Page 410 - Politics

BJD set to come to power in Odisha for fifth consecutive term

Odisha's ruling BJD on Thursday appeared to be on course to form the government for a fifth term in a row, with its candidates winning 17 seats and leading in 95 others out of the 146 assembly segments. Steering his Biju Janata Dal (BJD) singularly to a certain landslide victory, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, is leading from both Bijepur and his home turf Hinjili. While the BJD has won all the 17 assembly seats results of which have so far been declared, the BJP was leading in 22 segments and the Congress, the CPI(M) and an independent candidate were leading in one seat each. Polling was held in 146 assembly seats, as election in Patkura was postponed twice, following the death of a candidate and then due to cyclone Fani. While the government's chief whip and former minister Amar Prasad Satpathy won from the Barchana assembly seat, defeating BJP's Amar Kumar Nayak by a slender margin of 1,485 votes, BJD candidate Mukesh Kumar Pal won from Pallahara, beating BJP nominee .

SKM ends Chamling's 25-year rule in Sikkim

Opposition Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), led by its firebrand leader Prem Singh Tamang, popularly known as P S Golay, ended Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling's 25-year rule in the border state after a close contest. Of the state's 32 seats, Golay's SKM won 17 seats, leaving the Chief Minister and his Sikkim Democratic Front totally stunned, who won 15 seats. The counting of votes on the 32 seats concluded late Thursday night. In a solace for the 68-year-old outgoing chief minister, he won both Poklok-Kamrang and Namchi Singhithang seats, on way to a record eighth term as a legislator. His ministerial colleague DT Lepcha too entered the state legislature from two seats - Martam Rumtek and Gnathang-Machong. Other ministers - Ugen T. Gyatso Bhutia and N K Subba -- also romped home from the Tumin-lingi and Maneybong-dentam assembly constituencies. Minister Garjman Gurung, however, lost the election from the Khamdong-Singtam seat. For the SKM, Kunga Nima Lepcha won from the Gangtok and

CWC to meet tomorrow after humiliating defeat in Lok Sabha polls

After facing a humiliating defeat in the parliamentary elections, Congress Working Committee (CWC) is expected to meet on Saturday in Delhi, sources said.Congress in this election suffered a defeat in the hand of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP. The grand old party could only manage to get 49 seats while leading on other three seats. Whereas the BJP repeated its 2014 landslide victory with winning more than 300 seats so far.Even Congress' chief Rahul Gandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia, and former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijay Singh could not save themselves from the saffron' wave.Earlier in the day, Rahul held a press conference and congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for BJP's bumper win in the general elections.Boosting the morale of the party candidates and workers, he said, "Our candidates fought with all their heart. I say to the people of Congress party and those who believe in our ideology that you do not need to be scared."Gandhi congratulated Modi but refused to comment on

BJP retains all seven seats in Delhi

Maintaining its hold over Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday won all the seven Lok Sabha seats here, with winning margins ranging between 2.2 lakh and 5.7 lakh votes.

BJP crosses halfway mark in Arunachal assembly

The BJP is set to form the next government in Arunachal Pradesh as it has crossed the magic figure bagging 32 seats so far with results of 43 assembly constituencies being declared by late Thursday night. The state assembly has 60-seats, but elections were held for 57 as three BJP candidates have won unopposed. The three seats the BJP won uncontested are -- the Along East constituency in West Siang district from where Kento Jini has been elected, Yachuli seat in Lower Subansiri district from where Taba Tedir was declared elected, and Dirang seat in West Kameng district from where Phurpa Tsering has been declared as winner. In its debut in the state's electoral scene, the Janata Dal United performed remarkably well, winning seven seats. The Congress, which bagged 42 seats in the 2014 polls, could secure only four seats, till the latest EC update. Another debutant, National People's Party (NPP) won one seat, while the lone regional forum the Peoples' Party of Arunachal (PPA) also won ...

LS polls 2019: BJP wins 275 seats, leading on 28

BJP won 275 Lok Sabha seats, while is leading on 28 other seats, as per the latest details of vote counting on the website of Election Commission of India (ECI).The counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections is underway across the country, which voted for 542 seats in seven-phases, beginning April 11 and ending on May 19.The Congress party has been declared victorious on 32 seats and is leading on 20 seats.In all, the result has been declared for 467 seats so far. The counting for remaining 75 seats is still underway.All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) won 19 seats, while is leading on 3 seats in West Bengal. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won one seat and is leading on 11 seats in Odisha.Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu won 21 seats, while is leading on two seats.Janata Dal-United, an ally of BJP in Bihar, won 16 seats. Shiv Sena in Maharashtra has won 16 seats and leading on two.In Andhra Pradesh, YSRCP is leading on 10 seats and is leading on 12 seats. In Telangana, ..

