Page 919 - Politics
In Amreli, Cong banks on farmers' 'disconent' against BJP govt
Even as the BJP is eyeing to retain all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, the Congress has high hopes from seats like Amreli, a predominantly agrarian region, as it feels that farm issues will be a key factor since farmers there are "unhappy" with the Modi government. The Congress has fielded its leader of opposition in Gujarat Assembly, Paresh Dhanani, from Amreli seat located in Saurastra region, against two-time BJP MP Naran Kachhadiya. The opposition party claims that since the farmers are not happy with the Modi government, they would vote against the ruling party this time. However, the BJP had won all the 26 seats in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 and the saffron party wants to repeat its performance. Amreli constituency is primarily an agrarian district as the region lacks proper ecosystem for industrial development. Of the seven Assembly constituencies falling under Amreli Lok Sabha seat, Congress had won five in the 2017 Gujarat ...
Congress accepts they did injustice: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday mocked the Congress's proposed NYAY scheme which translates to "justice" in Hindi literally and claimed that the grand old party has finally agreed that injustice was done by them over the past 60 years.
Naidu visits EC to complain EVM malfunctioning
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP President N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday visited the EC office here to complain the malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during polling in the state on Thursday.
Kim says open to talks if US has 'right attitude'
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said he is willing for another meeting with US President Donald Trump to reach an agreement on denuclearization if Washington has the right attitude, the state media reported on Saturday.
61.50 per cent polling recorded in Uttarakhand
Releasing the final figures, the Election Commission (EC) has stated that 61.50 per cent of the polling was recorded in Uttarakhand in the first phase of election held on Thursday.
PM Modi corners Cong on "Nyay," asks justice for "Anyay"
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday sought to corner the Congress on its showpiece poll promise of "Nyay," and sought to know who would do justice for the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots, violence against Dalits, and the Bhopal gas tragedy under its regime. The Prime Minister addressing a poll rally, a day after the campaign by Congress president Rahul Gandhi here, alleged the Congress and dishonesty were best friends but sometimes "by mistake," they end up speaking the truth. "Now they are saying "Ab Hoga Nyay" (justice will be done now) even if they did not intend, they have admitted that all they have done is "Anyay" or injustice for 60 long years," (during the Congress rule), he said. "I want to ask the Congress party who will do Nyay to the victims of 1984 Sikh riots ? ...who will do Nyay to all the victims of anti Dalit (violence), who will do Nyay to the government of great M G Ramachandran ji, which was dismissed by the Congress just because one family did ..
In Gandhinagar, Cong's Chavda faces tough battle against Shah
The Congress, which had in the past fielded popular figures like former CEC T N Seshan and actor Rajesh Khanna from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat, has this time given ticket to its two-time MLA, C J Chavda, for whom taking on BJP chief Amit Shah seems to be an uphill task. There is a talk in political circles that although the seat has been a BJP bastion from 1990s, a strong opponent could have given a tough fight to Shah. Shah has replaced veteran BJP leader L K Advani had won the Gandhinagar seat six times. In the past, the Congress had fielded T N Seshan, Rajesh Khanna and former state DGP P K Dutta from this high profile seat against BJP stalwarts like L K Advani and A B Vajpayee. The constituency has the highest number of 19.21 lakh voters among all the 26 constituencies in Gujarat. It comprises seven assembly segments- Gandhinagar North,Kalol, Sanand, Ghatlodiya, Vejalpur, Naranpura and Sabarmati. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the five urban seats - Ghatlodiya, ...
Children too catch poll fever, play "vote-vote game"
The children have trespassed into the domain of the adults but their parents do not mind, at least in this case. As the lion's share of reports in media, particularly television, and discussions among people in public transport and at home revolves around the on-going Lok Sabha elections, children take note and improvise it in their own way. They have invented a new game - the "vote-vote game" - that they play in their pool car while going to or returning from school. "Our parents say vote is very important. But we cannot vote till we grow up. So we are playing vote-vote game," said Samadrita, a 10-year-old girl who studies in class 5. She plays this new game with her friends in the pool car - Trisrota, Nabanita, Ayush, Vidissa, Soumili and others - who are students of two-three schools in the north eastern part of Kolkata. Asked to whom people vote, they said in unison: "Parties". They do know names of parties. "Trinamool... BJP... Congress..," said Nabanita, a class 4 .
Who will do Nyay to Sikh-Dalit-Bhopal victims: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday mocked the Congress's proposed NYAY scheme which translates to "justice" in Hindi literally and claimed that the grand old party has finally agreed that injustice was done by them over the past 60 years.
Kovind, Modi, Rahul pay homage to Jallianwala martyrs
As the nation commemorates the 100th anniversary of the massacre of hundreds of innocent Indians by British forces at the Jallianwala Bagh, President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday paid tributes to the martyrs.
This time, it'll be straight contest in Karnataka
Karnataka will see straight contests in the Lok Sabha elections after three decades between the Congress-JD-S combine and the BJP.
