates in all the seats has bagged votes of 6,373,659 electorate making for a vote share of 35.4 per cent. AGP's ...
Spanish parliament suspends four jailed Catalan MPs
Spain's parliament suspended Friday the mandates of four Catalan lawmakers who were elected while in custody and on trial over their role in the failed 2017 separatist bid. The expected move could reduce the threshold of an absolute majority that acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez needs in the congress, or lower house, to be sworn in for a second term. His Socialists came top in a general election last month but failed to secure a majority in the assembly. However, if the four lawmakers cede their seats to replacements, Sanchez would once again need the help of Catalan separatist parties to be sworn in during an investiture vote expected in the first week of July. The mandates of Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull and Jordi Sanchez were automatically suspended because they are being held in custody while on trial in the Supreme Court, parliament speaker Meritxell Batet told a news conference. She said she had asked for a report to clarify what the threshold for an absolute ...
Newly-elected TRS MPs meet party chief
The nine newly-elected TRS Lok Sabha members met party supremo and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao here Friday. Rao congratulated them on their victory, a release from the Chief Minister's office said. TRS emerged victorious in nine of the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. The party contested the Lok Sabha polls, held in the first phase in Telangana on April 11, without any alliances.
People of Amethi wanted development: Irani on her win over Rahul
Union minister Smriti Irani, who emerged as a giant-killer by dealing a shock defeat to Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, said on Friday that her win was not a "rocket science" as people of the Lok Sabha constituency wanted a representative who would work for them for the next five years. Her victory was due to the development agenda of the Modi government, she said, adding that people of Amethi had reposed their trust in her by voting in large numbers for the BJP in 2014 and that she worked in the past five years to keep their faith. Irani had put up a strong fight in 2014 but lost to Gandhi. The BJP fielded her again in this general election in which she trounced him by over 55,000 votes in his family pocket borough. Asked about her big win, she told TV channels that it was not a rocket science as people of Amethi wanted development and a representative who could work for them for the next five years. On the massive win of the BJP, which bagged 303 of 542 seats, she said it