Dutch leftists score surprise victory in EU vote: exit poll

Dutch leftists scored a surprise victory to win the most seats in European Parliament elections Thursday, beating the party of Prime Minister Mark Rutte and an upstart populist group, an exit poll said. The Labour party of European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans was projected to win five seats out of the 26 allocated for the Netherlands, the Ipsos poll for public broadcaster NOS said. Rutte's Liberals were set to win four seats and the eurosceptic Forum for Democracy of populist leader Thierry Baudet was expected to win three seats, the poll said. Opinion polls ahead of the vote had shown Baudet and Rutte's parties on course to win five each, and the two leaders had a fiery televised debate on Wednesday night focusing on issues including immigration. The Netherlands and exit-bound Britain were the first countries to vote on Thursday in the four-day European elections, in which populist parties had been expected to score big gains.

Council of Europe assembly rejects far-right political grouping

The Council of Europe's assembly on Thursday rejected the creation of a political grouping of far-right European parties as nationalist movements look to make gains in this week's European Parliament elections. The Strasbourg-based Parliamentary Assembly has no binding powers, but brings together around 300 lawmakers from 47 states to make recommendations on rights and democracy. The Council of Europe is separate from the European Union and its parliament, and includes nations such as Turkey and Russia. "The assembly's bureau today decided not to recognise the formation of new political grouping of New European Democrats/Europe of Nations (NDE/ENL)," the council said on its Twitter account. Led by Austrian lawmaker Martin Graf of the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), the NDE/ENL group looked to bring together nationalist lawmakers from Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany's AfD party and the Italy's League. The request to recognise the new grouping was made last year. "The ...

TMC's Dinesh Trivedi loses to Arjun Singh of BJP in Bengal's

BJP's Arjun Singh wrested the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat from Trinamool Congress's Dinesh Trivedi in a fiercely fought poll battle by a margin of 14,857 votes. Singh bagged 4,72,994 votes, while Trivedi, the former railway minister, could managed 4,58,137 votes. In Bangaon, which has a sizeable number of Matua votes, BJP's Shantanu Thakur defeated Trinamool Congress's Mamata Thakur by a margin of 1,11,594 votes. BJP got 6,87,622 votes in the seat, while the Trinamool Congress candidate bagged 5,76,028 votes.

Jagan wins Pulivendula Assembly seat by over 90,000 votes

YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has won the Pulivendula Assembly seat by a record margin of 90,110 votes, the Election Commission has declared. Jagan secured 1,32,356 of the total 1,80,127 votes polled. He defeated Telugu Desam's S V Satish Kumar Reddy who secured 42,246 votes. When he was first elected to the state Assembly in 2014, Jagan won the Pulivendula seat -- his home turf in Kadapa district -- by a record margin then of 74,256 votes. On both the occasions, it was the highest victory margin secured by any candidate in state elections in Andhra Pradesh. Jagan's YSRC has won 120 Assembly seats out of the total 175 and is heading towards victory in 30 more seats. Jagan, son of late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, will be formally elected as leader of YSRC Legislature Party on May 25. He will be sworn-in as the bifurcated state's second Chief Minister at a public function in Vijayawada on May 30.

Grateful, overwhelmed by mandate: Karti Chidambaram

Congress leader Karti Chidambaram on Friday won the Sivaganga Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 3,32,244 seat.Speaking to ANI, the lawmaker said: "I am deeply grateful, overwhelmed and humbled by the mandate given to me as a representative of the Sivaganga constituency."Chidambaram also thanked Congress president Rahul Gandhi for giving him the opportunity to represent the constituency."I would also like to thank DMK's Stalin under whose leadership the alliance won 37 out of 38 seats in Tamil Nadu. I'm grateful to my other alliance partners, too," he added.Chidambaram had contested against H Raja of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Sarvanan K of Bahujan Samaj Party (BJP).He had also contested in 2014 Lok Sabha election but was defeated by PR Senthilnathan of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) by a margin of 2,29,385.The Lok Sabha polls that commenced on April 11 and wrapped up on May 19, saw approximately 900 million voters exercising their franchise and deciding ...

