Page 904 - Politics
Tel Congress petitions Speaker: seeks disqualification of its
: The Telangana Congress Sunday said it has petitioned the Assembly Speaker, seeking disqualification of its six 'defecting' MLAs, who had switched over to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS). Congress Legislature Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka told reporters here that they met Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and submitted a petition to him, seeking disqualification of the six Congress MLAs,who defected to TRS. We submitteda petition, seeking disqualification of (six Congress MLAs) Rega Kantha Rao, Atram Sakku, Sudhir Reddy, Vanama Venkateshwar Rao, Sabita Indrareddy and Harshavardhan Reddy," he said and added that the Speaker responded positively on their petition. Accusing TRS chief and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of pressurising the MLAs to join TRS by offering them sops, Vikramarka alleged that the Chief Minister, who pledged to protect the Constitution, is violating it. The TRS had won 88 seats and the Congress 19 in the 119 member House .
'Mahagathbandhan' is 'baraat' without groom: Khattar
Taking a swipe at the opposition's 'mahagathbandan (grand alliance)', Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar Sunday described it as a "baraat" without a groom. Everybody knows the reality of Rahul Gandhi, Mayawati, Chandrababu Naidu and Mamata Banerjee, they are all "contenders for the post of prime minister from the opposition's camp, which has failed to reach a consensus on one person", he claimed at a BJP 'Vijay Sankalp' rally in Aurangabad village, which is part of the Faridabad Lok Sabha constituency, in Palwal district. The opposition is without a prime ministerial nominee, Khattar said. "It's a baraat without the groom," he said taking a dig at the grand alliance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has worked for bettering the lives of the poor and downtrodden during the last five years, the chief minister said. People have made up their mind to re-elect Modi as prime minister for all-round development of the country and protecting its security and integrity, Khattar said, ...
Goa: BJP complains against Christian priest's 'hate speech', inquiry launched
The Goa Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has ordered an inquiry into an alleged hate speech given by a Christian priest against the BJP following a complaint from the party. A video of the priest from South Goa addressing some people inside a church has gone viral on social media. In the video, the priest, who is speaking in Konkani, is seen criticising the BJP, party president Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and late Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar. The BJP's Goa unit lodged a complaint against the priest on Sunday. A complaint was also filed by a local resident. The complainant alleged that through his speech, the priest was spreading hatred and also violated the model code of conduct (MCC). When contacted, CEO Kunal said he has ordered an inquiry into the matter. "District Election Officer for South Goa constituency has been directed to conduct a detailed inquiry at the earliest and submit a report," he said. BJP's Panaji block general secretary Vishnu Naik said in his ...
Make EVMs reliable to restore voters' confidence, CPI tells EC
: The election commission should ensure reliability of EVMs to restore voters' confidence in them in the wake of reports of the machines malfunctioning during the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, CPI national secretary D Raja said Sunday. Many political parties have expressed concern over the malfunctioning EVMs and With six more phases of polls to go, the EC should see to it that the machines were reliable, he said. Asked about the remarks of union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal on the 8-lane Chennai-Salem green corridor and NEET respectively, Raja said the BJP has its own agenda and was trying to bulldoze the states' rights. Gadkari had said he would discuss with farmers on the road project even while Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami was in constant touch with him, despite thousands of farmers losing lakh of acres of cultivable land, Raja said. Why was the BJP's ally PMK silent on the issue, as it was the party that ..
SP-BSP-RLD 'thagbandhan' wont cross double digits: Shivpal Yadav
Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) chief Shivpal Yadav on Sunday described the SP-BSP-RLD combine as an "alliance of crooks" and claimed that it would not be able to cross the double-digit mark in the Lok Sabha election. Addressing a public meeting in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district, Shivpal Yadav said: "(BSP chief) Mayawati, during her stint as the chief minister of UP, had got cases registered against 'netaji' (Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Yadav). She had unleashed atrocities on SP workers." "And, now, (SP chief) Akhilesh had shook hands with the same Mayawati. This is not a 'gathbandhan' of the SP-BSP, it is 'thagbandhan' (alliance of crooks)," said Shivpal Yadav, who is the estranged uncle of Akhilesh Yadav. The PSPL leader said the SP-BSP-RLD combine would not succeed in the general election. "You will see that this alliance will not be able to cross the double-digit mark," he said. Pointing out that the Samajwadi Party was fighting on 35 Lok Sabha seats this time, ...
Those who weaken justice, liberty, equality, fraternity doing disservice to B R Ambedkar: Rahul
Congress president Rahul Gandhi Sunday paid tribute to B R Ambedkar on his birth anniversary and said those who weaken the principles of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity are doing disservice to the memory of the architect of the Indian Constitution. "On Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's jayanti, let us re-dedicate ourselves to the 4 universal values of JUSTICE, LIBERTY, EQUALITY & FRATERNITY enshrined in our Constitution. Those who pay him tributes on this day, while insidiously weakening these values, do his memory disservice," he said in a tweet, which is being viewed as an attack on the BJP leadership. The Congress president also gave his best wishes to the countrymen on the occasion of Baisakhi, Ram Navmi, Hanuman Jayanti and the Odia New Year in separate tweets. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also saluted the architect of the Indian Constitution and social reformer B R Ambedkar on his birth anniversary. "Justice for all, protection of the weak, mutual ...
