Page 430 - Politics
Triumph of national forces: RSS on BJP poll victory
Describing the landslide victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA as a "triumph of national forces", the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Thursday expressed that India has again got a stable government.
BJP-Apna Dal bag 3 seats, leading in 59 seats in UP
Maintaining its grip on Uttar Pradesh, the BJP along with its ally Apna Dal has bagged three seats and is leading in 59 others, while the rival SP-BSP alliance has won one seat and is leading in just 16 out of 80 seats. Congress had little to show and was in contention only in Rae Bareli where UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is leading by 1.66 lakh votes. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is trailing by nearly 40,000 votes against BJP's Smriti Irani, according to Election Commission website. According to the trends available till 7 pm, the BJP won Bahraich and Gorakhpur seats, while Apna Dal wrested Roberstganj. The BSP won Nagina Lok Sabha seat. The BJP drew first blood when Akshyawar Lal defeated his nearest SP-BSP-RLD alliance nominee Shabbir Balmiki in Bahraich by over 1.28 lakh votes. Sitting MP Savitri Bai Phule, who had switched sides to the Congress from BJP, got 34,383 votes and stood third. She also lost her security deposit. Gorakhpur seat was wrested by BJP's Ravi Kishan, ...
National results disappointing, Kerala exemplar of Congress' politics: Shashi Tharoor
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday expressed disappointment over the poor performance of Congress at a national level while also hailing the party's performance in Kerala as the 'exemplar of Congress' politics".In Kerala, Congress is leading on 15 seats and trailing on one."Since 1997, we never had such a good result in Kerala. We are winning 19 and we may as well all 20 seats. The state has become an exemplar for what the politics of the Congress nationally could be. I just hope we will be able to build from the very disappointing result nationally because ours is the right message for future growth and prosperity in India", Tharoor told ANI.He also accused BJP of running a blatantly communal campaign in the state and said, "BJP is not winning even single seat in the state. Confident of winning on Sabarimala issue, BJP ran a nakedly communal campaign; they had nothing constructive to offer."He also criticised the five-year rule of BJP and said, "Last five years were disastrous.
Protect secular, democratic India, CPM urges people
After suffering the rout in Lok Sabha elections, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) on Thursday passed a resolution, urging the people to safeguard the secular and democratic republic India."The politburo has appealed to the people to safeguard the secular democratic, constitutional republic of India and come forward to protect the people's rights," said CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury while briefing media persons.CPM has suffered a severe setback in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls with leading in just one seat of Alappuzha in Kerala as per the latest counting trends available on the Election Commission of India (ECI) website.When asked to comment on the party's dismal performance, Yechury said: "The politburo will again meet on May 26-27 and do a proper analysis of the final results. Till now we have only got early trends and not the final results."When asked who will take the responsibility for the party's defeat in its stronghold of West Bengal and Kerala, Yechury .
Stalin congratulates Modi
DMK President M.K.Stalin on Thursday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his electoral victory in the Lok Sabha elections.
BJP gains from polarisation strategy in Bengal border areas
In an indication that it has benefitted from communal polarisation, the BJP on Thursday came up with a stunning performance in the West Bengal Lok Sabha constituencies close to the India-Bangladesh border which have a substantial minority vote.
Modi magic sweeps Lok Sabha, opposition crushed (National) (Fifth Lead)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led the BJP to a stunning victory in the Lok Sabha battle, with the ruling party itself set to win 303 seats in a marked improvement over its 2014 showing that left the opposition dazed and demoralized.
No Congress MPs in 18 states/UTs, half-a-dozen ex-CMs bite dust
If one drives from Jammu and Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, one will not find a Congress MP in half-a-dozen of states. The party has scored a nil in 18 states and union territories in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress losers include eight chief ministers and the party's leader in the Lok Sabha.
