Page 519 - Politics
Campaigning ends in Punjab, Himachal, Chandigarh
Campaigning ended on Friday for 13 parliamentary constituencies in Punjab, four in Himachal Pradesh and the lone Chandigarh seat, with two Union ministers in the fray and former Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal trying to make it to the Lok Sabha.
Farmers are real Chowkidars, says Priyanka Gandhi
Farmers are the real 'Chowkidars' (watchmen), who protect their crops from the attack of animals on their own, said Congress general secretary east Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday."When stray animals destroy fields, then farmers protect their crops on their own. Where is your 'Chowkidar' at that time? Farmers are real 'Chowkidars' (watchmen)," said Priyanka while addressing an election rally here.Criticising the policies of BJP government, she said: "Due to demonetisation 50 lakh jobs were lost. The sugarcane farmers have lost Rs 10,000 crore. The money of your Kisan Bima (insurance) has been transferred to big industrialists."Priyanka further said: "When farmers from all states marched to Delhi and raised their issues, our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) remained silent. They wanted to meet the Prime Minister but he did not step out from his office even for five minutes. He does not have time for the poor and farmers."Campaigning for RPN Singh, who is contesting against .
Campaigning ends in four Assembly seats in TN
Campaigning for the May 19 by-elections for four Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu -- Aravakuruchi, Sulur, Thiruparankundram and Ottapidaram -- ended on Friday evening.
Congress will be wiped out from Punjab: Sukhbir Badal
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal Friday here claimed that the Congress would be "wiped out" from the state in the Lok Sabha polls. Sukhbir Badal's assertion came a day after Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said he would quit if the Congress performed poorly in the state. "Wait for a few days. The Congress will be wiped out from Punjab. The chief minister's wife Preneet Kaur and state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar will lose by huge margins,"claimed Sukhbir Badal, who is in contention from Ferozepur. Preneet Kaur is contesting from Patiala while Sunil Jakhar is trying his luck from Gurdaspur against actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol. On Thursday, Amarinder Singh had said, "If the Congress is wiped out in Punjab, what do you think I will do? Obviously, I will accept the responsibility and resign. Lashing out at Amarinder Singh over poll promises, Sukhbir Badal accused the Congress-led government of "stalling" all development work and welfare schemes in the state ever ...
Vajpayee was large-hearted, not like Modi, says Cong's Varanasi candidate
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a large-hearted man who took everyone along, quite unlike Narendra Modi, says Congress' Varanasi candidate and old BJP hand Ajay Rai. Rai, who takes on Varanasi MP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this Uttar Pradesh temple town, said the election this time is easier than in 2014. The election is relatively easier this time than last time as people have seen through Modiji's tall and fake promises and he has not delivered anything, Rai told PTI ahead of the election on Sunday. The now Congress leader is full of appreciation for Vajpayee. I was with the BJP. I was a minister also. It was the BJP of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It was not the BJP of Modi and Amit Shah that runs on corporate culture and doesn't respect its leaders," Rai said. This new BJP didn't respect old timers L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, he said. Fondly remembering Vajpayee, Rai said he was a totally different leader and described him as large hearted man who used to .
BJP'S policy of divide and rule wont't work: Mayawati
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Friday warned the BJP that its policy of divide and rule would not work with the SP-BSP-RLD alliance.
Congress doesn't show door to seniors: Rahul
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday hit out at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for showing the door to senior leaders of the party and said that his party respects the seniors and will make use of their experience.
