Page 939 - Politics
Hyderabad voters indifferent as polling slumps below 40%
Apathy of voters marked the polling for Lok Sabha constituencies in Hyderabad as the state capital recorded less than 40 per cent polling.
Rafale: Congress to order probe 'after coming to power on May 23'
The Congress on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led Central government of "misleading" the Supreme Court over Rafale fighter jets deal and said "after the party returns to power on May 23", it will order a JPC probe into it.
BJP undermining power, position of constitutional bodies: Cong
Former Himachal Pradesh Congress president Sukhvinder Singh Sukhoo Thursday accused the BJP of undermining the power and position of all constitutional bodies but said his party would not allow it to win the election by "misusing" the official machinery. Talking to reporters, he alleged that the BJP was not obeying the directions/instructions of the Election Commission due to which the elections would not be fair. He said that despite instructions from the Election Commission, the BJP leaders are using the name of Army and its surgical strikes in their speeches. He said it was shocking that the Supreme Court had to issue directions for free and fair elections in the country when the BJP-led government was not enforcing the poll code in letter and spirit. The Supreme Court on April 8 issued a notice to the Election Commission on a PIL seeking direction to the poll body to take "strict action" against political parties if their spokespersons make remarks based on castes and religions in
BJP-led NDMC demolishes newly-built mohalla clinic; AAP govt fumes
A "newly-built" mohalla clinic of the AAP government in Karol Bagh was allegedly demolished by the BJP-led NDMC on Thursday, prompting a sharp reaction from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The action by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) comes ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi on May 12. North Delhi Mayor Adesh Gupta claimed that the action was taken as the clinic at Har Dayal Singh Road in Karol Bagh area was being set-up "without any NOC (no-objection certificate)". Expressing his displeasure, Kejriwal tweeted, "People shud remember this when they go out to vote in Delhi. Del govt constructed this mohalla clinic. BJP led MCD demolished it today (sic)." He also shared the tweet of a senior government official who had also posted pictures of the damaged clinic. "Shamefully criminal & blatantly illegal : North MCD demolishes a newly constructed Mohalla Clinic at Har Dayal Singh Road, Karol Bagh on a PWD Road. North MCD had no jurisdiction, no notice given & .
139 FIRs, DD entries against political parties, others for poll code violation: Delhi CEO
Over 135 FIRs and daily diary entries were filed against political parties and others here for violation of the model code of conduct, the CEO said Thursday. The statistics surveillance team of Delhi's chief electoral office constituted to keep an eye on the expenses of political parties, has seized Rs 2.38 crore in cash and also seized 266.31 kg of narcotics and drugs. "A total of 139 FIRs or DD (daily diary) entries have been lodged till date in connection with the violation of the model code of conduct," the office of the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said in a statement. "Out of these, 15 are against the Aam Aadmi Party (eight FIRs and seven DD entries), 19 against the Bhartiya Janata Party (14 FIRs and five DD entries), four against the Congress (all DD entries), one against the Bahujan Samaj Party (one DD entry), Samajwadi Party (one DD entry), and 99 against others or non-political (entities)," it said. The office of the Delhi CEO said over 2.93 lakh posters, banners and .
Rahul not interested in Amethi, Smriti will ensure 'all-round' development: Adityanath
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday alleged Congress president Rahul Gandhi had "no time" for his parliamentary constituency Amethi but Union minister Smriti Irani, if elected from the seat, will ensure "all-round" development of the area. Irani has pitted herself against the Congress chief who has won thrice from the seat. She filed her nomination on Thursday after a roadshow, taking the same route Gandhi had taken on Wednesday when he submitted his papers to election officials. Adityanath accompanied Irani during the show of strength in Amethi, a Gandhi family pocket borough. "Rahul Gandhi does not have time for Amethi. I had sought proposals for development from him a number of times, but he did not give. Whenever Smriti Irani used to meet me, she talked about the development of Amethi and facilities being given to its people," the chief minister said. "I am confident that if 'behen' (sister) Smriti Irani is elected as Lok Sabha MP from here, there will be ...
Govt effort to curb black money in polls futile if identity of donors not known, says SC
If the identity of the purchasers of electoral bonds meant for transparent political funding is not known, then the efforts of the government to curtail black money in elections would be "futile", the Supreme Court said Thursday. The top court reserved verdict on the plea of an NGO which has challenged the validity of the scheme and has sought that either the issuance of electoral bonds be stayed or the names of donors be made public to ensure transparency in the poll process. The Centre vehemently supported the scheme saying that the purpose behind it is to eliminate the use of black money in elections and asked the court not to interfere with it at this stage and examine the whether it has worked or not only after the elections. "So far as the electoral bond scheme is concerned, it is the matter of policy decision of the government and no government can be faulted for taking policy decision," it told the bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and ...
