Page 880 - Politics
Terror funding: ED attaches Rs 6.19 cr Kashmir-based assets of Watali
The Enforcement Directorate Tuesday said it has attached Rs 6.19 crore assets of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Watali in a money laundering case related to funding of terror and separatist activities in Jammu and Kashmir. The agency also charged Watali and Hurriyat leaders of receiving funds from Pakistan through conduits and also from the Pakistan High Commission in India "directly". It said a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been issued for attaching lands in Sozeith Goripora, Narbal and Budgam areas of Kashmir belonging to Watali and his family members that are worth Rs 6.19 crore. The ED case is based on a charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as part of its probe against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed. "Watali has been found to be involved in fund raising and as a financial conduit of Hurriyat leaders," the ED said. The probe revealed that the "Hurriyat leaders have received funds from Pakistan through .
Campaigning for lone LS seat, bypoll for 1 assly seat ends
The nearly one month long campaigning by political parties for the April 18 elections in the union territory for the lone Lok Sabha seat and the by election to Thattanchavady assembly here ended at 6 PM today. Leaders of various political parties, including from neighbouring Tamil Nadu had campaigned in Puducherry in support of their respective front's candidates for nearly a month. Local leaders and others attached to the DMK led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) had attacked not only the BJP led NDA, AINRC and AIADMK, but also Lt Governor Kiran Bedi "for putting obstacles in implementation of welfare schemes." The poll is for all practical purposes a prestige fight between the ruling Congress and opposition AINRC. The Chief Minister focussed on the Congress manifesto and highlighted its promise that every poor family would be provided a monthly income of Rs 6000. He also highlighted 'challenges' the elected government was facing here because of 'obstacles' Lt Governor .
Campaigning ends for second-phase Lok Sabha polls
The campaigning came to an end on Tuesday for 97 Lok Sabha constituencies spread over 13 states and Union Territories which will go to the polls on Thursday in the second phase of the mega seven-phase electoral exercise.
K'tka: Amit Shah offers prayers at Siddaganga Mutt; conducts roadshow
Two days before Karnataka is set to go to polls in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Tuesday offered prayers at the Siddaganga mutt in Tumakuru.The prayers were conducted for the "electoral victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi" in the LS elections.Thereafter, the BJP president also conducted a road show in the region.Earlier in the day, Shah addressed a public rally at Davanagere in the state.In his address, Shah had accused the Congress party of helping the Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) to form the government in the state through corrupt means, despite the JDS securing least number of seats as compared to the BJP in the assembly elections last year.Karnataka with 28 parliamentary seats will go to polls in the second and third phases of seven phase Lok Sabha polls on April 18 and April 23, respectively. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.
Congress has neither vision, nor policy: Himachal CM
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday said the Congress has neither a vision nor a national development policy, whereas the BJP has a strong leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who guided the country to be one among the top five nations.
Navy Chief Lanba begins visit to Thailand on Wednesday
Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba will begin a four-day visit to Thailand from Wednesday with an aim to further consolidate maritime cooperation between the two countries. Admiral Lanba will hold extensive talks with Thailand's Chief of Defence Forces General Ponpipaat Benyasri and Admiral Luechai Ruddit, Commander-in-Chief of Royal Thai Navy, besides meeting other senior government officials, the Navy said. "The visit is intended to consolidate and enhance the maritime bilateral relations between India and Thailand and also to explore new avenues of defence cooperation," it said in a statement. Admiral Lanba will also visit the headquarters of Royal Thai Armed Forces in Bangkok and the third Naval Area Command at Phuket. Cooperation between Indian and Thai navies are on an upswing in the last few years on a number of fronts, including operational interactions and training. The Royal Thai Navy is also a member of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), a platform of littoral states of ..
Campaign ends for second phase polling in Bihar
Campaign ended on Tuesday for five Lok Sabha seats in Bihar where polling will be held on April 18 in the second phase of general elections. The five Lok Sabha constituencies are Bhagalpur, Banka, Katihar, Kishanganj and Purnea. The BJP had fought these five seats unsuccessfully in 2014 and this time its ally JD(U) of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is contesting from those constituencies. Both the BJP and the JD() are contesting 17 out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Nominees of NDA ally LJP are in the fray in the remaining six constituencies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi held rallies at Bhagalpur and Katihar respectively. Rallies were also held by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at Banka and Purnea, while the Congress' campaign had a dash of glamour with former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu and yesteryears Bollywood actress Nagma holding a number of election meetings in Kishanganj and Katihar constituencies, which have a ...
