Page 480 - Politics
Opposition parties reject exit polls
Terming exit polls in the past as "inconsistent" and "incorrect", the opposition parties have played down the predictions for the Lok Sabha elections, claiming that the actual results to be announced on May 23 would be different.
Exit polls projecting BJP-led NDA's victory is gimmick: Sharad Pawar
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar on Monday said that exit poll projecting the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to retain power at the Centre was a "gimmick."Pawar, who was speaking at an iftar party hosted by him here, said that that the "truth" would be out in two days when the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections would be done on May 23.Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kedarnath on May 18, the former Union Minister said: "I have never seen that after elections, those who shoulder the country's responsibility have left Delhi and gone to the Himalayas. So, what will happen to the country?""After seeing reports on channels and newspapers since yesterday, there has been a sense of restlessness in the society. People who have the country's electronic media in their hands and the support and power of the people behind them have a different line which they are trying to put before the people. But after two days, the truth ...
UN concerned about rising US-Iran rhetoric
The United Nations voiced concern on Monday about the rising rhetoric between the United States and Iran and called on the two sides to dial down their remarks. The appeal came after President Donald Trump on Sunday warned that any attack from Iran would be met with a devastating US response that would mean "the official end of Iran." "We are concerned about the rising rhetoric," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who cited the firing of a rocket on Sunday, which struck a Baghdad area that houses foreign embassies including that of the US, as being "also a concern." "We would ask all parties to lower the rhetoric and lower the threshold of action as well," said the spokesman. UN officials are holding contacts with the US and Iran at various levels to try to calm the situation, said Dujarric, but he did not provide details of those talks. Relations between Washington and Tehran plummeted a year ago when Trump pulled out of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and imposed tough ...
There is only one front and Rahul will take final call: Mallikarjun Kharge
Declining to comment on the possibility of a third front formation, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said that there is only one front and Congress president Rahul Gandhi will take the decision what is to be done."I don't want to react on the third front. We are only one front. Rahul Gandhi will take the decision about what is to be done. Sonia Gandhi has already called the meeting. Therefore, the question of the third front doesn't arise as far as I am concerned and my party is concerned," said Kharge here.Expecting the BJP to fall short of majority considerably, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is convening a meeting of leaders of non-NDA parties on May 23, the day of the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections, in a bid to keep the saffron party out of power.Gandhi is understood to have invited leaders of secular parties including NCP chief Sharad Pawa, DMK chief M K Stalin, RJD and TMC for the meeting.A team of four Congress leaders is said to have been formed for ...
Re-polling ordered at Amritsar booth on May 22
Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered re-polling at one polling booth of Amritsar Parliamentary constituency on May 22, due to negligence during the polling process."Polling booth number 123 in Amritsar Parliamentary constituency would undergo re-polling. The concerned Returning Officer and Observer have been instructed to act accordingly. The political parties and the contesting candidates have also been intimated about the re-polling as per the directions of Election Commission of India" said Dr S Karuna Raju, Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab.Necessary arrangements have also been made in this regard."Election material, EVMs, security and poll staff in adequate numbers have been deputed for this task," he saidMeanwhile, the ECI ordered paid leave to all the voters of this particular booth on May 22 to facilitate voters to exercise their franchise.
RJP-Nepal urges government to publicly release Madhesh movement report
The Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) on Monday urged the government to publicly release the report on the 2015 Madhesh movement.The demand was made by RJP-N lawmaker Chanda Chaudhary during the Parliament session on Monday. The document was prepared under the leadership of former Justice Girish Chandra Lal."We have lodged protest several times and the government has not responded to our demands until now. Despite the House Speaker's ruling, the Lal Commission report has not been made public yet...what is the reason behind it or secret for keeping it within, the government should make it clear to us," Chanda Chaudhary, a lawmaker from the party demanded.The party has been asking for the report to be released publicly for a while now. Even though Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had assured of the report's publication in a previous address, no such action has been taken yet.The government which was formed after the political change of 2006 has never made any reports made by ...
