Page 399 - Politics
197 sitting MPs retain seats in 2019 LS polls
A total of 197 sitting MPs, including 27 women parliamentarians, from the 2014 Lok Sabha polls have managed to retain their seats this general election. Kiren Rijiju, Jual Oram, Raja Mohan Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Babul Supriyo are among over 145 sitting BJP MPs from across the country who have retained their seats. Bihar saw 12 BJP MPs successfully retesting their fate, while Congress' Supaual MP lost. The Congress had also fielded former BJP MP from Patna Sahib, Shatrughan Sinha, but he could not retain the seat. Two sitting MPs were nominated by the JD(U), while three were fielded by LJP. All five of them won. Three RJD MPs were also renominated from the state, but had to face defeat. Five sitting MPs retained their constituencies with record margins in the national capital. In Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had renominated nine of its MPs, but could retain only two of the seats, including Vijaywada and Guntur. The YSR Congress party retained the Kadapa and Rajampet ..
China welcomes Modi-Imran exchange of greetings;
China Friday welcomed the exchange of greetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan, expressing hope that two neighbours will continue to show goodwill, meet each other "half way" and resolve their differences through dialogue. Khan Thursday congratulated Modi on his electoral triumph and expressed desire to work with him for peace and prosperity in South Asia. Modi responded by saying, "I warmly express my gratitude for your good wishes. I have always given primacy to peace and development in our region. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told the media that China has noted the interaction between the two leaders. "We welcome that," he said. "Both the countries are important countries in South Asia. Peace and harmony between both sides will serve the fundamental interests of both countries and common aspiration of the international community," he said. "The two sides can continue to show goodwill, meet each other half way and resolve .
Kamal Haasan extends best wishes to BJP
Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan Friday extended his best wishes to the BJP for its massive mandate in the Lok Sabha polls, but expressed joy that Tamil Nadu had bucked the national trend. He also refuted allegations from some quarters that his party was a "B-team" of the BJP, saying such accusations were insulting and called his MNM "the A-team of honesty." Addressing a press meet here, the actor-politician extended his "best wishes" to both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and DMK chief M K Stalin, to the latter for leading his party-led alliance to a sweep by winning 37 of the 38 seats. The BJP's win is the "people's verdict but I am happy that it is not the Tamil Nadu people's verdict," Haasan said. "Tamil Nadu has spoken up. They have not followed the (national) line. They have been individualistic and have clearly stated their standpoint and they stood for Tamil Nadu. I am proud of my people," he said. The Modi-led BJP had swept the 16th Lok Sabha polls ...
M K Alagiri congratulates Modi on his victory
Former Union Minister and expelled DMK leader M K AlagiriFriday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on being elected for the second term. In his message, Alagiri said, 'I congratulate you on your second term as Prime Minister afterthe successive victory." "We expect you to continue with the developmental works and implement them. We also expect you to undertake future developmental programmes and take the country forward. We wish you all the best and success in your efforts to develop the country," he said.
LS polls: NDA wins 352 seats, BJP crosses 300 mark
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 allies the NDA took its tally up to 351 in the 17th Lok Sabha.The biggest chunk of the BJP contingent will come from UP where the party secured 62 seats overcoming a formidable challenge of the grand alliance of SP-BSP-RLD combine.The party, which had swept the 2014 elections garnering 71 seats, was expected to lose considerably but the BJP proved its detractors wrong by virtually repeating its performance now. The party lost only nine seats now, which it has made up for handsomely by winning an impressive 18 seats in West Bengal and 8 in Odisha.Ally Apna Dal won 2 seats in Uttar Pradesh, the same number it had won last time.The NDA complement of 352 comprises 303 of BJP, 18 of Shiv Sena, 16 of JD(U), 6 of Lok Janshakti Party, 2 each of Akali Dal and Apna Dal and 1 each of All Jharkhand Students Union, Loktantrik Party,
BJP sets new record for highest victory margin in five seats in Delhi
The BJP which swept all the seven seats in Delhi, set new records in five constituencies where its candidates defeated their opponents with the highest margins ever. Parvesh Verma, the sitting MP from the West Delhi constituency, won a second term with a record-breaking margin of 5.78 lakh votes. The runner-up, Congress's Mahabal Mishra, got 2,87,162 votes. Verma broke his own record for the highest victory margin in Delhi. In 2014, he had trounced his closest rival, Jarnail Singh of the AAP, by a margin of 2,68,586 votes. This time, he got 8,65,648 of the total 14,41,601 votes polled in the seat. The BJP candidate from the Northwest Delhi (reserved) seat, Hans Raj Hans, clobbered his closest rival, Gugan Singh of the AAP, with an emphatic margin of 5,53,075 votes, a record in the constituency. The singer-turned-politician got 8,48,663 of the total 14,02,962 votes, while Singh could garner only 2,94,766. In 2014, Udit Raj had won the seat on a BJP ticket by a margin of 1,06,802 ...