PM Modi's lies, deceit can't save BJP's sinking ship: Ghulam Nabi Azad
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad Tuesday said the people have realised "political opportunism" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his "lies and deceit" cannot save the "sinking ship" of the Bharatiya Janata Party. In an election rally in south Kashmir's Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency, Azad also alleged that the BJP has not been able to fulfil any of the promises made in the 2014 election campaign and that the party after coming to power, has destroyed the constitutional fabric of the country. "PM Narendra Modi's lies and deceit will not save the sinking ship of the BJP, as the people have realized the exploitation and political opportunism on the part of the outgoing prime minister," Azad said. "Never in the history have four senior judges of Supreme Court come out and said that democracy was in danger in the country," he said. Azad said the Centre over the past five years has filled up independent constitutional institutions and academic institutions like universities with .
PSP announces 14 candidates for LS elections
Uttar Pradesh (UP) politician Shivpal Singh Yadav's Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) on Tuesday released its list of 14 candidates for Lok Sabha elections.The party has fielded Chote Lal Yadav from Banda, Vinay Kumar Amethiya from Dewariya in UP.In Bihar, the party gave tickets to Raviraj from Buxar, Anil Kumar Singh from Ara, Nirmala Devi from Sasaram, Ehteshamul Hassan Rahmani from Muzaffarpur, Mohd. Akhlaq Ansari from Madhubani and Arvind Pratap Singh from Jahanabad.Anup Kumar Meghwal has been fielded from Alwar (Rajasthan).From Haryana the party has fielded Manju Devi from Rohtak, Rajat Kalsan from Hissar, Shailesh Kumar from Bhiwani Mahendragarh, Naresh Kumar from Karnal and Heera Singh from Sirsa in Haryana have been announced as PSP candidates for the elections.Shivpal Yadav, the younger brother of Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav has decided to field candidates against his former party leaders too although he has announced he will be open to a coalition ...
Congress raised morale of Naxals in Chhattisgarh: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday accused Congress of "raising morale" of Naxals in Chhattisgarh and urged voters to choose between landmines and pipelines."Whatever is happening here is because Congress raised the morale of Naxals," Modi said at a rally here while blaming the grand old party for the violence in the state."Does Chhattisgarh need landmine or electric line and water pipeline?" Modi asked the crowd.The Prime Minister said, "When I came here during Assembly polls, I had drawn your attention towards comments of some Congress leaders. It was during that time when Congress was terming Naxals as revolutionaries."Attacking Congress on its election promise to abolish the sedition law, Modi said, "The morale of Naxals is also going up with Congress 'dhakosala patra (fake manifesto)'. The Congress has announced to scrap the sedition law if they come to power."The Prime Minister explained that repealing the sedition law would benefit Naxals. "That means people who misguide ..
K'tka: JDS got least seats but corrupt Cong helped them form Govt, says Amit Shah
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Tuesday accused Congress of helping Janta Dal Secular (JDS) through corrupt means to form the government in Karnataka, despite JDS securing least number of seats in the assembly elections last year.Addressing an election rally here, Shah said: "JDS got the lowest number of seats in the assembly elections while the BJP got the most, however, Congress through its corrupt practices ensured that JDS government is formed in the state."Hitting out at Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, the BJP president said: "Kumaraswamy gave the credit of becoming the chief minister to Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi instead of acknowledging that people of Karnataka have made him the chief minister.""Under UPA government, Karnataka only got Rs 88,583 crore, but under the BJP's tenure through the 14th finance commission, Rs 3,88,971 crore has been allocated to the state," added Shah.Mocking the grand alliance, ...
Raj govt must ensure reservation for Gujjars: Bainsla
Gujjar Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti convenor Kirori Singh Bainsla Tuesday asked the Congress government to ensure that the Gujjar reservation agreement is implemented in the state. "The agreement that we have had with the state government on Gujjar reservation issue should be implemented. We should get our dues and if there is any dereliction on this then the government will have to pay for it," Bainsla told reporters after joining the BJP. He said that he had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for social and national reasons but will stand with his community on the issue of reservation for Gujjars. The community is willing to send a delegation to meet the state government to discuss the reservation issue, he added. The Supreme Court had on April 5 refused to entertain a plea challenging the grant of 5 per cent quota to Gujjars and four other castes in jobs and educational institutions in Rajasthan through a law amendment in February. The Bill passed by the newly formed Congress ...