SAD lodges complaint against Punjab CM's media advisor Raveen Thukral
The SAD filed a complaint with the EC Thursday against Raveen Thukral, claiming that he, as Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's media advisor, had been posting official press releases of the Congress on social media. However, Thukral denied the Shiromani Akali Dal's charge and said he had resigned from his post on April 7 and the same had been accepted. He further said he was handling election campaign of the chief minister in his personal capacity. In a complaint filed with the Election Commission, Charanjit Singh Brar, political secretary to SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, claimed that Thukral had violated the model code of conduct by posting Congress party's official press releases on social media. "Since Raveen Thukral was a government servant, he could not disseminate political news and press releases on his Facebook page as was being done by him," Brar said. The SAD leader alleged that Thukral was also monitoring and supervising the distribution of the press releases of the ..
BJD will play a key role in govt formation at Centre: Patnaik
Ruling BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday appealed to the people of the state to strengthen the regional party as he claimed that the BJD will play a major role in government formation at the Centre after the Lok Sabha election. "No national party will get majority to form government at the Centre after elections. Therefore, your BJD will have a major role in government formation at the Centre," Patnaik said while addressing three back-to-back election meetings in Kandhamal, Boudh and Sonepur districts. Patnaik said "BJP central leaders did not visit Odisha during calamities but now during the election time, they are shedding crocodile tears for the state." The BJD supremo lambasted the BJP-led NDA government accusing it of "apathy" towards Odisha. The chief minister said Odisha had informed the BJP led Central government about the Chhattisgarh government blocking Mahanadi water and requested its early intervention. "However, no action was taken by .
72.16 % polling in Jammu and over 35 % in Baramulla in J-K.
In the first phase of polling in Jammu and Kashmir, 72.16 per cent of polling took place for the Jammu parliamentary constituency while over 35 per cent polling was witnessed for the Baramulla parliamentary constituency.The Jammu parliamentary constituency, which covers four districts, Samba witnessed the highest poll percentage (over 73 per cent) followed by Jammu, Poonch and Rajouri respectively. In the last general elections, the poll percentage for the Jammu Lok Sabha seat was 69.17 per cent.For the Baramulla constituency the poll percentage recorded at 35.01 per cent which is less than that recorded in last Lok Sabha polls when 38.5 per cent votes were polled in Baramulla Lok Sabha seat.In the constituency, the highest poll percentage was recorded in Kupwara district at over 47 per cent, followed by Bandipora (over 30 per cent) and Baramulla (over 22 per cent).Army troops who are deployed in Siachen and along the LoC cast their vote through ballot papers.Election Commission had ..
Gautam Gambhir slams Mehbooba Mufti for her alleged anti-national remarks
BJP leader and former international cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Thursday slammed the People's Democratic Party (PDP) president and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for her alleged anti-national remarks."Mehbooba Mufti blocked me on Twitter but how will she block 125 crore patriots. Her dream to break India will not be successful," Gambhir said while talking to reporters after addressing an election rally here.He was present in Udhampur to campaign for BJP candidate and Minister of State in the PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh.Earlier while addressing a rally here, Gambhir had said, "From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, the country is one and we will not allow any power to break our country."The cricketer-turned-politician who recently joined the BJP also slammed the National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah for his comments to have separate Prime Minister and President in the state of Jammu and Kashmir."Those who want separate Prime Minister do not want the development of our .
Twitter lights up with poll day tweets; 1.2 mn tweets recorded on April 11
Conversations and debates on elections filled Twitter on Thursday with the social media platform recording over 1.2 million tweets related to the Lok Sabha elections on a single day on 11 April, as the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections ended with people casting their ballot for representatives in 91 parliamentary seats in 20 states.A total of 45.6 million tweets related to Lok Sabha elections were recorded from March 11, the day elections were announced uptill April 11, the microblogging platform said on Thursday quoting its internal statistics.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as the most mentioned figure during the first phase of Lok Sabha polls conversation on its platform. However, top election conversations was reportedly on the topic "national security" followed by "religion", "jobs", "agriculture" and "Taxes and Trade" respectively.Other top mentioned leaders on the social media platform were BJP president Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, ...
