Page 97 - Politics
Modi attacks Congress, seeks political consensus for new India
Outlining his government's commitment to make the country strong, prosperous and inclusive, Modi in his reply in the Lok Sabha to the motion of thanks to the President's Address to the joint sitting of the two houses of parliament, called upon all opposition parties to "rise above political boundaries to create a new and modern India".He cited former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to emphasise on duties and not merely rights and said: "there was need of a paradigm shift of moving from rights to duties". He said it was also the duty of public representatives to create "public awareness" on the issue.He invoked the Emergency of 1975 and said people had returned his government to power after testing it for the past five years.Modi sought to distinguish the work culture of BJP from other parties, saying that the party stays away from negativity and believes in "drawing a bigger line" rather than erasing the line of its rivals.Modi rejected Congress allegations that it was targeting Sonia
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo arrives in India
United States Secretary of States, Michael Pompeo, arrived in India late on Tuesday for his first high-level engagement with PM Modi-led NDA regime after Lok Sabha elections.Pompeo will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday when issues relating to oil imports from Iran and the S-400 missile deal with Russia are expected to come up.The three-day visit of Pompeo comes amidst rising tensions between the US and Iran over fresh sanctions imposed on Tehran, an issue which is likely to come up for discussion between the two sides on Wednesday.Following fresh US sanctions, Indian oil companies are also facing a tough time and many have reportedly stopped importing oil from Iran. Government sources, however, say that India will take any decision on the issue keeping its energy security and national interest in mind.Diplomatic sources said there is no structured agenda and New Delhi is expected to urge for de-escalation of tensions between Washington and Tehran. They said ...
Congress Parliamentary Party meeting in Parliament tomorrow
The Congress Parliamentary Party meeting is scheduled to be held on Wednesday in the Parliament here.Chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party Sonia Gandhi had on June 18 chaired a meeting of her party's Parliamentary strategy group to finalise the approach to be followed in the ongoing Session.Rahul Gandhi was present at the meeting which was held at his mother's residence.Senior Congress leaders AK Antony, Jairam Ramesh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, P Chidambaram, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, and K Suresh were also in attendance.In the meeting, leaders discussed a common agenda to ensure better floor coordination among the Opposition parties."Ghulam Nabi Azad briefed everyone about the discussions that took place in the all-party meeting, we also discussed many key issues, we will also hold meetings with the Opposition parties. No discussion on Leader of Opposition took place, I have not been informed anything about it," Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told media after the meeting.
BJP delegation submits report to Amit Shah after reviewing situation in violent-hit Bhatpara
A BJP delegation on Tuesday submitted its report to party's national president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the alleged killing of its workers and violence in Bhatpara in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal.The delegation was led by BJP Member of Parliament (MP) SS Ahluwalia and comprised of Satya Pal Singh and Vishnu Dayal Ram.A three-member delegation led by Ahluwalia on June 22 arrived in Bhatpara in the wake of violent clashes between the BJP and TMC in the state.Amid tight security, the three BJP leaders did a recee of the area, amid chants of 'Jai Shri Ram.'This came after two people were killed and several others were injured on June 20 after clashes broke out between two groups suspected to be affiliated to ruling TMC and the BJP in Bhatpara, which comes under the Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency.During the violence, the two groups hurled crude bombs at each other and gunshots were also fired. In response, police resorted to firing teargas shells to bring the ..
Outfits stage protest, oppose talks between Hurriyat Conference and Pakistan
Members of two local outfits on Tuesday staged separate demonstrations here to oppose any talks between the Hurriyat Conference and Pakistan. The Jammu West Assembly Movement (JWAM) and the Shiv Sena Dogra Front (SSDF) staged the demonstrations a day before Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to Kashmir ahead of the commencement of the Amarnath Yatra. "We want to make it clear to the Centre that there should be no dialogue with Pakistan and Hurriyat leaders. We are against any such dialogue and if such a thing happens we will start an agitation in Jammu," JWAM president Sunil Dimple told reporters. SSDF activists led by their chairman Ahok Gupta also held a protest in the city to oppose any type of dialogue. "Hurriyat leaders are working at the behest of Pakistan and should be arrested and put in Tihar jail. There should be no dialogue with them," Gupta said. Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief spokesperson Sunil Sethi termed the offer of dialogue by Hurriyat as a "farce" and said the fight
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives in India
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived here on Tuesday to hold talks with the top Indian leadership -- the first high-level visit from any country following the Lok Sabha polls. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pompeo will hold talks on Wednesday with India's purchase of S-400 missile defence systems from Russia, terrorism, H1B visas, trade and the situation arising out of US sanctions on buying oil from Iran likely to be on the table, along with a host of other issues. Pompeo's visit comes ahead of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, which will be held in Osaka, Japan from June 28-29. Pompeo will also have a working lunch with Jaishankar and call on Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday. He will meet Indian and US business leaders in a roundtable format and deliver a policy speech at the India International Centre here.
