Page 460 - Politics
Confident of victory, BJP in Tgana starts Laddoo preparation
Anticipating the party-led NDA's victory at the national level in the Lok Sabha elections as forecast by exit polls, the BJP in Telangana is making preparations for celebrations on Thursday. BJP sources said "laddoos" were being prepared in the kitchen attached to its office here Wednesday for distribution among party activists and supporters who are expected to throng it. The votes polled in the elections are to be counted Thursday. The forecast of return of the Modi government by the exit polls have made BJP leaders and workers upbeat here. Most exit polls predicted another term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with some of them projecting BJP-led NDA will get more than 300 seats to comfortably cross the majority mark of 272 in the Lok Sabha. However, they have not given much seats for BJP in Telangana, where the ruling TRS has been tipped to retain its hold.
BJP headquarters all geared up for D-day
The sprawling central office of BJP here is all decked up for the D-day, that is, May 23, when the party is expecting a favourable result after most of the exit polls have predicted a massive victory for it in the Lok Sabha polls.A separate media stand has been created from where the party leaders will put forth their views during the counting of votes. Several BJP leaders will be present in the party headquarters from 8 am onwards on May 23.According to sources, as soon as trends start showing a favourable result, top party leaders will also come to the office."If the results are announced on time, then Prime Minister Narendra Modi may also come to the party headquarters in the evening," they said.Sources said that there are arrangements to welcome Modi and BJP president Amit Shah by showering flower petals on them.
NIA files charge-sheet against 4 ISJK terrorists
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed charge-sheet against four accused at Special NIA court here in connection with a case related to attack on a police party at the tourist reception centre at Srinagar last year. The accused are said to be the active cadres of Islamic State Jammu & Kashmir (ISJK), a Kashmir based terrorist affiliate of the proscribed International terrorist organization ISIS.The Charge-sheet has been filed under the relevant section of law including Arms Act and Explosive Substance Act.Last year on November 24, terrorist belonging to the Islamic State of Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK) attempted an attack on police party at tourist reception centre in Srinagar, following which Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested three accused immediately. Those arrested have been identified as Tahir Ahmad Khan of Pulwama, Haris Mushtaq Khan of Budgam and Asif Suhail Nadaf of Srinagar.During their search, two pistols, fourteen live rounds and three hand grenades were ...
No place of violence in democracy: Giriraj Singh
Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Wednesday said that there is no place of violence in democracy."There is no place of violence in democracy. The society had earlier neglected those who raised weapons and it will not accept such people as well," he told ANI.Giriraj remarks came after Ramchandra Singh Yadav, former MLA and an independent candidate from Buxar Lok Sabha seat, displayed his licensed weapon at a press meet.Responding to a comment of RLSP president Upendra Kushwaha, Singh said: "This is a voice of frustration and impending defeat. People accept their defeat. This is the beauty of our democracy. And those who would not accept defeat will be rejected by people."Earlier, Kushwaha had said: "We got the news that a vehicle laden with EVMs was caught. We want to say that people are getting angry. If this continues, then there will be blood on the streets. Karpoori Thakur used to say that to protect the sanctity of votes, the people should be prepared to pick up arms."Singh is ...
Laddoo cake, special kamal barfi to add colour to BJP celeberations, if...
Laddoo-cake and special 'pista badam Kamal barfi' has been ordered to reach the BJP party office on Thursday as part of celebrations with the ruling party expecting a big victory in the results of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Union min Vijay Goel prays at Bapu's memorial for 'sanity' to opposition leaders questioning EVMs
Union minister Vijay Goel Wednesday held a prayer meeting at Mahatma Gandhi's memorial here for "sanity" to opposition parties, saying they were raising questions over EVMs sensing their defeat in the Lok Sabha polls. It is "ironical" that EVMs were fine when the leaders like Arvind Kejriwal, Amarinder Singh, Mamata Banerjee, and Chandra Babu Naidu won elections and became chief ministers, but the machines turned unreliable when the BJP is predicted to win Lok Sabha polls, Goel said. He said, "Almost every party blaming EVMs today has come to the power once or multiple times using the same machines, but now when they are set to face defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, they have started blaming the same machines for their loss". The minister, who was accompanied by sitting BJP MP and party candidate from South Delhi Ramesh Bidhuri and other leaders, administered an oath on the occasion to fight the forces trying to weaken democracy in the country. Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly .
Elaborate arrangements to ensure peaceful counting process in J&K
Elaborate arrangements have been made by Election Commission officials in Jammu and Kashmir to ensure peaceful counting of votes for the six Lok Sabha seats in the state tomorrow.
