Page 395 - Politics
Ninth time a single party crosses 300 mark in Lok Sabha
As the BJP crossed the 300 seat mark in the Lok Sabha elections, it was the ninth time that any single party has achieved such a feat.
1.44 pc voters in C'garh opted for NOTA in 2019 LS polls
Naxal-hit Bastar Lok Sabha seat saw the maximum number of voters opting for NOTA (none of the above) in the just-concluded general elections. Of the 1,36,22,725 people who cast their votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Chhattisgarh, 1.44 per cent, or 1,96,265 electors, opted for NOTA, an EC official said Friday. NOTA stood third behind the BJP and Congress in Bastar, Surguja, Kanker, Mahasamund and Rajnandgaon, he said. A total of 41,667 voters exercised the NOTA option in Bastar, a seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes, followed by another tribal-dominated seat, Surguja, which saw 29,265 NOTA votes, the official informed. He said 26,713 voters opted for NOTA in Kanker, 21,241 voters in Mahasamund, 19,436 voters in Rajnandgaon, 19,305 voters in Korba, 15,729 in Raigarh (ST), 9,981 in Janjgir- Champa (SC) 4,365 in Bilaspur, 4,292 in Raipur and 4,271 in Durg. In the Lok Sabha polls, results of which were declared on Thursday, the BJP won Raipur, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Bilaspur, .
Local party leaders 'plotted' my defeat: Jaya Prada
Putting the blame on local BJP leaders here for "plotting" her Lok Sabha election defeat, BJP leader Jaya Prada on Friday said she will urge the party's central leadership to take strict action against them."Our party leaders from Rampur are to blame for my defeat. I will complain about them to the central leadership. The party will take strict action against those who plotted my defeat," Jaya Prada told reporters here.Samajwadi Party's Azam Khan defeated Jaya Prada by more than one lakh votes from the parliamentary constituency.The defeated BJP candidate clarified she was going to stay in the constituency and continue working amongst the people.Earlier on April 24, Jaya Prada had alleged that Azam Khan has been winning elections for the last 20 years by rigging votes.Meanwhile, BJP and its ally Apna Dal (Soneylal) managed to retain 64 of the 73 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
How Amit Shah and his core team executed blue print to generate 'TsuNaMo'
The perceived architect of Prime Minister Narendra Modis second consecutive win, Amit Shah, generated the much talked-about pro-incumbency wave with the help of eight of his close aides who worked in tandem with BJP Presidents office without break for almost two years. Many of his aides, seldom seen in the media, worked as backroom boys from the BJPs new multistoreyed headquarters located in central Delhi.
BSP-SP alliance: United they fall in UP
The Samajwadi Party came off worse than its coalition partner BSP as the caste arithmetic by the gathbandhan in Uttar Pradesh failed before a BJP wave in the Lok Sabha elections. Despite its high expectations from the alliance forged with Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party this time, the SP got just five seats - the same number it won in the 2014 elections. But its vote share fell four percentage points, from 22.35 per cent then to a little under 18 now. In contrast, the BSP which drew a blank last time won 10 of the 38 seats it contested under the seat-sharing pact this time. Adding the lone seat won by the Rashtriya Lok Dal, the third ally, the total seats bagged by the opposition coalition are a mere 15 out of the 80 in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally Apna Dal (S) won 64, compared to the 73 they had won in 2014, a performance which went against what the SP-BSP-RLD 'gathbandhan' was predicting. Analyst Rakesh Pandey attributes the alliance defeat, in part, to its ...
Cabinet recommends dissolution of 16th LS; council of ministers tender resignation
The Union Cabinet Friday recommended the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha as the Union Council of Ministers tendered their collective resignation, government sources said. The Cabinet meeting came a day after the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections in which the NDA retained power with a massive mandate. After the Cabinet's recommendation, President Ram Nath Kovind is now expected to dissolve the present Lok Sabha, the term of which is ending on June 3. He would also ask the present government to continue till the new government is formed in the coming days. Later, at a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers, all members of the Council tendered their collective resignation. The president has invited the members of the Union Council of Ministers for a dinner at Rashtrapati Bhawan where the PM would submit the recommendation to dissolve the present Lok Sabha and the resignations. The 17th Lok Sabha has to be constituted before June 3. The process to form a new House will be
BJP garnered over 51 % votes in Karna LS polls
The Modi wave that swept through the State enabled the BJP to garner over 51 per cent of votes, thereby decimating the Congress and its ally, JD(S), eating into their vote share. The JDS, the state's lone regional party, that had two Lok Sabha members in the previous Lok Sabha was reduced to just one this time as its vote share declined drastically compared to the 2018 assembly election. The BJP garnered 51.38 per cent of votes, about 8 per cent more from 2014, according to Election Commission data. Against its previous tally of 17 LS seats in 2014, the saffron party won 25 out of the total 28 this time while an independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh backed by it wrested the JD(S) bastion of Mandya. The JD(S) had fielded seven candidates in Karnataka but only one candidate, Prajwal Revanna, could win from Hassan constituency, a traditional JD(S) citadel from where party patriarch and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda had been winning. Gowda vacated Hassan for his ..
