Page 906 - Politics

Tripura Left calls polling in 1st phase a 'farce'

Reiterating its demand to hold repoll in 464 of the 1,679 polling stations in the Tripura West Lok Sabha constituency, the CPI-M led Left Front opposition on Sunday demanded free and fair polling in the Tripura East seat which goes to the polls in the second phase on April 18.

Birender Singh offers to resign from Cabinet, Rajya Sabha after son gets BJP ticket

Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh, a prominent Jat leader of BJP in Haryana, Sunday said he has offered to resign from the cabinet and from Rajya Sabha as his son has got a Lok Sabha ticket and he wants to send across a message against dynasty politics. The announcement, made by the 73-year-old minister during a press conference at his official residence here, followed selection of his son Brijendra Singh as the BJP candidate from Hisar in Haryana. The senior leader said he has informed BJP's president Amit Shah about his resignation offer and it was up to the party chief to take the final call. Singh, grandson of Jat icon and farmer leader Sir Chotu Ram, said he wants to send across a message of anti-dynasty politics as his son has got the Lok Sabha ticket. "I have offered my resignation from both Union Cabinet and Rajya Sabha and I have informed the party chief Amit Shahji about this," he told reporters here. Singh said it is the principle of BJP not to promote nepotism .

Probe 'mysterious box' unloaded from PM's chopper: Congress

The Congress on Sunday demanded an immediate investigation by the Election Commission (EC) into a mysterious box, which was allegedly unloaded from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's chopper after it landed in Chitradurga in Karnataka earlier this week.

India needs a strong leader, strong nation (Column Political Calculus)

I am a human being - Homo sapiens. But does that mean I am poor, brutish, nasty and small? That is what Thomas Hobbes had thought. Machiavelli's prince had also said that if you want to control people, the masses, the electorate - then you've to keep a whip in your hand like the ringmaster in a circus. Only a strong leader can control the mobocracy.

Ready for anything to save India from Modi-Shah: Kejriwal

Asked about a possible alliance with the Congress in Delhi, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said he and his party are ready to do anything to save the country from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah.

Naidu's doubts on EVMs out of fear of defeat: KTR

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) working President K. T. Rama Rao on Sunday said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N. Chandrababu Naidu was raising doubts about electronic voting machines (EVMs) out of fear of losing the elections.

Egypt's Sisi meets Libyan strongman Haftar in Cairo: state media

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met Sunday with Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar, whose forces are fighting for control of the capital Tripoli, state media reported. They "are discussing the latest developments in Libya" at the presidential palace in Cairo, state newspaper Al Ahram said. A presidential spokesperson did not return AFP's calls for confirmation. Sisi has been an ardent supporter of Haftar's forces, which control swathes of eastern Libya and launched an offensive on April 4 to take the capital. Fighting near Tripoli has killed 121 people and wounded 561, the World Health Organisation said on Sunday. Haftar has defied international calls to halt his battle against fighters loyal to the UN-backed Government of National Accord based in Tripoli. Earlier this month, Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry cautioned that the conflict could not be solved militarily. His remarks came at a Cairo press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who also called ...

Delhi Cong Muslim leaders seek at least one LS ticket for one of them in capital

Already divided over whether to forge an alliance with the AAP, the Delhi Congress faces fresh trouble with its senior Muslim leaders resenting that they may be denied party tickets in the Lok Sabha polls. In a letter written to Congress president Rahul Gandhi Saturday, a group of five ex-MLAs -- three of them having been elected five times to Delhi assembly -- has sought fielding of a Muslim leader either from Chandni Chowk or North East Delhi Lok Sabha seats. The resentment by the Muslim leaders of the party's Delhi unit has come to the fore days before finalisation of the list of candidates on seven parliamentary seats in the capital. The letter signed by Mateen Ahmad, Shoiab Iqbal, Hasan Ahmed and Asif Mohammad Khan also mentions the name of Delhi Congress working president Haroon Yusuf, a five-time MLA, for consideration of the party ticket from Delhi. Besides Haroon Yusuf, Mateen Ahmad and Shoiab Iqbal too were elected five times, while Hasan Ahmed and Asif Mohammad Khan were ..