LS polls: Defeat was "unexpected," says Kerala CM
Hours after the poll trends indicated massive rout of the ruling-LDF in the Lok Sabha polls in Kerala, Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the defeat was "unexpected" even as the Congress demanded his resignation on moral grounds. Vijayan, who issued a release instead of meeting the media after the setback, said his party would examine in detail the factors which led to the dismal performance. "It was the political stand taken by the LDF that resulted in BJP failing to get any seats in the state. The opposition of the people of the state to the BJP government at the Centre has become favourable for the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls in the state," the Chief Minister said, adding his party would examine in detail how the anti-BJP mood helped the Congress. Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, who led the party to an impressive win in the state despite being defeated in rest of the country said Vijayan was theGorbachev of Indian communist party. "He (Pinarayi) is ...
Smriti Irani tweets inspirational poem after Rahul Gandhi concedes defeat in Amethi
Union minister Smriti Irani, termed a 'giant-slayer' by many after managing an unbeatable lead over Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, quoted a line from a famous poem to assert that nothing was impossible. "Kaun kehta hai aasmaan mein suraakh nahin ho sakta," she tweeted. The line is taken from an inspirational poem of famous Hindi poet Dushyant Kumar. Her tweet came immediately after Gandhi conceded defeat in Amethi and congratulated Irani. The 43-year-old BJP leader took the political hotbed of Amethi by storm after trends indicated that she was heading for a win in the Gandhi-stronghold. Gandhi had also contested the Lok Sabha election from Wayanad in Kerala, a decision political pundits believed was widely influenced by the tough fight Irani posed to him in his home turf. The Gandhi scion had defeated her in Amethi in 2014 by a margin of 1.07 lakh votes.
Telangana Cong chief wins, TRS bags one seat
Ruling TRS, Congress and BJP won one seat each with the regional party leading in eight others as the counting of votes in the Lok Sabha elections picked up pace in Telangana Thursday. Telangana Rashtra Samiti's M Srinivas Reddy, state Congress chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy and BJP's Bandi Sanjay Kumar were elected from their respective constituencies, according to the Election Commission data. Sanjay Kumar defeated B Vinod Kumar (TRS), who was the deputy floor leader of the party in Lok Sabha,in Karimnagar by over 89,000 votes. Uttam Kumar Reddy, currently a member of the state assembly from Huzurnagar, won the Nalgonda seat by a margin of more than 25,000 votes over his TRS rival V Narasimha Reddy. Srinivas Reddy won Mahbubnagar Lok Sabha seat by over 77000 votes. He defeated BJP candidate and former minister D K Aruna who switched over the Amit Shah-led party from the Congress just before the polls from Congress. As per the trends at 6 pm, TRS is leading in eight ...
Amarinder congratulates Modi on 'impressive victory' in LS polls
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Thursday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party's "impressive victory" in Lok Sabha polls, saying people of the country are looking towards PM and the new NDA government for a better tomorrow. Modi led his Bharatiya Janata Party towards what is certain to be a resounding victory for a second term in office. "Congratulations@narendramodi ji on your impressive victory. India's 1.3 billion people look to you and the new NDA government for a better tomorrow. I wish you all the best for meeting their aspirations and ushering all round and inclusive progress in the country," Singh tweeted. However, in Punjab, the Congress is continuing to maintain the lead over eight of the state's 13 parliamentary constituencies. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the Congress in Punjab had won three seats.
Cong set to win 8 seats in Punjab; SAD, BJP 2 each; AAP 1
The Congress is set to improve its tally in Punjab to eight seats, while the SAD-BJP combine and the Aam Aadmi Party are leading in four and one seats, respectively. The Shiromani Akali Dal, which was looking to resurrect itself in the polls following the backlash over the issue of desecration of religious scriptures, is set to register victory from Ferozepur and Bathinda seats. SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal has gained an unassailable lead of 1.98 lakh votes from Ferozepur against the Congress' Sher Singh Ghubaya. Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal is also set to win from Bathinda for the third time as she is leading by 21,399 votes over Congress candidate Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. The BJP is set to win Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur seats. Actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol is leading by 77,000 votes against state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar. In Hoshiarpur, BJP candidate and former bureaucrat Som Prakash is leading by 46,993 votes, as per the EC trends. The Aam Aadmi Party appears to ..