'EC working with BJP to tamper EVM machines': AAP
The Aam Aadmi Party Wednesday accused the Election Commission of working with the BJP to "tamper" EVMs to get the results of the Lok Sabha polls in its favour. Leaders of 22 opposition parties had met the Election Commission on Tuesday and demanded verification of VVPAT slips of randomly-selected polling stations before the counting of votes begins Thursday. The EC on Wednesday rejected the demand. "First counting would be done to decide who won the election and after that VVPAT random check would be done," AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said. He hit out at the EC's decision, saying it is purposely creating such an atmosphere that "riots are ensured in the country". "The BJP with the EC is tampering the EVM machines. They are saying the results would be delayed because of it, when we waited for so long for result what change would some more time make," he told reporters.
Congcomplains to Lok Pal on its MLAs deciding to switch over
Congress in Telangana has lodged a complaint with anti-corruption ombudsman Lok Pal,alleging that the ruling TRS indulged in "political corruption" by providing government benefits to opposition MLAs who are ready to switch over to the party. The party's state General Secretary Manavatha Roy said he has submitted the complaint in Lok Pal office in Delhi. He alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and certain MLAs indulged in "political corruption" as the latter were changing from parent parties "for lands". With as many as 11 of the 19 Congress MLAs announcing their decision in the last few monthsto quit the party and join TRS, Congress had earlier alleged that the TRS encouraged defection of opposition MLAs. The party had earlier complained to Governor E S L Narasimhan on the matter. Congress had announced that it would also lodge a complaint with the newly-formed Lok Pal. Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader M Bhatti Vikramarka undertook a 'yatra' in the ...
Oppn in 'wait and watch' as they await poll results before making next move
Top opposition leaders will be in touch with each other and in case the NDA falls short of a majority, they will act swiftly to stake claim to form government, sources said Wednesday, a day ahead of counting of votes of the Lok Sabha elections. Non-NDA parties are in a "wait and watch" mode and their top leaders will be in constant touch with each other to bringing the opposition together, they said. In case the NDA does not get a majority, the opposition parties will write to the President and present themselves as one block and assert that they should be given preference over the single largest party, the sources said. Opposition leaders have already held meetings and top Congress leaders also did some brainstorming ahead counting day as they think they stand a chance at forming the government if the NDA falls short of the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Almost all exit polls have predicted a victory for the BJP-led NDA, but that has not brought the morale of ...
Opposition raising questions on EVM as it sees defeat coming: BJP's Ram Madhav
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Wednesday said that the Opposition is raising the questions on EVM credibility as they see their imminent defeat in the Lok Sabha elections."They are seeking excuses for their impending disastrous defeat tomorrow," Ram Madhav told ANI here.He said, "First they blamed the Election Commission, then EVM. Tomorrow you will see them blaming voters also."Exuding confidence, he said that the BJP will return to power with even more might. "BJP will emerge as a stronger party tomorrow and will form the government with NDA (at the Centre)," the BJP leader said.Ram Madhava maintained that the entire country hopes to see Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister once again. "This hope will come true tomorrow," he said.Counting of votes for 542 Lok Sabha seats will begin tomorrow. Voting for seven-phased general elections ended on May 19.Prime Minister Modi is seeking re-election from Varanasi, in politically crutial Uttar Pradesh.
Congress MLA reposes faith in EVMs, cautions others
Reposing his faith in EVMs, Congress MLA Dr K Sudhakar on Wednesday asked the opposition parties to refrain from making irresponsible statements as these hurt the image of India's democracy in the eyes of the world.The MLA said that there is no truth in the allegations that EVMs are hacked."I tweeted in the morning that there is no truth in allegations that EVMs are hacked. We must believe in democracy because when we win, we accept the results and if we lose, then we blame EVMs," he said during an interaction with media persons.The MLA said: "It is not right to suspect EVMs on the basis of exit polls. If after the results we have doubts, then we can air. N Chandrababu Naidu got 21 parties together. They said that EVMs were not used properly. In 2014 he won the elections when EVMs were used. Since 2004 EVMs have been used extensively. We won in 2004 and 2009.""However, the Election Commission of India (ECI) should try and address the suspicions of the opposition parties regarding ...
NDA will face defeat, Left's strength to increase: CPI-M
A day before the 2019 poll results, CPI-M's West Bengal Secretary Surjya Kanta Misra on Wednesday said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will be defeated and the strength of leftist forces will increase across the country, proving the exit polls predictions incorrect.
