Page 810 - Politics
Turkey police arrest ruling party member, five others after attack on opposition chief
Turkish police on Monday arrested six people, including a member of the ruling AKP party, after an attack on opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, local media and party officials said. Kilicdaroglu, 70, of the Republican People's Party (CHP) was attacked on Sunday by a mob as he attended the funeral in the Cubuk district of Ankara for a soldier killed fighting Kurdish militants in the southeast. The attack came days after the opposition CHP won Ankara and Istanbul from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP in March 31 local elections in a stinging blow to the ruling party. A video from Sunday's attack went viral and sparked outrage on social media, with the hashtag #KilicdarogluYalnizDegildir ("Kilicdaroglu is not alone") becoming a trending topic. The chief suspect, identified only by his initials O.S., was arrested in Sivrihisar in central Anatolia and was being taken to Cubuk, private NTV television reported. The AKP later identified him as Osman Sarigun and said he was a party ...
Rahul's poll affidavit valid: RO of Amethi
The Returning Officer of Amethi constituency on Monday declared Congress president Rahul Gandhi's election affidavit along with nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections as "valid"."All documents submitted by Congress president Rahul Gandhi are valid. The complainant has not given any evidence to challenge Rahul Gandhi's nomination or to justify his claims against him. So we declare his nomination from Amethi as valid," the Returning Officer Ram Manohar Mishra said.On April 20, Mishra had ordered the postponement of scrutiny of Rahul's nomination papers to today.Rahul's lawyer KC Kaushik, in response to objections raised on his nomination, said: "Rahul Gandhi was born in India and he holds an Indian passport, he never took citizenship of any other country. His passport, Voter-ID and his income tax, everything is of India.""I don't know who Raul Vinci is or where he came from. Rahul Gandhi had done his M.Phil in 1995 from the University of Cambridge, I have attached a copy of the ..
Rahul Gandhi to address two rallies in MP on Tuesday
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will hold two rallies in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday to campaign for his party's Lok Sabha poll candidates in the state. He will address a public meeting in Shahdol district between 3 pm and 4 pm and later hold another rally at Sehora town in Jabalpur district, Congress' state unit general secretary Rajiv Singh said. The Shahdol constituency is reserved for candidates belonging to Scheduled Tribes while the Jabalpur Lok Sabha seat is open for the general category. The Congress has fielded Pramila Singh from Shahdol against BJP's Himadri Singh, who quit the Gandhi-led outfit in the run-up to the polls to join the saffon outfit. In the 2016 by-election in Shahdol Lok Sabha seat, BJP's Gyan Singh defeated Himadri Singh, who was then a Congress candidate, by a margin of over 60,000 votes. The bypoll in Shahdol was necessitated due to death of then sitting BJP MP Dalpat Singh Paraste. In Jabalpur, Congress' legal cell chairman and Rajya Sabha ...
Unlike Congress, BJP aggressively fought against terrorism: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday, said that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after coming to power did not follow the cowardly ways of dealing with terrorism which Congress walked on and is erasing terrorism from India like never before."Before 2014, anytime there was a terror attack in India, we simply offered our condolences and kept on getting hit. That policy is now redundant, we have wiped out terrorism from the country and today it exists in just some border areas of Kashmir. There too, it is being wiped out slowly," PM Modi said at a public rally here.He also accused the Congress of almost destroying Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and said that it was the BJP which had revived the institution under the Make in India initiative and was aiming to make it a profit-making enterprise in the years to come."You (Congress) almost destroyed HAL, we (BJP) revived it under Make in India, built new defence corridors and are also are planning to increase its capacity by ...
Democrat presidential candidate pays tribute to 'GoT'
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren paid tribute to the "Game of Thrones", wrote in a column that for her, the hit fantasy series, which began its eighth and final season last week, is "about the women".
CPI extends support to Digvijaya Singh in Bhopal
Announcing its support to Congress candidate and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, the Communist Party of India (CPI) on Monday announced it will not field its candidate from Bhopal for the Lok Sabha elections.
SC refuses to entertain plea alleging cash-for-vote in LS polls in TN
The Supreme Court Monday refused to entertain a plea which alleged that people were being bribed on a massive scale for the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it was not inclined to hear the matter since the elections in the state were already over. "As elections in the state of Tamil Nadu are over, we are not inclined to entertain this petition," said the bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna. The apex court had earlier sought Election Commission's response on the plea in which the petitioner had sought creating awareness through TV, newspapers and radio that it was a punishable offence to give or take cash for votes. The petition had said that so far Rs 78.12 crore in cash has been seized in the state. The plea said the poll panel has already designated all 40 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, along with 70 other seats across the country, as "expenditure sensitive". "That Case of the petitioner is ...