Regional parties will have to take Cong help to form govt
Regional parties alone cannot form the government on their own after the Lok Sabh polls and will have to take the help of the Congress, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda asserted here Sunday. Speaking to reporters in Tumakuru, from where he is contesting the election, he said differences were there between many regional parties, but he believed they alone could not form the government without the help of the Congress, which is a national party. He said regional parties should set aside their differences if they wished to end the rule of prime minister Narendra Modi. "All the regional parties should join the national party Congress if they want to see the end of Modis rule, who is out to destroy the political system in the country," the JD(S) supremo said. In this context he cited the example of Karnataka, where his party JD(S) has forged an alliance with Congress to keep the BJP out of power. To a question,Gowda said he was contesting the election, not with any ...
Amarinder protests Canada dropping references to Sikh extremism from terrorism report
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Sunday protested the Canadian government, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, removing all references to Sikh extremism from its 2018 report on terrorism which had earlier listed it as one of the top five terrorist threats to the country. The 2018 report on terrorism, first released in December last year, drew the ire of the Sikh community at the time of its release as it was the first time it listed Sikh extremism as one of the top five extremist threats in Canada, the Toronto-based CBC news said. Singh protested the Trudeau administration's decision, saying it "succumbed to domestic political pressure". "The move is a threat to Indian and global security," he said. Amarinder said the "knee-jerk decision" by the ruling Canadian Liberal Party was aimed at protecting its political interests in an election year. It could have serious consequences for the Indo-Canadian relations in the long run, Singh said. "(Canadian Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau
BJP accuses AAP of inaction over Mayapuri sealing drive
BJP Sunday accused the AAP government of inaction and inability to find workable solution to the traders' problems in conformity with the directions of the National Green Tribunal. BJP MLA Vijender Gupta said that pollution control was the sole responsibility of Delhi government and Chief Minster Arvind Kejriwal "must rise from his slumber and take immediate action to provide relief to the traders by finding lasting solution acceptable to both traders and NGT." Gupta, also Leader of Opposition (LOP) in Delhi Vidhan Sabha, accused Kejriwal of dragging the matter and said the state government did not issue notice of action to the traders and straight away decided to act in hurry during the election days. Delhi BJP President, Manoj Tiwari, meanwhile, accused the state government of planning the incident. "This incident was pre scripted that how it should be presented before the people. Arvind Kejriwal had already prepared a tweet and the Radio ad for this purpose," he said. He further ...
Sudan foreign ministry urges global backing for army rulers
Sudan's foreign ministry on Sunday urged the international community to back the country's new military rulers to help "democratic transition". "The ministry of foreign affairs is looking forward to the international community to understand the situation and to support the transitional military council ... in order to achieve the Sudanese goal of democratic transition," the ministry said in a statement. "The steps taken by the army on Thursday, April 11, take the side of the people for the sake of freedom, peace and justice," the ministry said, echoing the catch-cry of the months-long protest movement that led to the ousting of long-time leader Omar al-Bashir. The chief of the military council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, is "committed to having a complete civilian government and the role of the council will be to maintain the sovereignty of the country," the military said. Burhan was also committed to an independent judiciary and to preparing the environment for political parties
Rahul faced trauma of terrorism, those questioning him should be ashamed: Pitroda
Congress leader Sam Pitroda said party chief Rahul Gandhi has experienced the trauma of terrorism and those questioning him in the matter should feel ashamed. The remarks come at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders had often attacked the Congress president on the issue of terrorism and national security in the run up to Lok Sabha elections. In an interview to PTI, Pitroda said Rahul Gandhi lost his grandmother (Indira Gandhi) and father (Rajiv Gandhi) to terrorism and that the leader understands the trauma and suffering associated with it. He said those doubting Rahul Gandhi's nationalism should be ashamed of themselves. Referring to senior BJP leader LK Advani's recent remarks in a blog post, the chief of Indian Overseas Congress said BJP leaders must learn from the veteran leader. "I disagree with Advani on many issues, but respect him as a person. BJP leaders must learn from Advani who has advised against excess self-promotion and calling people with ...