Oppn parties slam EC for rejecting demand to tweak VVPAT count; plea unconstitutional:Shah
A day ahead of the Lok Sabha poll vote count, opposition parties Wednesday slammed the Election Commission for rejecting their demand to tweak the counting of voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips with the Congress calling it "Enfeebled Commission" while BJP chief Amit Shah termed their plea as unconstitutional. As the row over the Electronic Voting Machines(EVM) persisted and opposition workers at several places kept a tight vigil at strongrooms storing them, the EC decided to follow the established procedure of counting VVPAT slips for the mandatory five polling stations per assembly segment of each parliamentary constituency only at the end of the entire counting process. The Opposition approached the EC on Tuesday to demand that the five random VVPATs in each Assembly segment should instead be counted first so that if there is a problem or a mismatch, the entire slips can be counted from the beginning itself. Though the EC made it clear to the 22 opposition parties on ...
Ukraine's Zelensky under fire over top appointment
Ukraine's new president Volodymyr Zelensky came under fire Wednesday, just days after taking office, for appointing a chief of staff with links to a controversial oligarch. Zelensky -- a former comedian with no previous political experience -- won a landslide victory last month on promises of rebooting the political system and purging the influence of powerful oligarchs. But late Tuesday he issued a decree choosing as his top aide Andriy Bogdan, until now a personal lawyer of tycoon Igor Kolomoisky. During the presidential campaign Zelensky shrugged off accusations that he was running as a front for the interests of Kolomoisky, who owns the television channel that broadcasts the performer's shows. Authorities accused Kolomoisky of syphoning USD 5.5 billion (4.92 billion euros) from the country's largest bank, PrivatBank, before it was nationalised in 2016. According to reports, the oligarch returned to Ukraine last week after almost two years of self-imposed exile in Switzerland and ..
Attempted break-in at IAF's Paris office handling Rafale procurement
In a suspected case of espionage, there was an attempted break-in on Sunday at the Indian Air Force's Paris office which is overseeing procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets for India, military sources said. A group of unidentified persons broke into the office of the IAF's Rafale project management team in the suburbs of Paris and local police are probing whether the attempt was to steal classified data relating to the aircraft, they said. "As per initial assessment, no data or hardware have been stolen. The local police are investigating the incident," said a source. The sources said the IAF has briefed the defence ministry about the incident and that the Indian mission in Paris has been in touch with French authorities. The IAF's office of Rafale project management is located at the complex of Dassault Aviation, the makers of the Rafale jets. There was no official reaction from either the defence ministry or the IAF about the incident. Sources said stealing of any data relating to ..
BJP alleges Trinamool would foment violence if poll verdict goes against them
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday accused the Trinamool Congress of planning to foment violence inside vote counting centres if the poll verdict goes against it, as many workers of West Bengal's ruling party huddled in front of several counting centres across constituencies to 'guard' electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Cong terms EC 'Enfeebled Commission', says it is black day for democracy
The Congress Wednesday dubbed the Election Commission as "Enfeebled Commission" after the poll body was learnt to have rejected the opposition parties' demand for pre-verification of VVPATs with EVMs while counting and said it was a "black day" for democracy. Party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi asked on what basis the commission had arrived at the decision as the Supreme Court ruling on VVPAT counting did not come under Rule 56-D as cited by it. He also questioned whether the EVMs were "electronic victory machines" for the BJP and the Model Code of Conduct was "Modi's Campaign Code", alleging that the poll body had succumbed to the pressure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. "It is a black day for democracy and it is very sad and unfortunate for an institution like the Election Commission," he told reporters. Addressing a press conference, Singhvi said though the Congress or any other party had not received any reply or order from the EC on their complaints, the .
South Africa lawmakers re-elect Cyril Ramaphosa as president
South African lawmakers on Wednesday re-elected Cyril Ramaphosa as the nation's president, two weeks after the ruling ANC party returned to power in legislative elections. Ramaphosa was "duly elected president of the Republic of South Africa," chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng told parliament after Ramaphosa was the only name nominated by lawmakers in Cape Town.
Cong MLA strikes different note on EVMs, questions party stand
In another note of dissent within the Karnataka Congress, MLA K Sudhakar questioned on Wednesday why the issue of alleged EVM manipulation was beingbrought into the discourse about the Lok Sabha exit pollpredictions. Sudhakar's stand is contrary to that of the Congress, which has joined other opposition parties in upping the ante on alleged EVM tampering or manipulation ahead of the countingof votes on Thursday. The Congress MLA's remarks came a day after seniorparty lawmaker Roshan Baig unleashed a scathing attack on itsstate leadership, calling Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Dinesh Gundu Rao a "flop show" and party generalsecretary K C Venugopal a "buffoon". Sudhakar, who had often been vocal in airing his grievances against the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in the southern state, tweeted on Tuesday night, saying EVM tampering and exit polls were two different things. The Chikkaballapura MLA tweeted: "Personally I am confused why the issue of EVM ...