LS Results 2019: BJP sweeps all 7 seats in Delhi

BJP won all seven seats in Delhi on Thursday in a repeat of the 2014 elections and also bettering its vote share by nearly 10 per cent.The BJP received 56.5 per cent of the total votes polled in Delhi, significantly higher than thet 46 pre cent vote share it got in the previous general elections.In contrast, the vote share of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had won 67 out of the 70 Delhi assembly seats in 2015, fell from 33 per cent in 2014 to 18.12 per cent in these elections. Delhi's ruling party finished third on five out of seven seats.Cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir of the BJP won by 3 lakh plus votes from East Delhi where he was pitted against Arvinder Singh Lovely of Congress and Atishi Marlena of AAP.The poll campaign in East Delhi was marred with controversies with the Atishi accusing Gambhir of distributing defamatory pamphlets against her.In a similar surge for the ruling party, singer-turned-politician Hans Raj Hans has won North West Delhi

BJP's Smriti Irani unseats Rahul from Amethi bastion

BJP candidate Smriti Irani defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi from his bastion of Amethi by a margin of over 55,000 votes, in a major setback for the grand old party. According to the Election Commission website, Irani polled 4,68,514 votes while Gandhi secured 4,13,394 votes. The victory margin for Irani is 55,120 votes. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi had defeated Irani by 1,07,903 votes.

BJP wins absolute majority: EC

The BJP has won an absolute majority of 272 seats and is leading in another 31 constituencies, according to the Election Commission. Of the results declared for 458 seats past midnight, the BJP was on course to cross the 300-seat mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. The BJP is all set to surpass its 2014 performance when it won 282 seats. The Congress in all likelihood will fall short of the 54-mark needed for the leader of opposition status in the Lok Sabha, winning in 45 seats and leading in 7.

Modi magic sweeps India as BJP hurtles toward 300 mark, Opposition bites the dust

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a super-sized victory for a second term in office, as his message of nationalism, security, Hindu pride and a New India was wholeheartedly embraced by voters across large swathes of the country. The BJP got an absolute majority bagging 272 of the 458 seats, results of which were declared past midnight and was on course to touch the 300-seat mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Leading in another 31 seats, the BJP is set to surpass its 2014 performance when it won 282 seats. With the elections establishing the 68-year-old Modi as the most popular leader in decades, the BJP and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance(NDA) are poised to clinch around 350 seats as against their previous 336. Such was the force of the BJP wave that even Congress President Rahul Gandhi lost in his bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh to Smriti Irani, but in consolation prize won the Wayanad seat in Kerala. Former prime minister and

LS results 2019: Rajnath Singh wins Lucknow Lok Sabha seat

Home Minister Rajnath Singh won Lucknow Lok Sabha seat by over 3 lakh votes against SP-BSP alliance candidate and Shatrughan Sinha's wife Poonam Sinha.Singh polled a total of 6,27,881 votes while his nearest rival Sinha got 2,82,858 votes.Singh on Thursday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah for the performance in the Lok Sabha elections.The BJP won 271 Lok Sabha seats, while is leading on 32 other seats, as per the latest details of vote counting on the website of Election Commission of India (ECI).The counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections is underway across the country, which voted for 542 seats in seven-phases, beginning April 11 and ending on May 19.

BJP wins one Assembly seat in Karnataka by-polls

In the twin Karnataka's by-elections, the BJP wrested the prestigious Chincholi (SC) Assembly segment in the state's northern region in Gulbarga from the Congress.

Congress snatches Andaman and Nicobar seat from BJP

Amid an all pervading doom, the Congress had something to cheer for in Andaman and Nicobar Islands as its candidate Kuldeep Rai Sharma snatched the Lok Sabha seat from the BJP by humbling its candidate Vishal Jolly with a 1,407-vote margin in the vote count on Thursday.

SKM wins majority ending Chamling's reign in Sikkim

The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha won an absolute majority in the Sikkim Assembly polls, bringing the curtain down on two and half decades of Pawan Chamling led Sikkim Democractic Front rule in the Himalayan state.

Bengal verdict: BJP wins 13, Trinamool 15 seats

West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress has won 15 Lok Sabha constituencies and is leading in seven while the BJP has bagged 13 seats and is leading in five. The Congress is leading in two Lok Sabha seats.