Page 1871 - Politics
Kamala Harris jumps into presidential race Kamala Harris jumps into presidential race
Kamala Harris, a first-term senator and former California attorney general known for her rigorous questioning of President Donald Trump's nominees, entered the Democratic presidential race on Monday. Vowing to "bring our voices together," Harris would be the first woman to hold the presidency and the second African-American if she succeeds. Harris, a daughter of immigrant parents who grew up in Oakland, California, is one of the earliest high-profile Democrats to join what is expected to be a crowded field. She made her long anticipated announcement on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I am running for president of the United States," she said. "And I'm very excited about it." The 54-year old portrayed herself as a fighter for justice, decency and equality in a video distributed by her campaign as she announced her bid. "They're the values we as Americans cherish, and they're all on the line now," Harris says in the video. "The future of our country depends on you and millions of others .
JD(U) to hold divisional level conferences from Feb 9:
The ruling Janata Dal(U) on Monday said it will organise divisional level workers' conferences in February to galvanise party cadres ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Eight such meetings will be held and Chief Minister as well as the party's national president Nitish Kumar has been requested to attend all of them, JD(U) state president Bashishtha Narain Singh said. "The party is ready to face polls whenever it happens," he said. "The party has been organising various programmes in the recent past and now it has decided to hold divisional level workers' conference, which will begin from Tirhut division on February 9," Singh told reporters here. Singh, a Rajay Sabha member, also said that the party has requested its national president Nitish Kumar to attend all the conferences. "Apart from discussing party programmes and polices, we will also be telling them about the various government welfare schemes at the conferences," he added. The party has already organised various ...
BJP MLA Akula Satyanarayana joins Jana Sena
: BJP MLA from Rajamahendravaram Urban, Akula Satyanarayana, joined the Jana Sena here Monday. Satyanarayana resigned from his post as well as the BJP on Sunday to formally join the Jana Sena. His resignation as MLA is yet to be accepted. Jana Sena president Pawan Kalyan formally welcomed the legislator into his party. He said Satyanarayanas entry would strengthen the Jana Sena in East Godavari as the latters family enjoyed good reputation in the district. Satyanarayana said a corruption-free rule was possible only with Kalyan, adding he was confident that the actor-turned-politician would cleanse the current political system. Satyanarayana was one of the four MLAs to have been elected on behalf of the BJP, which fought the 2014 election in alliance with the TDP. He had been staying away from party affairs for some time now, reportedly disgruntled that the BJP did not honour its promises made to the state post-bifurcation.
NCW issues notice to BJP's Sadhana Singh over 'extremely offensive' remarks against Mayawati
Amid a raging political controversy, the National Commission for Women on Monday issued a notice to BJP MLA Sadhana Singh and sought an explanation for making "extremely offensive and unethical" remarks against BSP chief Mayawati. Singh was severely criticised by the BJP allies and the opposition leaders for calling BSP supremo Mayawati a "blot on womankind" and "worse than a transgender". The Mughalsarai MLA made the controversial remarks at a rally on Saturday while referring to the infamous incident when Mayawati was assaulted by Samajwadi Party workers at a Lucknow guest house in 1995. Taking suo motu cognisance, the NCW said the remarks made are "extremely offensive, unethical and shows disrespect towards the dignity and respect of women in general". "The Commission strongly condemns such irresponsible and disparaging views of persons holding responsible positions. In view of the above, you are hereby required to provide a satisfactory explanation to the Commission on the matter .
Opposition to take up EVM hacking issue with Election Commission: Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday said the opposition will take up with Eelection Commission the claims made by an US-based cyber expert that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can be hacked. In a tweet, she said every vote was valuable and the issue should be taken up. "Our great democracy must be protected. Every vote of yours is precious. All Oppn parties discussed the #EVM issue after the #UnitedIndiaAtBrigade rally. We are working closely together and decided on Jan 19 itself to consistently take up the matter with EC. Yes, every vote counts," she tweeted. The cyber expert has demonstrated how EVMs can allegedly be hacked at an event in London organised by the Indian Journalists' Association (Europe).
