Articles by "Political"
Showing posts with label Political. Show all posts

at 0
A bold Hijab-wearing Muslim ex- White House staffer of Bangladeshi-origin has said she quit her job after US President Donald Trump announced his controversial travel ban, lasting just eight days in the new administration.
Rumana Ahmed was hired in 2011 to work at the White House and eventually the National Security Council (NSC).
My job there was to promote and protect the best of what my country stands for. I am a hijab-wearing Muslim woman –– I was the only hijabi in the West Wing –– and the Obama administration always made me feel welcome and included,” she wrote in an article published in The Atlantic.
Ahmed said that like most of her fellow American-Muslims, she spent much of 2016 watching with “conster“Despite this –– or because of it –– I thought I should try to stay on the NSC staff during the Trump Administration, in order to give the new president and his aides a more nuanced view of Islam, and of America’s Muslim citizens.
“I lasted eight days. When Trump issued a ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries and all Syrian refugees, I knew I could no longer stay and work for an administration that saw me and people like me not as fellow citizens, but as a threat,” she said.
Ahmed said the evening before she left her job at the White House, she notified Trump’s senior National Security Council (NSC) communications adviser, Michael Anton, of her decision.
“His initial surprise, asking whether I was leaving government entirely, was followed by silence -- almost in caution, not asking why. I told him anyway,” she wrote.

“I told him I had to leave because it was an insult walking into this country’s most historic building every day under an administration that is working against and vilifying everything I stand for as an American and as a Muslim,” Ahmed said.
She told Anton that the administration was attacking the basic tenets of democracy. She said Anton just looked at her and said nothing.

Ahmed, whose parents immigrated to the US from Bangladesh in 1978, said inspired by then president Barack Obama, she joined the White House in 2011, after graduating from the George Washington University.
“The days I spent in the Trump White House were strange, appalling and disturbing,” she wrote.
Ahmed’s personal account comes amid a spike in incidents of intimidation and assault targeting hijab-wearing women across the US following Trump’s electoral triumph.

   
Continue reading

at 0
This was supposed to be the moment when the stuttering UK Independence party car got back on the road. Ever since the British people opted for Brexit this previously insurgent party had looked cut adrift, its message disconnected from the new reality of post-referendum Britain.

Thursday’s by-election in Stoke-on-Trent Central, a working-class seat where an estimated 65 per cent of voters opted to leave the EU, offered Ukip and its leader of only 12 weeks, Paul Nuttall, the perfect opportunity for a comeback. Yet even when faced with these ideal conditions, and the most unpopular Labour party leader on record in Jeremy Corbyn, Ukip still failed to improve on its result in 2015. With nearly 25 per cent of the vote, the party added just two points to its score while Labour won the race comfortably with some 2,500 votes to spare. Nonetheless, the story of Ukip will still be told to students of politics as a classic case of how populists can trigger a “contagion from the right”. Ukip has been widely ridiculed for its failure to convert votes into seats, yet much of what it has advocated has now been absorbed into the mainstream, from Brexit and its support for grammar schools, to the party’s calls for a new immigration system — an identical version of which was regurgitated last year by the Conservatives’ Michael Gove and Boris Johnson. Come the future, political historians will award the fledgling Ukip the significance it deserves, a party that steered Britain towards Brexit and thus put the country firmly on a very different trajectory. Ukip is loathed by the liberal elite for good reason: it successfully brought to an end all that they cherish, from EU membership to the continuation of free movement of people across the bloc. Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage will still go down as the most significant politician of the current political era. Ukip still has a core vote, as evidenced by its garnering nearly a quarter of the votes cast in Stoke and a steady 10 per cent share in the national polls. At the next general election in 2020, the Ukip brand might also continue to draw between 5 and 15 per cent in seats across the country, complicating the paths to victory for the other parties. But such numbers are simply insufficient to overcome the first-past-the-post voting system, and reveal the ceiling that now contains Ukip — and perhaps always did. Were Ukip a seasoned campaigning organisation like the Liberal Democrats, then it might now invest in local elections, go back to square one and develop a broader message. But Ukip never really grasped the importance of pavement politics, nor was it ever genuinely interested in putting on offer a wider range of policies. To make matters worse for the party, come 2019 when the UK formally leaves the EU, Ukip will also be without its much-beloved elections to the European Parliament, which operate under a proportional system and therefore give minor parties a much better chance of gaining seats. The last European elections in 2014 gave Ukip 24 MEPs. This too will make it increasingly hard for the young party to remain visible, while also depriving it of the resources that have supported a cadre of MEPs in Brussels. With no salary and bleak electoral prospects, how long will even the true believers stick around? Today, the self-anointed People’s Army looks as if it has made its last stand. But tomorrow this chaotic and colourful cast of characters who briefly captivated British politics will be remembered for producing a more lasting effect on our national story. The writer is professor of politics and international relations at the university of Kent
Continue reading

