Page 720 - Politics
Pompeo says Russia will still be meddling 'in 2050'
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday warned that Russia would seek to interfere in elections for decades ahead and vowed that Washington would try to thwart its efforts. Pompeo was asked if he expected Russia to meddle in next year's US election, after a long-awaited report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller found that Moscow tried to sway the 2016 presidential race to Donald Trump. The top US diplomat said to expect a similar Russian campaign next year but criticized the spotlight inside Washington on the Russian role, which has infuriated President Donald Trump. "It goes without saying, they were a threat to our elections in 1974, too, and they interfered in our elections in the '80s," Pompeo told a forum of The Hill newspaper. "The fact that this town seems shocked by the fact that the Russians don't care for us -- in that case the Soviet Union -- I find stunning," he said. "And we should expect in 2050, the Russians will be at it still." Pompeo, however, said that Trump "has
Maha 4th phase: Voters, Oppn leaders allege anomalies in lists
Many electors and leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Monday alleged various anomalies in the voters' lists in Maharashtra during the fourth and final phase of Lok Sabha elections. NCP candidate from Nashik Lok Sabha constituency Sameer Bhujbal said the name of his mother was missing from the voters' list at a polling booth in Cidco area. In Mumbai, many voters whose residential buildings have gone for redevelopment were shocked to see their names missing from the lists. In Palghar constituency neighbouring Mumbai, voters complained that their names were deleted. NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad, who represents Mumbra-Kalwa assembly constituency in Thane district, claimed that the name of his late father still figured in the list of voters. "His name is still there even though the authorities concerned were informed and proper documents submitted for deletion of the name," he said. The NCP leader also alleged that names of some people who are alive were mentioned as ...
Congress moves SC as EC 'fails to act' against PM, Shah
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on Tuesday a Congress petition that claimed that the Election Commission had refused to act on a complaint against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah for making "hate speeches" and "using" armed forces for "political propaganda" during the Lok Sabha polls.
57.58 turnout in UP's 13 constituencies
Voter turnout for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh which went to the polls on Monday was recorded at 57.58 per cent, slightly lower than in 2014. According to the state's Chief Electoral Officer Venkateshwar Lu, 57.88 per cent votes were cast when polling closed at 6 pm. The final percentage in the fourth phase of polling is expected to go up as there were still people in queues at polling booths after closing time, and they will be allowed to cast their vote. In 2014, the turnout was 58.39 per cent over the same 13 constituencies. Opposition Samajwadi Party's alleged that many EVMs malfunctioned and in Kannauj several SP workers were prevented from coming out of their homes to vote. Guddu Saxena, a representative of the Kannauj SP candidate Dimple Yadav, complained to the election observers that the district administration had stopped some party leaders and workers to move out of their homes. He alleged that security personnel in large numbers were deployed outside the houses .
Rijiju hits out at Cong for "criminal injustice" to Ladakh
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju lashed out at the Congress on Monday for "decades of criminal injustice" to the people of Ladakh. Addressing rallies at Nyoma in Changthang region near the Line of Actual Control here, the minister of state for home said in the 72 years of independence, Congress enjoyed power for 60 years but the party did not manage to do anything for the common man. "The Congress has unleashed a demonic culture of looting the nation's resources for filling their own pockets, which has done enough harm to the nation and it should be stopped at once", he said, campaigning for the BJP's candidate Jamyang Tsering Namgyal in Ladakh Parliamentary Seat, which is primarily Buddhist-dominated. Flanked by BJP state president Ravinder Raina, MLC Tsering Dorjey, MP candidate Namgyal, Rijiju told gatherings at Khalsti and Neoma of Ladakh to vote for the favour BJP. He appealed to the people to teach Congress a lesson as the grand old party had "abandoned the Ladakh region for filling .
Babul Supriyo's car vandalised, heckled by Trinamool
Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Babul Supriyo, whose car was vandalised outside a polling booth and he himself was heckled repeatedly during the Lok Sabha elections in Asansol on Monday, expressed his disappointment with the role of the central paramilitary forces.
Congress using Jinnah's name to seek votes: Himachal CM
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Monday that staring at defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress was using the name of Mohammad Ali Jinnah to garner votes.
