Page 773 - Politics
Pak militant trained by 26/11 mastermind Lakhvi arrested in Baramulla
A Pakistani terrorist, who was indoctrinated and trained by 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, was arrested from Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said here on Wednesday. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Mohammad Waqar Awan, who was tasked with reviving militancy in certain areas of the Kashmir valley, was arrested earlier this week and paraded before the media on Wednesday at the Police Control Room. Awan, a resident of Mohalla Miana in Mianwali area of Punjab in Pakistan, was indoctrinated by Lakhvi at his residence in Rawalpindi, officials said. The initial arms training to the Pakistani terrorist was also given by Lakhvi, who along with six others has been charged by the Pakistani authorities with planning and executing the Mumbai attacks in November, 2008 that left 166 people dead. Lakhvi is currently on bail, and the case is moving very slowly. Awan, known by alias of "Chota Dujana, told reporters that before he joined militancy, he was told that .
All-time high polling in Gujarat in Lok Sabha polls
Gujarat recorded 64.11 per cent voter turnout in the Lok Sabha elections Tuesday, the highest since the state's formation, the Election Commission has said. Polling for all the 26 parliamentary constituencies in the state was held Tuesday. In 1967, the state had recorded 63.77 per cent turnout, a record that was broken this time. In 2014, amid a 'Narendra Modi wave', the would-be prime minister's home state had witnessed 63.6 per cent polling. Asper the data released by the Election Commission Wednesday evening, 64.11 per cent of the 4.51 crore voters exercised their franchise Tuesday. Brisk polling was recorded since early morning in spite of the sweltering heat. In the first five hours (by one pm), 40 per cent voting was recorded. Amreli in Saurashtra region recorded the lowest turnout at 55.75 per cent. It was followed by Pobandar (56.79), Surendranagar(57.85), Kutch (58.22) and Bhavnagar(58.41). Barring these five seats in the Kutch and Saurashtra regions, all other
China to hold 2nd BRF meet Thursday; India to give it a miss
China will hold its 2nd Belt and Road Forum (BRF) from Thursday to showcase its trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) without India's presence for the second consecutive time, while 37 heads of the state and government, including from Pakistan, would attend the three-day grand event. The BRI was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping when he came to power in 2013. It aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes. The CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Pakistan's Balochistan with China's Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of Xi's ambitious BRI. India has been boycotting the BRI to protest over the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) being laid through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Besides India's protests over the CPEC, China's doling out of huge sums of money specially to smaller countries raised concerns after Beijing acquired Sri Lanka's strategic Hambantota port on a ...
Modi calls Mamata 'sticker Didi'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a jibe at the firebrand Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee calling her "sticker Didi" who labels central welfare schemes as those of her own government. Modi had in his earlier poll meetings in the state called Banerjee, who is among his fiercest critics, "speed breaker Didi" for allegedly blocking implementation of central schemes in the state. He often refers to Banerjee as Didi. "Speedbreaker Didi is also sticker Didi. She just puts a sticker on central schemes like free electricity or ration for the people to claim that these benefits are from the state government," he said at a rally at Ranaghat in the border district of Nadia. He claimed that Banerjee has betrayed the people of Bengal, who gave her "so much trust and respect" and the the reason why the electorate had voted the Left out of power and supported has not been fulfilled by her yet. Banerjee had swept to power in 2011 after defeating
Questions over EVMs after 10K glitches, EC swears by machines
In the midst of the election season, questions are being raised by various Opposition parties over the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) after about 10,000 of these machines malfunctioned at different places during the first three phases of Lok Sabha polls.
Delhi MP Udit Raj joins Congress, calls BJP anti-Dalit (3rd Lead)
Dumped by the BJP, Delhi MP Udit Raj on Wednesday joined the Congress and alleged that he was denied a ticket for the Lok Sabha battle because the BJP was anti-Dalit and because he took a stand contrary to BJP's line on many issues.
Naveen invites Modi to attend swearing-in ceremony
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend as "guest" his swearing-in ceremony after the declaration of election results on May 23.
Dhillon, Sadique among32 candidates to file nominations in Punjab
Congress candidates Kewal Dhillon and Mohammad Sadique were among 32 candidates who filed their papers in Punjab on the third day of the nomination process. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Punjab, S Karuna Raju said Dhillon and Sadique filed their nominations from Sangrur and Faridkot seats respectively. Amandeep Singh Ghotra filed his nomination papers as an independent candidate from Gurdaspur constituency. Shamlal Gandivind, Sanjeev Kumar and Mahinder Singh filed their papers as independent candidates from Amritsar seat. From Khadoor Sahib parliamentary constituency, Paramjeet Singh, Onkar Singh and Harjeet Kaur filed their nominations as independent candidates. Urmila of Ambedkar National Congress and Gurupal Singh of Bharat Prabhat Party filed their nominations from Jalandhar (SC) seat. The CEO further said a total 56 candidates have filed their nomination papers so far. The nomination would continue till April 29. The scrutiny of the nominations would be done on April 30 and the .