at 0
PARIS — The usually mild-mannered president of France pointedly reproached President Trump on Saturday after Mr. Trump commented on the dangers of terrorism in Paris, reminding the American leader of a cardinal rule in diplomacy: If you want to keep your friends, don’t criticize them in public.
“I think it’s never a good idea to show the least disapproval with respect to an ally,” said François Hollande, the French president, at the opening of an agriculture exposition in Paris. “I wouldn’t do that to an ally and I would ask that the American president not do that with regard to France.”
Mr. Hollande was responding to remarks Mr. Trump made on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, in which he implied that Europe’s open borders had led to the terrorist attacks there.
Mr. Trump pinned his assertions on a friend named “Jim,” who he said had stopped going to Paris because “Paris is no longer Paris.” Mr. Trump said his friend had stopped traveling to the French capital four or five years ago, which was before the terrorist attacks there occurred.
“Take a look at what’s happening in Germany. Take a look at what’s happened in France. Take a look at Nice and Paris,” said Mr. Trump, who preceded these comments by saying: “We fully understand that national security begins with border security.”
Mr. Trump continued: “I have a friend, he’s a very, very substantial guy. He loves the City of Lights, he loves Paris. For years, every year during the summer, he would go to Paris, was automatic with his wife and his family. Hadn’t seen him in a while. And I said, ‘Jim, let me ask you a question: How’s Paris doing?’ ‘Paris? I don’t go there anymore. Paris is no longer Paris.’ That was four years — four or five years hasn’t gone there. He wouldn’t miss it for anything. Now he doesn’t even think in terms of going there.”
Mr. Hollande refrained from walking Mr. Trump through France’s tourism statistics.
Terrorist attacks in Paris struck the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015, as did the attacks in and around Paris that killed 130 people, including 90 at the Bataclan concert hall. The attack in Nice happened in 2016.
Paris recorded a small decline in visitors after the 2015 attacks. The city had a 1.1 percent drop in hotel arrivals that year.
That is less than the 1.4 percent drop in 2014. Paris experienced steady increases in tourism from 2010 to 2013, but those came after a 4.4 percent decline in 2009 amid the global financial crisis.
However, Mr. Trump is correct that terrorism has an impact on tourism. In 2016 data released earlier this week by the Paris regional tourism board, there was another drop in tourism, with 1.5 million fewer visitors, a 4.7 percent decrease from 2015.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, also addressed the remarks, noting on Twitter that so far this year, reservations from American tourists had increased 30 percent over 2016.
Continue reading

at 0

French President Francois Hollande ripped President Trump for his comments criticizing the city of Paris in a speech on Friday, saying Trump should support France instead of slamming its dealings with terrorism.

Trump told the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, that "Paris is no longer Paris" and that he has a friend who used to love Paris but doesn't go there any more because it isn't the same anymore.

Hollande said Trump's comments were a breach of etiquette and he shouldn't be insulting the French capital.

"There is terrorism and we must fight it together. I think that it is never good to show the smallest defiance toward an allied country. I wouldn't do it with the United States and I'm urging the U.S. president not to do it with France," Hollande said, according to Reuters.

According to the report, more than 230 people have died in France during the last two years in terrorist attacks and the country has been in a state of emergency since the November 2015 bombings and shootings in Paris.

Trump has repeatedly criticized the state of affairs in Paris and the rest of France during his presidential campaign and since he took office. He uses the country as an example of what he doesn't want the United States to be when it comes to allowing in immigrants and refugees from the Middle East.

Hollande said there are parts of the U.S. that France does not want to emulate as well.
Continue reading

at 0

WASHINGTON — President Trump turned the power of the White House against the news media on Friday, escalating his attacks on journalists as “the enemy of the people” and berating members of his own F.B.I. as “leakers” who he said were putting the nation at risk.

In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Mr. Trump criticized as “fake news” organizations that publish anonymously sourced reports that reflect poorly on him. And in a series of Twitter posts, he assailed the F.B.I. as a dangerously porous agency, condemning unauthorized revelations of classified information from within its ranks and calling for an immediate hunt for leakers.

Hours after the speech, as if to demonstrate Mr. Trump’s determination to punish reporters whose coverage he dislikes, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, barred journalists from The New York Times and several other news organizations from attending his daily briefing, a highly unusual breach of relations between the White House and its press corps.

Mr. Trump’s barrage against the news media continued well into Friday night. “FAKE NEWS media knowingly doesn’t tell the truth,” he wrote on Twitter shortly after 10 p.m., singling out The Times and CNN. “A great danger to our country.”


The moves underscored the degree to which Mr. Trump and members of his inner circle are eager to use the prerogatives of the presidency to undercut those who scrutinize him, dismissing negative stories as lies and confining press access at the White House to a few chosen news organizations considered friendly. The Trump White House has also vowed new efforts to punish leakers.

Mr. Trump’s attacks on the press came as the White House pushed back on a report by CNN on Thursday night that a White House official had asked the F.B.I. to rebut a New York Times article last week detailing contacts between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russian intelligence officials. The report asserted that a senior White House official had called top leaders at the F.B.I. to request that they contact reporters to dispute the Times’s account.

“The fake news doesn’t tell the truth,” Mr. Trump said to the delight of the conservatives packed into the main ballroom at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center just south of Washington. “It doesn’t represent the people, it doesn’t and never will represent the people, and we’re going to do something about it.”

In the West Wing less than three hours later, the consequences were becoming clear. Mr. Spicer told a handpicked group of reporters in a briefing in his spacious office that the White House would relentlessly counter coverage it considered inaccurate.