Five sitting BJP MPs retain their seats in Delhi
Five sitting BJP MPs retained their seats with record margins as the saffron party swept all seven seats in Delhi in the Lok Sabha polls. The party had renominated five of its sitting MPs and fielded two new candidates - singer-turned-politician Hans Raj Hans and cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir. Delhi BJP Chief Manoj Tiwari retained the North East Delhi seat by defeating Congress veteran and former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit by a margin over 3.6 lakh votes. BJP's West Delhi MP Parvesh Singh Verma broke his own record of 2014 of winning with the highest margin in Delhi. This time he won with a margin 5,78,486 votes. Incumbent New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi also won the seat by a margin of over 2.5 lakh votes defeating Congress' Ajay Maken. South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri and Chandni Chowk MP Harsh Vardhan also retained their seats by a margin of 3.67 lakh votes and 2.28 lakh votes respectively. Riding high on the Modi wave, the BJP made a clean sweep in the national capital ..
SP cancels appointment of all TV panellists
The Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav Friday sacked its panel of leaders who act as its spokespersons on television channels. "The appointment of all party panellists has been cancelled on the directives of national president Akhilesh Yadav," SP's chief spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury said. He said no channel should invite any of them for debates. The order follows the poor performance of the SP in the Lok Sabha elections.
China keen to work with re-elected PM Modi to further deepen bilateral ties
China on Friday said it attaches high importance to its bilateral relations with India and is keen to work with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deepen the political trust and mutual cooperation for closer partnership. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the elections in India were concluded smoothly and referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory message to Prime Minister Modi, who was re-elected Thursday in a stunning victory in the general elections. "China and India are important neighbours to each other. We are major developing countries and emerging markets. Last year, the Wuhan Summit between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi directed the future for our bilateral relations and opening up a new prospect," Lu told the media here. "Now one year later, progress has been made in our bilateral relations and cooperation. China attaches high importance to our bilateral relations and like to work with India to deepen our political mutual trust and mutual ...
Lok Sabha to have more number of Muslim MPs as 27 emerge victorious
The number of Muslim MPs in the Lok Sabha has increased to a decade high of 27, up from 23 last time, with a dozen of them winning from Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal even as none of the six Muslim candidates fielded by BJP tasted victory. Registering an emphatic win, BJP-led NDA has won the general elections with a thumping majority and the party alone has won 303 seats. National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, AIMIM's outspoken chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Samajwadi Party's Azam Khan are among the high profile Muslim candidates who have won the polls. Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, which have considerable Muslim population, have six candidates each from the community to the Lok Sabha. Kerala and Jammu & Kashmir have three Muslim MPs each while Assam and Bihar have two each. There is one MP each from the community from Punjab, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Lakshadweep and Telangana. Among the political parties, Trinamool Congress has five Muslim MPs, followed by four of Congress. ...