Prime Minister ends LS campaign with same pitch he started in Meerut
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday ended his election blitzkrieg at Khargone in Madhya Pradesh on the same note he started it 50-days ago in Meerut attacking Congress on the emotive issues of nationalism, armed forces and strikes across border and projecting his "decisive government". In his first rally after announcement of election dates in Meerut on March 28, Modi had said, "It was this chowkidar's government that had the courage to conduct surgical strikes on land, sky and space. India should develop, India should be secure from enemies." Maintaining the tempo, Modi again highlighted his "decisive policy" to eliminate terrorism and naxalism in Khargone. "We have got strong support of people for our policies to eliminate terrorism and naxalism. This is the feeling of the country that the terrorists should be killed in their safe heavens (ghar me ghus kar mara jaye)," he said in Khargone on Friday. In a veiled reference to the Balakot strike, the Prime Minister asked the people in
Campaign for final phase of polls ends in UP
The campaign for the remaining 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, which will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking re-election from Varanasi, ended Friday evening. Polling in the state on Sunday will also decide the fate of 10 other BJP leaders, including Union minister Manoj Sinha, who is seeking re-election from Ghazipur and Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan, who is trying to reclaim the saffron party's stronghold of Gorakhpur. Kishan is in the fray from Gorakhpur with its sitting SP MP Pravin Nishad having already switched over to the BJP, which fielded him from Sant Kabir Nagar in the previous phase. UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey is also seeking re-election from Chandauli in this phase. The Uttar Pradesh parliamentary constituencies going to polls in this phase are: Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon (SC), Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Robertsganj (SC). The final phase of the Lok Sabha polls in the state, which ...
Plea in HC to remove election symbol from ballot paper, EVM
A plea was filed in the Delhi High Court on Friday seeking to remove election symbol from the ballot paper, including the unit of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), in the municipal elections in the national capital. The petition, listed for Friday, could not be heard as the bench concerned did not sit and would hear it on May 27. The plea filed by Alka Gahlot, who had contested and lost the MCD polls in 2017, said the state Election Commission puts the reserved symbol on the ballot paper in "blatant violation" of the provisions of the Constitution and the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act as there is no reference to political parties in the Part IX and IX-A of the Constitution and the Act. The petitioner said she wants to contest the election again in 2022 and there is a fear of losing as she would be allotted a new election symbol just 15 days before the polling day whereas some other candidates would contest elections on reserved symbol. The plea said that in the 2017 MCD ...
At party presser Modi takes no question, well done, says Rahul
At a rare press conference as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi took no questions but expressed confidence about coming back to power with increased majority.Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who has often criticised Modi for not addressing media during his tenure, was quick in taking a jibe over the media interaction at the BJP headquarters called at the end of Lok Sabha campaign."I am a disciplined soldier. In our party, the president is everything," Modi said directing questions put to him to party president Amit Shah after a reporter enquired if she can ask the Prime Minister something.As Shah kept replying to questions, another reporter sought to put a supplementary to Modi. Shah shot back to the reporter saying the question has been answered and the prime minister need not answer queries on everything.Soon after the media interaction was over, Gandhi took a dig at the Prime Minister in a tweet."Congratulations Modi Ji. Excellent Press Conference! Showing up is half the battle. Next
High-stakes battle for Jai Ram Thakur in Himachal
Himachal Pradesh's four parliamentary seats -- Mandi, Hamirpur, Kangra and Shimla -- that vote in the seventh and final phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections on Sunday, have become a high-stakes battle for the BJP's star campaigner and first-time Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
BJP spokesperson calls Gandhi 'father of Pakistan', suspended
The BJP on Friday suspended its Madhya Pradesh spokesperson Anil Saumitra from its primary membership for calling Mahatma Gandhi the "father of the nation of Pakistan".
BSP-SP-RLD alliance is one of ideas: Mayawati
BSP president Mayawati Friday termed the BSP-SP-RLD alliance a combine of ideas and said it will not sit silent till the Yogi Adityanath government in the state and the Narendra Modi government in the Centre were uprooted. "Unlike the Bharatiya Janata Party, this alliance is that of ideas and it will not sit silent till it uproots the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh along with the Narendra Modi government," the Bahujan Samaj Party president said, addressing rallies for the candidates of the alliance in Mirzapur and Chandauli. "The sad faces of the BJP leaders after the completion of six phases of polling indicate that they know it's time for the Narendra Modi government to go. Their bad days will start from May 23. After that, preparations for Yogi to return to his Mutt will start," she said. Seeing the bad state of affairs in the polls, the BJP and its supporters tried to create misunderstanding between the BSP and the Samajwadi Party but they failed, Mayawati ...
