Page 488 - Politics

BJP demands special session of Madhya Pradesh Assembly

With exit polls predicting a sweep for the BJP at the Centre and a drop in Congress numbers in Madhya Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections, the saffron party on Monday mounted an attack on the state's Kamal Nath government demanding a special session of the Assembly.

Projections about AIADMK will be proved wrong: Palaniswami

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Monday sought to make light of the exit polls suggesting a bad show by the AIADMK, saying he had himself proved wrong similar predictions of him losing in 2016. Palaniswami exuded confidence that the party and its allies win would all the seats in the state and one in Puducherry, adding that said exit polls were more of "imposing of opinion". "In 2016 (assembly election) also, such exit polls were done and they suggested that in Salem, the AIADMK will win only three seats and that even I will lose (from Edappadi seat in Salem)," he said. "But I won with a difference of 42,000 votes even as the AIADMK won 10 seats against the three (mentioned in the exit polls)." "This is what exit polls are all about. They are imposing of opinion," the AIADMK leader said, claiming that the predictions would be proved wrong this time also. Asked about the exit polls suggesting a good show by ally Bharatiya Janata Party across the country, Palaniswami said he ..

Swaraj to attend SCO Foreign Minister's meet

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will attend the two-day long foreign ministers' meet of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic starting Tuesday, the government announced.Swaraj will be in the Kyrgyz Republic capital for two days on Tuesday and Wednesday to attend the meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of 10-member Central Asian group which is dominated by China and Russia.Swaraj's Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi will also attend the meeting. However, it is not certain whether there will be any kind of engagement between the two leaders.Experts believe that the SCO meet could provide an opportunity to India and Pakistan to explore the possibility of bilateral engagement.A proposed meeting between the Swaraj and Qureshi was cancelled by India in September last year over the "brutal killing of a BSF personnel by Pakistan-based entities" and release of a stamp on slain Kashmiri terrorist Burhan Wani.India and Pakistan joined ..

Will Uttar Pradesh be 'bellwether' or exception again?

Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state that sends 80 MPs to the 543-member Lok Sabha, may be considered a political bellwether state as the government at the Centre has been formed 12 out 16 times by the party that got the maximum seats here.

We don't believe in exit polls, says DMK chief Stalin

Even as the exit polls predicted a good show for his party, DMK President M K Stalin Monday said he does not take the projections seriously and would wait for three days to know people's mandate. Lok Sabha results will be declared on May 23. Asked about the reported meeting of opposition parties convened by Sonia Gandhi to discuss the post-poll scenario on counting day, Stalin shot back, "who told you there is a meeting on May 23." Such reports are only appearing in the media, he said, adding, even the results will be known only late on Thursday. "Such meetings will be useful only if held after results are known. So we are waiting," he added. While the exit polls of various media houses suggested the incumbent BJP-led NDA at Centre would retain power, most of them had said the DMK could net significant number of seats out of the 38 Parliamentary constituencies in Tamil Nadu. Election to the Vellore Lok Sabha seat was rescinded after recovery of huge amount of cash allegedly from an ...

Thanks to Modi, those incapable of becoming Sarpanch, ward member will become MPs on May 23: BJP's Gopal Bhargava

Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi as 'paras patthar' (magical stone), Madhya Pradesh Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Gopal Bhargava on Monday said that those people, who were not capable of becoming sarpanch or ward member will become MPs after the results of Lok Sabha elections."Modi ji paras patthar ban chuke hain, patthar ko chhu dein to sona ban jayega. Jo vyakti sarpanch or ward member ki haisiyat ke nahi the, aap result dekhna parson vo log saansad ban'ne ja rahe hain. (Prime Minister Modi has become like 'paras patthar'. If he touches a stone, it will become gold. Those who were incapable of becoming even sarpanch or ward member are about to become MPs when results of Lok Sabha elections will come out on May 23)," Gopal Bhargava told ANI here.This comes after Gopal Bhargava's son Abhishek Gopal Bhargava in March earlier this year withdrew his name from contesting the Lok Sabha polls claiming he does not want to promote 'dynasty' politics.The junior Bhargava claimed that .