Mayawati's nephew, Azam Khan's son fill in for them; campaigning ends for 8 UP seats
BSP chief Mayawati's nephew and SP leader Azam Khan's son Tuesday filled in for the two Uttar Pradesh heavyweights on Tuesday, the final day of electioneering for the second phase of polling in the state. The Election Commission had Monday barred the two leaders as well as UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP's Maneka Gandhi from campaigning for varying periods over violations of the moral code of conduct. The leaders stayed away from the campaign, but marked their presence in other ways. Bahujan Samaj Party supremo's nephew Akash Anand delivered his first political speech in Nagina, where Mayawati was initially scheduled to address a joint opposition alliance meeting. Azam Khan's son Abdullah addressed a press conference in Rampur, criticising the EC order. Yogi Adityanath prayed at a Hanuman temple in Lucknow, a day after the EC's issued the order frowning at his Ali-Bajrang Bali remark, seemingly framing the election as a contest between Hindus and Muslims. Campaigning for ..
Minus Mayawati, alliance leaders take on 'chowkidar'
Leaders of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday held a mega election rally here even without the presence of BSP leader Mayawati who has been banned from campaigning for 48 hours by the Election Commission.
AAP and Cong will form alliance in the end: Delhi BJP leader
Former Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay claimed Tuesday that despite the bickering between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress, the two parties will form an alliance for Lok Sabha polls in the national capital. The Congress and the AAP were fooling people with their allegations against each other, he said. "I feel both the AAP and the Congress are fooling people by levelling allegations and counter-allegations. Ultimately they will contest the elections in alliance," Upadhyay, joint in-charge of the BJP for Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh, told reporters. He was talking to the media after attending a meeting of the BJP's state election management committee. The saffron party is yet to declare candidates from Bhopal, Indore, Vidisha, Guna and Sagar in the state. Upadhyay claimed that the BJP will win all the seven seats in the national capital. "The AAP had formed government in Delhi with the Congress' support earlier too," he said, adding that the AAP's national ...
LS poll campaign ends in five parlaimentary seats in Assam
Campaigning for the second phase of polling in five parliamentary constituencies of Assam on April 18 ended on Tuesday. Campaigning for Karimganj(SC), Silchar, Autonmous District(ST), Nowgong and Mangaldoi constituencies ended at 4 p.m and polling will be held on Thursday to decide the fate of 50 candidates, including three women. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, BJP President Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath along with his Assam counterpart Sarbananda Sonowal, former chief minister Tarun Gogoi were the prominent leaders who campaigned in the state in the second phase. Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP state president Ranjeet Dass, Assam PCC president Ripun Bora, leader of the opposition in the state assembly Debabrata Saikia too campaigned. Actor and BJP leader Rupa Ganguly campaigned for the party's candidates in constituencies which are going to polls on ...
Tamil Nadu: Loudspeakers go silent as campaigning ends
Loudspeakers blaring political message turned silent on Tuesday evening as the curtains came down on the high-voltage electoral campaign for the 39 Lok Sabha seats and Assembly by-polls in 18 constituencies in Tamil Nadu, to be held on April 18.
Campaign ends for second-phase polls in West Bengal
The campaign drums fell silent for the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal on Tuesday for three parliamentary constituencies that will vote on April 18.
Algeria constitutional council chief quits: state TV
The head of Algeria's constitutional council stepped down Tuesday after weeks facing the ire of protesters, state television reported. Tayeb Belaiz informed the council, which will play a key role in upcoming presidential elections, that "he presented his resignation... to the head of state". Algerians have called for Belaiz and other top figures to quit in mass demonstrations which prompted the departure of veteran president Abdelaziz Bouteflika earlier this month. Protesters have targeted the "3B" -- Belaiz, Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui, and Abdelkader Bensalah who served as upper house speaker until being appointed interim president after Bouteflika's resignation. Bensalah has defended his appointment under constitutional rules and has pledged a transparent vote, to be held on July 4. The constitutional council is tasked with vetting election candidates, as well as ensuring the regularity of the polls. Belaiz has served as a minister almost without interruption for 16 years and
"Why IT raids only against those opposing BJP", asks AP CM
: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Tuesday slammed the Narendra Modi government over continuing Income Tax raids, alleging the searches were only targeted against those who opposed the BJP. Addressing a press conference in the DMK's headquarters here, he sought to know whether I-T raids were conducted in any BJP-ruled states. "Income Tax raids were conducted only against DMK, Telugu Desam and (Karnataka Chief Minister) H D Kumaraswamy," he said sharing the dais with DMK candidates for the Lok Sabha elections to be held on Thursday. "Today there is a raid in Karnataka. Are there any raids in BJP ruled states?" he asked. Attacking the AIADMK, he charged that "the party is not ruling the state in Tamil Nadu and it is 'ModiMK'. If you vote for AIADMK, it is a vote to (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi". The DMK and other opposition parties have been accusing the AIADMK of being subservient to the BJP after the demise of its supremo Jayalalithaa, a charge denied ..