Page 672 - Politics
Congress has demolished Modi: Rahul
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scared of his defeat in the elections and the BJP was running a panicky campaign.
Former White House chief joins firm that detains migrant children
Former White House chief of staff John Kelly has joined the board of a firm that operates centers for housing unaccompanied migrant children, US media reported Friday, prompting a storm of criticism from Democrats. The ex-Marine general - who as Homeland Security secretary proposed the controversial policy of separating immigrant children from their parents - joined Caliburn International four months after leaving the White House. "General Kelly is a strong strategic addition to our team," said Caliburn International CEO James Van Dusen in a statement cited by various US outlets. Democrats including 2020 presidential hopefuls accused Kelly of profiting from policies he had supervised during his stint in President Donald Trump's administration. "John Kelly oversaw many of the Trump Admin's most morally repugnant immigration policies," tweeted Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Elizabeth Warren. "Now he could be making big bucks serving on the Board of a company that's profiting ...
Around 50 rockets fired at Israel from Gaza: Israeli army
A barrage of around 50 rockets was fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip on Saturday and dozens were intercepted by air defences, the Israeli army said. The army said earlier it had targeted two rocket launchers in Gaza with an air strike in response. It was not yet clear if there were casualties on either side. The escalation follows the most violent protests along the Gaza border in weeks on Friday.
MP BJP releases 'charge sheet' against Kamal Nath govt
The opposition BJP Saturday released an 'aarop patra' or charge sheet against the Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh, targeting it over its "failure" to deliver on the promises it had made to the people. The charge sheet, which is a 12-page booklet, lists the "unfulfilled promises" of the Congress, which formed the government in the state in December last year. The saffron party alleged that among other things, the Congress duped farmers in the name of loan waiver. It also said that the ruling party has disappointed the people of the state as its assurances have remained "only on paper", as against its claim of implementing 83 promises. However, the ruling party hit back at the BJP saying the allegations against it were "baseless". The booklet was released at the BJP's state party office by former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, party's national vice presidents Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and Prabhat Jha, among others. Talking to reporters on the occasion, Chouhan
'Mahagathbandhan' will give rise to 'mahabhrashtachar': PM Modi
Intensifying his attack on the opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said the 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) will give rise to 'mahabhrashtachar' (grand corruption)'. Modi said the Congress has been reduced to the status of 'vote katwa' party and it will soon witness its "downfall". "See its (Congress) downfall," he said, as he made a no-holds barred attack against party president Rahul Gandhi, warning him that he will succumb to "ahankaar" (self pride). Modi said while a Congress leader is sharing the stage with the Samajwadi Party, an apparent reference to Priyanka Gandhi who was present at an SP meeting in Raebareli this week, the BSP is attacking the grand old party. "The SP is going soft on the Congress, but its alliance partner BSP chief Mayawati is attacking the grand old party," he said at an election meeting here, apparently to drive a wedge between the two allies. Attacking the Congress, Modi said the "Mr Clean" image of the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi ..
Monitoring progress by PMO not same as parallel negotiations: Government affidavit on Rafale review petition
Monitoring of progress by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) can't be construed as parallel negotiations, claimed the Centre in its affidavit filed before the Supreme Court here on Saturday over review petitions filed against the top court's December 14 judgment on the Rafale deal."Monitoring of the progress by PMO of government process cannot be construed as interference or parallel negotiations. The then Hon'ble Raksha Mantri had recorded on file that ... "it appears that PMO and French President's office are monitoring the progress of the issues which was an outcome of the summit meeting," read the affidavit filed by the Centre before a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi .The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph, will consider on May 6 the affidavit filed by the Centre over pleas challenging the December 14 order of the top court where it had given a clean chit to the Rafale deal.Centre also claimed that the court's judgment upholding the ...
