Page 740 - Politics

Will expose how Modi govt imposed anti-people decisions on Delhiites: AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party will start a sector-wise comparison of the central government with that of Arvind Kejriwal-led dispensation on critical issues affecting the everyday life of Delhiites. Senior AAP leaders and Delhi government ministers on a daily basis will present the factual position of critical sectors before the media, the AAP said. "AAP will expose how the Modi government imposed anti-people decisions on Delhiites one after the other, which adversely affected the ordinary people," the AAP said in a statement. "The BJP has already run away from bringing out either its manifesto or vision document for Delhi, since it knows that the residents of Delhi will question it on its past false promises, it said. AAP leaders will present the factual position on issues like Metro fare hike, MCD's performance, electricity, pollution, GST and demonetisation among others, the party said. Delhi goes to polls on May 12 in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections and the results would be ...

Rahul questions Modi over demonetisation, GST

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation and the faulty implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), saying that in the last 70 years, "the foolishness of demonetisation and Gabbar Singh Tax" was not done by anybody.

7 retired officers of armed forces join BJP

Seven retired officers of the armed forces, including two former deputy chiefs of the Army, joined the BJP on Saturday in the presence of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Welcoming them into the party, Sitharaman said the presence of such senior ex-servicemen who have served the nation would benefit the BJP. "They can guide (the party) on policies on national security and nation building," she told reporters here. Lt. Gen JBS Yadav and Lt. Gen S K Patyal, the former deputy chiefs of the Army, were among those who joined the party. "Ex-soldiers too want to serve the country. We may have retired but we are not tired," Yadav told reporters here. He said the country is in "safe and able hands" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Former director general of military intelligence Lt. Gen R N Singh, former director general of the Army's information services and IT Lt. Gen Sunit Kumar, and Lt. Gen Nitin Kohli, who has served as the signal officer-in-chief at the Army headquarters, also joined

TMC denies charges of political match fixing with BJP

TMC Saturday denied charges of political match fixing with BJP and said that it is the only opposition force which has suffered the most for opposing the saffron party and its policies. "The allegations are simply baseless. We have been constantly fighting against BJP and RSS in the country and for that we had suffered a lot. But that has not deterred us from fighting against BJP," Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee said. His comment follows allegations by CPI-M state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra that TMC and BJP are engaged in political match fixing and word about it has been made public by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. Modi during an interview earlier this week had said that TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, who is among his most severe critics, sends him Bengali sweets and kurtas, which she chooses personally, every year. TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had criticised Modi for going public about the giftS saying he had made a "political issue" of .

Party's NOTA appeal restricted only to Delhi: Yogendra Yadav

Stung by criticism for advocating the use of None of the Above (NOTA) option in the Lok Sabha polls, Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav Saturday clarified that his outfit's appeal was restricted to Delhi voters only. Swaraj India Vice President Anupam said his party is advocating the use of NOTA as all three major political parties in Delhi - the AAP, the Congress and the BJP -- have "failed" to deliver on their promises. He said the BJP is the "only party scared of NOTA". Early this month, Yadav's Swaraj India said it advocated the use of NOTA in the national capital. It was, however, perceived to be a nationwide appeal which attracted criticism, Anupam said. In a statement, Yadav said, "The stand of Swaraj India's Delhi Unit concerning the use of NOTA in the coming Lok Sabha elections has led to many questions and criticism, including from our well-wishers. Swaraj India values and welcomes this feedback. We are sorry that some miscommunication from our end has caused avoidable ...

Rajnath visits ailng Mulayam at Lucknow residence

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called on Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav late on Saturday evening to inquire about his health.

Modi government stalled Amethi food park project: Priyanka

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, accusing the Narendra Modi government of halting construction of food work in Amethi - the constituency of her brother and party chief Rahul Gandhi, on Saturday asked people to question its "policy and intentions" when they vote.

