Page 855 - Politics
Maneka Gandhi files nomination from Sultanpur
Union Minister and BJP leader Maneka Gandhi on Thursday filed her nomination from the Sultanpur parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Before filing her nomination papers, she held a five-km long road show.
TN leaders make beeline to vote; 30.62pc turnout so far
Tamil Nadu recorded 30.62 per cent voting till 11am in 38 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state, with Chief Minister K Palaniswami and DMK chief M K Stalin among the early voters. Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo said polling has been peaceful until now and issues like technical glitches in some locations are being addressed. "Polling has been very peaceful," he told reporters here. He said the state has recorded 30.62 per cent voting till 11am, with Arani registering the highest of 36.51 and Central Chennai the minimum of 22.89 per cent. Giving information about voting for bypolls in 18 assembly segments, he said it ranged between 28 to 30 per cent and added more inputs are being collated. South Chennai has recorded 23.87 per cent, North Chennai 23.36 per cent and Madurai 25.41 per cent, he added. He said soon after the mock polls by around 6am, as many as 305 EVMs and 525 VVPATs were changed spread over 66,167 polling stations across the state over technical issues. Even ..
Ex-MP Jagmeet Brar to join Akali Dal
Former MP Jagmeet Singh Brar, who was expelled from the Congress and later went on to join the Trinamool Congress, Thursday said he will join the Akali Dal on April 19 at Muktsar in Punjab. "In my political and personal capacity, I have been driven by virtues and principles of Guru Nanak. Hence, I want to inform all well wishers who have stood by me that I will be joining the Shiromani Akali Dal tomorrow at Shri Muktsar Sahib, Brar tweeted on Thursday. While I live and breathe politics for and by the people, the Akali Dal gives me an opportunity to further my objectives of Sikhism and Punjab. At every step, I have raised issues for the people and will continue to do so, he said. Brar, who had been the permanent invitee to theCongress Working Committee (CWC) for 10 years, was expelled from the party in 2016. After the Congress party's defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Brar had suggested that then Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the then vice-president Rahul Gandhi go on a ...
Nearly 31% polling recorded in TN polls
Nearly 31 per cent of the electorate cast their votes in Tamil Nadu's 38 Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly constituencies on Thursday and polling is continuing at a brisk rate, an Election Commission (EC) official said.
WB: Violence mars polling at Raiganj, Chopra
Violence marred the second phase of elections here on Thursday as BJP's Raiganj Parliamentary constituency candidate Debasree Chaudhuri alleged that TMC workers tried to capture a polling booth in the constituency.Meanwhile, police had to resort to lathi-charge and tear-gas to clear the blockade at Chopra which falls under Darjeeling parliamentary constituency."TMC workers were trying to capture booth. They were campaigning among Muslims there. This isn't election campaign," Debasree alleged.She also claimed that TMC workers tried to capture booth at Raiganj Coronation High School.In Chopra, security personnel lobbed tear gas shells and resorted to lathi charge on locals as they blocked NH-34 in protest after unknown miscreants allegedly prevented them from casting their votes at Digirpar polling booth.A local, Sujit Kumar, said that people were stopped by few miscreants from reaching their respective polling booths and the unscrupulous elements allegedly also snatched their EPIC ...
Poonam Sinha files nomination from Lucknow
Poonam Sinha, wife of actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, filed her nomination from Lucknow Parliamentary Constituency on Thursday, two days after she joined the Samajwadi Party (SP).Sinha, an SP-BSP-RLD candidate from Lucknow, is pitted against Union Minister Rajnath Singh in the constituency. Rajnath had won from Lucknow in the 2014 general elections.SP, BSP, and RLD are contesting Lok Sabha polls in alliance in Uttar Pradesh in which the SP will contest on 37 seats, BSP on 38 and RLD on three.Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh are being held in all seven phases.Polling for the second phase of general elections is underway across the country, including in eight Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh..
