Page 14 - Politics

BJP's manifesto on defence

From an arms importer, India now ranks among the top 25 arms-exporting nations. BJP's 2024 manifesto must include a coherent policy to increase defence exports

Himachal Speaker reserves order on Cong's plea to disqualify 6 rebel MLAs

Himachal Pradesh Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania on Wednesday reserved his order on a Congress petition seeking disqualification of six party MLAs who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election. The six MLAs also face the possibility of disqualification on another count. Speaking in the assembly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said a whip was issued to the party MLAs to be present in the House during voting Wednesday on budget. But these MLAs defied it by staying away, he added. The minister asked the Speaker to take note of it. The Speaker said the matter is in his knowledge and he will take cognisance of it. The MLAs had cross-voted for BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan during the Rajya Sabha elections on Tuesday, leading to the defeat of their party candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The Congress has accused the six MLAs of defying the earlier whip on the Rajya Sabha polls. Senior advocate Satya Pal Jain, who represented the six MLAs before the Speaker on Wednesday, h

Pakistan EC holds open hearing of SIC's plea on reserved seats' allocation

Another 60 seats are reserved for women and 10 for minorities, and are allotted to the winning parties based on proportional representation

INLD Haryana president Nafe Singh Rathee shot dead in Jhajjar's Bahadurgarh

Unidentified assailants shot dead the Indian National Lok Dal's Haryana unit president Nafe Singh Rathee in Jhajjar district on Sunday, according to a senior party leader. Rathee, a former MLA, was travelling in an SUV when the assailants, who were in a car, attacked him in Jhajjar's Bahadurgarh town. INLD leader Abhay Chautala told PTI that Rathee was shot dead in Jhajjar district. He accused the government of failing to provide Rathee with security despite their being threat to his life, and demanded the resignation of the chief minister and the home minister. Police said the investigation in the matter was underway.

Rishi Sunak warns of 'toxic' culture in UK politics amid threats to MPs

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has warned against a growing toxic culture in politics amid reports of members of Parliament facing security threats over their voting intentions in the House of Commons related to the Israel-Gaza conflict. The 43-year-old British Indian leader issued a statement on Saturday to condemn the hijacking of protests on the streets of the country by extremists to glorify terrorism. It came as a report in The Sunday Times' newspaper claims that three unnamed female MPs have been sanctioned additional security after concerns about their safety. "The explosion in prejudice and antisemitism since the Hamas attacks on the 7 October [2023] are as unacceptable as they are un-British. Simply put antisemitism is racism," said Sunak in his statement. "Legitimate protests hijacked by extremists to promote and glorify terrorism, elected representatives verbally threatened and physically, violently targeted and antisemitic tropes beamed onto our own Parliament ...

Body of Russian Oppn leader Navalny handed over to his mother, says aide

The body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed over to his mother, an aide to Navalny said Saturday. Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, made the announcement on his Telegram account and thanked everyone who had called on Russian authorities to return Navalny's body to his mother. Earlier Saturday, Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny's widow, accused President Vladimir Putin of mocking Christianity by trying to force his mother to agree to a secret funeral after his death in a penal colony.

Pakistan court defers indictment of Imran, Bushra in graft case till Feb 27

A Pakistani accountability court has deferred the indictment of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in a Rs 50 million corruption case till February 27, according to a media report on Saturday. The court on Friday deferred the indictment of Khan and Bushra in the Al-Qadir Trust case filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) is set to take up appeals against their conviction in Toshakhana and the Cipher cases on February 26, the Dawn newspaper reported. Judge Nasir Javed Rana was hearing the proceedings of the case in Rawalpindi's high-security Adiala Jail where Khan, the 71-year-old founder of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is incarcerated. Bushra Bibi, 49, is imprisoned at Khan's Bani Gala residence in Islamabad after an accountability court sentenced the couple to 14 years in jail in the Toshakhana corruption case. The Al-Qadir Trust case pertains to the settlement of 190 million pounds, about Rs 50 billio

Public discourse was on corruption before 2014, Modi changed it: Minister

The public discourse before 2014 was regarding corruption whereas a major transformation has happened under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership with the country emerging as the fifth largest economy in the world now, Union Minister Parshottam Rupala said on Saturday. Rupala, the Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said PM Modi's promise is to make the country the third largest economy in the world during his third term. "If you recall the atmosphere 10 years ago, before 2014, you will come to know that corruption was the only focal point in election time. There was nothing else," he told reporters. Rupala was here to attend the Telangana BJP's ongoing 'Vijay Sankalp Yatra' for the coming Lok Sabha polls. "Everyday (before 2014), news of a scam surfaced... 2G, 3G, coal, or something else. There was nothing else for discussion. People were fed up," he claimed. Under Modi, there has been a major transformation and the country has now emerged as the fift

Bulldozers demolish homes of innocent while guilty flee: Priyanka slams BJP

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday lashed out at the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that bulldozers are used to demolish homes of "innocent people" while the "guilty" escape unscathed. Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday joined the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which resumed its journey from Moradabad after a two-day halt for the march's final leg in Uttar Pradesh. She will accompany her brother as the yatra passes through Amroha, Sambhal, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Hathras, Agra, concluding at Fatehpur Sikri on Sunday, the Congress said. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is set to join the yatra in Agra on Sunday, a development that comes after the parties reached a seat-sharing arrangement in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls. "The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra resumed from Moradabad. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was also present. As the yatra moved through Moradabad, people from different walks of life greeted them," Manish Hindvi, a spokesperson for the Congres