Burdwan blast case: NIA arrests prime accused Habibur Rehman from Bengaluru
National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested Habibur Rehman Sheikh, a prime accused in the 2014 Burdwan blast case, from Dodabalpur area in Bengaluru.NIA had earlier announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh against him.Sheikh was earlier charge-sheeted on March 30, 2015, in this case for his direct involvement in the conspiracy of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) to wage war against Government of India and Bangladesh, read a statement from the investigative agency.Sheikh was a close associate of senior JMB leader Jahidul Islam. He was also associated with other JMB leaders like Rahamatullah and Moulana Yusuf. He was an active member of JMB, Bolpur Module in West Bengal. He had attended a number of training camps conducted by JMB.A court has granted five days transit remand for producing him before the Special NIA Court, Kolkata.
Iran oil imports, Russia missile deal on agenda during Pompeo-Jaishankar talks
In the first high-level engagement between India and the US after the NDA's return to power for the second term, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday when issues relating to oil imports from Iran and the S-400 missile deal with Russia are expected to come up.The three-day visit of Pompeo comes amidst rising tensions between the US and Iran over fresh sanctions imposed on Tehran, an issue which will be discussed between the two sides on Wednesday.Following fresh US sanctions, Indian oil companies are also facing a tough time and many have reportedly stopped importing oil from Iran. Government sources, however, say that India will take any decision on the issue keeping its energy security and national interest in mind.Diplomatic sources said there is no structured agenda and New Delhi is expected to urge for de-escalation of tensions between Washington and Tehran. They said there could be a discussion on the situation in the ...
TMC leader returns Rs 2.25 lakh taken as cut money
Amid protests over demand for return of cut money, a local leader of the Trinamool Congress in Birbhum district Tuesday returned around Rs 2.25 lakh to over 100 beneficiaries of government schemes from whom he had taken as commission. Trilochan Mukhopadhyay, a TMC booth president on the outskirts of district headquarter town Suri, returned the amount to 141 people, from whom he had taken for providing them jobs under the MGNREGA scheme. "I have apologised to the people and returned the money. I promise I won't do it again," Mukhopadhyay said. The development came two days after local people staged demonstration outside his house demanding immediate return of "cut money" he has taken in the past few years. A meeting of gram panchayat was called and he was forced to return the money. Each of the 141 people got around Rs 1,600. Local people claimed that a total of around Rs 2.41 lakh was deposited in the accounts of the beneficiaries as wages for the construction of a drain and ...
Dissident Telangana Cong MLA calls party 'sinking ship', likely to join BJP
Slapped with a notice for critical remarks against party leadership, Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy on Tuesday described the party as "a sinking ship" and indicated he would join the BJP in coming days. The MLA told reporters here that he had already met senior BJP leaders, including its general secretary Ram Madhav, and held discussions. "Changing party in the coming days is one hundred percent confirmed. I am holding discussions with people on how and when I should change the party so that it would be right legally and technically," he said. His move comes close on the heels of two third of the 18 Congress MLAs merging with the ruling TRS, dealing a blow to the national party. Reddy, who represents Munugode assembly constituency, had earlier this month blamed AICC incharge of party affairs in Telangana R C Khuntia and state Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy for the party's poor showing in the December 2018 assembly elections. He had then hinted at joining the BJP. The
Gap between 'rhetoric and reality' increased in last 5 years: Tharoor
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that the latter should look at the ground reality as the gap between 'rhetoric and reality' has increased in the past five years."The important thing is when Prime Minister says Congress was too busy in looking at the sky than the ground reality. I would say that the truth is opposite. We all know about the ground realities in the past five years. Unemployment is 45 years high, farmers attempting suicide because agriculture is in distress. These are the problem we are facing. If you look at the ground reality the gap between rhetoric and reality is high," Tharoor said while speaking to ANI after Modi's address in the Lok Sabha.Tharoor made the statement in response to Modi's remarks in the Lok Sabha where he accused Congress of not connecting with the grassroots."You are riding high. I congratulate you. You can't see properly from a height, people on the ground look small. We do not ...