Trout farming becomes major economic booster in J&K
Introduced by a Scotsman in the Kashmir valley 118 years ago, Trout farming has become a major economic activity with the establishment of 533 units in the private sector apart from trout beats set up in 142 rivers, streams and lakes of the state. Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has recorded nearly 600 tonnes of trout production in the last financial year. "J&K has setup 533 units of trout farms in private sector. There are 59 trout rearing units and hatcheries", Director, Fisheries department of J&K, R N Pandita said. Not only this, trout farming has been practised in over 142 rivers, streams and lakes in Jammu and Kashmir. "There are about 150 fishing beats spread over 40 streams with an aggregate length of 500 km, besides, there are 12 high altitude lakes ranging from 8,000 feet to 12,000 feet above the sea level having Brown Trout," Pandita said. The first batch of Trout ova of 10,000 eggs arrived from the UK in 1899 with the courtesy of Duke of Bedford, to whom the Kashmir ...
Bedi says Raj Nivas not getting govt files for approval
: Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi, whose 'powers' have been curtailed by the court for 'interfering' in the functioning of the territorial government, Friday said her office has not received files from it for days now. In a whatsapp message to mediapersons here, Bedi said her office 'has received no files relating to either service matters of the staff or those relating to financial approvals for several days now.'. She said she feared "this would have an impact on the routine working of the administration and thereby the people of Puducherry.". The former IPS officer further said the officials were trying to trace the files and that she had to tell them that the files were not with Raj Nivas, the office of the Lieutenant governor. She voiced her concern over the officials running from office to office 'to track the matter and we do not know where the files are, be it service matters or files requiring financial approvals as per the law governing the Union ...
BJP, Congress confident of winning Panaji bypoll
As the election campaign for the Panaji Assembly bypoll wound up on Friday evening, both the Congress and the BJP expressed confidence at winning the May 19 by-election, even as Chief Minister Pramod Sawant scoffed at claims made by the Congress, about overthrowing the BJP-led coalition government soon after results of four Assembly bypolls, including Panaji, are declared on May 23.
HC to hear plea to remove symbols from MCD poll EVMs
A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Delhi High Court on Friday seeking direction to the State Election Commission to remove election symbols from the ballots in the electronic voting machines (EVM) for the municipal polls.
Action will be taken on Godse remark issue: Amit Shah
BJP president Amit Shah on Friday said the party will take appropriate action against its Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and two other leaders over the comments hailing Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse."Party has served her a show cause notice and asked her (Sadhvi) to reply within 10 days. After she files a reply, party's disciplinary committee will take appropriate action," Shah said while addressing a press conference at the party headquarters along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Replying to questions, he said, "We won't consider their remarks on Godse as personal."His comments come in the wake of a raging controversy triggered by Thakur's remarks hailing Godse as a "true patriot" and Union Minister Ananthkumar Hegde and BJP MP Nalinkumar Kateel backing Mahatma Gandhi's assassin.When asked about fielding Thakur in Bhopal, Shah said defended her candidature saying it is a 'satyagraha' against the "fake case of saffron terror"."Pragya Thakur's ...
Punjab campaign ends, Cong vs SAD-BJP contest on Sunday
Campaigning ended Friday evening for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, which saw the Congress and the SAD-BJP combine launching blistering attacks against each other over the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and the more recent desecration of religious scriptures. In the fray for Sunday's elections are Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar and Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann. Two Union ministers, Badal's wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Bathinda) and Hardeep Singh Puri (Amritsar), are also in the field of 278 candidates, 24 of them women. Congress heavyweights in the single-phase polling in the state include former Union ministers Manish Tewari (Anandpur Sahib) and Preneet Kaur (Patiala). In Gurdaspur, BJP candidate Sunny Deol has banked on his star appeal, reminding people of the patriotic characters he has played in films like Border and Gadar. Apart from the 13 Punjab constituencies, polling will also take place in the adjacent ...