Page 396 - Politics

Yemen president accuses UN envoy of siding with rebels

The Yemeni president has accused UN envoy Martin Griffiths of siding with the country's Huthi rebels in a letter addressed to the UN chief. Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi said he was giving Griffiths "a final chance" to implement hard-won truce deals reached in Sweden last year. In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP Friday, he accused Griffiths of "providing the Huthi militia with guarantees to stay in Hodeida and its ports under the umbrella of the UN". "I can no longer accept these offences by your special envoy which threaten chances to find a (lasting) solution," he wrote, addressing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The rebels' pullback from the Red Sea ports of Hodeida, Saleef and Ras Issa marked the first concrete step to implement the Sweden agreement, which was hailed as a breakthrough in efforts to end the war. The Huthis handed over control of the ports to a "coast guard", according to the UN, but some government officials said these forces were in fact rebel ...

With LS win, Khattar cements position ahead of Assembly election

The BJP's clean sweep in all ten Lok Sabha seats in Haryana is likely to cement Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's position as a leader who can deliver in the state which goes to polls later this year. Though Modi factor played a key role in Haryana as in other parts of the country, Khattar's leadership was also under test in these polls as it was widely believed that it would set the tone for the Assembly elections. People are happy with Modi and Khattar governments because of their developmental agenda, zero tolerance towards corruption and overall good governance, BJP MP from Ambala Rattan Lal Kataria, who defeated senior Congress leader Kumari Selja, said. The credit for the party's clean sweep in Haryana goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah "as well as Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who has shown he can deliver", he said. The BJP is optimistic that the momentum in favour of the party will continue in the assembly polls and help it retain power in .

BJP gets absolute majority in Arunachal Assembly, sweeps LS polls too

BJP has emerged as the single largest party in Arunachal Pradesh Assembly by winning 37 out of 55 Assembly seats.Janata Dal-United (JDU), BJP's ally, has won seven seats. The Indian National Congress (INC) and the National People's Party (NPP) could manage to win just four seats each.The vote share of BJP in the Assembly polls was 51.5 per cent while that of JDU 9.92 per cent, and Congress' 17.52 per cent.Chief Minister Pema Khandu defeated Thupten Kunphen by a margin of 2,400 votes, which is his third consecutive victory since joining politics.Two independent candidates were also able to win, while one candidate of the People's Party of Arunachal secured his victory.In the Lok Sabha elections, BJP has won both the seats in the state, thus handing over a crushing blow to the Congress party.BJP state president Tapir Gao defeated INC's Lowangcha Wanglat by a margin of approximately 70,000 votes in Arunachal East parliamentary constituency.Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren ..

Karnataka government safe, stable: Deputy CM

The year-old JD-S-Congress combine government was safe and stable to continue in office despite electoral reverses in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, said Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara on Friday.

Shah, Irani, Prasad, Kanimozhi -- from Rajya Sabha to Lok Sabha

BJP president Amit Shah, Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Smriti Irani, and DMK leader Kanimozhi are among the prominent winners in the 2019 Lok Sabha election who are sitting Rajya Sabha members. Shah, 54, was elected to the Upper House of Parliament in August 2017, making his parliamentary debut. He won his first Lok Sabha election from the Gandhinagar constituency as results for the seven-phase polls were announced On Thursday. The BJP president won by a margin of over 5.57 lakh votes against his nearest rival Congress' C J Chavda. His colleagues in Rajya Sabha, Prasad and Irani, who hold law and textile portfolios respectively, also emerged victorious in 2019 polls, their maiden win in a general election. Irani, 43, who had earlier served as an HRD minister and I&B minister in the Modi government, proved herself to be a giant-killer as she dethroned Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Amethi by a margin of 55,120 votes, while Prasad, 64, dislodged sitting MP and former BJP .

25,000 votes cast through postal ballots in Arunchal assembly

Over 25,000 votes were cast through postal ballots in Arunachal Pradesh assembly polls, including 83 in the NOTA category, even as counting of votes for four constituency is still going on. According to data available with the Election Commission of India, a total of 25,805 votes were cast through postal ballots. A total of 1497 of maximum postal ballots were counted in Ziro-Hapoli constituency in Lower Subansiri district followed by Basar constituency in Lepa Rada district at 954 votes. Ziro-Hapoli constituency too received the maximum number of None of The Above (NOTA) votes through postal ballots at 11. According to the Election Commission's norms, the facility of postal ballot, where a voter casts his or her vote using Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot Papers (ETPB) rather than physically visiting polling booths, is available for service voters which include members of armed forces, police and government officials on poll duty and those who are posted ...

