Page 961 - Politics
Winner Rahul went to Wayanad, I stayed in Amethi despite losing in 2014: Irani
Union Minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi chose Wayanad as his first choice even as he won Amethi parliamentary constituency in 2014 but she chose to stick to the area despite losing the polls."One who won the last Lok Sabha polls went first to Wayanad to file nomination, and one who lost remained with you," Irani said at an election rally here.Irani said that Wayanad is Gandhi's first choice while Amethi, which has been sending him to the Lok Sabha for years, had to settle for the second position."Even after winning here in 2014, he picked Wayanad as his first choice. Amethi is his second choice. Will the people of Amethi tolerate this insult," she asked the gathering.Irani slammed Gandhi for not seeking votes in the constituency after filing his nomination today."The MP of Amethi today came here to file his nomination papers but did not bother to even seek votes from the people," she said, terming it as an insult to the people of the area.She
Andhra Pradesh: Naidu stages dharna in front of EC office
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday staged a protest in front of Chief Electoral Officer Gopal Krishna Dwivedi's office here to protest the "illegal and unethical" Income Tax raids on his party's leaders."I am asking the Income Tax department who are they to do only one side raids, only one political party- Telugu Desam Party (TDP). When elections around, it is level playing field automatically they have to treat everyone equal. You have to get information then only go for raids otherwise if you do these type of things it is unjustifiable, incorrect, illegal and unethical," Naidu told reporters here after the meeting."Narendra Modi wanted to demolish democracy. That is why I launched the programme 'Save Democracy, Save India'. He has fear. From Delhi, ECI is transferring... Election Commission office has become BJP office. It cannot be tolerated," he said.Earlier in the day, Naidu wrote a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI) accusing it of handling ...
Alpesh Thakor quits Congress
Prominent OBC leader from Gujarat and MLA Alpesh Thakor quit the Congress Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena, an outfit floated by him, decided to sever its ties with the Congress. It also asked Thakor to resign from the Congress. Speculation was rife that Thakor may quit the Congress as he was unhappy with the local party leadership. Though he was keen to contest from Patan Lok Sabha seat, the Congress chose former MP Jagdish Thakor. After emerging as a prominent OBC leader in Gujarat, he had joined the Congress before the 2017 Assembly polls and won from Radhanpur seat in Patan district.
Congress uses Imran Khan's statement to allege Modi has 'allied' with Pak
The Congress on Wednesday said Pakistan has now "officially allied" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a vote for him would mean a vote for the neighbouring country. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, however, said Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's design and wish will never come true as people of the country will defeat Modi in this Lok Sabha election as they never allow forces that perpetuate and propagate hatred and division in the country. The Congress leader was reacting to Khan's statement that he believes there may be a better chance of peace talks with India and settle the Kashmir issue if Prime Minister Modi's party BJP wins the general elections. "Pakistan has now officially allied with Shri Modi ji. Pakistan Prime Minister appears to say that a 'Vote-for-Modi is a vote for Imran Khan'. It seems that Pakistan has now officially allied with Modi. Imran Khan seems to now wish for his friend Modi Ji's success," he told reporters. Senior Congress leader Ahmed ..
Dialogue only way for Pakistan and India to move forward: Qureshi
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday said that the only way for Pakistan and India to move forward is through dialogue and underlined that major international players have a responsibility towards ensuring strategic stability in the South Asian region. Addressing a National Conference on Strategic Stability in South Asia here, he said that recent events were a "reminder of the heavy responsibility" that both Pakistan and India have to bear in working towards addressing the "underlying challenges" to strategic stability in the region. He said the two countries "need to commit to a peaceful environment that is conducive to the socio-economic development and welfare of the people." Tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14. Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest JeM ...
Sonia Gandhi to file nomination from Rae Bareli on Thursday
) UPA chairperson and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi will file her nomination papers for the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat on Thursday and hold a road show here. Sonia Gandhi and her family members will take part in a 'havan' at the Congress' central office. She will undertake a 700-metre road show before filing the nomination, party spokesman LKP Singh said. Sonia Gandhi is trying to retain the seat for the fifth time. The seat, which will head for voting in the fifth-phase on May 6, will see a straight contest between Sonia Gandhi and Dinesh Pratap Singh, who had recently joined the BJP after leaving the Congress. The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have not fielded any candidate in this Congress bastion. Sonia Gandhi had won the seat in 2004, 2006 (bypolls), 2009 and 2014.