"Tote tote" fame singer Hans Raj gets 3rd time lucky in politics; set to win North West Delhi
Leading by a record margin of over 5.5 lakh votes, singer-turned-politician Hans Raj Hans is all set to get third time lucky in his political career and is poised to clinch the North West Delhi seat. Hans made his political debut with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and contested the Lok Sabha elections from Jalandhar in 2009, but faced defeat. He later shifted his allegiance to Congress but quit the party after his name was dropped at the eleventh hour in favour of former Punjab Congress chief Shamsher Singh Dullo for Rajya Sabha. "I have always been overwhelmed with the response I got from public as an artist. I am glad the same has happened with me as a politician too. The Modi wave certainly helped as people have faith in his leadership and the work done by his government," he told PTI. If Hans's victory is spectacular, his nomination was no less dramatic. He was named the party candidate from the seat barely few hours before the deadline for filing of nomination process ended. The ...
Guj: BJP's Kundariya wins in Rajkot, party ahead elsewhere too
BJP candidate from Rajkot constituency, Mohan Kundariya, defeated his nearest rival, Congress nominee and MLA Lalit Kagathara, by over 3.68 lakh votes. It was the first result to be declared from Gujarat, as the BJP looked set to win all 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state. BJP president Amit Shah was leading by over 5.55 lakh votes against Congress' C J Chavda in Gandhinagar. The BJP's Navsari candidate, C R Patil, has expanded his lead to 6.77 lakh, highest across 26 constituencies. Patil had won 2014 Lok Sabha election from Navsari by 5.58 lakh votes. Vadodara candidate Ranjan Bhatt is leading by over 5.75 lakh votes against Congress candidate Prashant Patel. Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory margin from Vadodara in 2014 was 5.70 lakh. Modi later vacated the seat and retained Varanasi. In Surat, BJP's Darshana Jardosh has gained a lead of 5.47 lakh over Congress candidate Ashok Patel. This apart, BJP candidates are leading by over 3 lakh votes inValsad, ...
Modi drops 'Chowkidar' from Twitter handle
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday dropped the 'Chowkidar' (watchman) prefix from his official Twitter handle and urged BJP leaders to do the same.
Kerala, TN, Punjab account for half of Congress seats
Of the 50 Lok Sabha seats where the Congress is set to win, Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu accounted for 31, according to Election Commission data.
Gadkari flight diverted to Lucknow due to bad weather
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who was flying to the national capital to attend the party meeting after its stupendous victory in general elections, could not land because of bad weather as his plane was diverted to Lucknow Thursday, his office said. The special flight is now en route to Lucknow and he is likely to return to Delhi whenever Airport Traffic Controller (ATC) gives clearance, the office said. The BJP had called a meeting of the party's parliamentary after results and trends showed it storming back to power with an absolute majority on its own. The aircraft was priority No.1 for landing when it was approaching Delhi from Nagpur, sources said. The pilot attempted landing but due to strong transverse winds couldn't land, waited for some more time before deciding to divert to Lucknow, they said. Throughout this period Gadkari's aircraft was priority No.1 for landing and no other aircraft landed during this time. Gadkari himself leading by a margin of 1.59
Mixed bag for Pawars: Sule takes decisive lead, Parth trails
The trends for Lok Sabha elections have so far hinted at a mixed bag for the Sharad Pawar clan in Maharashtra. While Supriya Sule, daughter of the NCP chief and sitting MP from Baramati in Pune district, has taken a lead of 1,54,994 votes over her BJP rival Kanchan Kool, Pawar's grandnephew Parth is trailing by 2,15,575 votes in Maval constituency. Parth is pitted against Shiv Sena stalwart Shrirang Barne. He is a son of senior NCP leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. The NCP had turned the Maval contest into a prestige battle with Ajit Pawar himself camping in the constituency in the run-up to elections. A senior NCP leader said lack of organisational base in the constituency and delay in announcement of the party nominee cost the party the seat. In neighbouring Shirur constituency, NCP's Dr Amol Kolhe is ahead of his Shiv Sena rival and sitting MP Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil.
In a first, BJP set to win Tripura's 2 Lok Sabha seats (2nd Lead)
For the first time, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is on the verge of winning of Tripura's two Lok Sabha seats, where the counting of votes is nearing completion, poll officials said on Thursday.