Arvind Kejriwal fooling people of Delhi on the issue of full statehood: Sheila Dikshit
Plunging into the thick of election campaigning, Congress' octogenarian candidate Sheila Dikshit Monday hit out at the BJP and the AAP for failing to meet the aspirations of people and asserted that her party will win all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. Canvassing in various parts of the North East Delhi parliamentary constituency, Diskhit said AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal is "fooling" the people on the issue of full statehood for Delhi. The former chief minister said her party will win all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. Dikshit, who heads Delhi Congress is pitted against her BJP counterpart Manoj Tiwari and former convener of AAP's Delhi unit Dilip Pandey in a triangular contest on North East Delhi seat. Kejriwal is "fooling" the people on the issue of full statehood for Delhi, she said during her public meetings in North East Delhi. "Had Kejriwal read the Indian Constitution and understood it well, he would not have been repeatedly telling lies to the people on the full ...
58.92% voters brave heat to vote in Bihar (4th Lead)
Ignoring heat wave-like conditions, 58.92 per cent voters turned out to cast their votes in Bihar's five Lok Sabha constituencies that went to polls on Monday, till 5 p.m, said an official.
No clean to chit to Akali leadership in Behbal Kalan firing case: Amarinder
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday rejected media reports suggesting the SIT giving a "clean chit" to the Akali leadership in the 2015 Behbal Kalan police firing case in which two youths were killed. Singh said a single challan submitted by police in the court so far was being "erroneously interpreted" to mean that the Akalis were "innocent" in the matter. After accompanying Congress candidate Sher Singh Ghubaya to file his nomination papers from the Ferozepur Lok Sabha seat, where he is pitted against SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, the CM said the media was "twisting" select information to mean something that had nowhere been concluded by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). The Amarinder Singh-led government had formed an SIT to probe the case related to the killing of two youths in alleged police firing on anti-sacrilege protesters in 2015 in Behbal Kalan of Punjab's Faridkot district. The SIT had, in fact, made it clear that its investigations were still in progress .
Pak suffered "no damage" in Balakot air strike: Pak Army
Pakistan's military on Monday once again claimed that there was "no damage" in the Balakot air strike carried out by India and asserted that it will facilitate the Indian journalists if they wish to visit the area to "see the truth". Addressing a press conference at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, Pakistan military spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor alleged that India had been "lying repeatedly" and Pakistan has not responded to those lies. "Since the last two months India has been continuing to lie. As a responsible country we have not responded to their lies," he said. "The truth is that there was an incident in Pulwama. Attacks on the police in Pulwama have happened before. There was no damage at our end in Balakot. We took local and foreign media there to show them [the truth]. We will facilitate Indian media if they choose to come to Balakot to see the truth," Ghafoor was quoted as saying by Geo News. Tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide ...
HC directs Delhi govt to decide on parole plea of Balwan Khokhar
The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Delhi government to decide on the parole plea of Balwan Khokhar, who along with former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.A single judge bench of Justice A K Chawla directed the Delhi government to decide on Khokhar's plea by passing a 'speaking order' to be passed two weeks after the Lok Sabha elections are over.As per the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), prisoners cannot be released during the election, said the Delhi government Standing Counsel Rahul Mehra and sought the time to consider Khokhar's plea after the Lok Sabha election.Khokhar had sought parole to file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High court's order dated December 17, 2018.The seven-phased Lok Sabha elections will conclude on May 19. The counting of votes will be done on May 23.
People shouldn't vote for those who think 100 times before saying 'Vande Mataram': PM Modi
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's brain would burst seeing increasing enthusiasm of people in BJP's election rallies, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday."Seeing today's scenario, condition of some people is going to worsen further. It seems that there is a sort of competition among the people here as the second rally is bigger than the first one, the third one is bigger than the second one, and the fourth one is bigger than the third one. As your enthusiasm increases, Didi's (Mamata Banerjee) brain gets burst," said Modi addressing an election rally here.People of West Bengal should not vote for those who think hundred times before saying, "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and "Vande Mataram," he said."The West Bengal has given strength to 'Rashtra bhakti,' but these days it has become a fashion to abuse 'Rashtra bhakti'. This is a distorted mentality. 'Vande Mataram' is praise for 'Maa', 'Mati' and 'Manush.' But, attempts are being made to shamelessly bury 'Vande Mataram,'" ...
67.13 pc voter turnout recorded till 6 pm in Raj
A voter turnout of 67.13 per cent was recorded till 6 pm in Rajasthan's 13 Lok Sabha seats which went to polls Monday, an election official said. "Voter turnout in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies is 67.13 per cent till 6 pm," according to the office of the chief electoral officer. Tribal dominated seat of Banswara recorded the highest voting percentage at 72.34, followed by Barmer which recorded 72.21 per cent voting. Chittorgarh and Jhalwar-Baran also recorded 71.29 and 70.95 per cent voting. Voters are still lined up in front of several polling booths and the final figure will be known later. Total voter turnout in the 2014 general election was 63.11 per cent.