Rahul's nomination for Amethi LS seat found valid
The Amethi returning officer (RO) Monday set aside objections on Congress president Rahul Gandhi's nomination papers for the seat and held the document valid, after scrutinising allegations of discrepancies over citizenship and other issues. After hearing Gandhi's counsel, Returning Officer Ram Manohar Misra declared his nomination papers for the Amethi Lok Sabha seat as valid. An Independent candidate and three others had on Saturday raised objections over the Congress president's nomination from Amethi, alleging discrepancies over citizenship and educational qualifications in his election affidavit. Complainant Dhruv Lal's lawyer Ravi Prakash had submitted before the RO purported copies of a certificate of incorporation of a UK-registered company in which the Congress leader is stated to be a British national. He claimed that the UK company had existed for five years and would have made some profit, but that has not been disclosed in the affidavit. Prakash said he had sought a ...
Former deputy EC appointed special observer for Tripura
Former deputy election commissioner Vinod Zutshi was on Monday appointed as special observer for Tripura where the Lok Sabha polls to one of the seats was postponed in view of the law and order situation. On Tuesday last, the Election Commission had postponed polling in the Tripura (East) Lok Sabha seat to the third phase on April 23 (Tuesday) from April 18, saying the prevailing law and order situation there is not conducive for holding free and fair polls. Official sources said, the Commission has issued orders appointing Zutshi as special observer for Tripura. Citing reports of the state chief electoral officer and special police observer, the poll panel had said, "The law and order situation prevailing is not conducive to the holding of free and fair poll." The returning officer had feared that "miscreant elements" may thwart the polling process in the constituency. Based on the ground and intelligence reports, he had requested for additional central police force. Elections for ..
Russian PM sees 'chance' for better ties with new Ukraine leader
Moscow has a chance of improving ties with Ukraine under the leadership of Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Monday, adding however that he has "no illusions". In the first reaction by a senior Russian official following Sunday's landslide victory for Zelensky, a comedian with no political experience, Medvedev said "there is a chance for improving cooperation with our country". The result of the election, in which Zelensky roundly defeated incumbent Petro Poroshenko, "shows a clear demand for a new approach to solving Ukraine's problems", Medvedev wrote on his Facebook page. Ukraine and Russia have been at odds since a 2014 uprising ousted a pro-Kremlin leader. Russia that year annexed Crimea and has backed separatists in a conflict in eastern Ukraine that has killed some 13,000 people. Poroshenko during the campaign said that Zelensky was too inexperienced a leader to be able to stand up to Russia's Vladimir Putin. Medvedev said he has "no illusions" ...
Andhra Govt orders inquiry into security lapse in transporting gold belonging to TTD
The state chief secretary L V Subrahmanyam ordered an inquiry into the security lapses in transporting the gold belonging to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD).The chief secretary deployed Manmohan Singh, the special secretary of the Revenue department as the head of the inquiry.Subramanyam asked Singh to personally visit Tirupati immediately to find the facts and submit a report to him on or before April 23.The incident took place a few days ago, when a huge amount of gold, being transported from Chennai to Tirupati, was caught during a search conducted by the Election Commission. Later it was found that the gold belongs to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam.In a press release issued on Sunday, Subrahmanyam said that it was reported that proper procedures were not followed in the transportation of 1,381 kgs of gold belonging to TTD, which led to it getting seized by Static Surveillance Team of the Election Commission of India. It has given rise to several speculations over the gold ...
India now virtually terror free: Modi
Citing the example of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka that killed 290 people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday claimed that India is now virtually "terror free" barring some pockets of Jammu and Kashmir.
We changed pusillanimous approach of Congress on terror: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday said his government took bold steps to counter terror attacks in contrast to the "pusillanimous" approach adopted by the earlier Congress-led regimes while dealing with them. Modi's remarks at a poll rally here in Nashik district of Maharashtra came a day after a terror attack in Sri Lanka killed 290 people in a series of eight blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in the island country. "Bomb explosion in the neighbouring country (Sri Lanka) killed hundreds of people...before 2014, in India too, serial explosions took place in Mumbai, Delhi, Ayodhya. "What did the then Congress-NCP government do? It held condolence meetings and expressed grief. They went about crying across the world, saying Pakistan did this and Pakistan did that. But what did we do? We changed that pusillanimous policy," Modi said. Modi accused the Congress of "destroying" the state- run HAL and added his government increased defence production under ..