Mamata 'sticker didi', hijacked central schemes: Modi
Intensifying his attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday termed her "sticker didi" who labelled central welfare schemes as those of her own government.
AAP to move high court on Bidhuri's nomination
The Aam Aadmi Party Wednesday said it would move high court challenging the returning officer's decision to accept the nomination papers of Ramesh Bidhuri, the BJP candidate from South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. The party, in a statement, said it would move the high court since the returning officer "erred in overlooking glaring discrepancies in Bidhuri's nomination and it is a fit case for legal challenge". The party listed some of the grounds on which it will challenge the decision. "The BJP candidate has failed to declare in particulars of pending criminal proceedings, particularly CC No. 303/2018 filed in P. S. Kazimahammadpur, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, under Sections 504, 506, 153 and 153(a) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860," it said. Biduri also failed to disclose particulars of LIC policy for sum assured of Rs 1,00,000 with premium of Rs 2,829 half yearly, though the same was disclosed in the Form 26 Declaration in 2014, the party claimed. The candidate has intentionally left blank .
Scottish leader calls for second independence vote by 2021
The Scottish government will introduce legislation "shortly" as a first step towards another independence referendum to be held by 2021, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced Wednesday. "We will shortly introduce legislation to set the rules for any referendum," the Scottish National Party (SNP) leader told lawmakers in Edinburgh. She said she hoped the legislation would be agreed by the end of 2019. Her government aims to "give people a choice on independence" from the United Kingdom before the end of the current term of parliament expires in May 2021. Scotland voted to remain in the United Kingdom during a 2014 referendum by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent, but the country's vote to leave the European Union in 2016 spurred independence campaigners to demand another vote. Shortly after this, the Scottish government would then request a "section 30 order" from the British government, which would involve a temporary transfer of power from Westminster to the Edinburgh to allow ..
AAP forms 24 frontal organisations for targeted campaigning in Delhi
The Aam Aadmi Party has set up 24 frontal organisations, including special wings for women, auto drivers, senior citizens and on legal matters for targeted campaigning and hopes that the initiative would enhance the party's poll prospects. These bodies would target particular groups and tell them what the AAP government has done for them and the benefits full statehood would bring for the national capital, the AAP said. "In the first phase, it was general campaigning. The second was campaigning that connected with floating voters and now in the third phase of campaigning, we would be identifying points that could give the AAP a jump or an advantage," the AAP said. Sources said the party is hoping to get at least a four per cent jump in votes through targeted campaigning. The party would come up with 24 types of pamphlets for each of the frontal organisations. Women, senior citizen, youth, legal, doctors, minority, Purvanchalis, auto, e-rickshaw, South Indian and OBC wings are among ...
'Missing MP' Rahul did nothing for Amethi, claims Smriti Irani
BJP candidate from Amethi Lok Sabha seat Smriti Irani hit out at her rival candidate and the Congress president Rahul Gandhi saying that he did nothing for the development in the region.Calling him a "missing MP since last 15 years", Union Minister Smriti while referring to the MPLAD fund, said that "Rahul had 75 crores rupees in 15 years so that he could do developmental works in the region but these 75 crore rupees were not used for the public."Smriti, who was addressing an election rally here, challenged the Congress leaders and workers to say if Rahul had got any toilet constructed for any poor family."Amongst all those who are sitting here, is there anyone in whose home Rahul has constructed a toilet?" she asked from the public.Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi led central government, Smriti said, "What has Prime Minister Narendra Modi done? Prime Minister Modi provided two lakh toilets to the poor families in Amethi.""Missing MP (Rahul Gandhi) shows dreams but could not ...
Trump threatens Supreme Court fight against impeachment
President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to fight a possible impeachment effort by Congressional Democrats in the US Supreme Court. That could be difficult -- the US constitution, and the court itself, have made clear that it has no role in impeachment proceedings, which represent the legislature's power to check wrongdoing by the president. But Trump's tweet suggested the White House is taking seriously a debate among Democrats on whether to launch the process that could remove the president on the basis of evidence of obstruction of justice in the Mueller report released last week. "The Mueller Report, despite being written by Angry Democrats and Trump Haters, and with unlimited money behind it ($35,000,000), didn't lay a glove on me. I DID NOTHING WRONG," Trump wrote. "If the partisan Dems ever tried to Impeach, I would first head to the US Supreme Court." Released on Thursday, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report from his Russia meddling investigation listed a dozen ...
