Page 980 - Politics
Rajnath rejects charge of political vendetta in I-T, ED raids
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday rejected allegations of political vendetta behind recent Income Tax department and Enforcement Directorate raids on opposition leaders and said that the agencies which are autonomous, were acting on their own inputs.In a wide-ranging interview to ANI, he scoffed at Congress President Rahul Gandhi for calling the BJP's manifesto the 'voice of an isolated man' and claimed that India in its history had never seen such a participation in framing of a poll document.With days to go for the start of the Lok Sabha polls, the home minister took questions on a range of issues including politics, Jammu and Kashmir and Balakot air strikes.Asked about I-T and ED raids, Singh said, "The agencies which are conducting raids, are autonomous bodies. The Model Code of Conduct does not apply to them. They are acting on their inputs. How can we stop them? It is unfair to hold the government responsible for the raids. This is an ongoing process. Agencies act on their .
BJP selling merchandise for votes as it failed to deliver on poll promises: TMC
The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday alleged that the BJP was resorting to selling merchandise like pens and T-shirts for votes as the promises made by them to the people in the last elections have not fulfilled. TMC spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O' Brien listed 15 such promises made by the BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls campaign and said how they were all "lies and never delivered to the people". "Fifteen different promises made by the BJP in 2014 have not been delivered. We are showing the people clearly that since they haven't been able to do what they promised in 2014 till 2019, they are now seeking votes by selling T-shirts and pens," O' Brien told reporters, referring to the NaMo merchandise being sold across the country, including at the party-run store at its national headquarter in the capital. The TMC leader also said the party has launched the "Jumla metre" just so that people can go on the site and do a fact check on the speeches of BJP leaders, especially that ..
Rajinikanth welcomes BJP's poll promise of interlinking rivers
Superstar Rajinikanth Tuesday welcomed the BJP's poll promise of implementing river inter-linking and said the initiative would address the issue of poverty as it would lead to upliftment of farmers and employment for crores of people. Speaking to reporters here, he made it clear there was no change in his stand of not supporting any political party in the coming Lok Sabha elections bypolls to Tamil Nadu assembly. Interlinking of rivers is among the promises made in the BJP's manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls released Monday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I've been pushing for inter-linking (of rivers). BJP has said it would form a commission for interlinking of rivers. It's welcome," he said. Noting that interlinking of rivers was a dream of former prime minister A B Vajpayee, the superstar recalled he had taken up the issue with the former when he met him and suggested that it be christened "Bhagiratham Yojana." Bhagiratham means making the impossible possible.
US 'leader of world terrorism', says Rouhani
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday called the US "the leader of world terrorism" after Washington designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a "foreign terrorist organisation".
EC to hold bypoll to four constituencies in TN on May 19
The Election Commission Tuesday announced bypolls to four assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu on May 19 which is the last phase of polling in the Lok Sabha election. The four vacant constituencies are -- Sulur, Aravakurichi, Thirupparankundram and Ottapidaram (SC) With this, bypolls are being held to 22 seats, including 16 that had fallen vacant following the disqualification of ruling AIADMK MLAs loyal to TTV Dhinakaran. The bypolls to 18 other seats are being held on April 18. In a release, the Election Commission said the date was decided after taking in to consideration various factors like festivals, electoral rolls, weather conditions. The date of issue of gazette notification for the four constituencies would be on April 22 and the last date for filing of nominations April 29. Scrutiny of nominations would be on April 30 and last date of withdrawal May 2. The Sulur seat fell vacant in March following the death of AIADMK MLA R Kanakaraj who died following cardiac
Contesting farmers in Nizamabad hold joint rally
Over 175 farmers, who are contesting the election in Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency of Telangana, on Tuesday held a joint election rally, calling upon the farming community to reject the parties not accepting their long-pending demands.