“We’re going to aggressively push back,” he said, according to a recording of the session provided by a reporter who was allowed to attend. “We’re just not going to sit back and let, you know, false narratives, false stories, inaccurate facts get out there.”

Reporters from The Times, BuzzFeed News, CNN, The Los Angeles Times, Politico, the BBC and The Huffington Post were among those shut out of the briefing. Aides to Mr. Spicer admitted only reporters from a group of news organizations that, the White House said, had been previously confirmed.

Those organizations included Breitbart News, the One America News Network and The Washington Times, all with conservative leanings. Journalists from ABC, CBS, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Fox News also attended.

Reporters from The Associated Press and Time magazine, who were set to be allowed in, chose not to attend the briefing in protest of the White House’s actions. The Washington Post did not send a reporter to the session.

“Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties,” Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The Times, said in a statement. “We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest.”

Marty Baron, the Post’s editor, called Mr. Spicer’s decision to exclude some news organizations from a scheduled briefing “appalling.”

“This is an undemocratic path that the administration is traveling,” Mr. Baron said. “There is nothing to be gained from the White House restricting the public’s access to information.”

The White House played down the drama surrounding Friday’s briefing.

“We invited the pool, so everyone was represented,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy White House press secretary, said in an email Friday afternoon, referring to the small group of reporters on hand at the White House each day to follow the president and send reports to the broader press corps. “We decided to add a couple of additional people beyond the pool. Nothing more than that.”

The White House Correspondents’ Association, which represents the press corps, also protested the decision. But Jeff Mason, the organization’s president, pointed out that the White House had provided near-daily briefings and accepted questions from a variety of news outlets since Mr. Trump took office.

“We’re not happy with how things went today,” Mr. Mason said in an interview. “But it’s important to keep in mind the context of how things have gone up until now.” He added: “I don’t think that people should rush to judgment to suggest that this is the start of a big crackdown on media access.”
Continue reading

at 0

The Chair persuaded AIADMK and Congress members to withdraw from the Well, telling them that he would give opportunity to their leaders to raise their respective issues.
Congress and BJP members on Friday clashed in Rajya Sabha over Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad’s remarks during demonetisation debate on Thursday, forcing adjournment of the House thrice in quick succession. Slogans and counter slogans forced the adjournment of the House first till 1130 hours, then till noon and again till 1233 hours as similar scenes continued.

Soon after listed papers were laid on the table of the House, BJP members moved into aisles shouting slogans and demanding an apology from Azad for his remarks comparing the deaths after demonetisation with those killed in terrorist attacks. The remarks were expunged by the Chair yesterday itself.

Congress members too rushed into the Well raising slogans demanding an apology from the Prime Minister and government for the hardship caused to the common man due to withdrawal of 86 per cent of the currency in circulation in the form of old 500 and 1000 rupee notes. AIADMK members were also in the Well raising slogans over the Cauvery water issue.

Deputy Chairman P J Kurien asked all members to leave the Well and return to their seats, assuring them that he would hear their submissions.

Amid the din, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi alleged that Azad’s statement had given a message to the country that Congress was sympathetic to terrorism and asked why was it so agitated when the demonetisation drive was only to hurt blackmoney hoarders.

The Chair persuaded AIADMK and Congress members to withdraw from the Well, telling them that he would give opportunity to their leaders to raise their respective issues.

But with BJP members continuing to stand in the aisles and raise slogans, Congress members too were back in the well shouting slogans.

Kurien said treasury benches should not create problems for the Chair. “If you do this, what do I do? You should cooperate with me in running the House. Treasury benches should not disrupt,” he said.

But the din continued, forcing him to adjourn the proceedings till 1130 hours. There was no change in the scenario when the House reassembled as both BJP and Congress members again started raising slogans.

While Congress members trooped into the Well, several AIADMK members were seen standing along their seats.

As the slogans and counter slogans continued, the Chair adjourned the House till noon. When the House reassembled at noon, members from the Opposition again trooped into the Well demanding an “apology from the Prime Minister” for causing harrassment to the people. The BJP members were also on their feet countering the Opposition.

All pleas by Chairman Hamid Ansari to run the Question Hour proceedings failed to make any impact on the Congress and other members who were raising slogans.

As the heated exchanges between the Opposition and Treasury bench members continued, Ansari said “allow the Question Hour to run. What are you doing? Please go back to your seats.” As the uproar continued, the Chairman adjourned the House for 30 minutes till 1233 hours.

Continue reading

at 0


NEW DELHI- Prime Minister Narendra Modi's shock ban on high-value bank-notes will give his party, the BJP, the advantage in the election in Uttar Pradesh next year, according to some opposition leaders and analysts.

"We will have to plan the entire election strategy all over again," said Pradeep Mathur, a senior Uttar Pradesh leader of the Congress, alleging that with 500 and 1,000 rupee notes banned, the party will have to hold smaller rallies and there will be fewer "freebies" for voters.

His comments reflect a view that the BJP, with more members than its rivals and allegedly close ties to big corporate donors, can survive the cash crunch better, helping it win Uttar Pradesh, which is crucial to PM Modi's plan for re-election in 2019.

