Page 420 - Politics
HP's two assembly seats headed for bypolls following elevation of two BJP MLAS to LS
With two Himachal MLAs, Suresh Kashyap from Pachhad MLA and Kishan Kapoor from Dharamshala, winning in the Lok Sabha polls here, by-elections for two assembly segments in the near future have become a forgone conclusion in the hill state. Pachhad MLA Kashyap won the Shimla Lok Sabha seat, while Dharamshala MLA Kishan Kapoor won the Kangra seat, giving rise to vacancies in their respective assembly segments. As per the provisions of electoral laws, a bypoll has to be held within six months of a seat falling vacant. Section 151(A) of the Representation of the People Act 1951 stipulates that a "by-election for filling any vacancy shall be held within a period of six months from the date of the occurrence of the vacancy." Pachhad MLA Kashyap won Shimla seat by 3,27,515 votes against his nearest rival Dhani Ram Shandil of the Congress. Kashyap polled 6,06,183 votes, while Shandil secured 2,78,668 votes. Kangra seat was won by Dharamshala MLA Kishan Kapoor by 4,77,623 votes against his ...
Delhi BJP candidates poll more votes than Cong, AAP combined
The BJP would have swept Delhi even if the AAP and the Congress had joined hands as both the Opposition parties combined got less votes than the saffron party. Even as the counting was underway in all the seven seats till late on Thursday evening, the BJP had secured more than 56 per cent of the votes, more than the combined vote share of the Congress (22.4 per cent) and the AAP (18.4 per cent). The BJP had bagged 46.4 per cent of the votes in 2014, winning all the seven seats. In West Delhi, sitting MP Parvesh Verma polled in a total of 8,61,146 votes, almost over 3.23 lakh votes more than the combined total of the AAP and the Congress. In North West Delhi constituency, singer-turned-politician Hans Raj Hans got 8,47,737 votes, almost 3.16 lakh votes more than the total votes his rivals from the Delhi's ruling party and the Congress got. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari received over 1.73 lakh votes more than what former chief minister and Congress veteran Sheila Dikshit and AAP's Dilip .
Regional parties in WB, AP, Odisha, TN, Telangana resist saffron surge
Regional parties from West Bengal, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have somehow managed to hold on to their turfs, bucking the trend of a nationwide surge of the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. The DMK appears to be sweeping Tamil Nadu and is set to bag 23 of the 23 seats in the state it contested. Five BJP Lok Sabha candidates in the state, including Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, appeared set for a crushing defeat, trailing by over 2.5 lakh votes. Radhakrishnan had won from Kanyakumari in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, defeating his nearest rival Vasanthakumar by 1,28,662 votes. Tamil Nadu BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan too is set to bite the dust in the port city of Tuticorin since the margin between her and the DMK candidate Kanimozhi has jumped to over 3.40 lakh votes. Senior BJP leader H Raja, known for his controversial remarks is behind Congress candidate Karti Chidambaram by a margin of over three lakh ballots in Sivaganga constituency. DMK's ally Congress ...
TMC has lost moral right to continue in office: BJP's Bengal
Lok Sabha poll results have sounded the death knell for Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal and Mamata Banerjee's party has lost the moral right to continue in office, BJP's state chief Dilip Ghosh said Thursday. In a dig, he said the TMC supremo should no longer dream of becoming prime minister, rather she should be concerned about saving her chief minister's chair. "The people of Bengal has given a verdict against TMC and its misrule in Bengal. The TMC has lost the moral right to continue in office. The people want to get rid of this government," Ghosh said. He himself is headed for a victory from the Midnapore seat. "People have given her a befitting reply for her arrogance. The way the opposition candidates and leaders were heckled, beaten up by TMC goons is unprecedented. The way TMC had conducted panchayat polls is a dark spot on democracy," he said. When asked whether the BJP would open its doors for TMC leaders, who would want to switch sides, Ghosh ...