CPI appeals to Tejashwi to make the RJD candidate retire
The Communist Party of India on Wednesday claimed that its candidate for Begusarai Lok Sabha seat, Kanhaiya Kumar, was getting "excellent" support from all segments of the society and urged the Mahagathbandhan to ask the RJD nominee to retire from the triangular contest in his favour. CPI general secretary Sudhakar Reddy made the appeal at a press conference here, where party national secretary Benoy Vishwa was also present, and claimed that the RJD candidate Tanveer Hassan the runner-up of 2014 was likely to finish third. I would therefore urge Tejashwi Yadav (RJD heir apparent) to consider our appeal that Hassan retire from the contest. He can do this much to help Kanhaiya get a decisive victory since the last date of withdrawal of nominations has elapsed, Reddy said. Speculations have been rife that RJD founding president Lalu Prasad had initially thought in terms of backing Kanhaiya, former JNU studetns union president, whom he had applauded for having displayed .
Modi to hold Varanasi road show Thursday, file nomination on April 26
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a road show and take part in the Ganga 'aarti' on Thursday, a day before he files his nomination papers from this Uttar Pradesh constituency, a party functionary said. The nomination Friday will also see a show of strength with several BJP allies, including Shiv Sena's Uddhav Thackeray and Janata Dal-United's Nitish Kumar, expected to accompany Modi when he files the papers. The road show will begin at around 3 pm after the prime minister garlands the statue of Banaras Hindu University founder Madan Mohan Malaviya, according to the schedule available now. The procession will end at about 7 pm at the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the most prominent of Varanasi's ghats, where Modi will take part in the evening prayers. On Friday, the prime minister will hold a meeting at 9 am with Bharatiya Janata Party workers at a hotel in the cantonment area. He will then offer prayers at the Kaal Bhairav temple before leaving for the collectorate to file his papers, ...
Gautam Gambhir's nomination from East Delhi accepted by returning officer
Returning Officer K. Mahesh on Wednesday accepted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Gautam Gambhir's nomination from East Delhi parliamentary constituency after the party clarified that his affidavit was not antedated.Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress had raised objections on the affidavit filed by the cricketer-turned-politician.Speaking to reporters here, Gambhir's lawyer Anil Soni clarified that all of it was a plan to create a ruckus by AAP and it was the opposition's fear of BJP winning the elections which forced them to object to his client's affidavit."Aam Aadmi Party using some miscreants had tried to create a ruckus by falsely stating that our affidavit was antedated. The rejected candidates too asked how the date of 19/04 was mentioned when the affidavit was filed on April 23. We clarified that we had filed two affidavits, one on April 18 and the other had the serial number 1904, it was not the date but the serial number, we also showed the notary registry and called ..
TMC alleges MCC violation by Babul Supriyo, PM Modi, writes to EC
Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday approached the Election Commission (EC) seeking action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, MP Babul Supriyo and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for playing the party's theme song for West Bengal during a rally.The Election Commission of India on April 7 had banned the BJP's theme song composed by Asansol MP Babul Supriyo after the TMC raised objections against the composition.The song was earlier asked to be modified and then sent to the electoral body for certification. However, then BJP had been asked to retract the song."On 23rd April 2019, PM Narendra Modi delivered a speech in Asansol, West Bengal. A link to the said speech is produced herewith. After the first nine minutes of the video, the leaders of the BJP on stage can be heard to announce that they will play the song, which was produced and illegally released by Union Minister Babul Supriyo. This song is the BJP theme song for the elections in WB and has been banned from being played ...
Modi scoffs at Rahul for "daydreaming" about becoming PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took a veiled dig at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, saying people looking at a mirror 10 times a day and aspiring to become PM cannot even win assembly constituencies in their Lok Sabha seat. He said the Congress-led opposition, which has been "hurling abuse" at him, was now talking ill of the EVMs after realising the "trend" of three rounds of voting in the general election, "just like a child who makes excuses to justify his underperformance in exams". Modi also slammed Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy for his remarks that those who cannot make both ends meet alone join the army, and wondered over the Congress' "silence" over it. "People who look at a mirror ten times a day and then daydream about becoming the prime minister.... it's ridiculous that they cannot even win the assembly constituencies in their Lok Sabha seat," Modi said in an apparent attack on Rahul Gandhi. The Congress chief is in the fray from Amethi .
Congress alone can safeguard special status of Jammu and Kashmir: Mir
Hitting out at the PDP for "bleeding" south Kashmir and creating huge disillusionment among the youth, Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief G A Mir said on Wednesday that his party alone can safeguard special status of the state and will do everything to defeat the communal agenda of the BJP-RSS. On a campaign trail here, the Congress candidate from Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency said, "South Kashmir has bled enough due to the wrong policies of PDP and its old friend BJP. There is a huge disillusionment among the youth because of violence and bloodshed." Mir is pitted against PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and NC candidate Hasnain Masoodi. Polling in the constituency is being held in three phases. "Anantnag have voted against the opportunist politics of PDP and others in the first phase and the people of Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama to follow suit. We appeal to them to vote out PDP and others," Mir said. While polling was held in Anantnag district on April 23, ...