Birender Singh's son BJP candidate from Hisar, ex-MP Arvind Sharma gets ticket from Rohtak
The BJP Sunday cleared the names of Union minister Birender Singh's bureaucrat son, Brijendra, as candidate from Hisar constituency and of former Congress MP Arvind Sharma, who joined the saffron party recently, from Rohtak seat. Both Hisar and Rohtak are high-stakes constituencies, considered strongholds of Bhajan Lal and the Hooda families. Sharma has been a two-time MP from Karnal between 2004 and 2009 and has also represented Sonipat as an Independent MP. He will take on Congress' sitting MP Deepender Singh Hooda, the son of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, from Rohtak. The BJP has now named candidates for all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, where polling will be held in the sixth phase on May 12. Brijendra Singh is a 1988-batch IAS officer and he was posted as managing director, Haryana State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation (HAFED). He said that if he was elected he would work towards solving the problems of the people of his constituency. The ...
UK govt to resume cross-party Brexit talks next week
The British government will resume talks with the main opposition Labour party next week on how to resolve the deadlock over Brexit, a senior minister said Sunday. Prime Minister Theresa May's effective deputy, David Lidington, said they wanted to be able to "take stock" of any progress when parliament returns from its Easter break on April 23. "What we have agreed is a programme of meetings next week on particular subjects with the ministers and shadow ministers concerned getting together," he told the BBC. They would discuss environmental standards and workers' rights after Brexit as well as the future security relationship with the EU. "Then we would hope to take stock of where we are as soon as parliament gets back after the Easter recess," he said. "But I don't think that this question can be allowed to drag out for much longer." May was forced to ask fellow EU leaders this week to postpone Brexit for a second time, from April 12 to October 31. She has been unable to persuade MPs
Opposition meet over EVMs confession of defeat: BJP
As the Opposition parties on Sunday raised doubts over the reliability of electronic voting machines and demanded the Election Commission (EC) for Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) of 50 per cent of the EVMs, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) described it as their confession of defeat.
So, why did you make Muftis CM, Omar asks Modi
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Sunday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi why did he make two members of the Mufti family Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister after condemning them in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
BJP continues attack on Cong over skipping Jallianwala Bagh commemoration event
The BJP Sunday continued its attack on the Congress for not attending an event to mark the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre Saturday. The party accused the Congress of disrespecting the martyrs and criticised Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for "boycotting" the event which was organised in Amritsar on Saturday by the Centre and was attended by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu. In a press conference here, BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said, "The boycott of Vice President's event was an assault on the federal structure of the country. Some members of the 'mahamilavat gang' of the opposition recently demanded a separate prime minister for Jammu and Kashmir. After J&K, are they trying to create another situation where a separate PM for Punjab will be demanded?" Singh, on the other hand, alleged that the BJP-led central government had deliberately chosen to hold a "parallel event" instead of supporting the initiatives and programmes of the state government. He claimed
Centre should release MoM of Rafale deal: Congress
The Congress on Sunday demanded that the Centre make public the minutes of the meeting (MoM) between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former French President Francois Hollande, which culminated in the Rafale fighter aircraft deal.
Iraq begins trial proceedings for 900 jihadist suspects
Iraq has begun trial proceedings for nearly 900 Iraqi suspected members of the Islamic State group caught fleeing jihadist territory in neighbouring Syria, a judicial source told AFP on Sunday. They were handed over to Iraqi authorities by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which ousted IS from swathes of eastern Syria including territory bordering Iraq. "We received the interrogation files of nearly 900 Iraqi Daesh (IS) members coming from Syria," the court official said, speaking anonymously because he was not authorised to talk to the media. "The specialised terrorism court has begun setting dates for their trial in batches," the source added. The nearly 900 suspected jihadists were transferred by the SDF to Iraqi custody in recent months as the remnants of IS' once sprawling self-declared "caliphate" collapsed in neighbouring Syria. Additional Iraqi suspects are in SDF custody and awaiting transferral, a security source told AFP Sunday. "They will be handed over in batches on
Priyanka Gandhi on two-day visit to Amethi from Monday
Congress general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be on a two-day visit to Amethi beginning Monday. Anil Singh, spokesperson of the Congress' Amethi unit, on Sunday said Priyanka Gandhi is scheduled to arrive in the district Monday evening. She is likely to hold meetings with party workers and also undertake tour of the area. Priyanka Gandhi is the Congress' big hope for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and she is trying to revive the party's fortunes in Uttar Pradesh, especially in the eastern part of the state.
Cong seeks probe into 'suspicious black trunk' in PM's chopper
The Congress Sunday demanded a probe into the alleged transportation of a "suspicious black trunk" in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's helicopter during his visit to Chitradurg in Karnataka for poll campaign. Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma asked the prime minister to come clean and said the Election Commission should inquire into the contents of the "trunk". He said the Congress' Karnataka unit has already filed a complaint with the Election Commission in this regard. The prime minister had addressed an election rally in Karnataka's Chitradurga on April 9. "We saw there were three more choppers escorting the prime minister's helicopter. After landing, a black trunk was taken out and whisked away in a private car which was not part of the SPG carcade," he alleged. Sharma suggested there was cash stashed in the trunk. "What was there in the trunk. If there was no cash in it, let there an inquiry be held." The party also played a video clip claiming that the purported trunk, after ...