Adtiyanath should be booked for sedition: Gehlot on 'Modi ji ki sena' remarks

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot suggested on Sunday that his Uttar Pradesh counterpart, Yogi Adityanath, should be booked for sedition for labelling the military as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's army. "Yogi ji is saying, 'this is Modi sena'. There should be a case of sedition on Yogi ji. If someone criticises the government, the person is directly called anti-national. But the anti-national person is he who, while being the chief minister, says 'Modi ji ki sena' (Modi's army)," Gehlot told reporters here. At a rally in Ghaziabad on March 31, Adityanath had dubbed the Army "Modi ji ki sena", triggering a political firestorm with the Opposition attacking the Uttar Pradesh chief minister for "insulting and humiliating" the armed forces. "Where do you want to take the nation? What will happen in the country when soldiers will have their interference here like Pakistan?" Gehlot asked. He said Pakistan had military rule several times, but the defence forces were kept separate from ...

Congress did not give Ambedkar his due: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lashed out at the Congress for humiliating the author of the Indian Constitution Dr B.R. Ambedkar and not giving him his due.

Minimum income scheme will be relief for the poor: Pondy CM

: Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy Sunday called upon voters to ensure the victory of the Congress nominee and former Speaker V Vaithilingam in the April 18 Lok Sabha poll as 'welfare of the poor would see a big improvement.' He said this during a campaign to seek votes for the Secular Progressive Alliance. The senior Congress leader said the welfare of the poor would witness improvement through the schemes AICC leader Rahul Gandhi had announced through the party's poll manifesto. Narayanasamy said the minimum income guarantee scheme conceptualised by the AICC to provide a monthly income of Rs 6,000 to the poor families would bring huge relief to the poorer sections. The amount would be credited in the bank account of the women members in families," he said highlighting the various promises in the manifesto. He further said, "We are facing an embarrassment because Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been denying adequate grants to Puducherry and also because of the .

Oppn parties to approach SC again to demand verification of 50 pc votes by paper trail

Raising doubts over the credibility of EVMs, a number of opposition parties Sunday said they will move the Supreme Court again to demand verification of at least 50 per cent of votes by paper trail. Opposition parties, including the Congress, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Samajwadi Party, CPI and CPI(M), jointly addressed a press conference to highlight the issue of transparency in the election process and protection of voter rights with a call to "save democracy". Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of "programming" electronic voting machines to win the Lok Sabha elections, while his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu said 21 political parties have demanded verification of VVPAT paper trails of 50 per cent of the EVMs. Naidu on Saturday had met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora to raise the issue of EVM malfunctioning. The demand by the parties comes in the peak of the election season.The first of the seven phases .

Structured Indo-Pak engagement key to build edifice of durable peace: Pak

Pakistan has said it was hoping for "re-engagement" with India after the Lok Sabha polls, noting that structured dialogue would enable the two countries to understand mutual concerns, resolve outstanding disputes and build the edifice of durable peace and security in the region. In an interview to PTI, Pakistan's outgoing High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood said diplomacy and dialogue are indispensable to improve ties between the two neighbours. "We hope for re-engagement after the elections in India. Diplomacy and dialogue are indispensable," he said. Tensions between the two countries worsened after the Pulwama terror attack and both the countries were almost on the brink of a war after India's military planes struck a terrorist training camp in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26 and Pakistan carried out a counter-offensive the next day. Mahmood, who has been appointed as Pakistan's next Foreign Secretary said dialogue between India and Pakistan was the only option to understand mutual .

Hindutva groups, Trinamool take out more Ram Navami rallies

Holding saffron flags and donning saffron head bands, playing religious songs in full thrust and chanting Lord Ram's name, thousands of Hindu right wing activists and supporters on Sunday took out Ram Navami rallies across West Bengal for the second consecutive day.