High voltage campaigning for first phase election ends
Curtains were drawn on the high voltage electioneering on Tuesday evening for Odisha's four Lok Sabha and 28 Assembly seats, including several naxal-hit areas, where polling is slated to be held in the first phase on April 11. A galaxy of high profile leaders of all major political parties including BJP, Congress and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) undertook whirlwind tours of the constituencies, mostly in south Odisha, to bolster the prospects of their candidates at the hustings. Spearheading the campaign for BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Amit Shah crisscrossed the poll-bound segments addressing a host of election rallies in a bid to arm the saffron party with extra strength. Balloting in Kalahandi, Nabarangapur, Berhampur and Koraput Lok Sabha seats and 28 Assembly segments coming under these four parliamentary constituencies will be held on April 11. A battery of other leaders also hit the campaign trail to give steam to the BJP campaign. They included .
Poll campaigning ends in Uttarkhand as state gears up for voting on April 11
Campaigning for Uttarakhand's five Lok Sabha seats going to polls on April 11 ended Tuesday evening with the BJP top leadership seeking votes in the name of "nationalism", highlighting the Balakot airstrikes, and the Congress, alleging corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal in rallies over the past fortnight. Top leaders from the two sides, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressed a slew of rallies in the state over the past fortnight. Modi and Shah addressed two rallies each in Uttarakhand after the announcement of poll dates while state leaders of the two parties held over two dozen rallies in different constituencies. The prime minister addressed rallies at Rudrapur and Dehradun while Shah addressed rallies in Uttarkashi and Dehradun. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh too addressed rallies in Pithoragarh, Kashipur, Kotdwar and Jhabrera to drum up support in favour of party candidates. Rahul Gandhi addressed ...
Campaigning ends for simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha polls
Campaigning for simultaneous polls to 32 Assembly seats as well as the lone Lok Sabha seat in Sikkim ended at 5 pm on Tuesday. The polling will be held on April 11 next. Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) president and chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling addressed an impressive 'Vijay Sankalp Rally' at Jorethang in his native district, South Sikkim where he extorted the gathering to return his party to power for a sixth successive term to ensure peace and security in Sikkim. The opposition Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) president P S Golay and Hamro Sikkim Party (HSP) working president Bhaichung Bhutia also held election meetings to wind up two-week long campaigning. While the SDF and HSP have promised to implement the Universal Basic Income to all people in Sikkim, the SKM has pledged to provide government jobs to all unemployed people within 100 days of the party coming to power. Those who could not be given given government jobs immediately will get a subsistence allowance
High voltage poll campaign for phase-1 ends in Odisha
The hectic and high voltage campaign for four Lok Sabha and 28 Assembly seats in Odisha, going to the polls in the first phase on April 11, concluded on Tuesday.
Poll campaigning in J-K's Baramulla seat ends
Campaigning for the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency in Jammu and Kashmir came to an end Tuesday as over 13 lakh voters will seal the fate of nine candidates in the first phase of polls on April 11. The electioneering process was peaceful with no untoward incident reported in the constituency, an election department official said. The Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, spread over 15 assembly segments in three districts of north Kashmir, will head for voting on Thursday along with 90 other constituencies across the country in the first phase of polling. The nominees from the seat are-- Muhammad Akbar Lone of the National Conference, Farooq Ahmad Mir of the Congress, Raja Aijaz Ali of the People's Conference, Mohammad Maqbool War of the BJP, Jahangir Khan of the NPP, Abdul Qayoom Wani of the PDP and independent candidates Javid Ahmad Qureshi, Syed Najeeb Shah Naqvi and Abdul Rashid Sheikh. None of the nine candidates in the fray have earlier been elected either to the Lok Sabha or the Rajya ...
Lack of development in Pondy due to CM-Lt Governor feud: AINRC
: Former Puducherry Chief Minister and leader of the opposition N Rangasamy (AINRC) Tuesday charged Chief Minister and senior Congress leader V Narayanasamy with being responsible for the lack of development of the union territory because of his running feud with Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi on administrative matters. He made the charge while campaigning for AINRC nominee and doctor-turned-politician K Narayanasamy in neighbouring Villianoor and a few villages in its surroundings for the April 18 Lok Sabha polls. Rangasamy said, "There is good scope for development here, but the running feud has been obstructing development." The problem of unemployment has not been tackled by the territorial government and educated youth were left jobless. Also, Rangasamy pointed out to the cooperative sugar mill here was closed as there was no proper planning. He alleged the present Congress government was trying to hand over the mill to private sector which would be disastrous to ..