Exit polls can still go wrong: political experts
A day after exit polls predicted a majority for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, some political experts said the result was still not a foregone conclusion and that the Balakot air strike may not play a major role in the final poll outcome.
Trinamool tries 'ice cream & snacks' tactic in Bengal bypolls
West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress has been accused of influencing voters by offering them "ice cream and snacks" and "free transport" to the polling stations in some areas during the assembly by-polls in Naoda and Kandi constituencies in Murshidabad district on Monday.
PM urges IFS trainees to be at forefront of tech adoption
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday urged young foreign service officers to adopt latest technology willingly. In an interaction with officer trainees of the 2018 batch of Indian Foreign Service, he also discussed India's rising stature in the 21st century and other aspects of foreign policy. "Also urged young officers to be at the forefront of adapting to new technologies," the PM tweeted.
Naidu, Mamata discuss formation of non-BJP govt in case of
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday discussed with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee possibilities of forming a non-BJP government of the regional parties with the support of the Congress at the Centre in the event of a hung verdict, TMC sources said. Naidu, who reached here from Amaravati, held a 45-minute-long meeting with Banerjee on the future strategies of the "Mahagatbandhan" (Grand Alliance), the highly-placed sources said. The meeting also discussed possibilities of forming a non-BJP government of regional parties with the support of the Congress, they said. The two leaders did not take any question from the waiting mediapersons at Banerjee's ancestral Kalighat residence. Unfazed by exit polls predictions of TDP poor showing in its home state and also a reduced number for TMC in the parliamentary election, the two prominent regional leaders went ahead with their efforts to form an alternative government at the
Congress rejects BJP's demand to hold special Assembly session in MP
The Congress has rejected the BJP's demand to hold a special session of the state Assembly in Madhya Pradesh to discuss issues of urgent public interest.
Ukraine's new president Zelensky calls snap elections
Ukraine's new President Volodymyr Zelensky called snap parliamentary polls in his inaugural speech Monday and said his top priority is ending the conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the country's east. The 41-year-old comedian was sworn in as Ukraine's youngest post-Soviet president a month after scoring a landslide victory over Petro Poroshenko with a campaign capitalising on widespread public discontent with the political establishment. Zelensky -- whose only previous political experience is appearing as president in a popular TV show -- announced he would dissolve parliament in order to call early elections, originally scheduled for October. "People must come to power who will serve the public," Zelensky said, after wrangling with hostile lawmakers whom he calls "petty crooks". Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman resigned in protest shortly afterwards, saying Zelensky had rejected his proposals and "chose another path." The legal status of Zelensky's move to dissolve ...
Chandrababu Naidu and 21 opposition party leaders to meet EC tomorrow
A delegation of 21 opposition parties along with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu will knock the doors of Election Commission of India (ECI) at 3 pm on Tuesday, pressing their demand of tallying VVPAT slips with EVM figures in an entire Assembly constituency, in case a discrepancy is found in any polling booth.Ahmed Patel of Congress, Sharad Pawar of NCP, Satish Chandra Misra of BSP, Sitaram Yechury of Communist Party of India (Marxist), D Raja of Communist Party of India (CPI) and Derek O'Brien of the TMC are expected to meet the EC.On May 18, Naidu urged the Election Commission to count votes through Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) instead of EVMs during counting for the Lok Sabha polls.On May 7, the Supreme Court turned down a review plea by 21 opposition parties seeking a direction to increase random physical verification of VVPAT from five to at least 50 per cent of EVMs.The review petition was filed after the Supreme Court on April 8 ...
