Page 868 - Politics
Bengal polls: All eyes on Raiganj, Darjeeling in phase 2
In the backdrop of the controversy over the ruling Trinamool Congress roping in Bangladeshi actors for campaigning, three northern West Bengal constituencies, including the keenly-watched Raiganj and Darjeeling, go to the hustings in round two of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections on Thursday.
Turkey criticizes US for designating Iranian force terrorist
The US decision to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization is a dangerous development that could lead to chaos, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday. Speaking at a joint news conference with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Turkish minister also said that U.S. sanctions were harming the people of Iran. The United States re-imposed sanctions on Iran, including on its energy sector, last November, after President Donald Trump pulled out of the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the designation against the Revolutionary Guard with great fanfare last week. "When we start adding other countries' armies to terror lists, then serious cracks will occur in the system of international law," Cavusoglu said. "Trust in the global system will decline and total chaos will ensue." "Our conscience does not accept that the brotherly Iranian people be punished," Cavusoglu said of US ...
10 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra to vote on Thursday
Ten of Maharashtra's 48 Lok Sabha constituencies, including three reserved for Scheduled Castes, will go to the polls on Thursday (April 18).
Open fight for Maharashtra's 9 reserved LS seats
The contest seems wide open for the nine reserved Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra that are currently held by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena combine.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh meets Ghulam Nabi Azad to hold alliance talks in Haryana: Sources
Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh Wednesday met Congress general secretary in-charge of Haryana Ghulam Nabi Azad to take alliance talks forward in the state, sources said. According to the sources, Singh has proposed 6:3:1 seat sharing in Haryana in which Congress would fight from six seats, while the Jannayak Janata Party would field its candidates for three seats and one candidate would be fielded by the AAP. But the Congress has proposed a 7:2:1 seat-sharing formula in which seven Congress candidates, two JJP candidates and one AAP candidate would contest the polls, the sources added. On Tuesday, a meeting was held at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence during which senior AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai, Sanjay Singh and Satyendra Kumar Jain were present. Following the meeting, the party said it is ready to have further discussion with the Congress and has appointed a representative to take the matter forward. The AAP has appointed Singh to hold the alliance ..
BJP's TN rivals: Congress on 2, CPM, IUML, DMK 1 seat each
Of the five seats in Tamil Nadu that the Bharatiya Janata Party is contesting, it is locked with the Congress on two and Communist Party of India (CPM), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and DMK on one each.
Pak's newly appointed foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood assumes office
Pakistan's seasoned diplomat Sohail Mahmood on Wednesday took over as the country's new foreign secretary. Before being appointed as the foreign secretary, Mahmood served as Pakistan's High Commissioner to India. "Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood assumed charge and called on the Foreign Minister today," Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said. Mahmood replaced Tehmina Janjua, who retired on April 16 after serving in the position for two years. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi congratulated the foreign secretary on assuming charge. During the meeting, the two discussed the different contours of foreign policy. Mahmood was appointed as high commissioner to India in August 2017. He was serving as ambassador to Turkey when sent to India. He previously also served at Washington and New York in addition to other posting in his long career. In an interview to PTI before leaving for Islamabad this week, Mahmood said Pakistan is hoping for "re-engagement" with India after the Lok ...
Party hopping once a taboo, now a virtue in western UP
Once a taboo, party hopping is now considered a virtue in western Uttar Pradesh with people looking at candidates who switch sides as "political heavyweights". Old-timers, however, lament the "decline in moral standards" of the people and the candidates over the years. "In the 1960s and 1970s if a candidate crossed over to the other party, he/she would have to face the wrath of the people and would be ostracised by his/her political supporters for doing it," says Prashant Goel, an advocate from Bijnor. "I have seen my elders completely sever ties with those who would switch sides. But now it is not an issue, it is not about ideologies any more. The number of parties a candidate has changed adds to his/her CV and he/she is considered a political heavyweight," he told PTI. Earlier it was difficult to find candidates who have switched allegiance, but now one cannot find a constituency where candidates have not switched sides, Goel said. His argument holds true as the western UP Lok Sabha
Oppn more concerned about human rights of infiltrators: Shah
BJP president Amit Shah on Wednesday hit out at the opposition leaders for criticising the government's move to identify illegal immigrants by rolling out the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Addressing a poll rally at Tasgaon in Maharashtra's Sangli district to campaign for BJP candidate Sanjay Kaka Patil, he alleged that the opposition parties were more concerned about the human rights of infiltrators. "We have brought the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill to curb infiltration in the country, there is a strategy to remove 40 lakh infiltrators from Assam. Rahul baba, Sonia, Sharad Pawar and Mamta Banerjee opposedthe prime minister on this," Shah said. "I want to ask themif the infiltrators are their cousins? The opposition parties are more concerned about the human rights of infiltrators," he said. "The intruders come into the country, explode bombs, create law and order problems, then what about the human rights of our people and soldiers?" he asked. Lashing out at ...