According to the Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies (CMS), which tracks campaign financing, the BJP relies on cash for less than two-thirds of its funding in a state like Uttar Pradesh. Regional parties, on the other hand, like the Samajwadi Party or Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party are believed to use cash to cover 80 to 95 percent of campaign spending.

"Their calculation is that this is going to hurt everybody, but in relative terms the BJP is going to come out stronger," said Milan Vaishnav, a South Asia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.

With no state election funding, illicit cash is the unacknowledged lifeblood for political parties that collect money from candidates and businessmen, and then spend it to stage rallies, hire helicopters and hand out "gifts" to win votes.

PM Modi's demonetisation drive, introduced suddenly last week, has so far proven popular among increasingly aspirational voters who are tired of corruption, although views among the broader population and economists are divided over the efficacy and fairness of the move.


Opposition politicians have united to attack the government over the long lines that have formed at banks to change small amounts of old money for new notes. They also alleged in parliament yesterday that big businessmen and some BJP officials were given notice of the ban, a charge the government emphatically dismissed as baseless.

Mayawati, the powerful former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh says the demonetisation timing appeared highly political. For decades, other parties have accused her of hoarding "black" money garnered from selling tickets to candidates to fund her campaign. One senior official and a close aide to Mayawati told Reuters that some of her party's rallies would be axed and replaced by more door-to-door campaigning." Last month ... we had to bring over 300,000 villagers from across UP to Lucknow city for a day ... It's not just us, but every political party spends money at grassroots level to win votes," the official said.

Ashok Agarwal, a politician with the incumbent Samajwadi Party in the city of Mathura, said he will have to rely more on his team of 1,000 volunteers to connect with voters. In a bid to limit the squeeze, parties are paying workers to queue at banks and swap old notes for new ones and evade scrutiny from tax inspectors, said workers from different parties in the city, according to Reuters.

Event managers, whose businesses usually boom at election time, are worried.

"No political party except the BJP wants to organise big rallies before January. All of them depend on cash," said Rajesh Pratap, who has provided loudspeakers, outdoor air conditioners and security to party rallies for over a decade.


PM Modi has not explicitly linked demonetisation to a clean-up of electoral funding, but officials in his party, unnamed by Reuters, say rivals should have heeded his warnings earlier this year that he was serious about clamping down on "black" cash.


In the 2014 election, parties spent a record 37 thousand crore rupees, CMS estimated.


They have also long circumvented rules and learned to avoid using cash - parties get donors to acquire equipment for rallies directly, or local traders to buy gifts for would-be voters, such as mobile phone credits.
Continue reading

at 0


NEW DELHI: In a searing attack in parliament on the government's currency ban, Congress leader Anand Sharma today demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi explain his comments alleging a threat to his life.


"Today, you have to tell us who is threatening you, who wants to kill you, answer parliament, we cannot tolerate it. The entire house condemns it if there is a risk to the PM's life," Mr Sharma said, opening the discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the notes ban and its impact.

"He beat his chest and said I've given up everything. You go all around the world, what sacrifice is this?" sneered the former minister.

Without taking names but apparently referring to opposition criticism, PM Modi had said at a public meeting in Goa on Sunday: "I know the forces are against me, they may not let me live... they may ruin me because their loot of 70 years is in trouble, but am prepared."

Mr Sharma remarked: "We hope for the long life of the PM, please tell us what information you have."

The Congress leader accused the government of bringing in "financial anarchy" with the sudden ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes last week, which has left millions queuing up at banks and ATMs for cash.


"I condemn the prime minister. He should apologise for saying that the poor people standing in queues for five-six days are scamsters," Mr Sharma said.

The opposition has planned a united offensive against the government's sudden move to pull out the two biggest currency notes from circulation. In a late night announcement last Tuesday, PM Modi said this was necessary to bring black or untaxed money into the economic mainstream.

"You have created an environment where you cannot ask questions. If you ask questions then questions are raised on your patriotism," Mr Sharma said.

He also charged that the move was leaked to select persons.

"You said there has to be secrecy, or else, criminals and terrorists would come to know. You did not keep it secret," he thundered. "You leaked it selectively. BJP units deposited crores into banks before the ban," alleged the former minister
Continue reading

at 0


Many economists say one reason why India is able to withstand frequent global crises in economy is because of the huge parallel economy of black money, the UP CM said

In a bizarre statement, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today said black money saves the Indian economy in times of global recession.

"I am opposed to black money. I do not want it. But many economists say one reason why India is able to withstand frequent global crises in economy is because of the huge parallel economy of black money," Yadav told reporters.

Coming in the middle of a massive crisis over the government's demonetisation scheme to check the flow of black money, the young Samajwadi Party leader's comments are surely going to ruffle a lot of feathers.

The Opposition is in a huddle, a day before Parliament's winter session which is expected to be stormy following the decision to declare Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes illegal, resulting in huge queues at banks and ATMs for a week now.

Continue reading

at 0

Khurshid said that Congress high command was aware of the situation and will take apt measures.

Congress leader Salman Khurshid has urged all parties to refrain from playing politics over the SYL canal issue and instead try to resolve it together.

“All the political parties should refrain from playing politics over this issue.