Cong-JDS cabinet reposes faith in Kumaramaswamy after dismal
Shaken by the rout of the ruling Congress-JDS combine in the Lok Sabha polls, the Karnataka cabinet Friday reposed its "faith and confidence" in the leadership of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, asserting that the coalition would continue. As the ruling alliance suffered a humiliating defeat with the BJP painting the entire state saffron, winning 25 of the 28 seats, the results are widely expected to have a bearing on the stability of the Kumaraswamy government. As voices emerged in the Congress to end the alliance, blaming the JDS partnership for the party's worst ever performance in the Lok Sabha polls, Kumaraswamy had offered to resign, when some senior Congress leaders met him last evening, top sources in the government said. However, they convinced him against it and requested him tocontinue as the head of the coalition government, while ensuring full cooperation. "It (resignation) is a closedchapter now," they said. The Chief Minister said he was "mentally ready" to
BJP wins both LS seats in Arunchal Pradesh, Kiren Rijiju re-
The BJP in Arunachal Pradesh clinched both the Lok Sabha seats by huge margins going by the trend in favour of the Saffron party across the country. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, who was locked in a multi-cornered contest in the Arunachal West Parliamentary seat with total seven contestants, won from the constituency by a huge margin of 1,74,843 votes defeating his nearest rival Nabam Tuki of the Congress. Rijiju polled a total votes of 2,25,796 while Tuki could manage only 50,953 votes. The junior Home Minister had won the seat in 2014 also by a margin of 41738 votes. In the Eastern Arunachal seat, which too witnessed a multi-cornered contest with five candidates in the fray, BJP state unit President Tapir Gao wrests the seat from Congress. Gao defeated his nearest rival Lowangcha Wangat of Congress by a margin of 69,948 votes. Gao polled a total of 1,53,883 votes, whle Wanglat polled 83,935 votes. Ninong Ering of the Congress won from the seat .
Mamata Banerjee to hold meeting of TMC leaders tomorrow
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will hold a meeting of TMC leaders tomorrow after the party suffered a severe drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls.Party leaders have been asked to assemble at the Chief Minister residence in Kalighat.The announcement of the meeting came hours after the Election Commission announced that 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 managed to win just two seats, the Left parties drew a blank.The poll watchdog had curtailed campaigning by a day ahead of the May 19 elections in nine constituencies in the state after violence marred BJP president Amit Shah's roadshow in Kolkata on May 14.
Newly elected MPs and MLAs meet DMK Chief MK Stalin in Chennai
Newly elected party MPs and MLAs (by-polls) met DMK Chief MK Stalin at the party office here on Friday.DMK Party chief, MK Stalin who contested his first major elections after his father and party patriarch, M Karunanidhi's death last year has vindicated himself in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by winning 37 out of 38 parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu.Stalin singlehandedly toured the state and led the election campaign with tailor-made programmes to interact with people at grassroots.Despite the huge mandate in Tamil Nadu, the party has fewer reasons to celebrate because of the poor performance of their ally Congress in the elections.The DMK President on Thursday thanked the people of Tamil Nadu, DMK cadres and alliance partners for a "resounding victory".The DMK-led alliance in the state, which includes the Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) along with several other smaller parties has been able to make
YSRCP MLAs to elect Jagan as their leader on Saturday
The newly-elected legislators of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh will meet here on Saturday to formally elect party chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy as their leader.
Who will replace Theresa May: Runners, riders for next UK PM
Theresa May has announced her resignation as UK Prime Minister and Conservative leader in two weeks' time on June 7 amid significant pressure for her to quit after failing to deliver Brexit, but who will replace her for the top job? Here are all the runners and riders for the top position.
Chamling resigns, guv asks him to carry on till formation of
The outgoing Chief Minister of Sikkim, Pawan Kumar Chamling, on Friday submitted his resignation to Governor Ganga Prasad to pave the way for formation of the next government, Raj Bhawan officials said. Chamling, accompanied by his ministerial colleagues, called on the governor on Friday evening and submitted his resignation, they said. After accepting Chamling's resignation, the governor asked the former chief minister to carry on till the formation of the next government, they added. Meanwhile, a delegation of the victorious party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), is likely to call on the governor later on Friday evening to stake claim to form the next government in the state, the officials said. The supremo of Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), Pawan Kumar Chamling, has been the Chief Minister of Sikkim since December 12, 1994.
147 candidates including boxer Vijender Singh, 3 AAP nominees lose deposit in Delhi LS polls
A total of 147 candidates, including boxer-turned-politician Vijender Singh, and three nominees of the AAP lost their deposits in the national capital as they failed to muster a minimum of one sixth of the votes polled in their respective constituencies in the Lok Sabha election. Among those who lost their deposits are 35 Independent candidates, besides 108 others from small parties such as the Republican Party of India, Rashtriya Samrasta Party, Ekta Samaj Party, Kanshiram Bahujan Dal, Aapki Apni Party, Mazdoor Kirayedar Vikas Party, Bharat Prabhat Party and the Rashtra Nirman Party Three candidates of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party -- Pankaj Kumar Gupta from Chandni Chowk, Brijesh Goyal from New Delhi and Dilip Pandey from North East Delhi, lost their deposits as they secured less than one-sixth of the total votes polled in their respective constituencies. Goyal polled 1.50 lakh of the total 9.20 lakh votes, Pandey garnered 1.90 lakh of the total 14.61 lakh votes, while Gupta got 1.44 ..
