Page 823 - Politics
39 candidates file nominations in Haryana
Bureaucrat-turned-politician Brijendra Singh and JJP's Dushyanat Chautala were among the 39 candidates who filed their nominations in Haryana on Saturday. Haryana's Joint Chief Electoral Officer InderJeet said BJP candidate Brijendra Singh and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala filed the nomination papers from the Hisar Lok Sabha seat. The last date for filing of nominations in Haryana is April 23. The 10 seats in the state will vote on May 12. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidates Naresh Kumar and Rameshwar Das and independent candidate Ranjit Singh filed nomination papers for Ambala (reserve) seat. The electoral officer said BJP's Nayab Singh, Bharatiya Shakti Chetna Party's Vikram Singh and independent candidates Sachin Gabba, Balbir Singh and Ramesh Chander filed their nomination for the Kurukshetra Parliamentary constituency. Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, Nirmal Singh of Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), Janak Raj of BSP,Rajesh of People's Party of India (Democratic), and Jaswant of ...
Campaign peaks in Karnataka for third-phase polls
Campaign has peaked across the remaining 14 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka's western and northern regions where polling is on April 23 in the third phase of 2019 general elections across the country.
BJP to be reduced to 150 seats, NDA to 200: Ahmed Patel
Veteran Congress leader Ahmed Patel on Saturday claimed that the BJP and its allies together would not cross 200 seats in the Lok Sabha, even as his party would spring a surprise by winning 10 to 15 seats in Gujarat.
Gehlot asks youths to ditch smartphones & read history
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Saturday urged the new generation to brush up their knowledge of history and not fall prey to the BJP's "misleading" campaign on social media. "Teams of social media are at work. They (BJP) are spending crores of rupees to attack... conspiracy is going on to mislead people of the country," he told reporters in Jaisalmer district. "People in the BJP are misleading the new generation through social media. I appeal to youths to limit the use of smartphones and read history," he said. Gehlot also asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not come back to power. He claimed that there was a wave in favour of the Congress in the entire state and an undercurrent against Modi due to the environment of "fear, hatred and violence" created by the Centre. Meanwhile, BJP's Deputy Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly Rajendra Rathore hit out at Gehlot's recent remarks on surgical strikes. "It seems the chief minister is talking like a spokesperson of
'Acche Din' gave way to 'chowkidar chor hai' in 5 years: Rahul
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Saturday that the BJP's 2014 slogan of "acche din" has now given way to "chowkidar chor hai". Addressing campaign rallies in Chhattisgarh for the first time since the Lok Sabha elections were announced, he also said that the Congress' 'Nyay' minimum income scheme would act like "petrol" to kickstart the economy's engine. Campaigning for Congress candidate Pratima Chandrakar at Bhilai in Durg constituency, Gandhi said, "This slogan (chowkidar chor hai) is trending. Wherever you go, when you speak the word "chowkidar", comes the same reply (chor hai)." Gandhi started using the phrase 'chowkidar chor hai' (the watchman is thief) to accuse the Narendra Modi government of irregularities in the Rafale deal. Modi had earlier dubbed himself the country's chowkidar or watchman. "Earlier the slogan used to be Acche Din Aayenge (good days will come). In five years, the country has seen the truth of ...
Manmohan Singh, wife to cast vote in Assam on April 23
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur will cast their votes in Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency where polls will be held on April 23 in the third phase of elections, a Congress leader said on Saturday.
Top regional officials in Iraq for symbolic summit
Top officials from Iraq's six neighbours gathered in its capital Saturday for a symbolic summit showcasing Baghdad's aspirations as a regional mediator, but which otherwise produced no tangible outcome. The one-day roundtable brought together countries fiercely at odds across the region. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Kuwait sent the heads of their legislative bodies, while Iran dispatched a senior parliamentary official. Hosted by Iraq's youngest-ever speaker of parliament, 38-year-old Mohammed al-Halbusi, the meeting lasted just shy of three hours. The countries pledged to support stability, reconstruction and development in Iraq, which has been ravaged by several decades of conflict including a three-year battle against the Islamic State group. "The stability of Iraq is necessary for the stability of the region," read the concluding statement. Participating nations also rejected "interference" in Iraq's internal affairs, although most have deep political and economic ...
Guj: Festival of democracy,a forest dweller and some
Mahant Bharatdas Bapu prefers to live away from the material world and has made Gir forest in Gujarat his abode, where he shares his privacy with peacocks and occasional deer. However, there is one special rendezvous which the priest never misses, especially when the election season is around. Bapu, who is in his 50s, is the lone voter at Banej, the only such booth in the country. Nestled inside the protected Gir forest, the Lord Shiva temple-cum-ashram falls under the jurisdiction of the Gir-West division of the the forest department. As the juggernaut of Indian general elections has rolled out, the Gir-Somnath district poll officials got busy in setting up a poll booth, only for the priest, that would cost them Rs 10,000 and a 30 km-journey inside the Gir forest, which is the last abode of Asiatic lions. Junagad district deputy district election officer V M Prajapati said Banej is the only such booth in the country which has a single registered voter. Banej booth is ...
