Page 598 - Politics
'300 seats for BJP': Gadkari differs with Ram Madhav's assessment
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday differed with the opinion of his party colleague Ram Madhav that the BJP could fall short of numbers in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls and asserted that it will get more than 300 seats.
If Modi had family, he would also be going on vacation: Anand Sharma
Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's criticism of the late Rajiv Gandhi that he had used a naval warship as a personal taxi for vacation in Lakshadweep, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said that if Modi had a family he would also have done that."Any Prime Minister would do so but this Prime Minister has no family. If he had a family, then he would also be going there. But he goes alone because he has no connect with a family or any respect for family values," he told ANI.Sharma responded to Modi's attack that INS Viraat was used as a "personal taxi" by Gandhi family for 10 days while they were vacationing at an island in Lakshadweep in the late eighties.Accusing the Gandhi family of compromising with national security, Modi had claimed during a public rally in Delhi that Indian Navy personnel were stationed at the island in service of late Rajiv Gandhi and his family.
"Will hang myself": Gambhir's hardball at Kejriwal over smear pamphlets
Bharatiya Janata Party's Gautam Gambhir on Friday said he will hang himself in public if Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal can prove his connection with the derogatory pamphlets against Atishi, the former cricketer's Lok Sabha election opponent.The cricketer-turned-politician threw a hardball at the Delhi Chief Minister asking him to quit politics if his accusations don't hold ground."Challenger Number 3 to Arvind Kejriwal and AAP. If he can prove that I have anything to do with this pamphlet filth, then I will hang myself in public. Otherwise, Arvind Kejriwal should quit politics. Accepted?" Gambhir, who is contesting against AAP's Atishi from East Delhi seat, wrote on Twitter.Defamatory pamphlets targeting Atishi have created a fresh storm in Delhi politics, with her party attributing the smear campaign to her poll opponent Gambhir.The AAP leader broke down while addressing a press conference on the issue yesterday where she, along with party colleague and Deputy Chief Minister .
Campaigning ends for third phase of polling in Jharkhand
Campaigning for the third phase of polling in Jharkhand for four seats ended on Friday evening with polling set for May 12.
Large quantity of drugs seized in last 9 month in J-K's Rambam district
A large quantity of narcotics, including 30 kg heroin, 4,030 kg poppy and 78 kg cannabis, has been seized during the past nine months from Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district, an official said Friday. The Jammu and Kashmir police has launched a massive drive against the drug peddlers in view of the growing menace in the state. Drugs including 3,870 tablets of opioid Tramadol were also seized during the period, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ramban Anita Sharma said.
PM's friends made profits of Rs 10,000 cr in 5 yrs while farmers were suffering: Priyanka
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged on Friday that while farmers were suffering, Rs 5.5 lakh crore of big industrialists were waived by the BJP government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's friends had registered profits of Rs 10,000 crore in the last five years. Addressing an election meeting here, she also hit out at Modi, saying that he talked about Pakistan and other "absurd" issues, but never about the problems of the people. The Congress general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh termed the current Bharatiya Janata Party-led government "arrogant", alleging that it spreads anger, hatred and negativity. She alleged that when farmers of a number of states, including Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Maharashtra, went to Delhi to stage a protest, the prime minister did not come out of his bungalow for even five minutes to hear their grievances. "Now they are highlighting the 'Kisan Samman Yojana' and promising Rs 6,000 per year. When the Congress asked the ...
Munna Lal: The little known Aam Aadmi of Chandni Chowk constituency
Sitting on a cot next to a shoe stand in a Valmiki temple, Munna Lal discusses his campaign with a handful of supporters, but he is unlike other candidates whose faces are splashed on newspapers or TV channels. Neither do loudspeakers blare his political slogans in Chandni Chowk, from where he is contesting as an independent, nor are there garlands around his neck. In fact, his only semblance to a political leader is the starch-white kurta-pyjama he wears, an attire that is widely seen as trademark of netas in India. But then he is not a cut from the same cloth, he claims. "This is the first time I am standing for any election. My aim here is to raise the pressing issues of Valmiki community. "It is a shame that we continue to remain oppressed even after 70 years of Independence. I stood for this election to give a message that Valmiki community can fight its own fight and that parties can no more exploit us for their political gains," Lal told PTI. Delhi Democratic Alliance (DDA), a .