Modi to address 'Vijay Sankalp' rally in Bikaner on May 4
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a 'Vijay Sankalp' rally here on May 4 in support of BJP candidate Arjun Ram Meghwal, a party functionary said Wednesday. The prime minister is also scheduled to visit Chittorgarh and Barmer on April 21, Jodhpur and Udaipur on April 22 and Jaipur on May 3, said BJP district president Satya Prakash Acharya. Lok Sabha elections will be held in two phases in Rajasthan where 13 constituencies will go to polls on April 29 and remaining 12 seats on May 6.
Modi's is 'government of rhetoric', its exit imminent: Gehlot
Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government a "government of rhetoric", Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Wednesday claimed its exit is imminent in the Lok Sabha elections. He said the BJP's "rhetoric" will sink the Modi government. Rhetoric will sink the Modi government. It will be one reason and the other would be the weakening of constitutional institutions. People have gradually understood that it is a government of rhetoric, Gehlot said at a press conference. Modi ji did not give good governance and now his government's farewell is imminent. People will see that that they will be wiped out in the upcoming elections, he added. Replying to an allegation against the Union minister and BJP nominee from Jodhpur Gajendra Singh Shekhawat threatening government officials during electioneering, Gehlot said he did not expect this from him. Now, the people in the country are going to hang their government at the Centre upside down, he said. Shekhwat had allegedly threatened .
India's Indo-Pacific entry not much favoured by China: book
Japan and the US have a big role to play in getting India into the strategic Indo-Pacific region, something which has not found much favour with China, a new book has claimed. The book was launched on Wednesday by the Institute of South Asian Studies, a think tank in the prestigious National University of Singapore, explaining the need to see the Pacific (especially Western Pacific) with the Indian Ocean linked as one region by the inclusion of South Asia, particularly India, as one strategic theatre. The 329-page book, India's Eastward Engagement: From Antiquity to Act East Policy, is authored by S D Muni, professor emeritus at the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi and Rahul Mishra, a senior lecturer at the Asia-Europe Institute of the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. The region, which stretches from the west coast of India to the western shores of the United States, represents the most populous and economically dynamic part of the ...
Congress accuses Modi govt of 'hounding' opposition with 'motivated' I-T raids ahead of polls
The Congress on Wednesday accused the Modi government of targeting opposition leaders by using agencies like the Income Tax department and Enforcement Directorate, and said the people of India will give a befitting reply to the BJP in these elections. A day after income tax sleuths along with poll flying squad carried out raids at the residence of DMK leader Kanimozhi at Tuticorin, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, in a series of tweets, said "the news" is that nothing was found during searches in her residence. The former finance minister alleged that the Income Tax department was taking "autocratic and partial" action in Tamil Nadu in the run up to Lok Sabha elections. "How is it that tip off on opposition leaders alone is received (by officials)," he wondered in his tweet in Tamil. He also said, "The marker of the 2019 Parliamentary elections in Tamil Nadu is the Income Tax departments autocratic and partial steps." Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that ...
I am sure people of Wayanad will reject Rahul Gandhi: Piyush Goyal
Launching a scathing attack on the Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said people of Wayanad do not want a 'discharged battery' and 'second-hand material' and he is sure people will reject him."People in Kerala do not want a second-hand material and a discharged battery. I am sure people of Wayanad will reject Rahul Gandhi," Goyal said addressing an election rally here."As he is afraid of defeat in Amethi, he has to run all the way to Wayanad. Rahul has lost the confidence of the people of India. I am sure the people of Kerala will defeat him so that, in the next election he will have to look for a constituency in some other country," Goyal added.The Union Minister praised the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for the Alappuzha Lok Sabha constituency, KS Radhakrishnan, and called him "a man of integrity.""Radhakrishnan is a man of integrity and understand the pain of a common man like Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the last Lok Sabha
Sohail Mahmood takes charge as Pakistan Foreign Secy
Former Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood on Wednesday took charge as the country's new Foreign Secretary and called on Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to discuss issues related to the foreign policy of the country.