EC opposes anonymity involved in electoral bonds
The Election Commission, which opposed the anonymous electoral bonds in an affidavit in 2017, on Wednesday, told the Supreme Court that it is not against the bonds themselves, and, instead, opposes the principle of anonymity of the bond donor and redeemer.
Day before polls, Alpesh Thakore quits Congress
Congress's maverick Gujarat legislator Alpesh Thakore, who had been keeping the party on tenterhooks for some time, resigned on Wednesday, over his "side-lining" by state leaders in several key issues.
Amid uncertainty over its tie-up with AAP in Delhi, Cong leader Ahmed Patel meets Sheila Dikshit
Amid continued uncertainty over its tie-up with the Aam Aadmi Party, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel met party's Delhi unit president Sheila Dikshit at her residence on Wednesday, sources said. During the meeting, which lasted for around 40 minutes, the two leaders are believed to have discussed the possibility of a tie-up with the AAP and deliberated about probable candidates to be fielded from the national capital, ahead of the party's Central Election Committee meeting scheduled on Thursday. The meeting also assumes significance as Dikshit has been an open critic of the tie-up while Patel is known to be in favour of an alliance. Patel had earlier held talks with AAP leader Sanjay Singh to discuss the prospects of an alliance between the two parties which could hurt BJP's prospects in the Lok Sabha polls. While the AAP has been pressing for a tie-up with the Congress in Delhi and Haryana, the Congress is reluctant to have any pre-poll arrangement beyond the national capital.
All set for voting in seven Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra
All arrangements have been made for the first phase of polling Thursday in Maharashtra covering seven Lok Sabha seats, which will see a direct fight between the BJP-Shiv Sena and Congress-NCP-led alliances. Polling will begin at 7 AM amid tight security and end at 6 PM, said officials. Nitin Gadkari (Nagpur) and his Cabinet colleague Hansraj Ahir (Chandrapur) -- both from the BJP -- are among prominent candidates in the fray in the first phase that covers seven out of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the Vidarbha region in Eastern Maharashtra. The constituencies going to the polls Thursday are Nagpur, Ramtek (SC), Wardha, BhandaraGondiya, Yavatmal- Washim, GadchiroliChimur (ST) and Chandrapur. The remaining three parliamentary seats in the region - Akola, Buldhana and Amravati - will vote in the second phase on April 18. Maharashtra, which has 48 Lok Sabha seats, will vote in four phases. The BJP-Sena combine had won all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Vidarbha in 2014. A total of ...
Hope Modi will start dialogue with Pak if he gets re-elected: Mehbooba Mufti
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday said that like Pakistan premier Imran Khan she too is hoping that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will start a dialogue with Islamabad if he gets re-elected. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was of the same view when he formed an alliance with the BJP in 2015 but Modi "lost a golden opportunity by not making use of it to start a dialogue with Pakistan". "That is what Mufti thought. He knew that a BJP prime minister, who has support of Jan Sangh, the RSS and Shiv Sena, if he wants to make use of the opportunity, then he can talk to Pakistan like (former prime minister Atal Bihari) Vajpayee, she told reporters here. The PDP president was reacting to Khan's remarks that he thinks there may be a better chance of peace talks with India if BJP wins the general election due to begin on Thursday. Now, if Modi gets re-elected, then like Imran Khan, we too hope that he starts a dialogue with Pakistan and ...
Polls in 91 LS seats Thursday; Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha to also see assembly polls
Ninety-one Lok Sabha constituencies spread across 18 states and two UTs, including all in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, will go to polls on Thursday in the first-phase, with Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju and VK Singh among several Union ministers in the fray. In Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha, assembly polls to 175, 32 and 28 seats, respectively, will be held simultaneously in the first phase. Voting for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases: April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19. Counting will be done on May 23. In Andhra Pradesh, strong anti-incumbency, caste and corruption are the major factors that could determine the outcome of the elections to Lok Sabha and the state assembly as over 3.93 crore voters get to exercise their franchise. This is the first general election in the state after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. Polling for all 25 Lok Sabha and 175 assembly seats will be held simultaneously. There are 2,118 candidates for ..