Panaji bypoll: BJP, Cong in tug-of-war for Parrikar bastion
In 1994, BJP's Manohar Parrikar, who went on to become Goa chief minister and the country's Defence minister, won his maiden assembly election from Panaji seat, wresting it from the Congress, which the latter could never win in the last 25 years. But this time, Parrikar's absence has brightened the hopes of the opposition party. The May 19 by-election to the Panaji seat, necessitated after Parrikar's death in March, is turning out to be a battle of prestige for the Congress and the BJP, as the parties are leaving no stone unturned to come out on top. The BJP has fielded former MLA Siddharth Kunkolienkar, who had earlier represented the constituency in the absence of Parrikar in 2015 and 2017, during the latter's stint as the defence minister in the Modi government. The Congress has given ticket to former state minister Atanasio Monserratte. All these years, the BJP had managed to hold grip over the Panaji seat and Parrikar's charisma was one of the major factors. After ..
Bus and metro services to start early morning on polling day in Delhi
Bus and metro services will start early morning to help voters cast their votes in Delhi on Sunday. The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has decided to run its services from 4 am on Sunday, a DTC spokesperson said. The early morning bus services will be available on 35 major routes across the city, he said. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) services will also begin from 4 am on the polling day. However, trains on the Blue Line, going from Dwarka Sector 21 towards Vaishali and Noida, will begin operations at 4.30 am. The Delhi Metro starts functioning from 6 am on normal days. "On the day of the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi on Sunday, May 12, the Delhi Metro train services on all lines will start from 4 am, so that the staff deployed for election duty can avail the facility," the DMRC said in a statement. The trains will run with a frequency of 30 minutes on all the lines till 6 am. Later, metro trains will run as per the normal Sunday timetable throughout the day, it said.
LS polls: Campaigning ends for 6th phase
Campaigning came to a close on Friday evening for the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls in 59 constituencies spread across seven states on May 12.Union Minister Maneka Gandhi, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Congress leader Digvijay Singh and BJP's Pragya Singh Thakur are among 968 candidates in the fray.Voting will be held in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, ten in Haryana, eight seats each in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, seven in Delhi and four in Jharkhand. Bharatiya Janata Party had won 44 of the 59 in the last general elections.In UP's Sultanpur, BJP has fielded Maneka Gandhi instead of her son and sitting MP Varun Gandhi who won in 2014 by a margin of over one lakh votes. She is contesting against BSP candidate Chandra Bhadra Singh and Congress' Dr Sanjay Sinh.Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is in the race from the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat, currently represented by his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. He is pitted against BJP's Nirahua, a Bhojpuri star, while Congress
Lok Sabha 2019: How AAP used all possible campaign methods
Calling itself way ahead of its opponents, the Congress and the BJP, Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) says it has not left out any possible means of communication to reach out to voters.
PM targets Cong over anti-Sikh riots
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday targeted the Congress over the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and brought up the Balakot air strike against Pakistan in his first rally in Himachal Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections. Addressing a meeting in Mandi, Modi also accused the Manmohan Singh-led Congress government of misleading former soldiers over the one rank, one pension scheme. He said his BJP government had implemented OROP in the real sense. He urged people to ensure a hat-trick for the Bharatiya Janata Party, following its victory the 2014 parliamentary polls and the 2017 assembly elections. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, former CM Shanta Kumar and other state BJP leaders attended the rally. BJP MP Ramswaroop Sharma is seeking re-election from Mandi. He is pitted against former Union telecom minister Sukh Ram's grandson Aashray Sharma, who is the son of a BJP leader but his grandfather is now back with the Congress.
NDA will form govt on its own at Centre: T'gana BJP chief
The NDA would form the government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha on its own without requiring the support of parties like TRS, BJP president in Telangana K Laxman said on Friday. "Such an occasion will not be there," he said in an informal interaction with reporters when asked about the possibility of BJP having to take the support of TRS post-Lok Sabha polls if it fell short of numbers. "100 per cent NDA will come to power. Modi will be the Prime Minister," he said. TRS had supported the NDA on issues like demonetisation and election to the offices of President and Vice-President, but even then BJP did not show any let-up in its fight against the TRS government, he said. "Doors are being closed" on Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu who sought to make put together a coalition of opposition parties, Laxman claimed. He cited DMK leader M K Stalin not meeting Rao as an example. Claiming that the Congress ..
Manmohan Singh thousand times better than Modi: Kejriwal
As prime minister, Manmohan Singh was "thousand times" better than Narendra Modi, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, who was a key leader of the massive anti-graft movement against the UPA government in 2011, said on Friday. Calling him a "good man", Kejriwal said it was Singh who shielded India from the global economic recession in 2008 by taking a series of timely measures. "Manmohan Singh is a good man. He was thousand times better than Modi. He is an educated man, an economist of repute. He understands the economy," he told PTI in an interview. "In fact in late 2008, when there was global economic depression, India was perhaps the only country which was not impacted by it as Singh took a series of measures and saved the country," Kejriwal added. Kejriwal along with with Anna Hazare had led a massive anti-graft agitation against UPA II between 2011 and 2013 when Manmohan Singh was the prime minister. A section in the Congress feels that the movement hit ...