Jihadists kill more than 60 regime fighters across Syria
Jihadists have killed more than 60 Syrian regime fighters in 48 hours, a monitor said Saturday, in some of the deadliest attacks on pro-Damascus forces in recent weeks. Kurdish-led forces in March announced the defeat of the Islamic State group's "caliphate" in eastern Syria, but the jihadists have retained hideouts there and in other parts of the country as well as the ability to carry out deadly assaults. Since Thursday, IS jihadists have killed 35 pro-Damascus fighters in regime-held parts of central and eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said it was "the highest death toll among regime forces since the caliphate was declared defeated" in the eastern village of Baghouz last month. Regime fighters also came under attack on another front of Syria's grinding eight-year war, the Britain-based monitor added. On Saturday, jihadists linked to Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate attacked loyalists outside the northwestern region ..
Dushyant, Tanwar among 39 who filed nominations in Haryana
Sitting MP from Hisar Dushyant Chautala and Congress' state President Ashok Tanwar were among the 39 candidates who filed their nominations for various Lok Sabha seats in Haryana on Saturday.
Stalin to embark on campaign for bypolls on May 1
DMK chief M K Stalin will embark on his first phase of campaign for the byelection to four assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu on May 1, the party said Saturday. The bypolls for Ottapidaram (Reserved), Aravakkurichi, Tirupparankundram and Sulur seats are slated to be held on May 19. Stalin will begin his campaign at Ottapidaram on May Day and will continue to seek votes for the party nominee in the constituency on the next day as well. He will campaign on May 3 and 4 in Tirupparankundram and the following two days in Sulur, a DMK headquarters release said. The DMK chief will be at Aravakkurichi on May 7 and 8 for campaign, the party added. Stalin tour programme for his second phase of campaign in the four assembly segments is expected to be announced later. The bypolls are crucial as it would have a bearing on the stability of the AIADMK government. Already byelections to 18 other vacant seats in the state were held along with the Lok Sabha polls on April 18.
'Acche Din' slogan replaced by 'chowkidar chor hai': Rahul
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Saturday that the BJP's 2014 slogan of "Acche Din" has now given way to "chowkidar chor hai". Gandhi was addressing an election rally at Bhilai, Chhattisgarh's steel-city. As the crowd chanted 'chowkidar chor hai' (the watchman is thief), Gandhi said, "This slogan is trending. Wherever you go, when you speak the word "chowkidar", comes the same reply," he said. "In Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pardesh, Telangana Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, wherever you go and say "chowkidar", the reply is "chor hai"," the Congress chief said. Gandhi started using the catch phrase 'chowkidar chor hai' to accuse the Narendra Modi government of irregularities in the Rafale deal, as Modi had earlier dubbed himself as the country's chowkidar or watchman. "Earlier the slogan used to be Acche Din Aayenge (good days will come). In five years, the country has seen the truth of chowkidar," the Congress chief said. The Congress
There has never been a "weaker govt","weaker PM": Priyanka
AttackingNarendra Modi,Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Saturday said there has never been a "weaker government" and "weaker Prime minister" than the incumbent ones, as she sought to highlight the values and virtues of a true leader. Campaigning in Wayanad from where her brother and party chief Rahul Gandhi is contesting besides his stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, she sought to know whether suppressing the voice of those who criticise the government's policies amounts to nationalism. She also alleged that the BJP government had "betrayed" the faith of people, who voted it to power. Making a strong pitch for her brother, the Congress' general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh East took part in four election rallies in the constituency and met the farmers of Wayanad as thousands of people thronged the meetings. Her children Miraya and Raihan were also with her. Addressing a massive rally of farmers at Pulpally, she questioned the nationalism of those who ...
Congress, SP-BSP have no vision for country: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Congress party and SP-BSP alliance, stating that together they don't have any vision for the country."Congress, SP and BSP do not have any vision for the nation. They have only one agenda - Modi hatao (Remove Modi)," Prime Minister Modi said while addressing a rally here."After the first two phases of Lok Sabha elections, Opposition leaders are frustrated. They are miffed with the Election Commission and the Central government," he said."All the 'mahamilawati' across India have started shouting. Some of them have started abusing the EVM. When this starts, think that there is something wrong. They have understood that the people are not with them," he said."Do charan ke baad, humare sare virodhi karan doonde mein lage hai abhi se ke bhai parajay ke karan taiyar karo, yeh aisa Modi roller aaya hai ke sab saaf ho raha hai (The Opposition leaders have already started looking for excuses over their loss in the Lok ..