This is going to be my last election: says Shinde
Former Union Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who is the Congress' candidates from Solapur Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra, has said this would be his last election. Shinde, 77, is pitted against Lingayat seer Jaisiddeshwar Swami of the BJP and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi's Prakash Ambedkar in Solapur, which will go to polls on Thursday. "This is going to be my last election. I never said it publicly before, but am saying now, I am not going to contest any Assembly or Lok Sabha election in future," he told reporters here as he wrapped up canvassing on Tuesday. Shinde served as Home minister during the previous UPA government led by Manmohan Singh. He was the chief minister of Maharashtra from 2003 to 2004 and was the governor of Andhra Pradesh between November 2004 and January 2006.
Polls in 14 LS seats in Karna Thursday
After a month-long rancorous campaign, 14 of the total 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka will go tothe polls in the first phase Thursday with the main battle between the ruling Congress-JD(S) combine and the BJP. The constituencies, which are going to the polls in the first phase, are mostly in the southern part of the state covering almost the entire old Mysuru region and few coastal districts. It is a high stakes battle for the ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance as any adverse results from the region, considered as their stronghold, is likely to have its impact on the longevity of the coalition government in the state. The BJP is determined to improve its tally compared to last time riding on the Modi wave. Of the 14 constituencies going to the polls, the BJP and Congress had won six each in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and JD(S) in two. While the BJP is contesting in 13 constituencies and supporting independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh in Mandya, Congress and JD(S) have ..
Ravi Kishan meets Yogi Adityanath, seeks blessings for election victory
BJP candidate from Gorakhpur Ravi Kishan Wednesday called on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a former MP from the seat. The Bhojpuri actor sought the chief minister's blessings and exuded confidence of winning the Gorakhpur constituency, presently held by the Samajwadi Party. "There is no challenge for me in Gorakhpur as I have the blessings of Baba Gorakhnath and Yogi Adityanath. Apart from this, we have people's blessings for the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he told reporters after meeting Adityanath. Slamming the opposition parties, he said "the 'Gathbandhan' (anti-BJP alliance) will divide the country" if voted to power. "The opposition in order to realise its vested interest, makes the public forget many things, so we will knock every door and tell people about the various welfare schemes and projects launched by this government for different sections of the society," Ravi Kishan said. He said the general election is a battle between a "selfless prime
Rahul offers prayers at stream in Kerala's Wayanad where father's ashes were immersed
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Wednesday performed the 'bali tharpanam' ritual for his late father and other ancestors on the banks of the 'Papanasini' here, nearly three decades after the ashes of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi were immersed in the sacred stream. Gandhi, who is on a whirlwind two-day tour in Kerala as part of Lok Sabha poll campaigns, took time off his hectic schedule to offer prayers at the famed Thirunelli temple and performed the sacred ritual to pay obeisance to the ancestors of seven generations. Known as the "Kashi of South", the Thirunelli temple, located in a picturesque valley surrounded by mountains and thick forest, is dedicated to Lord Maha Vishnu. According to Hindu belief, performing the 'bali tharpanam' (paying obeisance to departed souls) ritual for ancestors in the 'Papanasini', the stream attached to the forest temple, is sacred. Gandhi, who is contesting polls from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency this time, besides his family bastion Amethi, ...
China says no Apr 23 deadline in UN to decide on listing of Azhar as global terrorist
China on Wednesday dismissed reports that the US, UK and France have served it an ultimatum until April 23 to lift its "technical hold" on designating Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist but claimed that the vexed issue is "moving towards settlement". After the Pulwama attack, a fresh proposal to designate -- Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council was moved by France, the UK and the US. However, China blocked the bid by putting a "technical hold" on the proposal. Following this, the US backed by the UK and France moved directly to UN Security Council (UNSC) to blacklist Azhar. China, a veto wielding member of the UNSC, had opposed the move, saying the issue should be resolved at the 1267 Committee itself which also functioned under the top UN body. Reacting to reports that the three countries have fixed April 23 as deadline for China to lift its technical hold in the 1267 Committee or else they would press for a discussion .