Page 449 - Politics
LS Results: PM Modi's mother greets media outside residence
With trends showcasing BJP-led NDA's comfortable victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother Heeraben Modi on Thursday greeted media outside her residence here.Dressed in a white saree, Heeraben Modi greeted media with folded hands.As per the latest figures, BJP on its own is leading on over 290 seats across the country, and eyeing to beat its 2014 Lok Sabha election tally of 282.The BJP, whose campaign was spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on muscular nationalism and a strident anti-Congress plank, was leading in 292 seats, 20 seats more than the halfway mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Its allies Shiv Sena (20), JD-U (16) and Lok Janshakti Party (6) were also doing well in Maharashtra and Bihar.On the other side, the main challenger Congress was way behind BJP leading in only 51 seats. Its ally DMK has put up a good show leading in 22 of the 30 seats in Tamil Nadu. The Congress was leading in eight of the nine seats it contested ..
Sushma Swaraj praises PM Modi on Twitter
As counting of votes for 542 Lok Sabha seats is underway, Union Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday took to Twitter to praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi for helping Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lead in the Lok Sabha elections."Congratulations @narendramodi for helping BJP win big. On behalf of people, I extend my gratitude," BJP leader said in a tweet.Out of 542 parliamentary seats, the BJP is leading in 295 seats while the Indian National Congress is placed second in the list with 51 seats, as per official Election Commission trends.Prime Minister Narendra Modi is surging ahead in Varanasi with a margin of 1,12,476 votes, while BJP president Amit Shah is leading by 1,77,350 votes in Gandhinagar.With early trends in favour of the BJP, party workers and supporters burst into celebrations at various party offices as well as its headquarters in New Delhi.Workers distributed sweets, raised slogans and were seen dancing on the beats of drums at various places.Large scale orders for sweets
RLD faces tough fight from BJP in UP
The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which had entered into an alliance with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, is witnessing a tough fight on the three seats it is contesting in Uttar Pradesh. In Muzaffarnagar, RLD chief Ajit Singh is leading by a margin of 23,356 votes against Sanjeev Balyan of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Singh's son, Jayant Chowdhury, is trailing from Baghpat by a margin of 9,558 votes behind BJP candidate Satya Pal Singh. In Mathura, the BJP's Hema Malini has taken a lead of 67,793 votes over RLD's Kunwar Narendra Singh.
Rahul Gandhi's decisions led to divisions within the Opposition: CPI
Decisions taken by Rahul Gandhi led to divisions within the opposition, CPI national secretary Atul Kumar Anjaan said Thursday and asserted that the policies of the Congress scion opened the doors for Narendra Modi's victory. Riding on a massive Modi wave sweeping through most parts of India, the BJP was set to return to power Thursday as it led in 292 seats while the Congress trailed far behind with 50, according to trends released by the Election Commission for all 542 seats that went to polls. "The BJP fought these elections on the basis of social and religious divisive policies and the agenda was set by them on this basis. "But more significant is the fact that the unity of the opposition has been damaged by the Congress. The policies and decisions of Rahul Gandhi has weakened opposition unity, led to divisions and opened the doors for Modi's victory," the Communist Party of India national secretary said. If the trends stay until final results, the BJP would have improved on its ..
Pak successfully test-fires ballistic missile Shaheen-II capable of hitting India
Pakistan Thursday successfully test-fired surface-to-surface ballistic missile Shaheen-II, capable of hitting targets as far as 1,500 kilometers away, bringing major Indian cities under its range. The Pakistan Army said in a statement that the launch was aimed at ensuring operational readiness of the Army Strategic Forces Command. "Shaheen-II Missile is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads upto a range of 1,500 kilometers. Shaheen-II is a highly capable missile which fully meets Pakistan's strategic needs towards maintenance of desired deterrence stability in the region," the Army said. It said that the launch, having its impact point in the Arabian Sea, was witnessed by Director General Strategic Plans Division, Commander Army Strategic Forces Command, senior officers from the Army Strategic Forces Command, scientists and engineers of the strategic organisations. Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and Services Chiefs congratulated the scientists and ...
US confident about fairness, integrity of Indian polls, ready to work with the victor
Lauding the people of India and the fairness and integrity of the elections in the world's largest democracy, the US has said it will work with whoever is the victor in the polls. With 900 million eligible voters, the election for the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament was the largest vote the world has seen. More than 8,000 candidates from various political parties contested for 543 seats. "I would say from the US perspective, we are very confident in the fairness and the integrity of the Indian elections, and we will obviously work with whoever is the victor and whatever the outcome is there," State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus told reporters here on Wednesday. Unlike other countries, the US does not send its election observers to India because of the strong independent credentials of the Election Commission of India. "We have a very strong relationship and a lot of cooperation with the Indian government on a full range of issues, and the Secretary (of State, ...