Prez accepts PM's resignation; asks him to continue till new government assumes office
President Ram Nath Kovind Friday accepted resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked him to continue till a new government assumes office, a communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said. The prime minister met the president and tendered his resignation along with the council of ministers, it said. "The president has accepted the resignation and requested Modi and the council of ministers to continue till the new government assumes office," the communique said.
In 17 Guj LS seats, NOTA comes third after BJP, Cong
While the Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat was a direct contest between the ruling BJP and the Congress, NOTA (none of the above) emerged third on seventeen seats, gaining more votaries than the Bahujan Samaj Party which had contested all 26 seats in the state. As per Election Commission data, around 1.38 per cent voters opted for NOTA, which is more than the 0.86 per cent vote share the BSP managed. NOTA is an option given by the Election Commission of India in case the elector does not prefer any candidate in the fray. The BJP, which won all the 26 seats, received 62.21 per cent of the total votes cast, while the Congress came second with 32.11 per cent. The state saw all-time high voting of 64.11 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Among the seats where NOTA was third choice after the BJP and Congress were Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad (West), Amreli, Anand, Bardoli, Bhavnagar, Chhota Udepur, Dahod, Kutchh, Rajkot, Kheda, Mehsana, Panchmahal, Patan, etc. BJP chief Amit Shah ...
(Eds: Updates and corrects figures at relevant places
The list of Lok Sabha poll winning candidates and runners-up in Gujarat with votes secured and winning margin is as follows: Ahmedabad-East-Hasmukh Patel (BJP) 7,49,834, Gitaben Patel (Cong) 3,15,504, margin 4,34,330 votes. Ahmedabad-West-Kirit Solanki (BJP) 6,41,622, Raju Parmar (Cong) 3,20,076, margin 3,21,546 votes. Amreli-Naran Kachhadiya (BJP) 5,29,035, Paresh Dhanani 3,27,604, margin 2,01,431 votes. Anand-Mitesh Patel (BJP) 6,33,097, Bharat Solanki (Cong) 4,35,379, margin 1,97,718 votes. Banaskantha-Parbat Patel6,79,108, Parthi Bhatol (Cong) 3,10,812, margin 3,68,296 votes. Bardoli-Prabhu Vasava (BJP) 7,42,273, Tushar Chaudhari (Cong) 5,26,826, margin 2,15,447 votes. Bharuch-Mansukh Vasava (BJP) 6,37,795, Sherkhan Pathan (Cong) 3,03,581, margin 3,34,214 votes. Bhavnagar-Bhartiben Siyal (BJP) 6,61,273, Manhar Patel (Cong) 3,31,754, margin 3,29,519 votes. Chhota Udepur-Gitaben Rathva (BJP) 7,64,445, Ranjitsinh Rathva (Cong) 3,86,502, margin 3,77,943 ...
Against the trend, two Union ministers taste defeat in UP
While several ministers in the BJP-led government at the Centre won from Uttar Pradesh, Union Minister Manoj Sinha failed to retain his Ghazipur Lok Sabha constituency. Sinha, minister of state for communications (independent charge), lost the Ghazipur seat to Afzal Ansari of Bahujan Samajwadi Party by a margin of over 1.19 lakh votes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh lead the list of winners from here. Modi defeated the Samajwadi Party's Shalini Yadav by a margin of 4.79 lakh votes for the Varanasi seat. In the process, he improved his 2014 victory margin of 3.71 lakh votes. Lucknow MP Rajnath Singh won from the state capital, defeating his nearest rival Poonam Sinha of the SP by a margin of over 3.47 lakh votes. In 2014, Rajnath had defeated Rita Bahuguna Joshi (then a Congress candidate) by a margin of 2.72 lakh votes. Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani emerged as the BJP's giant killer. She defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi by a
Jaitley unlikely to be a minister in new Modi govt, may travel overseas for treatment
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is unlikely to be a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet in the BJP government's second term due to his ill health, which may require him to travel to either the UK or the US for treatment of an undisclosed illness, sources with knowledge of the matter said. Jaitley, 66, has become "very weak" as his health has deteriorated over the past few weeks, sources said, adding that he has developed some throat condition as well that prevents him from speaking for long. He was admitted to AIIMS earlier this week to undergo tests and treatment for an undisclosed illness and was discharged on Thursday but did not attend celebrations at BJP headquarters that evening after the party's emphatic victory in the general elections. Sources said Jaitley is not keen to take up a ministerial position in the new Modi government and may have conveyed his unwillingness to hold any position, such as a minister without portfolio, to Modi. Doctors treating him have ...