Page 512 - Politics

Mnuchin rejects subpoena for Trump's tax returns

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has rejected a subpoena from House Democrats demanding President Donald Trump's tax returns in six years, setting the stage for a court battle over the documents.

Sonia Gandhi called meeting of senior Congress leaders on May 22 to muster strategies

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has called a meeting of senior Congress leaders on May 22, a day ahead of the couting of votes in the Lok Sabha elections.All senior leaders, General Secretaries and 'in-charges' of the party have been called by Gandhi to prepare for the meeting of UPA allies and some other parties she has convened on May 23 in a bid to keep the BJP out of power if the ruling party is short of majority in a hung house.The possibility of roping in new non-NDA parties into the JUPA coaltion to buttress the opposition numbers may be discussed in the May 22 meeting, sources said.After the feedback session, tasks will be assigned to various leaders as per their expertise. A team of four leaders has already been put in place to reach out to potential allies and is working hard to make the alliance meeting successful.Gandhi is understood to have invited leaders of secular parties including NCP chief Sharad Pawar, DMK chief MK Stalin, RJD and TMC for the meeting on a day the ...

Naidu meets Rahul, Pawar; to meet Mayawati, Akhilesh (2nd Lead)

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday continued his outreach to the Opposition parties in order to firm up a non-BJP front ahead of the announcement of Lok Sabha poll results on May 23.

AIADMK bypassing security to distribute cash to voters of

The DMK Saturday sought the Election Commission's intervention to curb illegal cash distribution allegedly by AIADMK workers in Ottapidaram constituency, one of the four assembly seats that goes to polls Sunday. It alleged that the AIADMK workers were using their party district office at Thoothukudi situated outside the territorial limit of Ottapidaram constituency to bypass security. "AIADMK partymen are illegally distributing money to the voters of Ottapidaram assembly constituency from AIADMKs Thoothukudi District office," DMK leader R S Bharathi said in a letter to Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo. While by-elections to 18 seats were held on April 18, along with the 38 Lok Sabha segments, four others -Sulur, Aravakurichi, Ottapidaram (reserved) and Thiruparankundram go to the polls Sunday. Accusing AIADMK workers of finding a way around to distribute cash to voters, Bharathi claimed the flying squad and surveillance teams deputed by the Election Commission ..

LS results to draw battle lines ahead of Maha Assembly polls

The results of the Lok Sabha election, which will decide the fate of four Union ministers and two Congress stalwarts from Maharashtra, is likely to impact the political situation in the state, which will go to polls few months later. Prestige is at stake for the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena as well as the opposition Congress-NCP combine in Maharashtra, which sends 48 members to the Lok Sabha, the second highest after Uttar Pradesh's 80. While the BJP contested 25 Lok Sabha seats and the Shiv Sena 23 seats in Maharashtra, the Congress and the NCP fought on 25 and 19 seats respectively, leaving two seats each for their allies. Leaders of the Congress and the BJP admit that the party which gets more seats as compared to its ally, will have an upper hand in the seat adjustments in the Assembly polls. Similarly, the number of votes polled in the Assembly segments will also be the decisive factor for the renomination of sitting MLAs in the state polls. State Congress spokesperson ...

Differences erupt in open in EC

Differences in the Election Commission have burst out in the open with Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa keeping away from the meetings of the full Commission over his dissent on crucial decisions not being recorded but Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora sought to downplay the controversy saying all the Commissioners are "not expected to be template or clones of each other".Arora, virtually hit back at Lavasa, saying "ill-timed" controversies should be avoided.Lavasa, who had dissented on the series of clean chits given by the Commission to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah on their speeches during the election campaign, has written a letter to Arora even hinting at "taking recourse to other measures" for restoring the "lawful" functioning of the Commission in terms of recording minority decisions."I am being forced to stay away from the meetings of the full Commission since minority decisions are not being recorded. My participation in the deliberations .

Rajbhar asks his men to beat BJP leaders with shoes

Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) President Om Prakash Rajbhar, a BJP ally in Uttar Pradesh till recently, has now asked his party workers to beat BJP leaders with shoes.

MoD rejects admiral's supersession grudge

Vice Admiral Bimal Verma's plea against the government's decision to ignore him for the Navy chief's post despite him being the senior most officer has been turned down by the Ministry of Defence (MOD).

Austrian government plunged into crisis over 'Ibiza affair'

Just days before key EU elections, Austria's coalition government was plunged into crisis on Saturday as far-right party leader and Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache came under huge pressure to resign after explosive revelations from a hidden camera sting. Media reports emerged on Friday alleging that Strache promised public contracts in return for campaign help from a fake Russian backer. Germany's Der Spiegel and Sueddeutsche Zeitung published hidden-camera recordings of a sting operation they say took place in a luxury villa on the island of Ibiza a few months before 2017's parliamentary elections in Austria. In the recordings Strache and his party's group leader in parliament Johann Gudenus are seen discussing with a woman purporting to be the niece of a Russian oligarch how she can invest in Austria. She says she specifically wants to gain control of the country's largest-circulation tabloid, the Krone Zeitung. Strache is seen suggesting that new owners could make staff ...