“It would be better if they get together and resolve it or they will have to go by the SC decision,” the former external affairs minister said at a function at a private school here last evening.

After the Supreme court decision against the Punjab government’s 2004 law to terminate the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal water-sharing agreement with its neighbouring state, Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh had resigned from his Lok Sabha seat, Amritsar and all 42 party MLAs quit their assembly seats.

On reports of infighting between Amarinder and Pratap Singh Bajwa, Mr. Khurshid said that Congress high command was aware of the situation and will take apt measures when required.

“Captain’s hardwork and the enthusiasm of the cadres will lead Congress to a thumping victory in Punjab,” he added.

Targeting AAP over SYL issue, Mr. Khurshid said, “AAP likes to point fingers at others, but it doesn’t want to be questioned“.

“Their leaders are used to giving irresponsible statements on serious issues,” he said, adding, “This might have helped them in the past, but they stand exposed now”.
Continue reading

at 0

The announcement by Mulayam, if it is final, will be good news for Mayawati whose attempts at forging a Dalit-Muslim combine in west UP could have faced problem after the formation of a 'secular' mahagathbandhan.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s announcement on Thursday that his party will not have an alliance for the coming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections indicates that the idea of an alliance was not so much a step supported by leaders of the state’s ruling party as much as it was a by-product of the ongoing feud between Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav. That talks of a grand alliance continue nearly a month after Mulayam’s disclaimer at a press conference on October 14, reveals that the window for it is not entirely shut. In October, Mulayam had said his party would not be part of any alliance and that the party grows in strength only when it goes alone, a position often advocated by Akhilesh.

Shivpal pursued alliance talks as the acrimony between the CM and him deepened and he tried to stamp his authority on the party of which he was made the state president in place of Akhilesh. He talked about bringing together all the followers of Ram Manohar Lohia, Chaudhary Charan Singh and Mahatma Gandhi — a reference to the JD(U), RJD, RLD and the Congress. The party’s silver jubilee celebrations on November 5 — when several leaders of the erstwhile Janata Parivar shared the dais — was seen as the beginning of the process of alliance formation. However, Mulayam decided to skip the issue in his address, even as the RLD’s Ajit Singh suggested that he should lead such an initiative.

Mulayam later held talks with Congress poll strategist Prashant Kishor. Kishor also met Akhilesh, apparently to discuss the possibility of an alliance. Mulayam’s announcement on Thursday came even as talks of an alliance reached their peak. There are strategic problems for the SP in finalising an alliance: it has a robust organisation and support base in most of the assembly segments so it will find it difficult to leave seats for other parties. The opponents of the alliance in the party say that the Congress and the RLD, the only two which have a presence in UP, face stronger odds than the ruling party. Also the SP has already announced candidates for most of the 403 seats.

In the last few elections, the SP and the BSP have avoided any electoral alliance and settled for a post-poll alliance if the need arose. The SP leadership believes that an alliance with the Congress gets them little purchase but will rob them of a significant number of seats.

Those against the alliance feel that Ajit Singh’s hold on Jat voters in west UP has also loosened. An alliance between Jats and Muslims, the main SP supporters in west, also may have seen the minority community shift to Mayawati’s BSP after fractured relations between the two groups since the 2013 communal riots in Muzaffarnagar.

Leaders like Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar have not shown much interest in the so-called `mahagathbandhan’ after the SP’s surprise withdrawal from the coalition during last year’s Bihar polls. The inner rift within the SP makes it further difficult to finalise an alliance.

The announcement by Mulayam, if it is final, will be good news for Mayawati whose attempts at forging a Dalit-Muslim combine in west UP could have faced problem after the formation of a “secular” `mahagathbandhan’.
Continue reading

at 0

The Samajwadi Party on Thursday ruled out possibility of an alliance ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled early next year. Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said that they will not enter into alliance with any party. He, however, clarified that he was not averse to merger of any party into the SP. “Samajwadi Party kisi bhi dal se alliance nahi karegi, jo koi party me merger karna chahe kar sakta hai,” the SP chief said.

The Samajwadi Party’s election campaign has begun on an ugly note with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav fighting a bitter battle publicly with his uncle and party state chief Shivpal Singh Yadav over control of the party. Mulayam, however, tried to broker peace between the two, but that does not seem to have an effect on the ground.

There were reports that amid this family fight, Shival visited Delhi scouting for alliance. A tie-up with the Congress looked plausible as the Grand Old Party is aiming to regain its foothold in the crucial state. Congress party’s election strategist Prashant Kishore has also met Akhilesh.

On the Narendra Modi-led Central government’s move to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, Mulayam said, “If anybody has fought against black money after Ram Manohar Lohia, it is Samajwadi Party. We also want to bring back black money and utilise it in development of our nation, stop using black money in elections.”

Mulayam said the SP wanted the BJP government to ‘pull back this ban on currency for few days and let people arrange something.’ He, however, said his party was with the government. “BJP promised to bring back black money in their election campaigns, but after getting public pressure they ban Rs 500/1000 notes,” he said.

Slamming the Centre, he said, “Government has spread anarchy in entire country, common man is not even able to buy daily products.”
Continue reading
no image

at 0

NEW DELHI: Putting an end to the Samajwadi party's ongoing rift, UP governor Ram Naik on Saturday evening reallocated ministries to party leader Shivpal Yadav that were taken away from him, barring the portfolio of PWD.