Trinamool bags Kolkata Dakshin, Jangipur, Uluberia and Dum Dum
Trinamool Congress candidate Mala Roy won the Kolkata Dakshin Lok Sabha seat, the Election Commission said Thursday. Roy, who is the chairperson of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, defeated BJP's Chandra Kumar Bose, by a margin of 1,55,192 votes. Bose is the grandnephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Roy bagged 5,73,119 votes, while Bose managed 4,17,927 votes, the EC said here. Congress candidate Mita Chakraborty bagged 42,618 votes, while CPI(M)'a Nandini Mukherjee got 1,40,275 votes in her favour. A total of 14,824 people voted for NOTA in this Lok Sabha constituency. Meanwile, in Jangipur Lok Sabha seat, Trinamool Congress candidate Khalilur Rahman won by 2,45,782 votes. Rahman defeated his nearest rival Mafuja Khatun of the BJP. Rahman got a total of 5,62,838 votes, while Khatun got 3,17,056 votes, the EC said. Sitting MP Abhijit Mukherjee of the Congress was relegated to the third position. Mukherjee, son of former President Pranab Mukherjee got 2,55,836 votes. On ...
Chandrababu Naidu wins from Kuppam
: Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu won the Kuppam Assembly seat by a margin of 30,722 votes against his YSR Congress rival K Chandramouli, the Election Commission announced Thursday night. In 2014, his margin of victory against the same rival was 47,121 votes. Chandrababu bagged 1,00,146 votes of the total of 1,81,499 votes polled, while Chandramouli managed 69,424. Chandramouli is a retired IAS officer who served under Naidu as well. It was the seventh consecutive time that the TDP chief has won the Kuppam seat in his native Chittoor district though his victory margin has seen a decline over the years.
LS poll results: DMK president thanks cadre, TN people for 'resounding victory'
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin on Thursday thanked the people of Tamil Nadu, DMK cadres and alliance partners for the "resounding victory"."I thank people of TN for the resounding victory. I would like to thank DMK cadres and alliance partners for this victory," he said while addressing supporters here.He also said that he will go to former DMK president Karunanidhi's memorial and dedicate this victory to him."The only sorrow is that Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) is not here with us today. But I am happy that I am standing before Kalignar's statue and the statue of Anna who formed Kalaignar," he said.Acknowledging that there is still a difference in the Lok Sabha polls results and the by-poll results of the assembly seats, Stalin said, "There is still a difference in the by-poll results and the people in power now are trying to play tricks and to stop that we are taking all precautionary measures and are hopeful there will be a fair play."The DMK-led alliance in the ...
It was my failure to give direction that led to Cong' defeat in Goa : State Cong President Girish Chodankar
Taking responsibility of the Congress defeat in Goa, state Congress president Girish Chodankar said that "it is his failure to give direction" that led to the Congress defeat."I congratulate all winners and thank people of Goa and accept the mandate given by them. We won 1 Lok Sabha seat i.e. South Goa and 1 by-poll seat. I have lost my election in North Goa and we have lost key assembly by-elections. It was my failure to give direction to party workers that led to our defeat," said Chodankar.While North Goa BJP candidate and sitting MP Sripad Naik is leading over Girish Chodankar, BJP's South Goa candidate and sitting MP Narendra Sawaikar conceded defeat against Congress candidate Francisco Sardinha.Goa voted in the third phase of Lok Sabha Elections on April 23. There are two seats, North Goa and South Goa, with major parties being BJP, Congress and AAP.
TRS wins 5, BJP 2& Congress, MIM 1 each in Telangana LS polls
The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi won five Lok Sabha seats, the BJP two and the Congress one of the nine results declared so far. The Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led TRS was leading in four seats. The BJP and Congress were ahead two segments each. The results were seen as a setback to the TRS, which was looking to sweep the polls in the company of AIMIM-led by Asaduddin Owaisi, who won from Hyderabad by defeating his BJP rival Bhagavanth Rao. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee President N Uttam Kumar Reddy and BJP's Bandi Sanjay Kumar were elected from their respective constituencies. Kumar defeated B Vinod Kumar (TRS), who was deputy floor leader of the TRS in Lok Sabha, in Karimnagar by 89,508 votes. Uttam Kumar Reddy, currently a member of the Legislative Assembly from Huzurnagar, won the Nalgonda seat by a margin of 25,682 votes over his TRS rival V Narasimha Reddy. TRS nominee M Srinivas Reddy won Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha seat by 77,829 votes. He defeated BJP
Kharge suffers first electoral defeat in his career
