Page 608 - Politics
NDA govt served without a single riot, curfew: Sitharaman
Claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government served its tenure without a single "curfew" or "riot", Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said India is "secure" under the leadership of the incumbent PM.Speaking to media persons here, Sitharaman said, "Our country under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi is secure. We do not compromise on anything related to terrorism. We follow the principle of no tolerance and based on that, whatever steps must be taken by us, are taken."She added, "Over the last five years, Prime Minister Modi-led government ran the country without any curfews and riots. Be it internal or the issue on the border, or any issue Pakistan has with us since 1947, we have reverted to that."The minister also said that the country has received a lot of praise on various international platforms for its foreign policies."We believe that work must be done for the development of the nation. Continuity of our work will provide opportunities to the youth
Priyanka's attacks on Modi become sharper, hard-hitting
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi since beginning of her campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections but the attacks seem to have grown sharper and more hard-hitting since the BJP leader targeted her father as "Brashtachri Number 1".
Opposition wants SC to order re-poll in entire Tripura West
The opposition CPI-M and Congress are seeking directions from the Supreme Court against the Election Commission (EC) decision to hold re-polling on May 12 in only 168 polling stations under the Tripura West Lok Sabha seat, instead of in the entire constituency, leaders of these parties said on Thursday.
Delhi Metro services to start at 4 am on polling day
Delhi Metro train services will begin from 4 am, two hours earlier than regular timing, on May 12 so that the staff deployed for election duty can avail the facility for travelling, officials said Thursday. DMRC train services otherwise begin at 6 am "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. However, trains on the Blue Line, going from Dwarka Sector 21 towards Vaishali, will begin operations at 4.30 am. Delhi Metro's current span is 373 km and 271 stations, including the Noida-Greater Noida Aqua Line, and its average daily ridership is about 30 lakh.
Rahul gets time till Friday evening to respond to EC's show-cause notice
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been given time till Friday evening by the Election Commission (EC) to respond to a show-cause notice issued to him over his remark that the Narendra Modi government had enacted a new law that allowed tribals to be shot at. On Tuesday, Gandhi had sought time till the weekend to respond to the notice. Last Friday, the Congress chief had sought time till May 7 to respond to the notice, following which the EC had granted him an extension. Citing his speech in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh on April 23, the poll panel had, on May 1, issued the show-cause notice to Gandhi, highlighting a provision of the Model Code of Conduct that barred "unverified" allegations against political opponents.
The more the oppn leaders hurl abuses at Modi the more the lotus will bloom:Shah
Hitting out at the Congress and other opposition parties, BJP chief Amit Shah Thursday said the more their leaders hurl abuses at Prime Minister Narendra Modi the more the lotus will bloom. Shah also asserted that nobody except Modi can make the country feel secure and no one can take away Kashmir from India as long as the BJP exists. Referring to the air strike on terror camps in Balakot in Pakistan, he claimed that Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders sulked after the operation and asked whether the terrorists killed were their "maternal-paternal brothers". "The security of the country is of top priority to us. If a bullet (goli) comes to us from Pakistan, our people will retaliate with a shell (golaa)," Shah said amidst applause from the crowd at his rallies. The BJP president was addressing rallies in Sant Kabirnagar, Siddharthnagar and Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh. Shah claimed that the Congress, the Samajwadi Party(SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) have .
Stage set for civic polls in Telangana
: The second phase of polling for Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTC) and Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTC) elections would be held Friday. The elections would be held from 7 AM to 5 PM, while in Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected areas, it would start at 7 AM and conclude at 4 PM, the State Election Commission said. The election was being held for 179 ZPTCs, for which 805 candidates, including 162 independents, were in the fray. For 1850 MPTCs, 6,146 candidates were in the fray. Unanimous elections had earlier been held for 63 MPTCs and one ZPTC seat. The Telangana State Election Commission had last month released the election schedule for 5,817 MPTCs and 539 ZPTCs and announced that the first phase polls would held on May 6, the second on May 10 and the third on May 14. Around 1.56 crore voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections to two upper tiers of local bodies. The elections were being held through ballot and ...