The portfolios — irrigation, revenue, flood management and medical education have been given back to the minister after days of tussle with his nephew and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Earlier in the day, Akhilesh had signalled rapproachment with uncle Shivpal Yadav and promised to support him as SP's state unit president, a post from which he was himself removed three days back bringing the family feud in the open.

At the same time, Akhilesh asserted that he should have a role in deciding candidates for next year's Assembly polls, on a day when hundreds of people came out in his support which was disapproved of by party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. Akhilesh, after his meeting with Shivpal also asserted that there was o rift within the party and that they stand united.

"I have congratulated him (Shivpal Yadav) on being the Uttar Pradesh chief of the Samajwadi Party and have asked all Samajwadi workers to congratulate him," Akhilesh Yadav told reporters here.

SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav had earlier asked Akhilesh to hand over 13 portfolios to Shivpal.

The schism within the party had spilled into the open after chief minister Akhilesh Yadav stripped uncle Shivpal of key ministerial portfolios on September 13, hours after he was replaced with Shivpal as the party's state unit chief by Mulayam.
Continue reading

at 0

An elated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee evoked late Mahasweta Devi and others "who made sacrifices fighting for" the Singur land that was given to the Tatas after the Supreme Court on Wednesday scrapped the deal. The court has directed the state government to take possession of 400 acres of land and distribute it among the original land owners within 12 weeks.


The Supreme Court set aside the land acquired the West Bengal Government in 2006 to facilitate Tata Motors to set up its plant for the ambitious ultra-small car, the Nano. Addressing the press in Kolkata, Mamata said, "I am remembering those people who made sacrifices fighting for this. I would expect everyone to celebrate this Singur utsav, it's like a invocation of the celebration to Durga Puja."
Continue reading

at 0
"Till now we have created only hash-tags, if Mr PM doesn't takes back his statement calling 80% of Gau Rakshak as `gundas', he should get ready for slogan reverberation" Pawan Pandit aggressively challenges to PM Modi. "Please forgive us Mr.Modi, from now on, our thoughts will not going to match. You have changed your views but we will die as 'Hindu' " Pawan Pandit added. Pawan Pandit says to Prime Minister that if he doesn't steps back on calling 80% of Cow Rights Activists as `Gundas' ,he should get ready for filling the calaboose movement (Jail Bharo Andolan )


It may be recalled that Prime Minister stated in a TV program on 6th of August claiming 70-80% of Gau Rakshaks as 'Gundas' . It has hurt sentiments of vast majority of Indians. As the holy cow of India is being worshiped by a large number of Indians irrespective of cult,sect,religion,caste or creed.


Shri.Pawan Pandit, Chairperson of the Bhartiya Gau Raksha Dal . The BGRD was incorporated in March 2012, under companies act 1956 with ministry of cooperate affairs as Not for Profit Organization(NPO).Pandit says it’s difficult to establish the count of BGRD volunteers across the country. BGRD volunteers comes from almost all walks of life. A volunteer could be a housewife, an educator, a businessman, a shopkeeper, a retired person, a student, a medico, a lawyer, a writer, an artist, or an engineer like Pandit himself. What’s common to them is that all believe it is their responsibility to protect the cow.
The main Objective of BGRD is to care for stray, abandoned cows, bulls, retired oxen, and orphaned calves. Bhartiya Gau Raksha Dal provide them hay, flour, fresh grass, clean water, medical attention and a place where they can recuperate from injuries and stay peacefully and to protect the Cows and Improve their Feeding and Living Standards and keep them in clean atmosphere.


“Forget that cow slaughter hurts our sensibility, forget that our holy book considers slaughter of cow as the biggest crime, forget that we are a majority... at least, look at the cow as the biggest source of economy for rural India. And look at the scientific reasons, the benefits of using its products—be it milk, urine or cow dung. I am not the one saying all this. International research claims so. America, in fact, has patented a cow urine drug,” says Pandit.


"We are not anti-Muslim or anti-Dalit. We are a fraternity which wants to save the cow, which stands for cow rights, not only because many religions and scriptures says so, but as India's holy cow is also a boon for India's rural economy alongside being a divinity " says movement leader Pawan Pandit. 

The Pawan Pandit is asking following to PM Modi and his Sangh Parivar :-
1. According to you, dossiers of cow protection vigilantes should be created, according to us dossiers of Cow smugglers should be created.
2. According to you Cow rights activists are punks but according to us Cow killers are ruffians.
3. For you Cow protection vigilantes are issue but for us Beef Smugglers are issue.
4. You feels that cow dies more because of eating plastic then in slaughter houses, sorry sir we don't agree.
5. You feels about 80% of India's Cow Rights Activists and Cow Protection Vigilantes. We regret to disagree.
Continue reading