SP-BSP-RLD alliance afraid of good work done by PM Modi: Hema Malini
Actor-politician and sitting BJP MP from Mathura, Hema Malini on Thursday said SP, BSP, and RLD allied because they are afraid of the good work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Speaking to ANI at a polling booth here, Malini said, "Despite being enemies, SP, BSP and RLD stitched an alliance because they are afraid of good work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.""SP-BSP are only engaged in fighting with each other. There is a huge Modi wave here. The nation is very much impressed with the work done by Modi and his government," she added.Speaking about her constituency, Malini said, "It feels good when I see the transformation that has happened in my constituency because of my efforts. Lot of work is still pending, we will do it in the future.""I am not outsider, even if someone considers me an outsider even then I have done a lot of work for my constituency," she added.In Mathura, Malini is contesting against Narendra Singh of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and local industrialist .
Narendra Modi a fake backward, says Tejashwi Yadav
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a 'fake backward' person and accused him of doing nothing for Other Backward Class (OBC).Taking to Twitter, Yadav wrote, "Narendra Modi ji is a fake backward. From birth till 55 years, he was upper class, suddenly one day he became backward. The true and real backwards are not liars, artificial, adulterated, decorative and ornamental. Do you consider backwards as stupid, Gujarati Sir? What have you done for backwards, upper-class Sir?"He also claimed that there are no OBC officials in the Prime Minister's office and slammed the Prime Minister for it."Dear Narendra Modi ji, you are not by-birth an OBC but a fake OBC. And, yes, you have committed theft. What have you done for the backwards? Not even a single official in PMO is OBC? No VC, professor in the country is OBC. Director of no constitutional organisation is an OBC. Why did you not increase the reservation for OBC in caste-based ...
US woman pleads guilty for working as Chinese agent
A US woman who worked for Air China at the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport here has pleaded guilty to acting on behalf of the Chinese government by placing unscreened packages on a flight from New York to Beijing.
22.69% voting recorded in Puducherry till noon
Polling picked up after a slow start in the lone Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday, but continued to be brisk in the Union territory's Thattanchavady Assembly seat.
Adding verse to rhetoric, Cong's Imran Pratapgarhi tests poll arena in Moradabad
Just 32, a YouTube star and a poet who wraps his messages on conscience voting, secularism and women in fiery verse, Congress candidate Imran Pratapgarhi is the politician with more than a slight difference. The young man's poetry has always been political but he steered clear of mainstream politics, until recently when he became Congress president Rahul Gandhi's choice to contest the Lok Sabha elections from this parliamentary constituency. Pratapgarhi, who takes his name from Pratapgarh in the state, about 500 km from here, decided to write his political destiny from Moradabad, the land of legendary poet Jigar Moradabadi. "I am trying my best to not let the votes get divided. This is not about Muslims. I am appealing to every one troubled by the politics and policies of BJP," Pratapgarhi told PTI. The newbie is up against sitting BJP MP Kunwar Sarvesh Kumar, an influential Thakur and five-term MLA from the area, and the SP-BSP-RLD candidate, former mayor S T Hasan, who has a loyal ..
EC flying squad recovers cash worth over Rs 11 lakh
The Election Commission of India's (ECI) flying squad seized Rs 11.85 lakh worth of cash from Sion area of Mumbai on Thursday.The seizure comes as voting for 10 Lok Sabha seats which fall under Maharashtra's Vidarbha and Marathwada regions is underway in the second phase of polling.A huge amount of unaccounted money is being recovered in raids and searches by authorities across the country since Model Code of Conduct came into effect with the announcement of the poll dates on March 10.The central agencies and the EC have been conducting raids and searches across the states to ensure illegal money is not used to influence voters in the ensuing general elections.Over Rs 135 crore unaccounted cash was recovered from raids conducted by the Income Tax (IT) department and the EC across Tamil Nadu, the commission said Tuesday.In a related development, the EC cancelled elections in Vellore parliamentary constituency in Tamil Nadu after over Rs 11.48 crore worth unaccounted cash was unearthed .
Mayawati accuses Adityanath of violating EC ban on canvassing
BSP supremo Mayawati Thursday accused UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of blatantly violating the 72-hr EC ban on canvassing and the poll body with turning a blind eye to the violations. The former chief minister also claimed that the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were "nervous and jittery" about their poll prospects. Hitting out at Adityanath, Mayawati charged that the UP chief minister was deriving political mileage by visiting temples and having food outside the house of a Dalit. In a tweet, Mayawati said, "By blatantly violating the ban imposed by the Election Commission, UP Chief Minister Yogi (Adityanath) is visiting temples in various cities and doing a drama of having food outside the house of a Dalit. He is deriving electoral mileage by broadcasting them on media, but the Election Commission is lenient (meharbaan) on him. Why?" The EC on Monday imposed a 72-hour campaigning ban on Adityanath for making communal remarks at a recent election meeting in Meerut. The ban .