BJP leaders flay Siddaramaiah for CM ambitions
Karnataka BJP leaders Thursday slammed ruling Congress-JD(S) coordination committee Chief Siddaramaaih for his Chief Ministerial ambitions and accused him of fixing a "time bomb" to the coalition governmentthat would explode after Lok Sabha poll results on May 23. They alleged that Siddaramaiah was "daydreaming" about becoming Chief Minister once again. "I'm saying this on behalf of the party (BJP), we will not make any attempts to bring this government down. We are not preparing any sketch for it," former deputy chief minister R Ashoka told reporters in Bidar. Ashoka claimed that Siddaramaiah has a grudge against the JD(S)leadership for expelling him from the party, and is now unableto digest Kumaraswamy and Deve Gowda enjoying power. "He (Siddaramaiah) is taking revenge in Mandya (whereKumaraswamy's son Nikhil is candidate), and if any one has fixed a time bomb or atom bomb to this government after May 23 results, it is Siddaramiah and team," he said. For the last ...
Former naval chief dismisses Modi's charge on Rajiv Gandhi using warship for holiday
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi stirred a controversy by alleging that former PM Rajiv Gandhi used warship INS Viraat as a "personal taxi" for a vacation with his Italian in-laws, former Navy Chief, Admiral (retd.) L. Ramdas said that the charge was "completely and absolutely wrong".Ramdas, who was the southern naval chief at that time, also denied that there were any Italians onboard the ship. He said, as Prime Minister and Chairman of the Island Development Authority, Gandhi had visited Lakshadweep islands on an official trip."Completely wrong and sad. We picked him (Rajiv Gandhi) up from Trivandrum from the national athletic championship, where he was the chief guest. We picked him up in a helicopter and went to Lakshadweep. He came to Viraat. He was with us for two nights. Next morning he left. For two days we showed him the Islands," he told reporters here."He was chairman of IDA, there was a meeting. So he wanted to see the Island, His wife was there," he added.Notably, Admiral .
EC announces re-poll at 1 booth in Bengal's Bolpur
The Election Commission on Thursday announced a re-poll at a polling booth in West Bengal's Ketugram in Bolpur Lok Sabha constituency.
Ex-Admiral refutes Modi's charges on Rajiv Gandhi's 'joy cruise'
In a major embarrassment to the government, retired Admiral L. Ramdas on Thursday refuted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim that the late Rajiv Gandhi and his family had enjoyed a family cruise on the INS Viraat.
HC dismisses plea challenging rejection of nomination to contest LS polls
The Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea challenging the rejection of nomination filed by a man to contest the ongoing Lok Sabha election from the New Delhi constituency, saying the decision cannot be challenged in a writ petition during the poll process. Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri said the election process had already commenced and there was no scope for interference in it as the remedy against "rejection of nomination" was clearly provided in the Representation of the People Act by way of an election petition. "The courts have time and again cautioned that there cannot be a two-pronged attack on matters connected with elections, that is, one during the course of elections by invoking the extraordinary jurisdiction of high courts under Article 226 of the Constitution and secondly, after the elections have been completed, by way of filing an election petition," the judge said. The court passed the order while dismissing a petition filed by one Vijay Pal Singh, whose nomination was ...
N. Korea fires two short-range missiles: Seoul (2nd Lead)
North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, South Korea's military said, just five days after the communist nation launched a barrage of projectiles into the East Sea.
US tests missile on same day as North Korea
The US Air Force has tested a missile on the same day that North Korea is suspected of having launched two short-range missiles. The Air Force says it launched a Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It says the launch was part of regularly scheduled tests of ICBMs to ensure they are ready for potential combat. It said the test was unrelated to any world events. It was the second such test in a little over a week. The Air Force normally does four or five such tests each year. The ICBM test launches are planned months in advance. The Air Force moved a Minuteman 3 missile from a launch silo controlled by the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming to the launch site at Vandenberg. North Korea's launch was its second in five days and a possible warning that nuclear disarmament talks with Washington could be in danger. South Korea's military says North Korea has fired two suspected short-range ...