Celebrations at BJP headquarters
Cheering to the slogans like 'Modi once again', 'Har Har Modi' and 'Vande Mataram', hundreds of BJP supporters burst into celebrations at the party headquarters here on Thursday as the Narendra Modi-led government appeared set to stage a thumping comeback.
Lok Sabha results 2019: BJP leading in 9 out of 11 seats in Chhattisgarh
Early trends in eleven Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh show the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leading in nine seats while Congress has taken the lead in two.Gomati Sai from the BJP is leading from Raigarh seat while the party candidate Sunil Kumar Soni is running in front from the Raipur seat.BJP candidates from Sarguja, Bilaspur, Janjgir-Champa, Kanker, Korba and Rajnandgaon are also racing ahead.The Indian National Congress (INC) on the other hand has managed to secure a lead in Bastar and Mahasamund constituencies.In 2014, BJP emerged as the winning party in the state by sweeping 10 out of the 11 Lok Sabha seats, and INC winning only the Durg seat.Congress had managed to wrest Chhattisgarh from BJP in the Assembly elections held in 2018 and had formed government easily after winning 68 of the 90 seats.The Lok Sabha polls that commenced on April 11 and wrapped up on May 19, saw approximately 900 million voters exercising their franchise and deciding the fate of 8040 candidates across
Union Minister Gen V.K. Singh leading by over 50K votes from Ghaziabad
Union Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gen. V.K. Singh was leading against alliance candidate Suresh Bansal by over 50,000 votes from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.
Ex-Union Minister, Congress candidate leads in Meghalaya
Former Union Minister Agatha Sangma and Congress candidate Vincent Pala were leading from the Tura and Shillong parliamentary seats in Meghalaya, vote count trends showed on Thursday.
Bengal: Trinamool ahead in 24 LS seats, BJP 17 (3rd Lead)
West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress led in 24 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state while the BJP made stunning inroads, with an unprecedented saffron surge in 17 constituencies after three hours of counting on Thursday.
BJP set to win all 4 seats in Himachal
The BJP is leading on all the four Lok Sabha seats of Himachal Pradesh, according to the latest Election Commission trends. In Shimla, BJP candidate Suresh Kashyap is leading with over 2,46,000 votes against Dhani Ram Shandil of the Congress, a state election officer said. Sitting BJP MP Anurag Thakur is leading with over 2,71,000 votes against Ram Lal Thakur of the Congress in Hamirpur. In Mandi, sitting BJP MP Ram Swaroop Sharma is leading with over 2,18,000 votes in Mandi against Aashray Sharma of the Congress. BJP candidate Kishan Kapoor is leading with over 3 lakh votes against Pawan Kajal of the Congress in Kangra. Observing the trends of counting, it seems BJP is all set to repeat its last time performance of winning all the four seats of the hill-state this time too.
Polls open in Britain for European Parliament elections
Voting got under way in Britain early on Thursday in elections to the European Parliament -- a contest the country had not expected to hold nearly three years after the Brexit referendum. Polls opened at 0600 GMT and will close at 2100 GMT, with the British results announced late Sunday once all 28 EU member states have completed their votes over the next four days.
Populists looking to cause upsets as EU elections begin
Populists are hoping to cause upsets across the EU as the European Parliament elections got under way on Thursday in polls that could challenge the Brussels consensus. Britain and the Netherlands kicked off four days of voting across the continent in a contest in which rising populist forces are hoping to make significant gains, threatening closer EU integration. Polls opened within half an hour of each other in the two countries early Thursday, with the first results not announced until late Sunday once voting in all 28 EU members has been completed. More than 400 million voters across the bloc are eligible to elect 751 MEPs -- with Britain unexpectedly included. Having voted to leave the EU in a seismic referendum in 2016, Britain was originally meant to depart on March 29 and therefore not take part in these elections. But its MPs have not been able to agree on a divorce deal and Britain now finds itself in the absurd situation of electing lawmakers to an institution it is planning
BJP parliamentary board to meet tomorrow, Modi's speech likely
With the BJP set to return to power, its parliamentary board is expected to meet Friday evening at the party headquarters where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to make a speech. Top party leaders, including BJP president Amit Shah and some senior Union ministers besides Modi, are members of the parliamentary board, its highest decision making body. The board is likely to pass a resolution to thank voters for their support and also hailing Modi's leadership. The prime minister is also expected to address party workers.