Kerala: LDF-UDF workers clash in Kollam
Left Democratic Front (LDF) and United Democratic Front (UDF) workers on Sunday clashed in Kollam on the last day of campaigning in Kerala which goes to polls tomorrow.Violence was witnessed between cadres of political rivals in other parts of the state as well, forcing police to resort to lathi-charge and firing tear gas to disperse warring crowds.The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led LDF, Congress-led UDF and BJP are the three prominent parties vying for seats in the state.The counting of votes will begin on May 23.
The day India will be free from Congress, it will become poverty-free: Rajnath
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Sunday that the day India will be free from Congress, it will become poverty-free. He said Congress had made several promises but did not fulfil them and "if someone" has to learn to reduce poverty then they should take lessons from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Turn the pages of history and you will find that Congress made several promises but did not fulfil them. People can take lessons from Prime Minister Narendra Modi how poverty is reduced," Singh said during an election meeting in Kolayat area of Bikaner in support of BJP nominee Arjun Ram Meghwal. He said, "The day India will be free from Congress, it will become poverty-free." Talking about the Indian airstrike in Balakot of Pakistan to destroy terrorist camps, Singh said India is longer a weak country but a few people are questioning the number of terrorists killed in the February 27 airstrike. "Army jawans do not counts the bodies, those who are eagles count them. Should the army ...
From comic to commander-in-chief: challenges for new Ukraine leader
Ukraine's election has catapulted Volodymyr Zelensky, a 41-year-old standup comedian and television star with no political experience, into the nation's top job. As leader of a country dependent on international aid and battling separatists, Zelensky will have to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, deep economic problems and possibly rebellious elites. Here is a look at the main challenges facing Ukraine's sixth president. Voters expect the new commander-in-chief to end a five-year war with Moscow-backed separatists in the industrial east. The conflict has claimed some 13,000 lives since 2014 and is a huge burden on the economy and society. Despite numerous attempts to staunch the bloodletting, the conflict regularly claims the lives of soldiers and civilians, and a solution is nowhere in sight. Zelensky's rival Petro Poroshenko accused the comic of lacking the gravitas and stamina to stand up to Putin. But analysts say Zelensky could use his outsider status to strike a ...
Zelensky leads Ukraine presidential polls with 80% votes
Comedian Vladimir Zelensky is maintaining his huge lead over incumbent Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko with 80.87 per cent of the votes counted so far in Sunday's presidential elections, election officials said on Monday.
Maharashtra leaders yank off each other's 'chaddies'
As campaigning for the third phase of Lok Sabha elections ended, Maharashtra politicians plummeted to new lows when they virtually bared each other's 'chaddis' while hitting out at opponents.
Jaya-Azam Rampur potboiler: Abuses, insults, melodrama galore in high-stakes electoral battle
"Am I a nachne wali, am I an amrapali," BJP candidate Jaya Prada asked at a rally, her question referencing SP leader's Azam Khan's derogatory remark about her as a dancing girl and testimony to how the electoral contest here has become more about personal insults than anything else. The crowd at the public meeting in Mat Khera village responded to her posers with a loud no and the actor-turned-politician went on to narrate the harassment she faced from the Samajwadi Party candidate. The contest between the one time buddies and now arch rivals was always expected to be fierce but the saga of acrimony took an ugly turn with the SP veteran's khaki underwear jibe. Rampur, which goes to the polls on Tuesday, was propelled into the national spotlight with the furore that followed and the political discourse has since centred on just that. While Jaya Prada has been reminding the public about it in every meeting, Khan has played the victim card after the Election Commission's 72-hour ...
Why EC not cancelling BJP 'gem' Pragya Thakur's nomination: Mayawati
BSP president Mayawati Monday asked why the Election Commission was not cancelling the nomination of Pragya Singh Thakur, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Bhopal, despite the "BJP ratna" issuing controversial statements. "Malegoan blast case accused and BJP candidate from Bhopal Sadhvi Pragya is claiming that she is contesting a 'dharm yuddh'. This is the real face of BJP/RSS which is being exposed continuously. But why is the Commission only issuing notices and not cancelling the nomination of BJP ratna (gem) Pragya?" Mayawati tweeted. "If the Election Commission is not able to work in an impartial manner to the satisfaction of people despite severe criticism in the media, it is an issue of grave concern for democracy and no one else but BJP and PM Modi, who are surrounded by serious electoral allegations." Thakur is out on bail in the Malegaon blast case of 2008. She is under fire for saying that Hemant Karkare died during the 26/11 terror attacks because she had cursed ...