Opinion/exit polls are thrusted opinion: Palaniswami

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and ruling AIADMK leader K.Palaniswami on Monday termed opinion/exit polls "karuthu kanippu" or a thrusted opinion.

Shah to meet NDA leaders, host dinner on May 21

Buoyed by the exit poll predictions, BJP President Amit Shah has convened a meeting of the leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on May 21, ahead of the counting of votes on May 23.

DMK is not bothered about exit poll results: Stalin

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) President M.K.Stalin on Monday said his party is not bothered much about the exit poll results whether it is positive or negative.

First surgical strike was carried out in Sept 2016, confirms Lt Gen Ranbir Singh

Commanding-in-Chief of the Indian Army's Northern Command, Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh on Monday confirmed that the first surgical strike was carried out by India in September 2016.Citing an RTI reply by Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), Indian Army, Singh said that the first surgical strike by armed forces took place in September 2016, to avenge the Uri garrison attack, in which 19 soldiers were killed."A few days ago, DGMO said in a reply to an RTI that the first surgical strike happened in September 2016. I don't want to go into what political parties say, they will be given an answer by the government. What I have told you is a statement of fact," Lt General Singh said at a press conference here.Singh was addressing a press conference here in which he was asked about Congress' claims of conducting six surgical strikes during the UPA regime.Congress leader Rajiv Shukla had earlier told reporters at the AICC briefing that six surgical strikes were conducted during .

BJP requests EC to conduct repolling in booths affected by violence in the Lok Sabha polls

A BJP delegation led by Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Railway minister Piyush Goyal approached the Election Commission (EC) and urged it to conduct repoll in the constituencies where violence had taken place during all the phases of the Lok Sabha polls in some states.Speaking to media here, he said, "We have met the Election Commissioners and informed them about the violence that had taken place in all the seven phases of the Lok Sabha polls and requested for repolling in all the violence-affected constituencies.""We have also demanded that the EC to withdraw the false cases made against BJP leaders in West Bengal," Goyal added.The Union minister further said, "We have informed the EC about West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's threat to people of the state that she will deal with them after the polls.""We feel that there is a chance of violence in West Bengal now and even after the counting is over. Therefore, we request the poll watch body to ensure that the Central

Mayawati meets Akhilesh, discuss exit polls projections

BSP supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav met here on Monday after exit polls indicated gains for their alliance in the politically important state of Uttar Pradesh. Yadav, who had formed a coalition with the BSP and the RLD to take on the BJP, drove to the residence of Mayawati and the closed door talks lasted for almost an hour. Details of what transpired between the two top leaders was not known immediately. On Saturday, TDP president Chandrababu Naidu had met both Yadav and Mayawati in the UP capital separately to discuss possibility of non-BJP parties coming together in the event of a fractured verdict. As part of the alliance agreement, the BSP had contested 38 seats and the SP 37 seats leaving 3 for a smaller RLD while deciding not to field any candidate in Rae Bareli and Amethi, the stronghold of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi respectively. The meeting between the SP and BSP bosses on Monday came a day after exit polls ...

Exit polls dampen spirits in TRS camp, mood subdued

Exit polls predicting a second term for the Modi government have dampened spirits in the TRS camp, where the mood was subdued with hopes of playing a role in the event of a hung Parliament set to be dashed. "What we predicted and our feeling was neither the NDA nor the UPA will get majority on its own. As per exit polls, what we visualised is not going to be correct," a senior leader of the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led outfit told PTI. If the NDA were to return to power on its own strength as per the exit polls, Rao's push to forge a federal front of non-Congress, non-BJP regional parties will undoubtedly lose steam, said a political analyst. During the Lok Sabha election campaign in Telangana, which has 17 seats, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had repeatedly claimed that the party would play an important role in the government formation. Rao had floated the federal front idea last year and met a number of leaders, including Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Akhilesh Yadav ...