Satya Pal Malik is BJP's Governor, not people of J-K: Farooq Abdullah
National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah on Thursday slammed Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik, accusing him of working for the BJP, and not for the people of the state."The Governor sitting in Jammu and Kashmir is BJP's Governor and not the people of the state... He does not even know when an order from Delhi comes that highway should be closed for two days every week... They should keep in mind that we are not their slaves. If they want to force slavery on us, then they should stay ready, whatever will happen here even we won't be able to control it," Abdullah said at an event here.According to the order passed by Governor Satya Pal Malik, a stringent restriction has been put on the movement of civilian traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar highway for two days in a week for better and smooth movement of military convoys.The restrictions were imposed after a CRPF convoy was attacked by a suicide car bomber on the National Highway in Pulwama district, killing 40 personnel on .
Rafale: Congress to order probe 'after returning to power on May 23'
The Congress on Thursday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led Central government for misleading the Supreme Court over Rafale fighter jets deal and said "after the party returns on May 23, 2019," they will order a JPC probe into the deal.
Pakistan seeks from India more info in Pulwama case
Pakistan has handed over more questions to the India High Commissioner on the Pulwama attack dossier, Foreign Ministry Affairs spokesman Mohammad Faisal said on Thursday. "We hope India will answer these questions soon," Faisal told reporters here.
Jamia gets its first woman vice-chancellor
Professor Najma Akhtar was Thursday appointed as the first woman vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, making her the first woman to hold the charge. In exercise of powers conferred under Statutes of Jamia Millia Islamia Act, 1988, the President of India, in his capacity as the Visitor of the JMI, has been pleased to appoint Prof Najma Akhtar, NIEPA, New Delhi as the vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, for a period of five years, an official order said. The other persons, who were shortlisted by the government for the post were S M Ishtiaque of IIT-Delhi and Furqan Qamar, currently the secretary-general of Association of Universities. Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla is the chancellor of the varsity. The varsity had been functioning without a VC after Talat Ahmad resigned from the post last year to join as the head of Kashmir University.
Sonia Gandhi files nomination, aims for fifth win from Rae Bareli
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi Thursday filed her nomination from Rae Bareli with her son and Congress president Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Vadra Gandhi by her side. After a brief road show, the Congress leader went to the collectorate to file her papers with a large number of Congress supporters carrying party flags and banners cheering her all along the route. Before starting the road show, she offered puja' at the Congress office where her son-in-law Robert Vadra and grandson Rehan were also present. The former Congress president is aiming for a fifth victory from the parliamentary constituency, in a straight contest against Dinesh Pratap Singh, who recently joined the BJP after quitting her party. Sonia Gandhi reminded reporters about the 2004 parliamentary elections, when most observers falsely predicted that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA will return to power. Along the road show route, enthusiastic Congress workers from all assembly segments under the Amethi Lok Sabha ..
Maha: Cong alleges faulty EVMs, intimidation by BJP workers
The Congress said Thursday that it has submitted 50 complaints to the Election Commission about glitches in Electronic Voting Machines and hooliganism by BJP workers at booths across seven Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. It also made over 100 calls to EC and police authorities to seek action, it said. Majority of complaints came from Nagpur, Chandrapur and Yavatmal-Washim, the party said in a statement. "EVMs slowed down at certain booths, while elsewhere there wasn't enough light inside booths. There were complaints about hooliganism by BJP workers," the Congress said. A letter was also sent to the state's chief electoral officer about a faulty EVM at a booth in Nagpur constituency. Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari is pitted against Congress' Nana Patole in Nagpur. "You are requested to take cognisance of the matter and direct the returning officer to look into the matter immediately and take corrective steps," state Congress legal cell's vice chairman .
Campaign for BJP or quit, Himachal CM tells minister
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday took on former Telecom Minister Sukh Ram of the Congress by saying "for him family is supreme" and also told Power Minister Anil Sharma, son of Sukh Ram, being a BJP member "it's his duty and responsibility to work for the party".
Soldiers deployed at Siachen, along LoC cast votes as service voters
Braving severe weather conditions and undeterred by ceasefire violations, soldiers deployed at the Siachen Glacier and along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir Thursday cast their votes as service voters, a defence spokesperson said here. "The Indian Army troops deployed at the Siachen Glacier and along the LoC in J-K fulfilled their duty of being responsible citizens by participating in the democratic process," he said. The spokesperson said in a first-of-its-kind initiatives, the Election Commission provided the facility to the troops deployed in far-flung, remote and inhospitable terrain to download their ballot papers online, vote and forward the ballot papers to their respective electoral returning officers through post. The spokesperson said the soldiers cast their votes for the parliamentary elections, exhibiting the strength of the democratic process.