Army is not Modi's personal property; NDA govt released Azhar: Rahul's counter to BJP on nationalism
Taking the BJP's nationalism narrative in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls head-on, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the Indian Army is not Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "personal property" and it should not be politicised as he also slammed the government on tackling terror, citing JeM chief Masood Azhar's release during the NDA rule. Asserting that terrorism is a huge issue, Gandhi alleged that the BJP compromises on it, adding that the Congress will deal with it "more sternly" than Modi because it works with a strategy, rather than "events". Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, he also hit out at the prime minister over his remarks that the Congress conducted surgical strikes only "on paper" and the leaders of the opposition party thought those were akin to video games. Gandhi said Modi's comments were not an insult to the Congress, but to the Army. Asked about the prime minister invoking Masood Azhar's designation as a global terrorist by the .
EC biased against opposition: Rahul
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused the Election Commission (EC) of being "biased" against the opposition and said that capturing of institutions will have a negative effect in the future.
It's pro-incumbency rather than anti-incumbency: Anurag Thakur (IANS Interview)
When you work and deliver there is no question of anti-incumbency, rather there is pro-incumbency, believes Anurag Thakur, who has thrice consecutively returned to the Lok Sabha from Hamirpur.
Fight between sitting MP Trivedi and his former aide in Barrackpore
Arjun Singh is known for his local connections and strong booth management skills but sitting TMC MP Dinesh Trivedi dismisses the chances of his former chief election manager in their fight for supremacy in this seat, saying he is a non-factor in this poll. Having a 40 per cent Hindi-speaking population, Barrackpore is one of the key seats where the Modi-Mamata factor has turned the contest into a prestige fight for both the TMC and the BJP. With Trivedi eyeing a consecutive third term from the seat, which goes to polls in the fifth phase on May 6, Singh, who defected to the BJP recently, is hoping to upset the former Union minister's applecart. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his election campaign in West Bengal had claimed that 40 TMC MLAs were in touch with him, prompting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to accuse him of engaging in horse trading and demanding for cancellation of his candidature. "After this statement and counter statement, the election in this seat is more about
N.Korea fires short-range missiles into East Sea
North Korea fired a barrage of unidentified short-range missiles in the direction of the East Sea on Saturday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
Congress demolishes PM Modi, 'hollow structure' will come crumbling down in next few days: Rahul Gandhi
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said his party has 'demolished' the Prime Minister and the 'hollow structure will come crumbling down' in the next few days.Addressing a media briefing, Gandhi scion said: "Five years ago, it was said that Modi ji cannot be defeated and it will rule for 10-15 years, that he is invincible. The Congress party has demolished Narendra Modi ji, it is a hollow structure and in 10- 20 days, it will come crumbling down. The work that we had to do, we have done it. Congress has changed the narrative by fighting on the ground."He also said the Congress will not allow the Indian institutions to be controlled and crushed."Election Commission has to commit to their responsibility and they have to carry it out. All this institutional capture that is taking place and all the negative effect of it will have consequences in future. We are not going to allow Indian institutions to be disturbed, controlled,
EC seeks Kirron Kher's reply over campaign video featuring children
The Election Commission on Saturday issued a show-cause notice to BJP's Chandigarh Lok Sabha candidate Kirron Kher for sharing a campaign video featuring children on Twitter.Giving her 24 hours time to reply to the notice, the Office of District Nodal Officer said that it had received a complaint along with a video link in which children could be seen actively participating in election campaign shouting slogans like "Vote for Kirron Kher and Ab ki baar Modi Sarkar".The complaint was filed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCH) requesting the Election Commission of India to ensure that children are not involved in any form with election-related activities.Kirron Kher will be contesting against old rival Pawan Kumar Bansal from the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat on May 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.
Cong will win all 25 LS seats in Rajasthan: Pilot
Rajasthan Congress president Sachin Pilot on Saturday said the BJP had failed to tell people during the Lok Sabha election what had it done for them in the last five years and exuded confidence that his party would sweep the state by winning all the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the ongoing polls. "Poll campaigns should be run on the issues of governance, investment etc. The Congress carried out a positive election campaign, unlike the BJP, which did not show its report card. No leader of the BJP is ready to talk about jobs, which is the core issue," the Rajasthan deputy chief minister told reporters at the party office here. "There is a wave in favour of the Congress and we are going to accomplish our target of 'Mission 25' (winning all the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan)," he added. The former Union minister said jobs and farmers' problems were the core issues in the Lok Sabha polls, while alleging that BJP leaders were not taking about these issues and misleading people. Pilot said there .