Not 'fully satisfied' with SC decision on VVPATs: Naidu
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu Tuesday said he was not "fully satisfied" with the Supreme Court decision on VVPATs and the Election Commission has to ensure there are not discrepancies in paper trail slips. If there is any mismatch, the EC should ensure counting of all VVPATs in the country, he suggested. The Supreme Court Monday directed the EC to increase the random matching of paper trail machine slips with EVM results from one to five polling booths in each assembly segment for the multi-phase Lok Sabha polls starting Thursday. "I am not fully satisfied. But something is better than nothing," Naidu told PTI, adding that the EC has to ensure there are no discrepancies in VVPATs. He, however, said that the move to count even five VVPATs will "hurt" BJP prospects. "Now, they (BJP) will be afraid," he said and expressed concern over IT raids on political leaders and the EC "not giving level playing field" for every political party. VVPAT machines are being used for .
Hope first-time voters ask PM Modi why Balakot air strike became necessary: Omar Abdullah
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah Tuesday hoped that first-time voters in this Lok Sabha election ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi why the Balakot air strike became necessary. "I hope the first-time voters ask PM Modi why Balakote became necessary in the first place. Why did the Pulwama attack succeed? On whose watch have attacks in Uri, Pathankote, Sunjwan (Jammu), Nagrota & Pulwama happened? Don't reward Balakote, punish Pulwama! (sic)" Abdullah tweeted. He was reacting to the prime minister's remarks at an election rally in Latur in Maharashtra, asking first-time voters to dedicate their vote to those who carried out the air strike in Balakot. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, in an apparent reference to the Election Commission barring electioneering by invoking the defence forces, took a sarcastic swipe at the prime minister. "Repeat after me. MCC is Modi Code of Conduct," she tweeted.
Modi government praised in north, east; gets thumbs down in south: IANS-CVOTER Poll Tracker-I
Voters are most satisfied with the performance of the Narendra Modi government in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan but the number of most dissatisfied is highest in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Punjab, according to the latest findings of the CVOTER-IANS poll tracker.
Priyanka holds road show in Saharanpur, Bijnor
With just two days to go for the first phase of polling, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday held a road show in Saharanpur and Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh to seek votes for her party's candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.
Trinamool to play 'kingmaker' at Centre: Mamata
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said her party Trinamool Congress will play the "most important role" in ousting the Narendra Modi regime from Delhi and forming a new government at the Centre in the 2019 polls.
Terrorists in Pak frightened after Balakot strikes: PM
Asserting a strong government at the Centre was imperative for a strong India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said the Balakot air strikes have created a fear among the terrorists and those in power in Pakistan were getting nightmares. Addressing an election rally here, Modi attacked the ruling Congress-JDS combine in Karnataka saying when the whole world stood with India in the aftermath of the airstrikes, the two parties were in tears. Greeting first time voters across the country, he asked them to vote after thinking, to bring a strong government in the country. "You can dedicate your first votes to brave soldiers who laid down their lives for the country, for getting house to a poor, for free healthcare for poor, for getting water to farmers land. your first vote should go for getting Mudra loanto some one who may be friend of yours," he added. He said in this Lok Sabha elections people have to choose not only an MP or Prime Minister, but a strong government .
Many stars vanish from UP's political firmament
In 2014, they were an important part of the election campaign. They were decision makers of their respective parties, and they helped in candidate selection and managed the campaign.
Modi the 'King of Fascists; Cong responsible for BJP's rise:
Narendra Modi is the "King of Fascists" who was baptised in politics through "riots and mass killings", TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee alleged on Tuesday, as political discourse at the hustings got increasingly bitter. Addressing two elections rallies in West Bengal hours before campaigning ended for the first of the 7-phase Lok Sabha polls, Banerjee likened Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah to mythological characters Duryodhan and Dushshasan of the Mahabharat who were trying to "rob" the country of its freedom. She also deprecated Modi's attempt to seek the votes of first time voters by invoking the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF troopers and the retaliatory assault by the Indian Air Force on terror camps in Pakistan's Balakot. Banerjee, one of the prime movers of the attempt to forge a grand alliance of opposition parties against the BJP, said the Congress alone cannot form the next government without the support of other parties. "Modi has .