Maharashtra politics a mess with party lines blurring: Raj Thackeray

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday said the politics of the state had turned into a mess and it was time people brought about a change. Speaking to reporters during a visit to Kalyan as part of his statewide tour ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the MNS chief also said meeting leaders from other parties did not mean alliances were being struck. There was speculation recently of the MNS joining the National Democratic Alliance after Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar met Thackeray in the latter's Shivaji Park home. The current political scenario in the state was like "chikkal" (wet, slippery mud) with party lines blurring and people must ensure politicians are held accountable for their deeds, Thackeray said. He also questioned the reliability of electronic voting machines and said polls must be held through ballot papers. Speaking about the Maratha quota issue, the MNS leader said the focus now was on caste-based politics rather than issues like drought, unemploym

Nitish return backfired, BJP knows temple not enough to win Bihar: CPI(ML)

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's move to return to the National Democratic Alliance has "backfired" and the BJP's keenness to get the JD(U) back shows they realised Ram temple was not enough to win the state, CPI(ML) Liberation leader Dipankar Bhattacharya has said. In an interview with PTI, he claimed that since an alternative agenda centred around poverty and livelihood issues was shaping up in Bihar with the Mahagathbandhan in power, the BJP got scared and pushed to break the alliance. The CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary also sought to downplay the impact of Ram temple consecration in Bihar's electoral politics, saying people saw that the event was "politicised". Bhattacharya claimed that people have been saying that if Lord Ram was enough to win the polls then the BJP would not have needed Nitish Kumar. "Obviously the BJP knows this is not enough." "Ram Mandir will awe people... But the same people devoted to Lord Ram didn't like the politicisation of Ram temple at all,

New Pak govt likely by March 2; presidential election before Mar 9: Report

With a power-sharing deal already inked, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party are moving ahead with plans to form a coalition government by March 2 and hold the presidential election before March 9, according to a media report on Friday. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif will be backed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has agreed to form a new government after the February 8 elections resulted in a hung Parliament. Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, 72, is set to return to the top post after his elder brother Nawaz, decided to nominate the PML-N president for premiership. The party has clarified that the three-time former prime minister did not want to lead a government in which the PMN-L does not have a majority in Parliament. Both parties won fewer seats than candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Quoting sources, The News .

IMF ready to work with new govt in Pakistan to ensure economic stability

Khan on Thursday said he will write to the IMF, demanding the global lender to stop its support to the cash-strapped country until it seeks an 'audit' of the elections mired in controversies

Aam Aadmi Party, Congress set to clinch seat-sharing in three states

It would also mean that the Congress is set to contest the least number of seats since 1952

Protesting 'localisation' push: Karnataka Inc bats for merit over politics

Karnataka is home to over 5,500 IT and IT-enabled services firms and nearly 750 MNCs, contributing to over $58 billion in exports

Swami Prasad Maurya launches new party days after quitting Samajwadi Party

The launch of Rashtriya Shoshit Samaj Party (RSSP) came days after Maurya resigned from his MLC seat and severed connections with the Samajwadi Party (SP)

Congress leader Sharmila spends night in party office to avoid house arrest

Sharmila's move came a day ahead of 'Chalo Secretariat' protest by Congress cadre under her leadership on Thursday

PPP, PML-N strike power-sharing deal in Pak; Shehbaz Sharif to be PM again

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party have struck a power-sharing deal to form a coalition government led by ex-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, a move that could effectively keep their arch-rival Imran Khan out of power after the controversial elections. Both the PML-N and the PPP won fewer seats in Parliament than candidates backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan in an election mired in controversies, including vote rigging. Khan, who could not contest the February 8 elections due to his convictions in some cases, including that of corruption, has been barred from holding any public office for 10 years. At a joint news conference here late Tuesday night after marathon negotiations, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari announced that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif, 72, will assume the role of the prime minister once again. Similarly, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, 68, will be the joint ...

I-T dept has withdrawn Rs 65 cr from banks 'undemocratically', alleges Cong

The Congress on Wednesday alleged that the Income Tax department has "withdrawn" a sum of Rs 65 crore from its accounts in different banks "undemocratically" even when the case pertaining to their return for previous years is sub judice. Party treasurer Ajay Maken has claimed that "democracy will be over if the action of probe agencies goes unchecked" and said the Congress has full faith in the judiciary. "The Income Tax department had written to various banks to withdraw a sum of Rs 65 crore from different bank accounts of the Congress and Indian Youth Congress in view of the demand raised by the Income Tax authorities earlier, despite the appellate authorities hearing the case," Maken told PTI. He said even when the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, which the Congress had moved against the Income Tax department's claim of Rs 210 crore as recovery for "discrepancies" in previous tax returns has been stayed and a lien has been marked, the tax authorities have resorted to "undemocratic

Cong leader Sonia Gandhi elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan on Tuesday, officials said. Bharatiya Janata Party's Chunnilal Garasiya and Madan Rathore were also elected unopposed to the Upper House from the state, Assembly Secretary Mahaveer Prasad Sharma said. Tuesday was the last day for withdrawing nominations. As no other candidates were contesting, the three leaders were elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed, the officer said. The tenure of Rajya Sabha members Manmohan Singh (Congress) and Bhupendra Yadav (BJP) is ending on April 3. The third seat fell vacant after the BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena resigned from the House in December after being elected MLA. The BJP has 115 members and the Congress 70 in the 200-member assembly. There are 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan. After the results, Congress has six members and the BJP four.