Court asks Rahul Gandhi to appear on May 20 in defamation suit filed by Sushil Modi

A court here Saturday directed Congress president Rahul Gandhi to appear in person next month in connection with a defamation suit filed against him by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi. Chief Judicial Magistrate Shashikant Roy passed the order taking cognizance of the allegations made by the deputy chief minister, who had taken exception to Gandhi's remark "all thieves have the surname Modi" at a political rally. The Congress president had made the remarks in Kollar district of Karnataka seeking to underscore the alleged laxity of the Narendra Modi government in pursuing corruption cases against diamaintaire Nirav Modi and former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, both of whom have fled the country. On Friday, the Bihar deputy CM appeared before the court alleging that since he shared the same surname, he felt humiliated and ridiculed by the Congress chief's remark and that it was tantamount to defamation. Roy, while transferring the matter for further hearing to the court of

Deol's candidature in Gurdaspur sparks war of words

Bollywood actor Sunny Deol's candidature from Gurdaspur has triggered in a war of words in Punjab, with the Congress dubbing him a "pawn" and the BJP describing him as a "tsunami" that would sweep away the grand old party. It is the second time that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded a celebrity in Gurdaspur in the general election. The seat, which was a Congress stronghold, was won by the BJP in 1998 when it fielded late actor Vinod Khanna. Khanna managed to defeat veteran Congress leader and five-time MP Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, and went on to retain the border seat four times. After the demise of Khanna, it was won by state Congress president Sunil Jakhar in a 2017 bypoll by over 1.9 lakh votes. Not finding any local leader suitable, the BJP sprang a surprise with the nomination of Deol, who joined the party on Tuesday. "Whatever I can do for this family (BJP), I will do it. I won't talk, I will show you through my work," Deol, whose real name is Ajay Singh Deol, had said ..

Regional parties are impediment to J&K's development: Madhav

Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Ram Madhav said on Saturday that regional parties of Jammu and Kashmir are an impediment to state's progress and development.

Article 370 is basis of our relations with India: Mehbooba hits out at PM

Article 370 grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir and limits Parliament's power to make laws concerning the state

Sharma attacks BJP over Rafale, demonetisation

Describing demonetisation and Rafale fighter jet deal as "two big scams" that have taken place in the Narendra Modi government, Congress leader Anand Sharma Saturday said his party would probe them if voted back to power. The senior leader alleged that certain people were benefitted enormously at the expense of the Indian economy due to note ban. "Two big scams have taken place certainly under this government. Definitely, demonetisation and Rafale jet purchase are the two scams that have to be investigated," he told reporters. He said the Cabinet was not involved in taking a decision on purchasing Rafale jets, but it was rather a "personal decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi". Sharma said the Cabinet and the RBI were "held captive" from 4 PM on the day when they were asked to give recommendations on scrapping high value currencies in 2016. "There was no earlier discussion or decision within the RBI," he said. "The point is that how come within 48 hours crores of ...

Oppn leader Vikramarka to go on yatra over TRS 'encouraging'

Senior Congress leader and leader of the Opposition in the Telangana Assembly M Bhatti Vikramarka Saturday said he would undertake a "save democracy yatra" from tomorrow in protest against the ruling TRS allegedly encouraging defection of Congress MLAs. He said the yatra would begin from the temple town of Bhadrachalam and cover the constituencies of the 11 of the 19 party MLAs, who had announced their decision to quit the party and join the ruling TRS. Hitting out at the TRS for allegedly promoting defections, the Congress had met Governor E S L Narasimhan twice on the matter. The party hadalso said it would complain to the newly constituted Lokpal on the alleged defection of MLAs. "Both Telangana state Chief Minister and TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, TRS working president K T Rama Rao, who took the oath owing allegiance to the Constitution, are encouraging defections in a brazen manner with an aim to wipe out the opposition in the state," Vikramarka said in a ...

Maha: Rahul makes unscheduled overnight halt at Sangamner

A snag in his aircraft Friday morning which delayed a packed schedule of poll rallies that ended with a late night one in Sangamner led to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi making an unscheduled overnight stop there at a guest house of party colleague Balasaheb Thorat. Thorat incidentally is a rival of senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil who is in the the crosshairs of the party for distancing himself from the Lok Sabha campaign after son Sujay joined the BJP and got the saffron party's Ahmednagar Lok Sabha ticket. Maharashtra Youth Congress president Satyajit Tambe told PTI Saturday that Gandhi was scheduled to depart for Nashik after the Sangamner public meeting, but since it was delayed, he decided to stay back. Gandhi finished his speech at the Sangamner rally on Friday just a minute before the 10pm deadline. "Rahul ji decided to stay back. It was an unscheduled stop. He had pithla (thickened besan curry) and jowar bhakri (roti) for dinner and thalipeeth for ...