at 0
हाल फिलहाल में गौ रक्षकों पर प्रधानमंत्री मोदी की टिप्पणी का प्रखर रूप से विरोध करने से चर्चा में आये पवन पंडित ने इसी मुद्दे पर विहिप नेता प्रवीण तोगड़िया की १३ अगस्त की भावुक प्रेस वार्ता पर बीजेपी के लिए डेमेज कंट्रोल करने की कोशिश का आरोप लगाते हुवे अपने अंदाज में बीजेपी, विहिप और संघ को घेरते हुवे कहा :- प्रवीण तोगड़िया जी आपको बड़ी देर में रोना आता है । हिंदुओं का अपमान तो धर्म निरपेक्ष मोदी ने 7 दिन पहले किया था और आपको रोना आज आ रहा है । क्या इतने दिन आप रोने का अभ्यास कर रहे थे । बंद करो ये हिंदुओं को इस्तेमाल करने वाली राजनीति । हमें सब समझ आता है बीजेपी आपके माध्यम से डेमेज कंट्रोल करने की कोशिश कर रही है ।। लेकिन अब बहुत देर कर दी आते आते । अब तो 2019 का सपना भी मत लेना ये 80% हिन्दू जिनको आपके नेता ने गुंडा और दुकान चलाने वाला कहा है वो 2017 में ही आपका अस्तित्व आपको दिखा देंगे । जब हम समस्त हिन्दू गौ सेवक चिल्ला चिल्ला कर कह रहे थे कि मोदी डोजियर हमारा नहीं गौ तस्करों का बनाओ ।। 
मोदी मुद्दा गौ रक्षक नहीं बल्कि गौ हत्या है ।।
मोदी गुस्सा गौ रक्षक पर मत करो बल्कि गौ तस्कर पर करो ।
मोदी गाय प्लास्टिक खाने से मरती है लेकिन इसलिए नहीं की गौ रक्षक देश में हैं बल्कि इसलिए मरती है क्योकि आपने लाखों एकड़ गोचर भूमि अपने व्यवसायी मित्रों से वापस नहीं ली ।
इसलिए भी मरती हैं क्योकिं आपने दो साल में भी केंद्र में कोई कानून नहीं बनाया ।।
इसलिए प्लास्टिक खाकर भी मरती हैं क्योकि आप चारा खाने वाले लालु प्रसाद की तरह धर्म निरपेक्ष बन रहे हैं । लेकिन आप कहतें है कि कत्लखाने में कम कटती हैं तो क्या मोदी आप कत्लखानों में अधिक गाय कटवाना चाहते हैं । आखिर आपकी मनसा क्या है। आप मॉस निर्यात में भारत को प्रथम स्थान पर तो ले गए अब ओर क्या करना चाहते हैं। इन सब के बीच प्रवीण तोगड़िया की प्रेस वार्ता का जिक्र करते हुवे पवन पंडित के कहा कि तोगड़िया साहब के घड़ियाली आसुं तब क्यों सूख गए थे जब विश्व हिन्दू परिषद् और संघ ने ब्यान देते ही मोदी की पीठ थपथपा दी थी फिर अब हमारे विरोध का समर्थन करके अपनी राजनीति बचाने की नाकाम कोशिश की क्या जरूरत आन पड़ी । और आगे बीजेपी पर कटाक्ष करते हुवे कहा कि हमने पहले ही कह दिया था अब बीजेपी हिंदुत्व की राजनीती नहीं करना चाहती इसीलिए मोदी ने गौ सेवा प्रकोष्ट भी बीजेपी से भंग कर दिए लेकिन हिंदुत्व के लिए , हिंदुओं के सम्मान के लिए और गौ रक्षा के लिए हमारी लड़ाई जारी रहेगी।
Continue reading

at 0
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) senior leader Brijpal Teotia was attacked by unknown assailants who fired several rounds seriously injuring the leader and co-passengers. The 49-year old leader from Muradnagar was rushed to Fortis Hospital in Noida. 

The unknown attackers surrounded the leader’s car and kept firing indiscriminately. 

Minister of State (MoS) and BJP leader Mahesh Sharma has left from his residence to meet the injured leader. 

Tavatia’s gunman, driver and four others also sustained major injuries. 

According to sources, the gunmen used AK-47 type of weapon to shoot the senior leader and his companions. 

One of the weapons has been seized by the police. SSP Ghaziabad has cordoned off Muradnagar and nearby areas. The location of the attackers has been traced near SRM University, while they are still on the run. 

A few days back, the minister had attended the internal party meet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Brijpal Teotia had also fought assembly elections from Muradnagar in 2012.
Continue reading

at 0

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Chhatarpur, Kartar Singh Tanwar was an honest man when he had contested 2015 Delhi Assembly election, because it was the mandate of the party that took birth from the movement called ‘India Against Corruption’, to field honest and unblemished candidates.


In his affidavit submitted with the Election Commission, Tanwar had declared his assets worth Rs 17.64 crore — of which immovable assets were Rs 7.69 crore and movable assets Rs 9.95 crore. His fleet of cars cost Rs 72 lakh.


But, what about Tanwar’s unaccounted income worth Rs 130 crore that the Income Tax (I-T) department has now found?


With more skeletons tumbling out of the cupboard, it would be a tough time for Income Tax official-turned-Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to save his legislator Kartar Singh Tanwar from the clutches of the I-T department.