Clear mandate for anti-BJP parties, PM candidate after oppn sits together: Chandrababu Naidu
Predicting a "clear mandate" for anti-BJP parties, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu says all opposition leaders are better than Narendra Modi but a decision on who will be prime minister will be a consensus one taken after the groups sit together following the results. The bitterness among people about the Modi government will help the anti-BJP parties come to power in the Lok Sabha elections, the Andhra Pradesh chief minister told PTI in an interview. Discussing probable candidates for the prime minister's post, Naidu said, "Everybody is strong. All leaders in the opposition are very strong. They are better than Narendra Modi. But for the selection of the PM, we (opposition leaders) have to sit together and decide who is the best candidate... We will have to reach a consensus on this." Asked whether Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee will be a contender, he said, "That we have not discussed so far. We will sit together after the results of the elections are out and then will ...
BJP can never be 'Modi or Shah's party': Gadkari
BJP can never be an "individual-centric" party as it is based on ideology, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said, denying allegations that Bharatiya Janata Party has become "Modi-centric". He also disapproved apprehensions of a fractured mandate and claimed the party will get more seats than the last Lok Sabha polls. "BJP neither became Atal or Advaniji's party in the past, nor it can ever be only Amit Shah or Narendra Modi's party," he said in an interview to PTI at his residence here. Stressing "BJP is a party based on ideology," Gadkari said it is wrong to say that "BJP has become Modi-centric." He, however, said the BJP and Prime Minister Modi are "complementary to each other." When asked whether the BJP has become 'Modi is BJP and BJP is Modi' on the lines of 'Indira is India and India is Indira' slogan given by then Congress president D K Barooah during emergency in 1976, Gadkari said, the party can never be "individual-centric". "BJP as a party can never be individual-centric.It is
Soren family violated land acts: Jharkhand CM
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Friday attacked the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president Shibu Soren and his son, the former Chief Minister Hemant Soren, over violating the land acts in the state.
Jaya Bachchan, Dimple Yadav hold roadshow in Prayagraj
Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan and SP leader Dimple Yadav on Friday held a roadshow here.The star campaigners of the Samajwadi Party were campaigning for Rajendra Pratap Singh, candidate of Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance from Allahabad parliamentary seat.Singh is in the fray against Rita Bahuguna Joshi from the BJP and AAP's Bhawani Nath Valmiki, popularly known as Bhawani Ma.The constituency is set to go to polls on May 12.Dimple, wife of former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is seeking her third-term from Kannauj. The seat had already witnessed polling on May 6.In Uttar Pradesh, SP, BSP, and RLD are contesting polls in an alliance, under which SP will contest on 37 seats, BSP on 38 and RLD on three out of 80 parliamentary constituencies.
Campaign ends in Jharkhand for third phase
Curtains came down on campaigning on Friday for the third phase of polling in four Lok Sabha seats of Jharkhand to be held on May 12. A total 66,85,401 voters of Giridih, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur and Singhbhum (ST) constituencies are eligible to decide the fate of 67 candidates in Sunday's election. Twenty-three candidates are in the fray in Jamshedpur seat, followed by 20 in Dhanbad, 15 in Giridih and nine in Singhbhum (ST). The polling will be held between 7 am to 4 pm in 8,300 polling stations in the four constituencies. Jharkhand Water Resources Minister Chandraprakash Choudhary, the Ajsu party leader and BJP-led NDA candidate, is pitted against Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA Jagarnath Mahato Giridih seat. Sitting BJP MP P N Singh is facing Congress candidate Kirti Azad from Dhanbad while another BJP parliamentarian B B Mahato is contesting against JMM MLA Champai Soren from Jamshedpur. Former chief minister Madhu Koda's wife Gita Koda has been nominated by the Congress
Yeddyurappa says he foresees changes in Karnataka political scene after LS polls
Karnataka BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa Friday said the longevity of the Congress-JDS coalition government in the State would depend on the stand taken by about 20 "disgruntled" Congress legislators after the Lok Sabha poll results. He forecast political changes in the state favouring the BJP, saying its tally in the assembly would increase. The former Chief Minister hit out at the state government for its drought management and called it "brain dead", as he cited "charged" atmosphere within the coalition as the reason for Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy heading to a resort. "State government is brain dead in a way. At a time when people are suffering from drought and are migrating, when there is scarcity of drinking water, Kumaraswamy (Chief Minister) and his father (JDS patriarch H D Deve Gowda) are going to a resort. It shows about charged environment in Congress-JD(S) coalition," Yeddyurappa said. Speaking to reporters at Hubballi, he said, "...it is clear that nothing is right ...