Page 814 - Politics
BJD govt not cooperating with Centre on vital projects: Goyal
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday lashed out at the BJD government, accusing it of not cooperating with the Centre in the implementation of important projects in the state. "Odisha government has not been extending necessary cooperation and help for proper implementation of a number of projects. As a result, the railways network in the state still remains poor," the minister alleged. Goyal addressed a number of election programmes in Puri, Athagarh and Kendrapara, besides taking part in a roadshow at Mahakalapada under the Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency, where the party has fielded ex-MP Baijayant Panda. Mounting a scathing attack on the Naveen Patnaik-led government, Goyal said it has failed to take necessary steps to expedite land acquisition for several railways projects. "It has almost become impossible to execute railway projects in Odisha, due to the state government's non- cooperation in land acquisition. The BJD government has pushed the state into ...
RSS leader, Mahmood Madani call on J-K governor
Senior RSS leader Suresh Soni and former Rajya Sabha MP Mahmood A Madani Sunday separately met Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik here, an official spokesman said. Soni, the 'Sah-Sar Karyawah' of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), was accompanied by Akhil Bhartiya Prachar Pramukh Arun Kumar, Prant Sangh Chalak Brig(Retd) Suchet Singh and Prant Pracharak Rupesh Kumar during the meeting, the spokesman said. He said Soni apprised the governor about varied issues of public importance Earlier in the day, former Rajya Sabha MP Mahmood A Madani met the governor and shared his views on the prevailing situation in the state, the spokesman said. Madani, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, met Malik at the Raj Bhavan and discussed varied issues of public importance with him, he said. He said the governor urged Madani to continue his sustained endeavours for promoting public welfare. Meanwhile, the RSS leaders paid rich tributes to its slain leader Chanderkant Sharma who was shot dead along ...
One surgical strike won't change Pakistan: Lt Gen Hooda
Indian Army's former Northern Command Chief D.S. Hooda, who directed the 2016 cross-LoC surgical strikes, on Sunday said one surgical strike or air strike won't make Pakistan change its behaviour.
Iran's supreme leader picks new Revolutionary Guard chief
Iran's supreme leader has appointed a new head to the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard, just after the U.S. designated the paramilitary force a terrorist group. State-run Iranian media gave no reason for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's decision to replace the Guard's commander. Taking over will be Gen. Hossein Salami, a 59-year-old who had been serving as a deputy commander in the Guard. He replaces Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, who had been in charge of the Guard for over 11 years. The Revolutionary Guard is a separate force from Iran's standing military. It also oversees the country's ballistic missile program and runs its own intelligence operations. Earlier this month, the Trump administration designated the Guard a terrorist organisation. Iran responded by designating the U.S. military's Central Command as a terrorist organisation.
Repoll recommended in 10 polling stations in TN: CEO
Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo on Sunday said he has recommended to the Election Commission to conduct repolling in 10 polling stations in the state. The top election official told reporters here that after a perusal of reports of authorities including those from the general observers and presiding officers, repoll has been recommended for the consideration of the EC. Eight polling stations falling under the Lok Sabha segment of Dharmapuri and one booth under Tiruvallur Parliamentary constituency have been recommended for repolling, he said. Also, repolling has been recommended in one polling station falling under the Cuddalore Lok Sabha constituency. The CEO's comment assumes significance in the wake of alleged irregularities in a number of booths falling under these constituencies when the polling was held on April 18. In polling stations under the Lok Sabha segments of Dharmapuri and Tiruvallur, repolling has been recommended for both ...
Campaign ends for 3rd phase of LS polls in Odisha
The high voltage campaign for the third phase of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha concluded on Sunday.
Campaigning for Phase-3 of Lok Sabha polls ends
Campaigning for the third phase of polling scheduled for April 23 in 116 parliamentary constituencies ended Sunday with top leaders making a last-gasp effort to sway voters in favour of their respective parties. Polling will be held in the 116 seats, spread across 14 states and Union Territories. All seats in Gujarat (26), Kerala (20), Goa (2), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (1) and Daman and Diu (1) go to polls in the third of the seven-phase election. Besides, polling will be held in four seats in Assam, five in Bihar, seven in Chhattisgarh, one in Jammu and Kashmir, 14 in Karnataka, 14 in Maharashtra, six in Odisha, 10 in Uttar Pradesh, and five in West Bengal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and a host of Union ministers among others canvassed for their party candidates over the past few days, undertaking whirlwind tours of constituencies. Among the key contestants in the fray are BJP chief Amit Shah (Gandhinagar, Gujarat), Congress ...