Nationalism narrative played big part in BJP win: CPI
The CPI Thursday said BJP's poll narrative centred on nationalism worked for the party in a big way in the Lok Sabha elections. "I think it looks like nationalism worked for them in northern states and Karnataka," CPI General Secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy told PTI commenting on the Lok Sabha poll outcome. "Nationalism worked (for the BJP)... points raised by opposition unemployment, price rise, and ommissions and commissions of the BJP did not stand before the nationalism, particularly northern states," he said. Reddy said lack of electoral understanding between the Left parties and the Congress helped the BJP make big gains in West Bengal. "There was polarisation between Trinamool and the BJP, as there was no understanding between the Congress and the Left. The 'friends' behind the Left who wanted to defeat the Trinamool went towards the BJP", he said. Asked if he thought the Left and the Congress should have fought the elections together in West Bengal, he said: ..
Amethi debates if it will be Smriti this time
It is barely 7 am as the Padmavat Express train chugs into the Gauriganj railway station, in Congress president Rahul Gandhi's Amethi Lok Sabha constituency. An animated discussion is on among the rickshawpullers outside the station on the possible election result here. Some porters sipping tea outside the main station place a friendly bet on the outcome for the seat, which till now was considered a bastion of the Gandhi family. But this time even hardcore Congress loyalists have felt the heat of the aggressive campaigning by the BJP for its candidate, Union minister Smriti Irani. A few hours later, counting trends released by the Election Commission showed Irani actually ahead of Gandhi. Amethi has remained the citadel of the Congress, but this time round, BJP's Smriti Irani is giving Rahul a run for his money," Congress supporters Ram Abhilash Dubey of Jais tells PTI. Though Dubey is confident of Rahul Gandhi's win, he feels the victory margin will come down, considering the all-out
Mufti drops to third position in Anantnag seat
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and People's Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti dropped down to the third position while National Conference's (NC) Hasnain Masoodi is leading from the Anantnag seat as of 11Indian National Congress' Ghulam Ahmad Mir is in the second spot and is giving a tough fight to the NC candidate in the counting phase.BJP has taken a lead in Jammu and Udhampur seats while NC's Farooq Abdullah is leading from Srinagar constituency, his fellow party leader is also in the lead from Baramulla seat.NC looks set to gain key constituencies from PDP in these elections while BJP is all set to retain its seats in 2019 with its party candidate Jamyang Tsering Namgyal giving a tough fight to Sajjad Hussain, the independent candidate who is in the lead from Ladakh.The Anantnag seat in South Kashmir is one of the most disturbed areas in the Kashmir valley and elections in the constituency were therefore conducted in three phases under maximum security of the armed ...
West Bengal: BJP making inroads by leading on 17 seats, TMC ahead on 24
BJP is making inroads in West Bengal by leading on 17 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats, according to Election Commission trends.Trinamool Congress of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is ahead on 24 seats, the trends showed.Congress is leading on one seat.In the 2014 general elections, BJP had won only two parliamentary constituencies, while TMC garnered 34 seats.Union Minister Babul Supriyo is ahead of actress-turned-politician Moon Moon Sen in Asansol Lok Sabha constituency by a margin of over 45,000 votes.Sitting MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of Congress is leading by over 8,000 votes in Baharampur seat against TMC's Apurba Sarkar.The Election Commission 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. A bust of iconic social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was vandalised at a college named after him.West Bengal went to polls in all seven phases from April 11 to ..
LS polls: BJP storming back to power comfortably, makes good gains in WB
The ruling BJP appeared to be storming back to power with a comfortable majority on its own for the second consecutive time and is set to cross the 300-mark along with its allies in the Lok Sabha.The BJP whose campaign was spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on muscular nationalism and a strident anti-Congress plank was leading in 292 seats, 20 seats more than the halfway mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Its allies Shiv Sena (20), JD-U (16) and Lok Janshakti Party (6) were also doing well in Maharashtra and Bihar.On the other side, the main challenger Congress was way behind BJP leading in only 51 seats. Its ally DMK has put up a good show leading in 22 of the 30 seats in Tamil Nadu. The Congress was leading in eight of the nine seats it contested in the state. The party was also doing well in Kerala where it was leading in 15 out of total 20 parliamentary seats.Prime Minister Modi was leading comfortably in Varanasi where he is seeking a second term while UPA ...