In a huge setback to the Congress, veteran party leader Mallikarjun Karge was defeated by BJP's Umesh Jadhav in Gulbarga by a margin of 95,452 votes Thursday. Popularly known as "solillada Saradara", (a leader without defeat), this was the first electoral loss in Kharge's political life spanning several decades. While Jadhav secured 6,20,192 votes, Kharge got 5,24,740 votes, according to the Election Commission. Ahead of the polls, Jadhav had quit as Congress MLA and joined the BJP to contest the Lok Sabha election from Gulbarga. Jadhav was among the four MLAs against whom Congress had moved the Assembly Speaker for disqualification under anti-defection law. Following Jadhav's resignation as MLA, the congress had petitioned the Speaker not to accept his resignation as disqualification was pending against him. However, the speakerafter hearing both sides accepted his resignation as MLA. This election was considered as tough one for Kharge, a nine-time MLA and two-term Lok
DMK declared elected from 4 seats, Cong, CPI bag one each
The DMK won four Lok Sabha seats while its allies Congress and CPI bagged one each in the first results declared by the Election Commission in Tamil Nadu Thursday. According to the EC data, MDMK nominee A Ganeshamurthi, who contested on the 'Rising Sun' symbol of DMK, defeated AIADMK's G Manimaran by a margin of 2.10 lakh votes in Erode constituency. DMK candidate and son of former minister Ponmudy, Gautham Sigamani Pon defeated senior DMDK leader L K Sutheesh by a whopping 3.99 lakh votes in Kallakurichi. In Kancheepuram, DMK's G Selvam trounced AIADMK's K Maragatham by 2.86 lakh votes. Former Union Minister and senior DMK leader A Raja emerged the winner in Nilgiris (reserved) constituency by defeating nearest rival M Thiyagarajan of AIADMK by 2.05 lakh votes. Former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President Su Thirunavukkarasar was elected from Tiruchirappalli with a margin of 4.59 lakh votes, defeating DMDK's V Elangovan. CPI Tiruppur candidate K Subbarayan won by a ...
Iran says no talks with US 'under any circumstances'
Iran will not hold talks with the US "under any circumstances" while the rights of the Islamic republic are not respected, said an official quoted Thursday by state media. "We have said clearly... as long as the rights of our nation are not satisfied, as long as words don't change into action, our path will stay the same as now," said Keyvan Khosravi, spokesman of the Supreme National Security Council. "There will be no talks under any circumstances," he was quoted as saying by the official state news agency IRNA. Khosravi said there had been an uptick in official delegations travelling to Tehran from various capitals, although "most of them are coming on behalf of America". "Without exception we have responded with the message of the Iranian nation's strength, reason and resistance" in line with the policies of the Islamic republic, he added. Oman's Foreign Minister Yusef Bin Alavi arrived in Tehran on Monday followed by the German foreign ministry's political director Jens Plotner ..
BJP-Apna Dal bag 15 seats, leading in 49 in UP
The BJP and its ally Apna Dal (S) consolidated their position in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh by bagging 15 seats and leading in 49 others, while the rival SP-BSP alliance has won five seats and is leading in just 10 out of 80 seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi won from Varanasi seat defeating his nearest rival SP's Shalini Yadav by a huge margin of 4,79,505 votes, bettering his previous margin. While Modi got 6,74,664 votes, Shalini got 1,95,159 votes and Congress candidate Ajay Rai bagged 1,52,548 votes. In the 2014 general election, Modi had won by the margin of 3,71,784 votes from his nearest rival AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal. According to the trends available till 9 pm, the BJP has won 13 seats and its ally Apna Dal (S) two seats. The BSP was leading in six seats, SP in four and Congress in one seat, they said. In Aligarh, BJP's Satish Kumar Gautam defeated BSP candidate Ajeet Baliyan by 2,29,261 votes. R K Singh Patel of BJP defeated Shyama Charan Gupta (SP) by 58,938 ...
Agatha, Pala emerge victorious in Meghalaya
Former Union Minister and National People's Party (NPP) candidate Agatha Sangma has made her way back to national politics by winning the Tura Lok Sabha seat, while incumbent Congress MP Vincent Pala retained the Shillong seat on Thursday.
Patnaik thanks the people for their support
All set to form the government in Odisha for the fifth time in a row, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday thanked the people, particularly women, for their overwhelming support to BJD in the assembly polls. "I would like to express my deep gratitude to the people of our state who showered their blessings time and again on Biju Janata Dal," Patnaik told reporters as his party is again poised for a landslide victory in assembly election. "I want to thank particularly the women of Odisha who came out in large numbers to vote for us," the BJD president said while thanking the leaders and workers of the regional party. To a query on BJP candidates leading in several Lok Sabha constituencies, Patnaik said "I have congratulated them this morning. I rang up the prime minister to congratulate him." About BJD's role in national politics and its earlier policy of maintaining equal distance from both BJP and Congress, Patnaik said "Let us wait and see.