BJP will win both Amethi and Rae Bareli: JP Nadda
Union minister and in-charge of BJP affairs in Uttar Pradesh JP Nadda Monday exuded confidence that his party will win the Congress bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli. Speaking to reporters here, he said, "Uttar Pradesh is witnessing a Tsunami in favour of the BJP and the entire country is standing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The way people are enthusiastically voting indicates that the BJP will win more than 74 seats from the state." He went on to say, "The BJP is ahead on all the 13 seats, where polling was held Monday. The party will definitely win Amethi and Rae Bareli this time. Apart from this, the BJP will also bag the Azamgarh seat in this election." Amethi and Rae Bareli have traditionally voted for the Congress party. The two constituencies will go to polls on May 6. In the current Lok Sabha, Amethi is represented by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Rae Bareli by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Azamgarh had elected SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2014, and this ...
Mamata among those who speak in the tone of Pakistan: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a scathing attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other leaders of the anti-BJP alliance, accusing them of disregarding the nation's security and speaking in the tone of Pakistan.
Kejriwal lauds Akhilesh for fielding ex-BSF constable Tej Bahadur Yadav against Modi
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday lauded Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav for fielding dismissed Border Security Force constable Tej Bahadur Yadav against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi. The former BSF constable was dismissed in 2017 after he posted a video online complaining about the food served to the troops. Lauding the SP chief, Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi, "On one hand there is a person who risked his life for the country and lost his job to fight for the rights of jawans, while on the other hand there is this person who fired a jawan who raised his voice and asks votes over martyred soldiers." Tej Bahadur Yadav will be contesting the Lok Sabha election as a candidate of the grand alliance - Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). He will be challenging Modi in Varanasi constituency of Uttar Pradesh, an SP leader said.
Pakistan admits presence of terrorists in its territory
Pakistan Army on Monday admitted the presence of terrorists and Jihadi elements in its country, saying that there is a need to "do a lot" to curb terrorism."We have proscribed violent extremist organisations and Jihadist groups and we have been taking action against them," said Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor at a press conference here on Monday.Major General Ghafoor said that there is a need to "do a lot" to curb terrorism as Islamabad so far has "suffered losses. We have lost millions of dollar due to terrorism." "There is still a lot to do against terrorism," he added.He also admitted that previous governments failed to curb terrorism and due to which Pakistan lost its "millions of dollars.""The state was busy conducting kinetic operations and every law enforcement agency was busy in that. Which is why we were not able to strategise against these (banned) organisations the way we are doing today," Ghafoor said.Major General ...
No bilateral meeting between Imran and Putin in Beijing a big diplomatic failure: Pak newspaper
In what is seen as a major diplomatic setback, Pakistan could not convince Russia for a bilateral meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Imran Khan on the sidelines of a high-profile meeting in Beijing, a media report said on Monday. Other than his meetings with the Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, Imran could only manage meeting the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed Ali and the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon despite the fact that at least 37 heads of state and government attended the two-day Belt and Road Forum (BRF) that concluded on Sunday, The Express Tribune reported. There was no immediate explanation from the government as to why more bilateral meetings could not be arranged between Khan and other world leaders, it said. The Pakistan Foreign Office, in a statement ahead of Imran's visit had said that he would not only attend the BRF but would also hold meetings with "several heads of state/governments and corporate and ...
Every dictator first talks of nationalism to captivate people: Gehlot
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Monday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on course to becoming a "dictator" who talks of nationalism to captivate the people. After casting his vote with his family in the morning, the Congress leader told reporters that Modi had been "dividing the nation and the society in the name of nationalism", which posed a "threat" to democracy. Later in day, the chief minister spoke at a rally in Sardarshahar town under Churu Lok Sabha constituency which was also addressed by Congress president Rahul Gandhi. "History says every dictator first talks of nationalism and captivate the people. Modi has been doing the same thing, but the people, especially the young generation, need to understand this," Gehlot told reporters in Jodhpur in the morning. Modi is "on course to becoming a dictator, which is a huge threat to the democracy of the country", he said. "He (Modi) has a perverted version of patriotism and has got down to exploit this term to win