PM Modi to hold roadshow in Bhubaneswar on April 16

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a roadshow in Bhubaneswar during his visit to Odisha on April 16. He is also scheduled to address two rallies in Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur on the same day. BJP state vice president Samir Mohanty on Sunday said that the prime minister will start his roadshow from near the Biju Patnaik International Airport and reach the public rally venue at Baramunda Ground covering Ganganagar and OUAT Square. Polling in Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituencies and the assembly segments coming under them will be held in the third phase on April 23. This will be Modis fifth election programme in the state. Earlier, he had addressed election meetings at Jeypore in Koraput district, Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi, Sonepur in Bolangir district and Sundergarh. BJP national president Amit Shah will also address two rallies at Baramba in Cuttack district and Dhenkanal on April 17, a party leader said. The Lok Sabha and assembly elections are being held

Polarisation Modi's only weapon: Congress leader Venugopal

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday of running away from real issues and trying to divide people, and said his only weapon in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls was "polarisation". The Congress was raising the concerns related to jobs, agrarian crisis, women's safety, development of all, but Modi was running away from these real issues and trying to divide the people of the country, Venugopal alleged at a meet-the-press programme here. "Modi had promised acche din (good days) to the people. This election verdict is going to be a referendum on the BJP government's performance. Modi's performance is zero. One can analyse his speeches and see that he has not mentioned anything that has been done by his government. "Nothing on development, nothing on black money, nothing on farmers or jobs. His only weapon is polarisation. But he got it wrong this time. Just because it happened once, does not mean it may happen again," he said. Raising the ...

Sudan military rulers brief US envoy: state media

Sudan's new military rulers briefed Washington's top envoy to Khartoum on Sunday about security after the army's ouster of veteran leader Omar al-Bashir, state media reported. Steven Koutsis met with the military council's deputy Mohammad Hamdan Daglo, widely known as Himeidti, at the presidential palace in Khartoum. The Sudanese deputy briefed Koutsis on the current situation in the country and the reason for forming the military council, the official SUNA news agency reported as state television broadcast footage of their meeting. "Himeidti told him about the measures taken by the military council to preserve the security and stability of the country," SUNA reported. Sudan's military council headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan took power after the army ousted Bashir on Thursday. Himeidti heads Sudan's controversial counter-insurgency unit -- the Rapid Support Force (RSF) -- which rights groups have accused of abuses in the war-torn Darfur region. About 300,000 people have been .

Mayoral polls in Delhi by month-end, SDMC's on April 26

Mayoral polls in the three BJP-controlled municipal corporations in Delhi are slated to be held by the end of this month, officials said Sunday. "The elections for the posts of mayor, deputy mayor and three members of the standing committee of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation will be held on April 26," a senior SDMC official said. The last date to submit nominations is April 18, he said. Mayoral polls in East and North Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC and NDMC) would be both held on April 29. The notification for elections of mayor and deputy mayor of the NDMC was issued a few days ago, a senior NDMC official said. "This year, as per the rotation basis, the mayoral seat is reserved for the SC category," he said. The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act provides for election of mayor and deputy mayor from among the councillors of the corporations in the first meeting of the House every year. The mayors and deputy mayors get a year-long term in the cities of Union Territories. The ...

Union Minister offers to quit Cabinet, RS

Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh on Sunday offered to resign from the Cabinet and also as a Rajya Member after the BJP fielded his son Brijendra Singh from the Hisar Lok Sabha constituency in Haryana.

BJP ministers would have stepped down if there were any corruption charges against them: Rajnath Singh

Union Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said the ministers of the BJP-led Central government would have stepped down from their posts had any corruption charges against them been proved even prima facie.Addressing an election rally here on Sunday, Singh said that no one in the world can date to allege any corruption against the BJP ministers."We have also run governments. Kalyan Singh ji and I have headed Uttar Pradesh governments. Atal ji and Modi ji have been Prime Ministers. But not a single charge of corruption was labelled against our ministers. If there were any, and they were proved even prima facie. We would have resigned and headed to our homes," he said.Singh said: "Nobody not just in just India but in the entire world can dare to say that even a single minister is tainted with charges of corruption in Narendra Modi government."The home minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot commit any act of corruption as he no one to get its benefits. "Modi ji has no family.