Irani, Gambhir, Prasad among 300 MPs elected for first time to new Lok Sabha

The new Lok Sabha will have 300 MPs who have been elected for the first time to the Lower House, including cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir, Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Smriti Irani, sufi singer Hans Raj Hans and Bengali actresses Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan Ruhi. The last Lok Sabha, also known as the 16th Lok Sabha, had 314 MPs who were elected for the first time, according to think tank PRS Legislative Research From the outgoing Lok Sabha, as many as 197 MPs have been re-elected, the PRS said. Irani emerged as a giant-killer after dethroning Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Amethi by a margin of 55,120 votes. A two-time Rajya Sabha MP, she had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls in 2004 and 2014. Controversial BJP candidate from Bhopal and Malegaon blast accused, Pragya Thakur, defeated Congress' bigwig Digvijay Singh to register her maiden win in a general election. Gambhir, who was contesting from East Delhi, trounced Congress' Arvinder Singh ...

Al-Qaeda affiliate chief Zakir Musa killed in encounter; protests in parts of Kashmir

In a "major success", security forces killed the chief of an Al-Qaeda affiliate in Kashmir, Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa, in an encounter at a village in south Kashmir's Tral on Friday, officials said. Musa, who heads the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, came to the limelight in Kashmir Valley after he denounced Pakistan, cut ties with the banned Hizbul Mujahideen terror group and vowed allegiance to the Al-Qaeda. A carrom player, Musa in his teenage represented Jammu and Kashmir at various national championships. Inspector General of Police Swamyam Prakash Pani said the operation was conducted with utmost precaution and proper care was taken to avoid collateral damage. "He was one of the oldest militant and wanted for several terror-related crimes," Pani told PTI. A police spokesman said his killing was a major success as "Musa had a long history of terror crime since 2013". "He was initially associated with proscribed terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen but later floated Ansar ...

US leadership congratulates PM Modi on his re-election; says 'great things' in store for ties

Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "decisive" election triumph, the top American leadership, including President Donald Trump, have said that "great things" are in store for the Indo-US strategic ties under his second innings. Prime Minister Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a landmark victory for a second five-year term in office, winning 302 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. "Congratulations to Prime Minister @NarendraModi and his BJP party on their BIG election victory!," Trump tweeted. "Great things are in store for the US-India partnership with the return of PM Modi at the helm. I look forward to continuing our important work together!" he said Thursday. The US and India have made enormous strides together. Some of the important steps taken include the expansion of bilateral defence cooperation and combined military exercises, the historic civil nuclear deal, the nearly six-fold increase in US-India trade, the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative and the .

Valsad Lok Sabha seat retains tag as 'gateway' to Delhi

Though it may just be a coincidence, the election result of the Valsad Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat has once again proved that whichever political party has managed to win this tribal-dominated constituency has ultimately formed its government at the Centre. This time too, the Valsad seat has emerged as a 'politically auspicious' and 'lucky seat' of Gujarat. BJP candidate Dr K C Patel has emerged the winner from this constituency and his party is all set to form the government at the Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. K C Patel, the sitting BJP Member of Parliament from Valsad, defeated Congress candidate and sitting MLA Jitu Chaudhari with a huge margin of over 3.53 lakh votes. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Patel had defeated Congress's two-time MP Kishan Patel by over 2 lakh votes. "Of course this is an auspicious seat. Time and again, results of this seat have proved that the party which wins this seat forms the government at the Centre," K C Patel told ...

After LS polls results, SP removes its media panelists

The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Friday withdrew its spokespersons who appear on television debates in the wake of its electoral debacle in uttar Pradesh.A letter issued by SP spokesperson Rajendra Choudhary said that as per the instruction of the party chief Akhilesh Yadav all the media panellists for the party have been withdrawn with immediate effect..The letter contained a direction to the party's media panelists not to participate in debates on television channels. It also requested the channels not to invite the panelists from the party for discussions.The party has received a severe drubbing the elections with only 5 of its candidates, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, have won from Mainpuri and Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituencies respectively. SP's alliance partner, BSP, won 10 seats and the RLD drew a blank.

Prashant Kishor, I-PAC basking in glory of YSRCP victory

Political strategist Prashant Kishor and the I-PAC of which he is a mentor are basking in the glory of YSR Congress Party's landslide victory in the Andhra Pradesh elections.

Violent ideology of Gandhi's killer has won: Digvijaya

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, who contested and lost the Lok Sabha poll from Bhopal to Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, on Friday said that the violent ideology of Mahatma Gandhi's killer had won in these elections.

After Babbar, tweeple put pressure on Sidhu to quit

After Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar sent in his resignation to the party high command owning moral responsibility for the party's poor performance in the state, Twitter users mounted pressure on Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu to quite politics.