Final phase of LS polling tomorrow, PM Modi seeks re-election from Varanasi

In all, there are 167 candidates in the fray for the 13 seats

Nishads emerge as major vote bank in UP elections

For the first time in Uttar Pradesh, the Nishads have emerged as an important vote bank in the Purvanchal region.

EC issues notice to Sunny Deol for 'violating' poll code

The Election Commission has issued a notice to BJP candidate from Gurdaspur Sunny Deol for allegedly violating the model code of conduct. Poll officials took serious note of a public meeting held by Deol in Pathankot on Friday night, after the silent period came in force. They also found that a loud speaker was used in the public meeting in which around 200 people were present. In the notice, it was pointed out that by holding a public meeting during the silent period, Deol has violated the model code of conduct. Election campaign is completely banned 48 hours before the polling process. Polling in all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held Sunday. Deol is pitted against Congress's Sunil Jakhar from the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency.

Pakistani held on Indian side of LoC

A Pakistani national was apprehended by the Army on Saturday on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, defence sources said.

Kashmir issue 'myth' created by Congress, NC: MoS PMO Jitendra Singh

The so-called Kashmir issue is a political "myth" created by the Congress, the National Conference and other such political groups which have a vested interest in the region's electoral vote bank, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said Saturday. He said Jammu and Kashmir is very much like any other state of the Indian union. There is no such issue as "Kashmir issue" and the political leaders who try to rake it up have a deep rooted selfish interest in creating an issue out of non-issue, in order to hoodwink the innocent masses of Kashmir, he said. "The so-called Kashmir issue is a political myth created by the Congress, the National Conference and other such political groups for their vested interest," the minister told PTI. "The biggest evidence of hypocrisy on the part of the Kashmir-centric leaders is that they underplay the fact that even though Jammu and Kashmir has a separate Constitution of its own. The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir itself states that it is an integral part of .

Erosion of institutional integrity was hallmark of Modi govt: Congress on Ashok Lavasa's purported letter

Responding on media reports of Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa recusing himself from the panel's meetings to discuss poll code violations, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday said the "erosion of institutional integrity" was "the hallmark" of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.The Congress spokesperson's reaction came after Lawasa, reportedly protested against his views on several issues pertaining to poll code violations were not recorded by the EC.Notebly, Lavasa disagreed with the poll panel's decision of giving a clean chit to Prime Minister Modi and BJP President Amit Shah in connection with cases of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violations.Citing a media report, Surjewala said, "Election Commission OR Election Omission! Another Dark Day for Democracy! Sh Ashok Lavasa, Member CEC, who dissented on multiple occasions when EC was busy giving clean chits to Modi-Shah duo, opts out of EC as the ECI even refuse to record dissent notes.""Erosion of ...

Election Commission or omission, asks Congress

The Congress on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa's letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora over his dissent in the EC decisions in going unrecorded and asked whether it was "Election Commission or Election Omission".

India's first voters set to exercise franchise again

India's first and oldest voters in Himachal Pradesh are all set to vote again for its four parliamentary seats on Sunday, poll officials said on Saturday.

Lavasa letter: CEC denies rifts over MCC

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora on Saturday denied any controversy in the internal functioning of the Election Commission over the handling of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) saying that "the three members of the Commission are not expected to be templates or clones of each other".

Deve Gowda offers prayers at Tirumala on his 86th birthday

Former prime minister and JD(S)leader H D Deve Gowda offered prayers at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara near here on his 86th birthday Saturday. Gowda arrived here last evening along with his son and Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and other family members. After offering prayers this morning, Gowda told reporters that he has been visiting the ancient shrine for the last 35 years on his birthday on May 18. "As a member of Lok Sabha in the complex political situation, what I can do I don't know.. we are with the Congress," he said in response to a question. Kumaraswamy predicted that the Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka would secure 18 to 19 seats (out of 28) in the Lok Sabha elections. To a query, he said there was no change in his party's stand and it would support the Congress in the formation of a new government at the Centre. Asked about the Cauvery water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Naidu, Kumaraswamy avoided a direct reply and said he has .

If people are supporting Congress, it's a reflection on Kejriwal's record: Sheila Dikshit

Commenting on Arvind Kejriwal's analysis of AAP's performance in the national capital, Congress leader Sheila Dikshit said votes shifted towards Congress because of Delhi Chief Minister's bad record.This comes after Kejriwal in an interview to a news daily while commenting on the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls, said, "13% of the Muslim votes got shifted to Congress in the state at last moment."Dikshit told ANI, "Nobody asked people to just vote for me. They vote for us because our record is such. So, if people are supporting Congress, then it is a reflection on Kejriwal's record.""I don't know what he is trying to say. Everyone has a right to vote whichever party he/she wants to vote for and the people of Delhi did not understand nor liked his governance model," she added.The Delhi Congress chief also expressed confidence that her party would come back to power in the state with a thumping majority."We will win and there is no doubt about it. Be it Muslim, Sikh, or anyone for that ...