Congress fields Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Sonipat
The Congress on Sunday announced the name of five Lok Sabha candidates in Haryana including former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who will contest from Sonipat.
Pak Prime Minister Imran Khan arrives in Iran
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday arrived on his first-ever two-day official visit to Iran to promote bilateral relations, amid tensions in ties over the killing of 14 Pakistani security personnel by militants who allegedly came from the neighbouring country. Unidentified gunmen donning uniforms of paramilitary soldiers Thursday massacred 14 security personnel, mostly from the Pakistan Navy, after forcing them to disembark from buses on a highway in the restive Balochistan province. The victims were not initially identified and it was speculated they could be Shia Muslims and ethnic workers from Punjab, but later it emerged that they were security personnel, most of them associated with the Pakistan Navy. Prime minister Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party in a series of tweets gave updates about his visit to Iran on the invitation of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. "This is first visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Iran," the party said. He was accompanied by Minister ...
Campaign ends for remaining 14 Karnataka LS seats
The high-voltage campaign in Karnataka's remaining 14 Lok Sabha constituencies across the state's western and northern parts going to polls in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 23 concluded on Sunday.
India must be prepared for limited military actions against terror groups in Pak: Hooda-led panel
India must be prepared for unilateral, limited military actions against terror groups in Pakistan as it can be assured of peace only if it demonstrates its capability to defend national interests through the use of force, according a report by the Congress-constituted task force on national security. The report by the task force headed by Lt. Gen (retd.) D S Hooda, made public on Sunday, stated that India's military preparedness will have to cater for a range of response options from surgical strikes to an all-out conflict as future conflicts will see an increased blurring between the tactical, operational and strategic levels of war. The task force also called for long-term resolution to the difficult problem of conflict in Jammu and Kashmir and said serious efforts are required for countering radicalisation in the state. The panel also called for cooperation with China and strengthening India's military preparedness through more budgetary allocation and modernisation in the defence .
BJP declares four sitting MPs as its candidates from Delhi, names on three seats yet to be announced
The BJP Sunday released list of five candidates, renominating four of its sitting MPs, including Union minister Harsh Vardhan. Names for the three remaining seats are expected to be announced by Monday. The party has again nominated Vardhan and BJP state unit president Manoj Tiwari from Chandni Chowk and North East Delhi seats respectively. Vardhan (64), an MBBS from GSVM medical college, Kanpur, had defeated AAP's Ashutosh in the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Chandni Chowk by a margin of 1,36,320 votes. He has won the Krishna Nagar Assembly constituency five times consecutively since 1993. In 2014, Bhojpuri singer and actor Tiwari had won from North East Delhi, which has sizeable Purvanchali and Muslim voters, by defeating AAP's Anand Kumar by 1,44,084 votes. Tiwari had unsuccessfully contested against current UP Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath from Gorakhpur as a Samajwadi Party candidate in the 2009 Lok Sabha election. Former Delhi chief minister Saheb Singh Verma's son Parvesh ...
Skirmishes reported as campaign ends in Kerala
Campaign for the Lok Sabha elections came to a close across Kerala at 6 p.m. on Sunday amid reports of skirmishes between workers of the three rival political parties coming in from several parts of the state.
Campaign for East Tripura LS constituency ends
Campaigning for the East Tripura Lok Sabha constituency, where Lok Sabha polls were rescheduled from April 18 to April 23, ended at 5 pm on Sunday, a top election official said. The Election Commission had postponed voting in the constituency to the third phase on April 23, saying the prevailing law-and-order situation there was not conducive for holding free and fair polls. East Tripura constituency is spread across 30 assembly segments and six districts, where an electorate of 12,54,944 will decide the fate of 10 candidates, including those of the ruling BJP, the Congress and the CPI(M). Ruling BJP candidate Rebati Mohan Tripura, sitting MP Jitendra Chowdhury of the CPI(M) and Pragya Dev Burman of the Congress are among those contesting from the seat. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sriram Taranikanti said a total of 1,645 polling stations have been set up, of which 30 are all-women booths. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and CPI(M) general .
Cong acting as external PR arm of Pak govt: BJP
The BJP on Sunday accused the Congress of acting as an external public relations arm of the Pakistan government, saying it was speaking the language of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao, while attacking Congress leader P Chidambaram, said rather than targeting Pakistan for exporting terrorism to India and indulging in anti-India activities, "the Congress party is blaming the Indian government for taking multi-pronged punitive steps against Pakistan including some trade related initiatives". "It seems that the Congress party is not happy that the military and non-military punitive steps initiated by the Indian government have silenced Pakistan and forced it to mend ways," Rao said in a statement. The Congress party, he alleged, "had lent perverse support to Pakistan time and again betraying Indian interests". He claimed the Congress was acting as an external public relations arm of the Pakistan government and it was speaking the language of the ...
