Page 762 - Politics
Mumbai: An electoral battleground for many political stalwarts
From Dalit icon Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar to noted Communist leader Sripad Dange, many a political stalwart have tried their luck in parliamentary elections from Mumbai. There have also been surprises like when firebrand trade union leader George Fernandes trounced Congress heavyweight S K Patil from the Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency in 1967. Before delimitation in 2008, the city district had three Lok Sabha constituencies - Mumbai South, South Central and North Central. Mumbai district was divided into Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburb in 1990. In 1952, Mumbai's parliamentary constituencies were Mumbai South, Mumbai North and Mumbai Suburbs. While in 1957, there were Mumbai City South, Mumbai Central and Mumbai North. In 1962, the Lok Sabha seats were Mumbai City South, Mumbai City South Central and Mumbai City North Central (SC). Ambedkar, who was the law minister in the Jawaharlal Nehru government formed after independence, contested as the candidate of the Scheduled ...
Bengal BJP chief discounts Amartya Sen's remark
West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Dilip Ghosh on Thursday took a dig at Noble laureate economist Amartya Sen for terming the performance of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre "abysmal" and "disastrous".
TMC to draw a blank in first 3 phases: WB BJP chief
Hopeful of winning eight of the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies where polling has already been held in West Bengal, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh Tuesday claimed that the TMC will not be able to secure any of them. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has created an atmosphere of terror in the state, but things are changing now and people are attending BJP rallies in hordes ignoring threats from ruling party activists, Ghosh claimed. This has forced TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to go for unscheduled roadshows abandoning her plan to fly across the state in helicopter, he asserted at a Meet the Press organised by the Press Club, Kolkata. "We are in a better position in the 10 seats where polling is over in the first three phases. We are going to win at least seven to eight of them. I believe that Mamata Banerjee will not be able to digest this but the TMC will draw a blank," he said. Claiming that the political situation in West Bengal has been changing in favour ..
India can be poverty-free if it turns "Congress-Mukt": Rajnath
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Thursday termed Congress president Rahul Gandhi's claim of ending poverty as "misleading" for votes and said India can easily eradicate poverty if it becomes "Congress-Mukt". Singh reminded of grand old party's call for "garibi hatao" which merely remained a slogan as Congress governments during five decades of its rule after Independence did not take any concrete step to eradicate poverty. He claimed the BJP-led NDA government has been able to take 7.5 crore people above poverty line and the status of remaining five crore people will also be elevated in the coming five years. The senior BJP leader was addressing a series of election meetings in Odisha's Jajpur, Bhadrak and Jagatsinghpur Lok Sabha constituencies where polling is scheduled to be held along with state assembly elctions in the fourth phase on April 29. "Congress has ruled the country for five decades, but India still fights poverty. The 'garibi hatao' call only remained a .
SC asks EC to act on TMC leader Mahua Moitra's complaint against sexually coloured remarks
The Supreme Court Thursday directed the Election Commission to take action on a complaint by TMC candidate Mahua Moitra against BJP leader Mahadev Sarkar for allegedly making sexually coloured remarks against her. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna directed the EC to pass the order "forthwith". "Having regard to the limited prayer made and the time available, we direct the competent authority in the Election Commission of India to pass necessary orders forthwith...," the bench said. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for Moitra, said that during an election campaign Sarkar made certain offensive and sexually coloured remarks against the TMC candidate before the general public. She said that less than 48 hours are left for campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in Krishna Nagar constituency in West Bengal and urgent orders were required directing the EC to take necessary action. Moitra, who is a Trinamool Congress candidate alleged ...
Those trying to tinker with Art 370 are playing with fire: Abdullah
National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah Thursday said those who are trying to repeal articles 370 and 35-A of the Constitution, which guarantee special status to Jammu and Kashmir, are playing with fire. "The need of the hour is to douse these flames and not to add fuel to the fire," Abdullah said, addressing a poll campaign rally at Devsar in Kulgam district. The forme chief minister asserted that no one can subdue Kashmiris. History bears the testimony to the fact that no one was able to enslave Kashmiris. We have fought Mughals, Pathans and other despotic regimes and never let anyone subdue us. "New Delhi will have our respect, only if they respect the people of this state. No one should dare tinker with our self esteem for the Kashmiris have always responded to the brickbats thrown at them with determination, he said. Cautioning the people against forces inimical to the state's special status, Abdullah said the forces which have been inimical to the state's special status come ..