Sudan talks to resume as 'dispute' over top job persists
Sudan's army rulers and protesters resume talks Monday to finalise the makeup of a new ruling body after overnight negotiations remained deadlocked following a "dispute" over who should lead it. The two sides launched a round of new talks Sunday evening over the form of the authority to rule Sudan for a three-year transitional period following last month's ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir. The military council that replaced him has faced international pressure to install a civilian-led administration -- a key demand of thousands of demonstrators who have spent weeks camped outside Khartoum's army headquarters. Hours of overnight meetings into the early hours of Monday ended without agreement, but the ruling military council announced the talks would resume again Monday evening at 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) at the presidential palace. A prominent leader of an umbrella protest group who was at the talks said the question of who would head the body had been a key sticking point. "The ..
Maha CLP leader to be chosen after May 23 LS results: Kharge
A new leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) will be chosen after Lok Sabha poll results are declared on May 23, the party's Maharashtra in charge Mallikarjun Kharge said Monday. Kharge held a meeting of party MLAs and MLCs here to know their views and choice of a new leader. Sources said senior Congress leader and former revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat, former minister Varsha Gaikwad from Mumbai and Sunil Kedar from Nagpur are in the fray. The post of CLP leader in the Maharashtra Assembly fell vacant after the resignation of Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil. Vikhe Patil had quit after his son Sujay joined the BJP when the NCP refused to the leave Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat for ally Congress. In Monday's meeting, a resolution was passed giving complete authority to the party high command to choose a new CLP leader. "I spoke to MLAs and MLCs and we discussed issues. We also discussed expectations from a leader," Kharge said. "Social engineering was also discussed during ..
Pranab praises Election Commission but favours new method of appointment
Amidst controversy over the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the current elections, former President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday praised the role of the poll panel right from the first Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sukumar Sen to the present Commissioners but favoured a different method of choosing the Commissioners.Mukherjee, who was speaking at a book launch function here, said: "There is some doubt about the functioning of the Election Commission during these elections. There should be a different method of choosing the members of the Commission. There may be some viewpoints.""Sukumar Sen was appointed by the executive. All the Election Commissioners have been appointed by the executives till date. All the judges of the higher judiciary are appointed by the Prime Minister and Law Minister. Till 1991, they were appointed with the consultation of the Chief Justice of Supreme Court. Now the judgment of the Supreme Court has been changed that it will be done .
BJP in Haryana starts preparations for upcoming assembly election
A day after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls came to an end and most exit polls projected BJP in a comfortable position in Haryana, the saffron party Monday said it has started preparations for the assembly polls in the state, due in October. The state unit of the BJP held a meeting in Rohtak, which was attended by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and state unit chief Subhash Barala. The meeting was also attended by majority of the candidates who fought the Lok Sabha polls which were held in the state in sixth phase of polling on May 12. Haryana has 10 Lok Sabha seats and in 2014, the party had won seven of the eight seats it fought. Detailed feedback was sought from the contestants about their seats, and both Khattar and Barala exuded confidence that the party would win all the 10 seats. "Majority of exit polls are giving us between 8-10 seats. But I am confident that BJP will register win on all 10 seats," Khattar told reporters in Rohtak after the meeting. He said the BJP has now started
Maharashtra Congress passes resolution to give CLP appointment rights to Rahul Gandhi
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee on Monday passed a resolution to give all rights to national president Rahul Gandhi to announce a new Congress legislative party (CLP) leader in the state Assembly.In the meeting of the Congress legislative party, Congress MLC Vijay Vadettiwar proposed that all rights of appointing new CLP should be given to national president Rahul Gandhi.The proposal was seconded by legislators Naseem Khan and Yashomati Thakur to be accepted unanimously by the CLP.Senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil had resigned from the post of Leader of Opposition last month after his son Sujay Vikhe Patil had contested Lok Sabha elections on BJP ticket from Ahmednagar.
First surgical strike was carried out in September 2016: top army commander
The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the northern command, Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh said on Monday that the first surgical strike by the Indian Army was carried out in September, 2016, following the Uri terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
Kashmir University given prestigious A+ grade by NAAC
The National Assessment and Accreditation Committee (NAAC) has awarded the prestigious A+ grade to the University of Kashmir, it was announced on Monday.