Only actresses with TMC ticket don't represent women in politics: Meenakshi Lekhi
BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi Saturday said only actresses with a TMC ticket do not represent all women in politics, and that the Mamata Banerjee-led party fielding popular faces of the Bengali film industry cannot be called women empowerment. The BJP candidate from the high-profile New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency also said all parties need to put in extra efforts to boost the participation of the fairer sex in public life at every level. Only 18 of the 164 candidates in the fray in Delhi are women, according to data from Delhi's chief electoral office. "More women should join politics. They should be interested in politics. Giving women ticket for the sake of it is not the right thing to do," Lekhi told PTI in an interview, citing the example of the Trinamool Congress. "The TMC has given tickets to all the actresses as if they only represent the womenfolk and 'normal women' are not worthy of being in politics. This is not women empowerment. The TMC is encashing the popularity of these ...
ISIS extremely dangerous, inspires intl terror: Prof Susser
The Islamic State (ISIS) is an "extremely dangerous" terror organisation, which is a source of inspiration and support for international terrorism, Dr Asher Susser, Professor Emeritus of Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University in Israel, has said here. He was delivering a lecture on 'Israel, Iran and the Arabs: The Middle East of the 21st Century' at the Pune International Centre here on Friday. "We have to distinguish between the IS as a territorial facet in the region, which I think has been demolished...But ISIS is internationally extremely dangerous, not because of their military power, not because of their territorial base, which has disappeared, but because ISIS is a source of inspiration for international terrorism," he said. Since it is a source of inspiration and support for international terrorism, it is very difficult to combat, he added. "ISIS has the capacity to engage in terrorism. We have seen it in France, we have seen it in Sri Lanka," he ...
Hold presser Mr. PM, it's looking terribly bad: Rahul
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address at least one press conference before the elections conclude saying it was looking terrible on international level.
Kamala Harris requests investigation against AG Barr
Democratic presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris has sent a letter to the Justice Department's inspector general, requesting a probe into whether Attorney General William Barr has acted upon requests or suggestions from President Donald Trump to investigate his "perceived enemies".
Another top Pentagon official resigns
Robert Daigle, Pentagon's top official, has resigned from his position, announced the US acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Friday.Daigle, the Director of the Department Of Defence's Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) office, will vacate the office in mid-May after serving for two years."On behalf of the entire Department of Defense (DOD), I thank Bob Daigle for his extraordinary service over the past two years," The Hill quoted Shanahan as saying.He adds that Daigle and his team "have been key architects of the investment strategies that ensure our military is ready to compete, deter, and win in any high-end fight of the future. These investments have formed the foundation for our Department's FY19 and FY20 strategy-driven budgets, enabling DOD to field new technologies and weapons systems at the speed of relevance."Reportedly, Daigle is leaving to rejoin the private sector. He did not ascertain the reason for resigning.Daigle, who took over CAPE in August 2017, .
PM Modi insulting Army by questioning UPA era surgical strikes: Rahul Gandhi
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for raising suspicion over the claims of the surgical strike during UPA regime and asserted that doing so is an insult to the Army.Address a media briefing here, Gandhi said: "The Army, Air Force or Navy is not personal properties of Narendra Modi ji like he thinks. When he says that surgical strikes during UPA were done in video games then he is not insulting Congress, but the Army. These air strikes were done by the Army and we do not politicize the Army. The Prime Minister should not insult the Army."On Thursday, Congress party claimed that six surgical strikes were conducted during former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's regime from 2004 to 2014.Gandhi scion also stated that his party will keep on using the slogan of 'Chowkidar Chor hai.' He said: "The process (Rafale case) is going on in Supreme Court and I made a comment attributed to SC so I apologized. I did not apologize to ..