Around 32 per cent polling recorded in Manipur till 11 am
Around 32 per cent of the 9,28,626 voters exercised their franchise till 11 am for the Inner Manipur parliamentary constituency on Thursday. Chief Electoral Officer P K Singh said 32.18 per cent voting was recorded till the first four hours. The electorate comprising 4,80,751 women voters are eligible to cast their votes at 1,300 polling stations in the second phase of polling. Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla, after casting vote at T G Higher Secondary School, urged voters not to waste their democratic right. The governor who has moved her voting constituency to Imphal from her constituency in New Delhi, said, "We should cast our vote in the place where we live". Heptulla is now enrolled in the Sagolband Assembly constituency in Manipurs Imphal West district. She reminded the people that unlike in some other countries where women had to fight for their right to vote, "The Indian Constitution provides adult franchise to both men and women." A total of 12 candidates, ...
Manipur Governor, CM jump queue to vote
Manipur Governor Najma Heptullah and Chief Minister N. Biren Singh jumped the queues to vote in the election to the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat on Thursday.
Trump ramps up pressure on Cuba in Latin America offensive
President Donald Trump on Wednesday ramped up pressure on Cuba with new restrictions on US travel and remittances and a green light to lawsuits over seized property as he vowed to rid Latin America of leftists. Defying European warnings on the long-festering property issue, Trump rolled back much of previous president Barack Obama's bid to reconcile with Cuba and also imposed fresh sanctions on Venezuela and Nicaragua, the two other hard-left nations in Latin America. John Bolton, Trump's hawkish national security advisor, said the measures were meant to "reverse the consequences of disastrous Obama-era policies and finally end the glamorization of socialism and communism." "We're standing with the freedom-loving patriots of this region," Bolton said in Miami as he addressed veterans of the Bay of Pigs invasion, the failed CIA-backed 1961 bid by exiles to topple the Cuban regime. Bolton said the United States would bar Americans from travelling to Cuba except to visit family, ...
Modi, Rahul, Shah urge voters to vote
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged the people to exercise their electoral right as the second phase of Lok Sabha elections was underway.
Iran's Rouhani urges Mideast states to "drive back Zionism"
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani called on Middle East states on Thursday to "drive back Zionism", saying Israel and its US ally were the root causes of the region's problems. "The region's nations have lived alongside each other for centuries and never had a problem... If there is a problem, it is caused by others," Rouhani said in an Army Day address. "Let us stand together, be together and rid the region of the aggressor's presence," he added in the speech shown live on state television. Flanked by top generals, Rouhani told Iran's neighbours and countries across the region that its armed forces are "never against you or your national interests" but are "standing against the aggressors." "If we have a problem in the region today, its roots are either with Zionism or America's arrogance," Rouhani said. He called on Muslim nations to band together and "restore the historical right of the nation of Palestine," saying that "Zionism ... has been committing crimes in the region for the ...
EC flying squad recovers cash worth over Rs 11 crore
The Election Commission of India's (ECI) flying squad seized Rs 11.85 lakh worth of cash from Sion area of Mumbai on Thursday.The seizure comes as voting for 10 Lok Sabha seats which fall under Maharashtra's Vidarbha and Marathwada regions is underway in the second phase of polling.A huge amount of unaccounted money is being recovered in raids and searches by authorities across the country since Model Code of Conduct came into effect with the announcement of the poll dates on March 10.The central agencies and the EC have been conducting raids and searches across the states to ensure illegal money is not used to influence voters in the ensuing general elections.Over Rs 135 crore unaccounted cash was recovered from raids conducted by the Income Tax (IT) department and the EC across Tamil Nadu, the commission said Tuesday.In a related development, the EC cancelled elections in Vellore parliamentary constituency in Tamil Nadu after over Rs 11.48 crore worth unaccounted cash was unearthed .
VIPs, candidates, celebs among early voters in Karnataka
VIPs, including political leaders, celebrities and candidates were among the early voters who exercised their franchise in 14 Lok Sabha seats across central and southern Karnataka on Thursday.