Sidhi: Cong stalwart Arjun Singh's son wages prestige battle in once family stronghold

Just as the majestic Sone river flows unchallenged in the Vidhya region, Congress' stalwart late Arjun Singh's writ ran in this once Congress stronghold. But it has been a 10-year political drought for the party and Singh's son Ajay is now battling it out against the BJP from Sidhi Lok Sabha seat to redeem the lost prestige. 63-year-old Ajay Singh, affectionately called 'Rahul bhaiya' by his supporters, has been fielded by the Congress against the BJP's sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Riti Pathak. Singh, who has been a six-time MLA, a minister in the Digvijaya Singh government and twice the leader of opposition in Madhya Pradesh Assembly, suffered shock defeats- in the 2014 general elections from Satna and in last year's assembly polls from pocket borough Churhat in Sidhi District. "I am contesting this time for prestige...my respect and the respect of this region which has produced Congress stalwarts like dau saheb (Arjun Singh), Indrajeet Patel (late senior Congress leader of the

High-voltage campaign ends for final phase of Odisha polls

The high decibel cacophony of loudspeakers blaring out poll slogans fell silent as the hectic campaign for the fourth and final phase of elections to Odisha's Lok Sabha and assembly seats ended on Saturday.

Raghav Chadha moves HC challenging Bidhuri's nomination

AAP's South Delhi Lok Sabha candidate Raghav Chadha Saturday approached the Delhi High Court challenging the decision of returning officer to accept BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri's nomination papers. Chadha claimed in his plea that the returning officer (RO) overlooked "glaring discrepancies in Bidhuri's nomination" and it was accepted without application of mind on the ground that they do not have any power to reject a nomination once an affidavit is filed, regardless of any concealment therein. Bidhuri is also contesting from the South Delhi constituency. "The respondent no 2 (Bidhuri) had willfully and intentionally concealed the factum of registration of an FIR against him in Police Station... Muzaffarpur, Bihar, under sections 504, 506, 153 and 153(a) of the IPC," Chadha said in the petition filed through advocate R Arunadhri Iyer. The plea sought direction to call for the records and quash the returning officer's April 24 order. It also sought direction to the RO to scrutinise ...

US imposes visa sanctions on Pakistan

The United States on Friday (local time) imposed visa sanctions on Pakistan after it refused to take back its citizen deportees and visa over-stayers, as per the US State Department."Consular operations in Pakistan remain unchanged. This is a bilateral issue of ongoing discussion between the US and Pakistani governments and we are not going to get into the specifics at the time," Sputnik quoted a US State Department spokesperson as saying on Friday (local time).For some countries, the sanctions begin by targeting officials who work in the ministries responsible for accepting the return of that country's nationals, according to the State Department's federal register notification, dated April 22."(The) escalation scenarios that target family members of those officials and potentially officials of other ministries and then other categories of applicants if initial sanctions do not prove effective at encouraging greater cooperation on removals by the targeted government," the ...

Senator claims hackers entered Florida poll systems

A US Senator from Florida has claimed there was an intrusion into Florida's elections systems by hackers in 2016.

Himachal Cong lodges another complaint against Satpal Satti

The Himachal Pradesh Congress has lodged another complaint with the Election Commission against state BJP chief Satpal Satti and sought a ban on his campaigning activities till May 19, when Lok Sabha voting ends, for alleged remarks made at a recent rally, party leaders said Saturday. The EC has already issued three notices to Satti for alleged derogatory remarks during public rallies in different parts of the state. State Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore said another complaint was filed against Satti for using 'chandalchowkri' (gang of rogues) word to describe Congress leaders during an election meeting at Chaura Maidan in Shimla on Thursday. Rathore said, "Satti has been continuously using derogatory language against Congress leaders, so he should be permanently banned from campaigning for this Lok Sabha elections." Earlier, the EC, in its April 19 order, had barred Satti from holding public rallies for 48 hours for "indecent" and "derogatory" remarks aimed at Congress ...