In eight seats, VBA polled more votes than winning margins
The Vanchit Bahujan Agadhi (VBA) of Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi may have damaged the prospects of Congress-NCP alliance in eight Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, the victory margins of Shiv Sena-BJP candidates show. The saffron alliance won 41 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. The Congress won one, the NCP won four. The VBA, which contested all 48 seats in the state after alliance talks with the Congress failed, is likely to have eaten into Congress-NCP votes in many places. In eight seats -- Akola, Buldhana, Gadchiroli-Chimur, Hatkanangle, Nanded, Parbhani, Sangli and Solapur -- victory margins of BJP-Sena candidates were lower than the votes polled by VBA candidates. In Hingoli, Latur, Yavatmal-Washim, Beed and Nashik, the contest could have been very close had the VBA not been in the fray. AIMIM's Imitiaz Jaleel, a journalist-turned-MLA, won from Aurangabad, defeating Shiv Sena's Chandrakant Khaire. But elsewhere the VBA ...
Odisha Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik resigns
Odisha Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik on Friday tendered his resignation to party president Rahul Gandhi after the party managed to win just nine Assembly seats in the state while only one of its Lok Sabha candidates won in the state."I tried my best, tried to put in the hard work but I have failed," Patnaik told reporters here claiming moral responsibility for the party's poor performance."I was also fighting in the elections and faced a debacle along with the party. I take moral responsibility and relinquish this job, I have communicated this to the AICC president. The fact that it has happened throughout India does not matter, moral responsibility is a personal thing," he said.Pointing out that his party had won less seats in the state assembly elections held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.He, however, pointed out that the addition of new faces in the party in Odisha was a positive sign."Getting a few more Lok Sabha seats is not enough, we got less in the assembly ...
The Congress-JD(S) government in fine health: Dinesh Gundurao
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Working President Dinesh Gundurao on Friday expressed confidence that the coalition government of Congress and JD(S) in Karnataka will stay its course and take everybody together going forward."All MLAs are with us, there shouldn't be any problem. No persuasion is required. Everybody is with us. We are confident that senior leader Siddaramaiah and Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy both will take up the responsibility of managing the government affairs well," he said after the BJP routed the ruling coalition in the Lok Sabha elections.The BJP won 25 of the 28 seats along with an Independent backed by it just leaving one seat each to Congress and JD(S)."The entire cabinet has discussed many issues and the coordination between both parties is fine," Rao said.BJP is the single largest party with 105 members in the 225 member assembly while the ruling coalition has 117 members with 79 legislators from Congress, 37 from JD(S) and 1 from BSP.
Grandson Revanna offers to quit, wants Deve Gowda to re-contest from Hassan
Newly-elected Janata Dal-Secular JD (S) MP Prajwal Revanna on Friday offered to resign from Hassan Lok Sabha seat to get his grandfather H D Deve Gowda re-elected."To reinstate the confidence of JD(S) cadre, we have to fill the gap left by the defeat of HD Deve Gowda. Therefore, I have decided to tender my resignation. I want him to be victorious once again from Hassan," Prajwal told reporters here.Former Prime Minister Deve Gowda vacated Hassan seat to field his grandson Revanna from there, and himself contested from Tumkur, which he lost to BJP's GS Basavaraj by over 12,000 votes.Gowda's grandson, however, won the party's bastion with a whopping margin of 1.41 lakh votes against BJP's A Manju.Revanna is the only JD(S) candidate who was able to win his seat in Karnataka. His decision to resign is yet to be approved by the party or his grandfather former Prime Minister Gowda.Prajwal stated he had a long political career, but Deve Gowda's presence in the Lok Sabha was important for the
Bypolls, cabinet rejig on cards in UP after LS polls
The Lok Sabha polls results are out but the election season is far from over in Uttar Pradesh as 11 of its MLAs making it to the Lok Sabha will lead to bypolls on assembly seats falling vacant. Of the 13 MLAs, who were in the fray, 11 have won the polls. The legislators who contested the Lok Sabha polls included nine BJP MLAs, with four of them being state ministers, two Samajwadi Party members and one each from the BSP and the Apna Dal. The section 151 A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 stipulates that a bye-election has to be held within six months of a seat falling vacant in an assembly or Lok Sabha. Of the four ministers, except Mukut Bihari Verma, who lost from Ambedkar Nagar, three others won the poll. They included Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Allahabad, Satyadev Pachauri from Kanpur and SP Singh Baghel from Agra. Among the BJP legislators, RK Singh Patel won the Banda Lok Sabha seat. He is a legislator from Manikpur assembly seat in the same parliamentary ...