Ready to return if SC assures I will not be arrested till conviction: Naik
Islamic preacher Zaik Naik has said he is ready to return to India if the Supreme Court gives an assurance that he would not be arrested till his conviction. Naik is living in Malaysia after fleeing from India in 2016. He has been given permanent resident status by the Malaysian government. In an interview to 'The Week' magazine, the preacher said he has faith in the judicial system, but it was better before than it is now, he added. "Before the BJP government came, you could speak against the government, and at least 80 per cent of the times you would get justice. Today, the chances are 10-20 per cent. "Moreover, if we see the history, more than 90 per cent Muslims who faced terror charges have been let free after 10-15 years. So if I look at an average, I will be behind bars for about 10 years, and my entire mission would get disrupted. Why should I be a fool," he said. The preacher said the NIA can question him in Malaysia, if they want. When asked whether he will return to India ..
Modi has nothing to say on govt work so harping on past: Rahul
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has nothing to say on his government's performance and hence keeps talking about what happened in the past, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said Thursday. Addressing a poll rally here, Gandhi also said it is now time to bid good bye to Modi and the ruling BJP. The Congress chief's comments follow Modi's constant criticism of the Gandhis during the ongoing Lok Sabha poll campaign. "He (Modi) cannot talk about (the promises made about) employment, farmers, Rs 15 lakh (to be deposited in bank account of each Indian) and achche din (good days). He can only talk about the past," Gandhi said. "Modi ji, India chose you as prime minister five years ago. India does not want to understand from you what others did but it wants to know what you did and will do," Gandhi said. He reiterated that Modi ensured industrialist Anil Ambani got contract worth Rs 30,000 crore in the Rafale jet purchase deal and termed the same as a scam. Modi feels he alone runs the ..
Congress, Mayawati, Akhilesh cannot tolerate that a man from backward caste became PM: Amit Shah
BJP chief Amit Shah on Thursday said that Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav, BSP supremo Mayawati and the Congress party cannot digest the fact that a man belonging to the backward class became the prime minister."Congress party, Mayawati and Akhilesh abuse PM Modi every day. What is their problem? They cannot tolerate, how a man who belongs to backward caste became the Prime Minister. They also referred him as Hitler, Mussolini, killer and terrorist," Shah said during an election rally here."Mayawati rightly says Modi is not from backward caste but he belongs to lower backward caste," he added.Earlier BSP chief Mayawati had said: "When his (Modi) government was formed in Gujarat, then he got his community included in the backward class list. He just wants the votes of the people from backward classes. He is fake."The BJP chief alleged that Mayawati, Akhilesh and SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav had worked only for specific caste for their vote bank politics."Mayawati, Akhilesh and Netaji ..
Rahul to address rallies in Himachal, Chandigarh
Congress President Rahul Gandhi will address election rallies in Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh on Friday.
Congress dubs BJP as 'Bahut Jhooth Party' over Rahul Gandhi citizenship row
Congress on Thursday accused the ruling BJP of spreading lies over its president Rahul Gandhi's citizenship and dubbed it as "Bahut Jhooth Party" after the Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking a ban on Gandhi from contesting polls over his alleged British nationality."They had brought this issue through Manohar Lal Sharma petition which was dismissed in the court. They raised it through Lal Krishna Advani-led Ethics committee. They set up yet another proxy which went to the Supreme Court. Modi and his government will try to rise from the ashes on this issue," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said at a press conference here.Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "master of disinformation", Singhvi said, "The master of disinformation, MODI, and Bahut Jhooth Party will try to spread disinformation."The Congress leader claimed that the BJP is spreading lies as it foresees defeat in the election."People of India know that when a citizenship issue is brought in the middle of
BJP works out strategy to tap new allies in case of LS shortfall
Apparently sensing that it may miss the majority mark in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is understood to have already devised a plan to tap new allies and independents to enable it to meet the potential shortfall.