Modi struck chord with voters with nationalism talk: Mahajan
Elated over the BJP's spectacular victory in the general elections, outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan Thursday said it was for the first time in the country that elections were fought successfully on the issue of nationalism. The multiple-time MP from Indore said Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck a chord with the common people with his narrative woven around nationalism. The BJP has retained Indore, a traditional bastion of the party, with its nominee Shankar Lalwani defeating Congress's Pankaj Sanghvi by a staggering margin of 5,47,754 votes. Mahajan, 76, who has represented Indore in the Lok Sabha for eight times, had bowed out of the contest this time. Lalwani broke the record set by Mahajan in 2014 when she had won the seat with a margin of 4,66,901 votes. "This is for the first time in India that nationalism was put first in general elections. 'Bhartiyta' (Indianness) and nationalism were the two biggest issues in the elections," Mahajan told PTI. She ...
Populists eye upsets as Brexit-bound UK, Netherlands kick off EU elections
Voters in Brexit-bound Britain cast ballots Thursday at the start of 28-nation EU elections in which eurosceptic, anti-immigration forces have vowed to create a political earthquake that will shake the Brussels establishment. With Prime Minister Theresa May's resignation appearing imminent after she postponed a forlorn attempt to push her divorce deal through parliament, Britain joined the Netherlands in kicking off four days of voting across the continent. The elections were a surreal spectacle for a country that voted almost three years ago to leave the European Union, with May vowing on countless occasions to honour the result in time to avoid the election. The Brexit crisis mirrored deep divisions across the continent. Rising anti-establishment forces across the continent are bidding to make significant gains, in a threat to closer EU integration. More than 400 million European voters are eligible to elect 751 Members of the European Parliament, with the first results announced ...
Celebrations at BJP headquarters; 'Modi magic' all around
With the BJP set to return to power, the party's headquarters on Thursday wore a festive look with slogans of 'Modi, Modi' rending the air as jubilant workers danced and distributed sweets in celebration. No sooner the picture emerged about the astounding performance of the BJP in the afternoon, party workers started gathering at the headquarters on Deendayal Upadhyaya Marg atop which the saffron flag fluttered in the air. Many supporters, most wearing saffron clothes, burst crackers infront of the office, danced and distributed 'ladoos' and slogans of 'Modi, Modi' and 'Jai Shri Ram' reverberated in the air. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party towards a super-sized victory for a second term in office, as his message of nationalism, security, Hindu pride and a New India was wholeheartedly embraced by voters across large swathes of the country. With the elections establishing the 68-year-old Modi as the most popular leader in decades, the partial vote
N Chandrababu Naidu accepts defeat, says will review after final results
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday accepted his defeat in the Lok Sabha elections and said the people's mandate should be respected."First of all, in a democracy, after the counting takes place, we should respect the mandate. We will hold a review after the final results are out," Naidu told reporters here.He also congratulated YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy for securing a clean mandate in both Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.In the assembly polls, YSR Congress is leading on 135 seats and has won 14 seats while Telugu Desam Party could secure a lead on only 23 seats and has won only two seats till the filing of this story."I would like to congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for their respective win," he said. When asked about the EVMs and VVPATs issue, the TDP chief refused to comment on it."Thanking all workers who worked for the party, also thanking people who blessed the TDP," he said.In the Lok ...
Upbeat after LS results, BJP to wait and watch Cong-JDS
The BJP in Karnataka Thursday said it would "wait" and see how the ruling coalition partners, the Congress and JDS, would spar in public before deciding its next step following its spectacular electoral feat in the Lok Sabha polls in the state. As the BJP swept the Lok Sabha polls casting shadow on the coalition, an upbeat state party chief B SYeddyurappa said the Congress and the JD(S) have to decide their future course of action. "The decision has to be taken by the leaders of Congress and JD(S). We will first wait to see how the two coalition partners fight and spar in public and then we will see what can be done next," Yeddyurappa told reporters here. Yeddyurappa thanked the people of Karnataka for creating history by casting a record 54 per cent votes to BJP, which had never happened with any political party in the past. "In the political history of India, that too in SouthIndia, BJP won 25 seats for the first time. In North Karnataka, coastal and the Malnad region .