Having conducted a series of searches on 27 July, the I-T department has claimed a recovery of Rs 130 crore of unaccounted income and investment from this Chhatarpur MLA on Tuesday. The raids were conducted at the residence, office and farmhouse of the MLA and also at the residences of his brother and domestic help.


The tax department has already seized unaccounted cash and jewellery of about Rs 1 crore from Tanwar and his brother.


“Searches have revealed several illegal transactions by Kartar Singh Tanwar, who bought land and farm houses in Chhatarpur and adjoining Ghitorni. All these were done through cash transactions and more than 30 companies were floated for the purpose,” an I-T official privy to investigation said on condition of anonymity.


Many people in Chhatarpur call Tanwar a ‘land shark’, who has amassed wealth by buying and selling land, especially farm houses. Chhatarpur area in Delhi is known for its farm houses.




Tanwar’s transactions

The I-T investigation comprising searches, scrutiny of documents and questioning of the MLA twice by tax sleuths, has revealed some details of Tanwar’s alleged transactions.

“From the amount of wealth amassed by Tanwar, it’s clear that he has been into these dealings for over a decade,” the official said.

- Tanwar’s transactions have been majorly through cash. He received smaller amounts or token amounts through cheques, whereas the bulk payment used to be in cash only. No tax was paid on this unaccounted cash, as there was no proof of any transaction taking place.
- To avoid paying stamp duty and registration fee, Tanwar allegedly used power of attorney to buy and sell land and farm houses. In Delhi, a property can’t be registered in the person’s name who buys it, if it’s through power of attorney. Similarly, if transfer of property takes place through power of attorney, one need not pay stamp duty. This way the Chattarpur MLA evaded paying duty and fees.
- Tanwar floated more than 30 fictitious companies to show transactions. By fudging books of accounts, he allegedly showed the money he got from land dealings as ‘unsecured loans and advances’.
- He amassed wealth through benami properties.

“He evaded paying tax as no receipts were given against the payments he received in cash and dealings were not done either through cheques or demand drafts. Moreover, by not paying stamp duty and registration fee, Tanwar has cheated the Delhi government,” the I-T source said.

The I-T department is also investigating unexplained and unaccounted expenses on construction of a mall, residential houses, marriage expenses and farm houses having possibility of substantial tax evasion.

“The department has also found a large number of documents showing unaccounted and benami properties. An assessment of the value of these transactions is being done,” the source claimed.
Continue reading

at 0


State BJP president Vijay Rupani was on Friday named the next chief minister of Gujarat while senior minister Nitin Patel - who was a frontrunner till the last moment - was made the deputy chief minister.

Rupani's appointment comes after former CM Anandiben Patel resigned from the post earlier this week citing her age, adding that she wanted younger leaders to takeover the reigns of the party prior to the 2017 state assembly elections.

Like most BJP leaders, Rupani has had his roots in the RSS and the ABVP, the students' wing of the BJP.

Prior to contesting the Rajkot West assembly seat that was vacated by Vajubhai Vala, who was appointed the Governor of Karnataka, Rupani's political career was confined to Saurashtra region of the state.

He was a councillor and subsequently the mayor of the Rajkot civic body, and also a Member of Parliament from Rajkot.

Over the past year-and-a-half, Rupani gained a political stature within the BJP and emerged as a front runner for the post of CM.

During the Patidar reservation stir, he was seen as the leader with the healing touch, often making the peacemaking moves even as disgruntled Patels threatened to desert the BJP.


But, his proximity to outgoing chief minister Anandiben Patel seems to have gone against him, considering the fact that Anandiben and BJP president Amit Shah never shared a good relationship and were always at loggerheads.

Vijay Rupani is extremely close to Amit Shah and it has worked in his favour.

Anandiben Patel who put up a spirited fight on behalf of Nitin Patel in the BJP MLAs meet was finally asked to tell Nitin Patel to accept the post of deputy chief minister.

Post the announcement, the BJP leadership congratulated Rupani and wished him the very best.
Continue reading

at 0
Terming the global slowdown as transient, the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday asked the industry to seize the opportunity to expand their business and prepare themselves for better times.



"We are passing through transformational times and in these transformational times, those who have taken over the challenge, I think must seize this as a global opportunity," Jaitley said while inaugurating the India International Footwear Fair in New Delhi.


The world is not doing well today at all, it is in a slowdown mode now, he said.

"Therefore with the globe not doing so well, global markets shrinking, some of the more advanced units, particularly in leather are facing challenge because of shrinkage of global markets, but that's not an everlasting phenomenon. That could be a transient phenomenon, and even in that we have to seize the opportunity for ourselves," he said.

Emphasising that India has potential particularly in non-leather footwear to become a world beater, he said, this is one industry that India is capable of finding core competence.



Over the last few years India has shown potential as far as services are concerned but for some reason the country missed out in manufacturing, he added.



The two big employment generator in the manufacturing sector are textile and apparel, and leather.



Highlighting various steps taken by the government, the Finance Minister said last four months have seen three very significant steps — Aadhaar law, Bankruptcy Code and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) law.



In the biggest tax reform since Independence, the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday approved the GST bill to replace a raft of different state and local taxes with a single unified value added tax system to turn the country into world's biggest single market.



"These spate of changes are taking place, when the world is otherwise in a slowdown phase," he said.
Continue reading
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)