Finland populists eye election upset as anti-immigrant feeling rises
In the remote, northern Finnish town of Oulu where he has lived for seven years, Syrian-born Jabo Waleed recently started feeling that some people's behaviour towards him was becoming less welcoming. "My wife is Finnish, I have lots of Finnish friends, but if you walk alone in the streets or drive somewhere or go into a shop then people really do look at you differently," Waleed told AFP in fluent Finnish from behind the counter of his kebab shop in the town centre. "I can honestly say it's not like before," he added. Waleed's experiences have been echoed by many other immigrants across Finland, since police in Oulu announced in December the arrest of nine suspects -- all of whom had arrived in the EU country as refugees or asylum seekers -- for suspected sexual offences against minors. A handful of similar arrests followed in subsequent months. The heavily publicised incidents spread outrage through Finland, and helped the far-right, populist Finns Party capitalise on ...
Charging Assange reflects dramatic shift in US approach
The decision to seek the extradition of Julian Assange marked a dramatic new approach to the founder of WikiLeaks by the U.S. government, a shift that was signalled in the early days of the Trump administration. President Barack Obama's Justice Department had extensive internal debates about whether to charge Assange amid concerns the case might not hold up in court and would be viewed as an attack on journalism by an administration already taking heat for leak prosecutions. But senior Trump administration officials seemed to make clear early on that they held a different view, dialling up the rhetoric on the anti-secrecy organization shortly after it made damaging disclosures about the CIA's cyberespionage tools. "WikiLeaks walks like a hostile intelligence service and talks like a hostile intelligence service," former CIA Director Mike Pompeo said in April 2017 in his first public speech as head of the agency. "Assange and his ilk," Pompeo said, seek "personal self-aggrandizement ...
Media with coloured glasses (Talking Point)
With several platforms, from traditional newspaper, radio, mobile phone to social media, almost the entire adult population of the world has access to news instantly. India is no different in the always on networked world. What has changed is, unlike say a few decades ago, almost the entire media is partisan today.
An unsatisfactory week for the BJP (Column: Political Cicus)
The week when the polling began wasn't a good one for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Syria says Israeli airstrike on military position wounds 3
Syria's state news agency says an Israeli airstrike on a military position in the country's central province of Hama has wounded three soldiers and destroyed several buildings. SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that the airstrike near the town of Masyaf occurred in the early hours of Saturday. It says Israeli warplanes fired missiles toward Syria from Lebanon's airspace and that Syrian air defenses shot down some of them. Israel has in recent months acknowledged it has been striking Iranian targets in Syria. The last such strikes that Israel announced were in late March. There is no immediate comment from Israel.
Modi biggest victim of political intolerance: Naqvi
Union minister and BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the "biggest victim of political intolerance". The remarks of the Union minister for minority affairs came amid statements issued by certain groups of people, including artistes, appealing to the voters to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. The saffron party has also rallied artistes and intellectuals in its support. Talking to reporters, Naqvi said about five years ago also, some "so-called intellectuals" had written to the US and the European Union (EU) against Modi. He further claimed that some Congress leaders had gone to Pakistan and sought help from the neighbouring country to remove Modi. Naqvi said even after Modi led the BJP to power, some activists had written to the president, saying the Constitution was in danger and claiming that there was an atmosphere of intolerance in the country under the Modi government. "Despite these ...
Venezuela's ex-spy chief arrested in Madrid on US warrant
Venezuela's longtime spy chief was arrested Friday in Madrid by Spanish police acting on a US drug warrant a few weeks after he threw his support behind opponents of President Nicolas Maduro. The arrest of retired Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal, who for more than a decade advised the late leader Hugo Chvez, was celebrated by US law enforcement officials who watched helplessly as the spymaster slipped from their grips five years ago when he was picked up in Aruba on the same New York indictment used to order Friday's arrest. But some analysts said his surprise detention might have a chilling effect on Venezuela's opposition. The opposition saw Carvajal's criticism of Venezuela's socialist government as a stimulus to prod other military figures to defect, but the country's armed forces have remained largely loyal to current Maduro. Prosecutors in New York alleged Carvajal used his high office to coordinate the smuggling of approximately 5,600 kilograms of cocaine from Venezuela to Mexico in ...
Priyanka preparing UP for 2022, Rahul the Congress for 2024 (Comment)
It is true that there are no permanent enemies or permanent friends in politics. But this Machiavellian law is clearly not applicable when a coalition of parties is in the midst of an existential battle. No one can grudge the Congress partys desire to revive, but fighting the main enemy, in this case the BJP, and at the same time firing lethal rounds at allies has created bad blood among coalition partners.
North Korean leader open to third Trump summit: KCNA
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is willing meet with US President Donald Trump a third time if Washington comes to the table with the "right attitude", state media reported Saturday. Kim also said he would wait until the end of the year "for the US to make a courageous decision" on another meeting, after his most recent summit with Trump in Vietnam broke down and both sides left without agreement. Washington has blamed the February deadlock on the North's demands for sanctions relief in return for limited nuclear disarmament, but Pyongyang said it had wanted only some of the measures eased. In a speech to Pyongyang's rubber-stamp parliament Friday, Kim said the Hanoi meeting had made him question whether Washington is "genuinely interested" in improving its relations with Pyongyang. "We are willing to give another try if the US offers to have a third summit with the right attitude and mutually acceptable terms," he said, according to a report by North Korean state media outlet ...