BJP trying to destroy India's diversity with their 'divisive politics': Amarinder
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Sunday lambasted the BJP for allegedly trying to destroy India's unique strength of diversity with their "divisive politics". "The BJP is trying to destroy India's unique strength of diversity with their divisive politics," he said Amarinder denied being soft on the Badals and asserted that he would not spare anyone found guilty, as per law, of any crime against the people of his state. "Even if Prakash Singh Badal is found guilty, he will be punished," said the CM, but reiterated that he would follow the due process of law in accordance with constitutional norms. "They (Badals) will have to face the consequences of their actions, if found responsible," he added. "I believe in the Constitution and the rule of law, and am totally against politics of vendetta.., he said. He was referring to former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal's earlier comment this year that his successor's (Amarinder Singh) only aim was to put him behind bars. The ...
MP LS poll: JAYS announces candidates for Dhar, Ratlam seats
Accusing the Congress of reneging on its promises, tribal outfit Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS) Sunday announced its candidates for Dhar and Ratlam Lok Sabha seats. JAYS state president Antim Muzalda told PTI that Mahendra Kannaul and Kamlesh Dodiyar will contest as Independent candidates from Dhar and Ratlam respectively. "We were promised by the Congress that our opinion will be honoured while selecting candidates for Ratlam, Dhar, Khargone and Betul Lok Sabha seats (all ST seats). But the Congress has not kept its promise and declared its candidates on these four seats. Now the Congress will get an idea of our electoral strength." He said JAYS would announce a candidate for Khargone Lok Sabha seat soon while it was considering to extend support to a contestant in Betul. JAYS, which claims to have five lakh youth members but is not yet registered as a political outfit, managed to win one Assembly seat in the November 2018 state polls. JAYS national convener Dr Hiralal .
MP LS poll: BJP fields Shankar Lalwani from Indore
The BJP Sunday announced Shankar Lalwani as its candidate for the Indore Lok Sabha seat, a party stronghold held since 1989 by senior leader and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. Mahajan, who turned 76 in April, had announced on April 5 that she would not contest the elections, apparently in keeping with the BJP's reported diktat that leaders above the age of 75 opt out of electoral politics. Lalwani, who has earlier been Indore Development Authority (IDA) chairman and Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) president, is from the Sindhi community and is making his Lok Sabha poll debut. He is pitted against the Congress' Pankaj Sanghvi. Senior leader and BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, whose name was doing the rounds in place of Mahajan, also opted out citing responsibilities as the party's in charge in West Bengal.
Rajnath slams Cong for promise to abolish sedition law
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Sunday lashed out at the Congress for promising abolition of sedition law in its election manifesto, and said the BJP would bring even more stringent laws for the security of the country if needed. He was speaking at a public meeting at Jamuna Kalari village in Anuppur in Madhya Pradesh. "The Congress says they would do away with the sedition law. But we will definitely enact more stringent laws for the country's security if needed," he said. Accusing the Congress of working towards weakening the fight against terrorism, Singh said, "Even as the country's Army gave reply to the terrorist attack, the Congress and other opposition parties indulged in politics by doubting the valour of the armed forces and asked how many people died in the strike." "The brave armed forces don't count the number of fatalities in an attack," he said. The union minister said India became the fourth nation in the world to demonstrate anti-satellite missile ...
AP govt orders probe into controversy over seizure of TTD gold
The Andhra Pradesh government Sunday ordered an inquiry into the controversy surrounding the seizure, by Election Commission authorities, of gold belonging to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams in Tamil Nadu last week. Chief Secretary L V Subrahmanyam directed Special Chief Secretary (Revenue) Manmohan Singh to conduct a probe into the security and procedural lapses in the transportation of temple gold, which led to the seizure by election authorities. Official sources here said the Chief Secretary directed the Special CS to inquire into the conduct of TTD as well as its vigilance wing officials in the whole episode. During routine searches ahead of the April 18 elections in Tamil Nadu, ECI flying squad intercepted a van in Tiruvallur district and found about 1,381 kgs of gold. The occupants of the vehicle had claimed that the gold belonged to the TTD and was being transported to Tirupati from Chennai's Punjab National Bank, where it lay deposited for three years. The ...