Patnaik tenders resignation for new govt in Odisha

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday tendered his resignation and that of his council of ministers to pave the way for formation of the new government in the state. Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal has accepted the resignation, a Raj Bhavan official said. "The governor has requested Naveen Patnaik and his council of ministers to continue in office till the date the new council of ministers is sworn in," he said. Patnaik is all set to take oath as chief minister for a record fifth term in a row as the Biju Janata Dal headed by him has won a decisive victory in the assembly polls bagging 112 of the 146 assembly seats, polls for which were held along with the Lok Sabha elections. The state cabinet had on May 18 recommended dissolution of the 15th Odisha Legislative Assembly. The state assembly which was formed on June 12, 2014, will complete its term on June 11, 2019.

4 Assembly, 2 RS seats to fall vacant in Guj post LS win

Four Assembly and two Rajya Sabha seats will fall vacant in Gujarat as incumbents have won the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls. The two Rajya Sabha seats are that of BJP chief Amit Shah, who won from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, and Smriti Irani who defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Shah and Irani were elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat in August, 2017 for a tenure of six years. Similarly, three BJP MLAs and an Independent legislator who contested the Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket will also have to resign from the Gujarat House. As per rules, they are required to resign as MLAs within 14 days of the Election Commission declaring the final Lok Sabha results through a gazette notification. These seats will have to be filled up through bypolls within six months from the legislators vacating them. Bharatsinh Dabhi of Kheralu Assembly seat in Mehsana district, Parabat Patel of Tharad seat in Banaskantha, Hasmukh Patel of ...

NDA meeting to be held tomorrow

A meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will be held on Saturday when the BJP-led coalition is expected to elect Narendra Modi as its leader to head the new government.The meeting will be held at 5 pm in the Central Hall of Parliament, BJP tweeted on Friday.On May 21, during a meeting of NDA leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the coalition represents the country's expectations and ambitions.BJP has secured 303 seats in Lok Sabha, 22 more than it had got in the 2014 elections. The NDA would have a strength of 351 in the House.

After drubbing in Lok Sabha polls, INLD's Haryana chief resigns

A day after his party suffered a humiliating defeat on all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, the opposition Indian National Lok Dal's state unit president Ashok Arora resigned from the post on Friday. In his resignation letter to party supremo and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, Arora said he was resigning as the state unit chief in view of the severe drubbing the party received at the hustings. "I take the responsibility of the party's poor show in the Lok Sabha polls and I resign from my post on moral grounds," Arora wrote to Chautala. The ruling BJP swept all the 10 seats in Haryana, while INLD was decimated and its candidates lost security deposits. The INLD saw its vote share plunge to 1.89 per cent from 24.4 per cent in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The INLD, which was once the main opposition party in Haryana, has seen its political graph slide after a vertical split in the party last year following a feud in the Chautala family. The party had subsequently been stung by ...

Chhattisgarh: BJP move to drop all sitting MPs pays off

The BJPs strategy to replace all its 10 sitting Lok Sabha MPs in Chhattisgarh to counter local anti-incumbency has paid rich dividends for the party with eight of the new candidates romping home. In all, the saffron outfit has won nine of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state, while the Congress managed to bag just two. The BJP snatched one seat (Durg) from the Congress, but lost two seats to the ruling party. According to BJP sources, after facing a severe drubbing at the hands of the Congress in the 2018 assembly elections, the party was apparently in a dilemma over selection of candidates for the general election. The BJP central leadership's decision to drop all the 10 sitting MPs had sent shockwaves among state leaders. Initially, several sitting MPs approached the partys central leadership with a request to field them again, they said. But later they unanimously decided to respect the decision of the central leadership and resolved to work for victory of candidates ..

Majority eludes SDF in Sikkim, even with more votes than SKM

The Sikkim Demcoratic Front (SDF) polled more votes than the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), but still fell short of a majority, conceding more seats to the P S Golay-led party in the assembly polls. The SDF secured 2,012 more votes than the SKM, and managed a vote share of 47.63 per cent as against the latter's 47.03 per cent. The Pawan Kumar Chamling-headed party bagged 1,67,620 votes compared with the 1,65,508 votes secured by the SKM, which has tasted power for the first time with 17 seats against 15 by the SDF in the 32-member legislative assembly. The BJP and the Congress polled 5,700 and 2,719 votes respectively, while the others and NOTA accounted for 3,039 and 7,367 votes. In comparison to the 2014 assembly elections, the SDF's vote share came down by 7.21 per cent, while it rose by by 5.63 per cent for the SKM. The BJP's vote share increased marginally from 0.77 per cent to 1.62 per cent, while for the Congress, it went down from 1.44 per cent to 0.77 per cent.