India delaying talks to finalise agreement to operationalise Kartarpur corridor: Pak
Pakistan on Thursday accused India of delaying the delegation-level talks to finalise the agreement to operationalise the Kartarpur corridor. The Kartarpur corridor links Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Narowal with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in Punjab. Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said, "Pakistan is keen that the Kartarpur Corridor becomes operational as per the schedule. However, the meetings are delayed as the Indian government is not willing to hold the delegation-level meeting at this juncture." On April 16, India and Pakistan held a meeting on technical aspects of the proposed corridor. At the nearly four-hour-long meeting, which took place in makeshift tents at "Zero point" of the proposed corridor, experts and technicians from both the countries discussed timing for completion of bridge, alignment of roads and engineering aspects of the proposed crossing points. After the meeting, Faisal said that work is proceeding rapidly on the ...
AAP MLA Alka Lamba vows not to campaign for party
AAP's Chandni Chowk MLA Alka Lamba Thursday said she would not be campaigning for her party as she has been "shunned" by the party leadership. Claiming that she has not been invited to any MLA meetings by the party in the last four months, Lamba said she would serve the people of her constituency, but would not be participating in any kind of campaigning for AAP. "For the last four months, I have been trying to get an appointment with the party leaders, but no one has responded to me, so I have decided that I would not be campaigning for the party anymore," she said. Earlier this month, Lamba engaged in a bitter Twitter spat with AAP's Greater Kailash MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj, who had taunted her to resign from the party. Following the spat, Lamba addressed a large crowd outside Jama Masjid and said the party was repeatedly demanding her resignation. She had hinted on taking a decision in the matter on April 25. When asked about the same, the Chandni Chowk MLA said, "Whatever happened ...
Sukh Ram's grandson Aashray, 8 others file nominations in HP
Nine hopefuls filed their nomination papers for the Lok Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday, including the BJP nominee from Shimla and the Congress candidates for the Mandi and Hamirpur seats. All four parliamentary constituencies in the state are going to polls in the last phase of the general elections on May 19. Pachhad MLA Suresh Kashyap (48) filed his nomination as the BJP candidate for Shimla in the presence of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, former chief ministers Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal, state BJP chief Satpal Satti, state ministers Suresh Bhardwaj and Rajiv Saizal, chief whip Narendra Bragta, senior BJP leader Teerath Singh Rawat and sitting MP Virender Kashyap. Former Union telecom minister Sukh Ram's grandson, Aashray Sharma (33), filed his papers for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in the presence of former CM Virbhadra Singh, Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma, HP Congress affairs in-charge Rajni Patil and Sukh Ram. Although, Aashray ...
Congress committed to single GST: Rahul
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the "Gabbar Singh Tax" and demonetisation "destroyed" crores of jobs, and asserted that his party was committed to implementing a "single GST". He also tweeted a video on the Congress's vision for "GST 2.0", which highlights the problems faced by small traders from the current version of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and how the party wants to simplify it. "Gabbar Singh Tax and Demonetisation destroyed crores of jobs causing tremendous pain and badly damaging our economy. The Congress Party is committed to GST 2.0 - a single GST, with simple reporting," Gandhi tweeted. With Gandhi repeatedly referring to the current GST as "Gabbar Singh Tax", the Congress video uses the names of various characters from Bollywood blockbuster "Sholay" to drive home its point. "Gabbar Singh" was the name of the character portrayed by actor Amjad Khan in "Sholay" and is considered as an iconic villainous role.
SC unhappy with Assam's response on deporting foreigners
The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed its unhappiness about measures taken by the Assam government to deport illegal foreigners lodged in state's detention camps.
Sitharaman slams Rahul, says he doesn't respect institutions
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Thursday slammed Congress chief Rahul Gandhi over his continuous use of "chowkidar chor hai" slogan while targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the Rafale deal. Sitharaman also accused Gandhi of disrespecting institutions such the Supreme Court and CAG, whose verdict and report in the Rafale deal, respectively, she added, have showed there was no issue for the Congress to rake up. The BJP leader slammed Gandhi for "brazenly" attributing the "chowkidar chor hai" (the watchman is a thief) slogan to the apex court after it allowed earlier this month leaked documents to be relied upon by petitioners seeking review of its Rafale judgement. On April 22, Gandhi had expressed regret in the Supreme Court over his remark in connection with the Rafale judgement, which the apex court had said, was "incorrectly attributed" to it. The SC had directed Gandhi to give his explanation on April 22 on a petition filed by BJP MP ...
Amid fresh dissidence, Kumaraswamy meets Cong leaders
With dissidence in ruling coalition partner Congress surfacing again, Karnataka Chief Minister H DKumaraswamy Thursday took stock of the situation with his deputy G Parameshwara and senior Minister D K Shivakumar. During the meeting, the Congress-JDS coalition leaders are said to havediscussed about the threat by rebel Congress MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi to quit the party along with other legislators with him, and its implications on the government. The meeting also came in the backdrop of the BJP predicting the fall of the coalition government after the Lok Sabha election results are declared on May 23. Emerging out of the meeting with Chief Minister, who has taken a break after busy campaigning for about a month, Parameshwara ruled out any threat to the coalition government. "We have discussed politics also, but we also have information that there are no such developments (threatening the government)," the Congress leader told reporters. "we don't have any apprehension about .