Opposition politicising Seraikela lynching: BJP
The BJP on Tuesday accused the Congress and other Opposition parties of politicising the lynching of a youth in Jharkhand's Seraikela Kharsawan district and claimed that the state government had "zero tolerance" on such incidents. "The Raghubar Das government has zero tolerance on such incidents. No sooner had the incident came to light, the (district) superintendent of police suspended the two police personnel on the direction of the government," Bharatiya Janata Party state spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo said in a statement. Tabrez Ansari was tied to a pole and thrashed with sticks by a mob at Dhatkidih village last Wednesday on the suspicion of theft. The newly-married youth was purportedly seen in a video being forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram" and "Jai Hanuman" slogans. The 24-year-old succumbed to his injuries on Saturday, police had said. Deo said 11 people had already been arrested in connection with the case and a special investigation team was probing the incident, adding that ...
Tamil Nadu govt 'most corrupt', AIADMK a BJP slave: DMK
The DMK on Tuesday launched a blistering attack in the Lok Sabha on the Tamil Nadu government, calling it the "most corrupt" and the state's ruling party AIADMK a "slave" of the BJP. Speaking during a debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, DMK's Dayanidhi Maran asked the BJP to "introspect" as to why people of Tamil Nadu rejected it during the recent Lok Sabha polls and said the saffron party's strength lies in "opposition's weakness". His sharp condemnation of the AIADMK, which has only one member in the House, drew protests from BJP members, who quoted rules to claim that Maran cannot use "offensive" words against a state government or raise such an issue while speaking on the President's address. When Maran retorted saying that it is the duty of master to take care of slaves, a jibe at the BJP's alliance with the AIADMK, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal objected to his remarks. The DMK member accused the BJP of misusing
PM resorted to 'old evading tactics' to hoodwink common people: Cong
The Congress on Tuesday panned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, alleging that he resorted to "old evading tactics" to hoodwink the common people as if he was still in election mode and failed to address the real issues. Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claimed that his party scored a "great victory" as the Prime Minister, who was previously "reluctant" to quote any Congress leader, was "compelled" to repeat Jawaharlal Nehru's words at the fag end of his speech. "Prime Minister in his own reply has disappointed the people of our country by not taking up issues concerning the people, right from agriculture to industry to unemployment and last but not the least Bihar's encephalitis situation where hundreds of children have lost their lives," Chowdhury told reporters. "He resorted to old evading tactics to hoodwink the common people, as if he was still in election mode. We expected that he would rise above ...
RS election: Ahmed Patel's cross-examination completed
The cross-examination of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel over a petition filed by BJP leader Balvantsinh Rajput challenging his election to the Rajya Sabha ended before the Gujarat High Court Tuesday. Patel was cross-examined for four days before Justice Bela Trivedi. On Tuesday, Rajput's lawyer questioned Patel about a press conference he had held on August 7, 2017, a day before the election. When asked if he recalled the conference, the Congress leader said he did address it but could not say when it was held. On Wednesday, the court will deal with two applications filed by Patel. One of the applications claims that Rajput's signature on the petition was forged and should be examined by a forensic science laboratory. The other plea seeks removal of BJP leaders Amit Shah and Smriti Irani from respondents' list, in view of their election to the Lok Sabha. In 2017, Shah, Irani and Patel were elected to the Upper House of Parliament from Gujarat. Patel had told the high court during .