Bengal sends 6 Muslims to Lok Sabha, 2 less from 2014
West Bengal is sending six Muslims to the 17th Lok Sabha -- two less than the last general election.
Urgent need for reunification of the Left: CPI
With the Left parties turning in their worst-ever performance in Lok Sabha elections in over six decades, veteran Communist leader Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy Friday raised the pitch for their reunification. Reddy, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI), said his party has always been suggesting that the unity of the Left movement is the need of the hour and still feels so. "Of course, that's not the only solution (to revive the Left). That will give more confidence among the ranks of Left movement in the country," he told PTI. Asked if there was a need to give a push to the efforts of reunification following the debacle of the Left in the elections, Reddy said: "Yes, all the Left parties should think of it. There is an urgent need to rethink at the earliest." He said the Left parties were not expecting such a "disastrous results" in the Lok Sabha elections, and were hoping to get 15-20 seats. The Left is down to five seats in the Lok Sabha -- three CPI-M .
BJP's vote share in Haryana surges; Cong too records marginal increase
The BJP's stupendous performance in Haryana, where it won all 10 Lok Sabha seats, saw its vote share surge to 58 per cent as compared to 34.7 per cent in 2014. The Congress, which failed to open its account in the state this time, too saw its vote share increase marginally as the state's other major party INLD was virtually wiped out. According to data made available by the Election Commission, the BJP's vote share in the 2019 polls was nearly 58.02 per cent as against Congress's 28.42 per cent. The Congress's vote share in 2014 parliamentary polls was 22.9 per cent and in 2019, despite losing all the 10 seats, the party saw a slight increase in its vote share. However, it was way below 41.77 per cent what the party enjoyed in 2009. The BJP, which won seven of the eight Lok Sabha seats it had contested in 2014, had managed to get a vote share of 34.7 per cent as compared to 17.21 per cent in 2009 when it failed to win any seat. In 2014, the Congress, which was ruling the state at that
Worried that ideology of Gandhi's assassin has won: Digvijay Singh
Smarting under the huge defeat at the hands of sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister on Friday said he was worried that the ideology of the killer of Mahatma Gandhi has won and the ideology of the father of the nation has lost.Addressing a press conference, he said "As per the traditions of Indian democracy, I accept this mandate of people but I am worried about only one thing that today in this country, the ideology of the killer of Mahatma Gandhi won and the ideology of Gandhi lost."Singh was apparently referring to the hugely controversial statement Thakur made last week that the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, was a true patriot, a statement over which she was forced to apologise by the party.He wondered what 'magic wand' did the BJP have to win such a rousing mandate."It is very astonishing that in 2014 the campaign slogan was 280-plus and they achieved it. In these elections, their slogan was 300-plus and they achieved it too. What magic ...
Delhi HC issues notice to EC on plea for de-registration of political parties with religious connotations
The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the response of the Election Commission on a plea seeking a direction to the poll body to de-register political parties with religious, caste, ethnic or linguistic connotations if they fail to rename within three months.A division bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anup Bambani also issued a notice to the Centre on the petition filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay and slated the matter for hearing on July 17.The court asked the petitioner to file an affidavit providing additional grounds for his contention.In his plea, Upadhyay, citing the examples of Hindu Sena, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Indian Union Muslim League and others, said that there are many parties with religious, caste, ethnic and linguistic connotations.The petition sought a direction to the EC to de-register such parties if they fail to rename within three months.It also pleaded that flags of political parties should be reviewed to ensure that they are not ...