RJD, CPI ask each other to pull out of Begusarai seat
There's a new twist in the triangular poll battle among the BJP, the RJD and the CPI in Begusarai with the latter two asking each other to withdraw their candidates in favour of the other.
Amarinder to campaign 'aggressively' against Badals in Bathinda, Ferozepur
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Thursday said he would "aggressively" campaign against the Badals in Bathinda and Ferozepur, the two Lok Sabha from where SAD leaders Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal, respectively, are contesting. "We have to cleanse Punjab of the Badals," Amarinder Singh said, adding that he planned to spend two days each in Bathinda and Ferozepur Lok Sabha constituencies to campaign against them. He said he would "expose the lies of the Badals on drugs and other issues," and would ensure that the people are not "misled by their fabrications". Amarinder Singh accompanied MLA and Congress candidate for Bathinda, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, who filed his nomination papers here Thursday. Finance Minister Manpreet Badal and other senior Congress leaders were also present during the filing of nomination papers. The chief minister exuded confidence that the Congress will sweep the Lok Sabha elections in Punjab. He referred to sacrilege incidents and ...
Could have inflicted heavy damage on Pak during Feb 27 dogfight if possessed 'tech asymmetry':IAF
If the Indian Air Force possessed high levels of "technological asymmetry", then it would have been able to inflict heavy damage on Pakistan during the adversary's unsuccessful aerial raid on February 27, according to an IAF report. The report analysed various aspects of IAF's air strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist training camp in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26 and the subsequent Pakistani retaliation the next day. India carried out the air strike to avenge the Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. In the report, the IAF said Pakistan Air Force has been consistently enhancing its air defence and offensive capabilities since the Kargil war in 1999 and there was a need for India to bolster its "technological asymmetry" for aerial combat, official sources said sharing details from the report. At present, Pakistan has some edge with its fleet of F-16 jets with AMRAAM missile fitted with them, said an official. The sources said the planned induction of Rafale
Maha Cong leader whose son joined BJP quits as Oppn leader
Senior Maharashtra Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, whose son joined the BJP last month, has resigned as the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, the party said Thursday. Party chief Rahul Gandhi has accepted the resignation of the Congress leader, state Congress president Ashok Chavan told reporters in Ahmednagar district. Vikhe Patil had sent his resignation letter to the top party leadership, offering to quit the post of LoP, after his son Sujay Vikhe Patil left Congress and joined the BJP. "Vikhe Patil had offered to resign from the post and had also sent a letter to the Congress president. This letter of resignation has been accepted by the Congress president," Chavan said. The development comes a day before Rahul Gandhi's rally in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar Friday. Chavan was in Shirdi Thursday ahead of Gandhi's rally at Sangamner in the Shirdi Lok Sabha constituency. Vikhe Patil was accused of giving tacit support to his son Sujay, who was the BJP ...
CPWD constitutes committee to formulate design policy for building construction
The Central Works Public Department (CPWD) has constituted an expert committee to formulate a design policy for building construction and infrastructure development. A government official said the committee has been set up under the chairmanship of CPWD's Additional Director General M K Sharma. The move is aimed at reviving building construction and infrastructure development at all levels in the CPWD which comes under the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. The official said the eight-member committee has been asked to submit its report to Director General Prabhakar Singh within 30 days. "Several experts from different fields have been included in the committee to formulate design policy, which will guide engineers in construction of buildings and infrastructure development," the official said. The CPWD is the largest construction agency of the central government. It constructs most of the government's buildings across the country, erects fences on the country's international ...
Modi holds massive road show in Varanasi
Cheered on by a massive crowd, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a mega road show in Varanasi, a day before he filed his nomination papers for a second term in the Lok Sabha.
Max voters in North West Delhi; highest women electorate count in West Delhi
The North West Delhi constituency has over 23 lakh electors, the highest among all the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital, according to data shared by the Delhi CEO Office on Thursday. Over 1.43 crore voters are eligible to vote in the Delhi polls due on May 12. The total number of male and female electorate in the city are 78,73,022 and 64,42,762 respectively, while 669 belong to the third gender. According to the data shared by the office of the Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer, the North West Delhi constituency has 23,77,604 electors in the constituency -- 13,04,555 (men); 10,72,891 (women) and 158 (third gender). The number of electors in some of the other constituencies are -- West Delhi (23,67,509); North East Delhi (22,89,493); South Delhi (20,65,755). While the North West Delhi has maximum number of total electorate and male voters among all the seven constituencies, West Delhi has the highest number of female voters (10,90,797). The CEO office also said that, as ..