Burqa-clad women seek votes for BJP in Ahmedabad
A group of Muslim workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including some burqa-clad women on Saturday carried out a door to door campaign seeking votes in Jamalpur Darwaza area of Ahmedabad West Lok Sabha seat.It is believed that the residents of the Muslim dominated area have been traditionally voting for the Congress. But the development works done by the Modi governments at Centre and in Gujarat have changed the minds of people here, Rauf Sheikh, one of the campaigners, claimed."There is peace and harmony in Gujarat for the last 20 years. Both Hindu and Muslim are working together peacefully. That is why we are campaigning for the BJP", he said.A Muslim woman in burqa said she was campaigning for the saffron party since it is the strongest party in the country."We are campaigning for the BJP because I personally feel it is the strongest party", Razia Sheikh who was part of the group said.A resident of the area said that he was supporting the party because it brought unity and .
Jyotiraditya will win by huge margin, says wife Priyadarshini
Priyadarshini Scindia, wife of Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, on Saturday said that her husband will win by a huge margin of votes from Guna Lok Sabha seat."People of the region appreciate the work of (Jyotiraditya) Scindia Jee. For long, I have been travelling extensively in the region. People are supporting him," Priyadarshini said while talking to ANI.On being asked about the demand for her to take control of the campaign here, she said, "This is love and affection of the people. Rest assured, we (Jyotiraditya Scindia) will win by a huge margin."Congress' west Uttar Pradesh general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia filed his nomination from Guna Lok Sabha constituency on Saturday.Scindia has won this Lok Sabha seat for three consecutive terms -- 2004, 2009, and 2014. BJP has fielded Dr KP Yadav from Guna.Guna will go to polls on May 12. The results will be announced on May 23.
Pak to fence border with Iran following Ormara incident
In a bid to increase its border security, Pakistan will be fencing its border with Iran in the wake of the Ormara incident which saw 14 Pakistani people being killed on the Makran Coastal Highway recently."It is costly and Pakistan has tight economy but considering its importance we have decided to fence it," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Saturday.Fourteen Pakistanis were shot dead, after three to four buses travelling from Ormara to Gwadar were stopped by around 15-20 terrorists, wearing the Frontier Corps (FC) uniform, on the coastal highway at Buzi Top on April 18, according to Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Pakistani authorities have alleged that BRAS, the alliance of three Baloch terrorist organisations, has claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistan lodged a strong protest with Iran over the country's "inaction" against the group behind the attack, according to The Express Tribune."Actionable intelligence after investigations has been ...
BJP government used investigative agencies for political vendetta: Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy
Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Saturday alleged that the BJP-led Central government was using investigative agencies like CBI and Income Tax department for political vendetta against its political opponents.Terming the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA government as a "failed government," the Puducherry CM said, "(Prime Minister) Narendra Modi government is a failed government. I am saying it on account of decisions taken by the government in the last five years.""PM Modi was targeting the established institutions in the country (in the last five years). PM Modi government was using investigative agencies for political vendetta against the opposition party leaders," he said while addressing a press conference here."You have seen TMC's, Mukul Roy. CBI investigation against him was going on. He joined BJP and cases against him were dropped. BJP has been using established and reputed institutions for political gains and to tarnish the reputation of the political parties,"
Raj seeking votes for party that revoked Balasaheb's voting
Senior BJP leader and Maharashtra minister Vinod Tawde Saturday said it was unfortunate MNS chief Raj Thackeray was seeking votes for a party that had revoked the voting rights of late Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray. Addressing reporters here, Tawde, a day after the MNS chief questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative at a rally in Mahad, said Thackeray's speeches are meant for "entertainment" and "time pass". "People going to Raj Thackeray's rallies are saying they are attending them only for time pass and entertainment. But our party is not tourist talkies like the MNS. The BJP is based on values and principles," Tawde said. Further slamming Thackeray, Tawde said, "It is very unfortunate that he is asking to vote for a party which had taken away the voting rights of Balasaheb Thackeray." The cabinet minister also asked whether the Centre's demonetisation decision affected the MNS chief. "Raj Thackeray is asking people to cast their votes ...
Mehbooba questions PM's statement that his govt was providing healing touch in J-K
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti Saturday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that his government was providing a healing touch to civilians in Jammu and Kashmir. "PM in an interview claims his approach towards Kashmir is a hitting touch to separatists & militants & a healing touch for civilians.Wondering how returning mutilated bodies of militants to families, imposing a road ban twice a week & detaining & humiliating Kashmiris is healing (sic)," she tweeted. Earlier this month, the state government had imposed a two-day-a-week restriction on the movement of civilian traffic on the NH-44 that connects Jammu to Srinagar, days after the Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. But, the government on Saturday partially relaxed the restrictions, which was put in place to facilitate movement of security forces' convoys. The two-day-a-week restriction barred civilian traffic from plying on the highway on Wednesdays and Sundays. Now, there would be no ..