Downfall in locals joining militancy, Pak feeling starved: Lt Gen Ranbir Singh

Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command of the Indian Army on Monday said that though locals in Kashmir joining militancy "remains a matter of concern," Pakistan today feels "absolutely starved" because of effective counter infiltration grid of the Indian Army."Local recruitment remains a matter of concern for all of us. Last year, we had 217 local youth who had picked up militancy. This year, the number has significantly reduced and as on date there are only 40 youth who have picked up arms," Lieutenant General Singh said while addressing the media here.He shared that one of the key reasons for this is the "radicalization and exploitation of social media by Pakistani agencies.""Pakistan has been continuing with its efforts. Today, they feel absolutely starved because of the very effective counter infiltration grid of the Indian Army. Successful infiltration from the Line of Control is virtually becoming very difficult. Therefore, for ...

Australia: Scott Morrison to form govt after 'miraculous victory'

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison looks all set to form a majority Conservative government after his "miraculous" election victory over the centre-left Labor Party, the state media said on Monday.Morrison's Liberal-National coalition defied exit polls forecast to be re-elected on Saturday, in what he called "a political miracle", Al Jazeera reported.Australia's national broadcaster, ABC's election analysis showed that Morrison's coalition will hold at least 77 seats in the 151-member lower house, one more than needed to govern on its own.Meanwhile, the Labor Party, which was widely expected to win the election, is set to claim 68 seats, with independents and minor parties claiming six seats.The coalition will not hold a majority in the Senate, the upper house, meaning it will need the support of independents and minor parties to pass legislation.According to Al Jazeera, Morrison, during his campaign, had rejected efforts to increase the use of renewable sources of energy to ...

Chandrababu Naidu to meet Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata

A day after meeting Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu will meet his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee here on Monday afternoon.

Naidu confident of TDP retaining power in Andhra

Unfazed by the exit polls which predicted that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) will storm to power in Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday exuded confidence that his Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will retain power in the state.

BJP delegation meets EC, demands re-poll in Bengal

A BJP delegation on Monday met Election Commission officials and demanded re-polling in the violence-hit constituencies of West Bengal.

Dare not try and come anywhere near LoC: Indian Army to Pak

Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command of the Indian Army on Monday lauded the air strike carried out by the Indian Army Force on a terrorist camp in Pakistan's Balakot earlier this year and told Pakistan to dare not try and come anywhere near the Line of Control (LoC) to carry out any actions."The action by the Indian Air Force on the February 26 for carrying out air strikes on Balakot terrorist infrastructure was indeed laudable. It was a major achievement wherein our aircraft went deep into enemy territory and struck terror launchpads. Pakistanis carried out their air operations very close to the Line of Control on the following day. However they were given a befitting reply," Lieutenant General Singh told media here."They dare not try and come anywhere across the Line of Control to carry out any kind of actions. Our deterrence, articulation of our military strategy has been absolutely clear. Should there be any misadventure by the ...

Opposition can daydream till May 23: Ram Madhav on exit polls

With opposition parties citing the example of Australia federal elections in which exit polls predictions went wrong, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Monday mocked his rivals saying they were daydreaming.He asserted that such a situation will not arise in India and said that BJP will win a bigger mandate than what exit polls are showing."The Opposition can keep on dreaming day and night till May 23. By 12 pm on that day, their dream will not come true. We will wait for the exact results. But, I am confident that we will get a bigger mandate than what exit polls are showing," Madhav told ANI.Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's centre-right Liberal-National Coalition won the May 18 federal elections, in contrast to exit polls, which had projected a victory for the Opposition centre-left Labour Party.While the Coalition gained 77 seats and secured a majority, Labour finished a close second with 69 seats.Asked on Congress' seats not touching triple-digit figures as per exit ...