Kejriwal seeks probe into Pakistan's role in polls
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday raised questions over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and sought a probe into the role of Pakistan in helping the party for winning the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
All set for single-phase polling in Telugu states
Nearly seven crore voters in the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections to 42 Lok Sabha constituencies on Thursday.
'Frightened' Rahul has fled Amethi seat: Yogi Adityanath
As Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination from Amethi Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath repeated the BJP charge that by picking a second seat to contest the Lok Sabha polls the Congress president had fled from the constituency regarded as his family's home turf. "Rahul Gandhi is very frightened. For the past four generations, the Lok Sabha seat of Amethi has been represented by his family members. He too has been the MP from Amethi. "Since he has not done anything as per the wishes of Amethi, he is forced to flee from Amethi," Adityanath told PTI. "Despite losing the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi, Union minister Smriti Irani has visited the place more frequently than Rahul Gandhi. The feelings of the people of the Amethi are with her," he added. On Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest also from the Wayanad Lok sabha seat in Kerala, Adityanath said he has the right to contest from any Lok Sabha seat. But the "green flags of the Muslim League" fluttering all ...
Punjab CM urges CEC to review order to relieve IG probing Bagari firing incident
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) seeking review of its order relieving IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh as a member of the SIT probing Bagari firing incident.In his letter to CEC Sunil Arora, the Chief Minister said the SIT, comprising Kunwar Vijay Pratap was carrying out its legal mandate of a fair and transparent investigation, which was an ongoing statutory process under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and was not affected by the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).Singh argued the EC order of April 5, transferring the IG out of the SIT, "constituted interference in the ongoing investigation as also an implied conflict with the findings of the judgment of the High Court dated 25 January which had rejected the political allegations against the SIT's composition and manner of investigation."Asserting that there was nothing untoward or unusual about an investigating agency or team communicating with the press, the ...
ACP to probe I-T dept's complaint against Karnataka CM, others
A day after the I-T department sought legal action against Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and some of his cabinet colleagues for allegedly obstructing tax officers from discharging duties, an ACP has been assigned to probe the matter based on the complaint, police said Wednesday. Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Goa-Karnataka region) B R Balakrishnan had written to the state chief electoral officer, seeking action against the chief minister, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara and others for "intimidating" I-T officers and obstructing them from discharging duties during the raids last month. Police said the assistant commissioner of police (ACP) of Banasawadi sub-division has been assigned to probe the matter based on the complaint by Balakrishnan. Kumaraswamy, former chief minister Siddaramaiah and host of other state ministers along with their supporters had staged a demonstration near the I-T office on March 28. They had accused the Centre of using central ...
Rahul challenges Modi to a debate on corruption
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched a stinging attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over alleged irregularities in the Rafale deal and public sector banks, and challenged him to a debate on the issue of corruption. He said he will ask Modi three questions on the Rafale deal and industrialist Anil Ambani, and the prime minister will not be able to show his face to people. Referring to the banking sector scam, Gandhi claimed that Modi has waived loans worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore taken by 15 super-rich people. "The chowkidar has handed over keys of the banks to thieves. I promise to return these keys to the people of this country," Gandhi said at an election rally here. The Congress' proposed minimum income guarantee NAYA will be like a surgical strike on poverty, he claimed while addressing an election rally at Katihar. "We also propose to bring a separate budget for the farmers," Gandhi said.
Party of exiled former Maldives leader wins historic victory
The party of exiled former Maldives president Mohamad Nasheed has won the country's first outright majority in parliament in its democratic history, officials results showed Wednesday. The final count released by the Election Commission shows Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) won 65 of the 87 seats in parliament in elections held Saturday -- a more than two-thirds majority. His party will rule without needed to form a coalition, an unprecedented election outcome for the Indian Ocean archipelago nation. The MDP's closest rivals, the Jamhooree Party and Progressive Party of the Maldives, both won five seats. Two minor parties and independents secured 12 seats among them. Nasheed -- who until five months ago was still in exile -- has vowed to use his party's thumping mandate to usher in a new era of stability and democracy in the Maldives. The holiday destination popular with honeymooners is only just emerging from years of strongman rule, political crises and corruption ...
Alpesh Thakore quits Congress
Maverick Congress legislator Alpesh Thakore, who had been keeping party leaders on tenterhooks for some time, resigned on Wednesday.