BJP has reaped political benefits on Sabarimala issue; SNDP
: The BJP has reaped political benefits from the agitation against the Kerala government's decision to implement the Supreme Court verdict on the Sabarimala women's entry issue,the SNDP Yogam,an outfit of the numerically strong Ezhava community, said here Monday. "If you ask me who gained from the Sabarimala agitation, I think the BJP has moved forward so far on the basis of their Hindutva ideology," SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan told reporters here. The statement of Natesan, considered very close to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, came amid speculations in political circles in Kerala on who would stand to benefit from the Sabarimala issue in the coming Lok Sabha polls. The observation of the prominent Backward Community leader has also surprised political circles as the BJP itself was not ready to accept that the stir was a complete success. The BJP, which had been spearheading the nearly two-month long stir against the government's decision to ...
Punjab Minister invites Kejriwal for debt waiver function
Congress leader and Punjab cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Monday invited Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal for a debt waiver function of the Punjab government to be held in Bathinda and Anandpur Sahib this week.
Nitish cites Chidambaram's 2013 Bihar visit, says UPA failed to reciprocate
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Monday expressed resentment that the previous UPA government did not reciprocate the "enormous respect" he showed to former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram during his visit to Bihar in 2013, by granting special status to the state. Kumar recalled in detail Chidambaram's visit in May that year. He said he saw Chidambaram off to Sadaqat Ashram, the Bihar Congress headquarters, in Patna in his vehicle from Rajgir, around 100km from the state capital as the then finance minister's helicopter had developed a snag. "Enormous respect was given to him. All this proved to be of no use," Kumar said. Kumar's gesture to accompany Chidambaram to Sadaqat Ashram had triggered speculation the JD(U) chief might abandon BJP to ally with Congress. Eventually, he did quit the alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party a month later. On Monday, Kumar lamented that the Manmohan Singh government merely set up a committee to look into his demand for special status "but did ...
Congress suspends MLA Ganesh over resort brawl
Congress in Karnataka Monday suspended itsMLA J N Ganesh who allegedly hit his lawmaker colleague Anand Singh during an alleged brawl at private resort here on Saturday night. As serious allegations have been made with regards to the incident, on the orders of KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao, MLA J N Ganesh has been suspended with immediate effect, the Pradesh Congress said in a release here. In order to conduct detailed inquiry about the incident a special inquiry committee committee had been constituted under the leadership of Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara. It also includes Ministers K J George and Krishna Byre Gowda, the release said, adding that the committee had been asked to submit the report at the earliest. The statement said that party leaders have conducted preliminary inquiry about the 'unpleasant' incident that happened on January 19 and have also collected information from Anand Singh. A jittery Congress had shifted its legislators to the resort on ...
OPS takes dig at Stalin over 'yagna for CM post' claim
Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam took a dig at M K Stalin on Monday over his "yagna for CM post" claim, saying the DMK president was "very confused" and seeking to know whether he believed in superstition. Rejecting Stalin's claim that a 'yagna' (havan) was performed by him at his office in the state Secretariat so as to get the "Chief Minister's post", the senior AIADMK leader said he had only offered prayers as per a usual practice. "Does Stalin believe that I can become the CM by performing a yagna? doest he believe in superstition?...Stalin has been very confused of late," he told reporters here. He said if one can become the Chief Minister by performing yagna, all MLAs will do it. Even to become the Prime Minister, such yagna can be performed. Hence, Stalin need not find a new meaning to such superstitious practices, he added. Stalin had Sunday claimed that Panneerselvam held a 'yagna' at his office in the Secretariat in Chennai and objected to it, saying Fort St .
Khaira gets disqualification notice from Punjab Assembly
The Punjab Assembly on Monday issued notice of disqualification to former AAP leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
HUA sources allege AAP govt 'stonewalling' Ph-IV metro; Delhi govt claims delay by Centre
The AAP government has "stonewalled" the progress of the Delhi's Metro's Phase-IV project, leading to "substantial delay" and inconvenience to people, Union government sources claimed Monday. The fresh accusation comes amid an apparent tussle between the Centre and the Delhi government after the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation imposed a condition of 50-50 per cent operational loss sharing while giving approval to the Phase-IV of the metro network late last month. A Delhi government spokesperson countered the allegation, saying, the city government has already cleared the project from its side and "any delay that is now happening is from the Centre's side". Highly-placed sources in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) alleged that "delay tactics of the Delhi government has derailed the metro Phase-IV project". The Delhi government has "stonewalled" the progress of the Delhi Metro's Phase-IV project, leading to "substantial delay" and "causing inconvenience to people", the ...