India will care for the poor and have best infra: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday asked Parliamentarians to cut across party lines to move together to fulfil the dream of a strong, developed and inclusive India, which will ensure welfare of the poor and also have modern infrastructure. Replying to Motion of Thanks on President's Address, Modi asked for a collective endeavour from all MPs to make India a five trillion dollar economy. Stating that he thinks beyond winning and losing elections, Modi asked all MPs "to move together to fulfil the dream of a strong, safe, developed and inclusive nation." "I strive for the welfare of the countrymen. For me, what is satisfying is the opportunity to serve 130 crore Indians and do work that has made a positive difference in the lives of our citizens," he said Underlining the importance of promoting tourism and infrastructure, Modi said it augurs well for economic prosperity and also cited the importance of Make in India and skill development. "There is so much about India ...
Cong protests against BJP member's remark against Nehru, Rajiv
Rajya Sabha witnessed strong protests by Congress Members on Tuesday after a BJP member targeted former prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi over treatment meted out to B R Ambedkar and the anti- Sikh riots. Participating in the discussion on Motion of thanks to the President's addres, G V L Narasimha Rao (BJP) alleged that Nehru "campaigned" against Ambedkar to ensure his defeat in Lok Sabha elections. He also alleged that Rajiv Gandhi had justified anti-Sikh riots following the assasination of Indira Gandhi. "It was Jawahar Lal Nehru, who aggressively campaigned against Dr B R Ambedkar and (got him) defeated in 1952 and 1954. In the two elections he was defeated and Congress did not allow him to win the election and he died an unhappy man," said Rao On Rajiv Gandhi, the BJP member said the late Prime Minister "justified the killings of thousand sikhs on the street of Delhi (by saying) When a big tree fall, then earth shakes. Truth is hurtful". After his ..
Oppn alleges corruption in minister's co-op society, protests
The Maharashtra Legislative Council Tuesday witnessed sloganeering and ruckus after opposition members protested Minister of State for Dairy Development Arjun Khotkar's attempt to defend a cooperative society affiliated to Cooperation Minister Subhash Deshmukh from corruption allegations. Leader of Opposition and senior NCP leader Dhananjay Munde had alleged corruption in the Lokmangal Multi-state Cooperative Society Limited controlled by Deshmukh. Munde alleged that Deshmukh's son had floated a separate unit called Lokmangal Products Society which got a grant of Rs 24 crore from the state government for a project. Munde claimed Lokmangal Products then transferred the project to Lokmangal Multi-State Cooperative Society Limited controlled by Deshmukh. Without naming Deshmukh, Munde said, "The government is trying to protect a minister in the state cabinet who is connected to the society." Replying to questions on the issue, Khotkar said, "An inquiry has been ordered and .
BSP demands electoral reforms, ballot paper
The Election Commission came under sharp criticsm from the BSP and TMC in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, with its members demanding electoral reforms and future elections on ballot paper and not EVMs. The BJP, however, countered those opposing the EC saying raising questions on the poll body was like pointing fingers at the Constitution. BSP member Satish Chandra Misra accused the EC of allying with the NDA and said the ruling dispensation in the President's speech has rightly thanked the EC. He alleged that the EC not only supported the BJP, but went to the extent of "merging itself" with the party by the time elections were over. "It is being said that earlier EC was extending support (to BJP) from outside, but by the time elections were held, it merged with the BJP. Earlier, we thought we are fighting the BJP, media, CBI and ED together, now EC has also been included in the list. But, people will question you," he said while participating in the debate. TMC member Derek ...
Facebook, Google favoured BJP in election campaign, alleges Derek O'Brien
TMC leader Derek O'Brien Tuesday attacked social media firm Facebook for allegedly running election campaign for the Bharatiya Janta Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He also blamed Google and Youtube along with Facebook for carrying 80 per cent advertisements of the BJP only. Participating in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the Rajya Sabha, All India Trinamool Congress leader Derek said, "The NDA also had a hidden partner. Non-disclosed alliance....Facebook senior management in India is defacto campaign managers for BJP. Facebook Delhi office is virtually extended IT cell. I am saying this with all responsibility." Talking about role of media in general elections, he said, "Facebook censored anti-BJP news and put other parties in jeopardy." Questioning the role of social media, he said, "The Facebook algorithm censors anti-BJP content and then you come to Whatsapp owned by Facebook. I have one lovely quote on Whatsapp. September 2018,