Meghalaya CM unveils 100-day prog on ocassion of Statehood Day
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday announced a 100-day programme here for the overall development of the state on the occasion of 47th Statehood Day. Addressing an official function here, Sangma said the secretariat building would soon switch to LED lights as part of the government's initiatives to save energy. "The urban department will also be asked to replace street lights with LED lights. This will be done on a public- private-partnership mode and the savings made from power consumption will be used to pay loans," he said. Urging people to electric vehicles, Sangma said that he, too, would start using one soon. The charging point for the electric vehicles will be installed at the secretariat and other places, he said. Asserting that regional cooperation can benefit people of the northeast, the chief minister said states should work in close coordination, instead of always knocking the central government doors for assistance. "We are planning to partner
Goyal lashes out at Mamata for creating hurdles for BJP in Bengal
The BJP on Monday hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accusing her of creating hurdles to stop party leaders from holding rallies and yatras in the state.
BJP alleges Bengal govt not allowing landing of Amit Shah's copter, Mamata says 'absolutely not true'
The BJP alleged Monday the West Bengal government has denied permission for the landing of a helicopter carrying its president Amit Shah at an airstrip in Malda on Tuesday, a charge Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said was "absolutely not true". Hitting out at the state government, Union Minister Piyush Goyal claimed that it showed Banerjee was "scared" of his party's growing influence in the state. "The desperation and fear of the Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjee are clearly visible in this decision. The state government is trying to block every programme of Amit Shah, be it a rally, yatra or the landing of his chopper," he told reporters. Goyal also sought comments from opposition parties like the Congress on the matter, saying if a BJP government had obstructed political programmes of rival parties' leader, then it would be accused of "intolerance". In Kolkata, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh told PTI, "The administration has denied permission for landing at Malda airstrip ...
Rafale would not have happened if Lokpal was implemented, says Anna Hazare
A scam like Rafale would not have happened if Lokpal Bill was implemented, anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare said on Monday while announcing his indefinite hunger strike from January 30 demanding setting up of Lokpal and Lokayuktas, farm loan waiver and one-time pension for farmers.
Sena,Cong target PM for ridiculing oppn's show of unity; Jaitley asks "Is it Modi vs Chaos?
BJP's estranged ally Shiv Sena and opposition Congress Monday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ridiculing opposition's show of unity last week, claiming it has given him the "shivers" and injected some kind of "fear" ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. As the Sena and the Congress took a swipe at the prime minister, senior BJP leader and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said any opposition grouping will be an unviable and an unworkable short-lived combination and asked, "Is it Modi vs Chaos? Jaitley also said its going to be advantage BJP in the general elections as an aspirational society will not commit a "collective suicide" by voting for a short-lived political alliance. Modi Sunday dismissed the "mahagathbandhan" (grand alliance) of opposition parties, alleging it was an alliance of "corruption, negativity and instability" and one created by those affected by his fight against graft. Referring to the opposition's show of unity at a rally organised by TMC chief and West ...
Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya celebrate 47th Statehood Day
Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya celebrated their 47th Statehood Day on Monday.
Saudi Arabia to be crucial to India growth story: Swamy
Saudi Arabia will be a key player in India's growth story, P.R. Kumaraswamy, JNU professor and co-author of "India's Saudi Policy: Bridge to the Future", asserted during the launch of the book here on Monday.
PM to address rally in J-K on Feb 3: Madhav
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a rally during his visit to Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district, party general secretary Ram Madhav said Monday. Modi will visit Jammu and Kashmir on February 3 to lay the foundation stone and inaugurate various projects in all the three regions of the state, he said. Madhav said the prime minister will lay the foundation stone for AIIMS at Vijaypur, Samba and inaugurate projects worth Rs 35,000 crore and Rs 9,000 crore in Jammu and Kashmir, respectively. Modi will address the rally in Jammu in which over two lakh people are expected to turn up, he said. Madhav, along with state president Ravinder Raina, and other senior leaders from the state visited the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences ground in Vijaypur and reviewed the preparations for the scheduled rally. Raina discussed the preparations at the local-level chalked out by the state BJP with the national leader and assured him that the rally will be a "grand success", marking the ...