The war of words between TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao and Jana Seva party founder and actor Pawan Kalyan intensified after TRS leader Kavita also criticized the actor for his comments against KCR.
Both KCR and Pawan Kalyan on Monday participated in election campaign in Nizamabad district and traded charges against each other.
The din and dust besides the stench of the verbal diarrhea raised during the three-week long electioneering, considered as one of the most bitter and fiercest fought in a poll battle, settled down with the curtains drawn on the campaign in Telangana today.
Polling will take place for 17 Lok Sabha and 119 Assembly constituencies in Telangana, the 29th state in the country to come into being officially on June 2, will take place on April 30. As many as 267 candidates are in the fray trying their luck to enter the Lok Sabha, while 1682 candidates are in the run for the Assembly seats.
Exuding confidence that BJP will form the next government at the Centre, Narendra Modi today said that the seed for it has already been sown in the six phases of elections held so far and the coming three phases will be about strengthening it.
Modi, in an interview to ETV, said the days of the “mother-son government should be considered over”.
Describing Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party as a “trusted partner” of BJP, he ruled out any tie-up with Jagan Mohan Reddy of YSR Congress, saying there is no “scope” for him and people are clever enough to understand “corrupt persons”.
The Congress today said it will implement a 100-day agenda, including constitution of a Districts Re-organisation Committee (DRC), if it is voted to power in Telangana in the April 30 elections.
“We will set up the DRC and draw a road-map to increase the number of districts in the new state of Telangana to 20 from the existing 10. The 100-day agenda also includes implementing other promises made in our election manifesto for Telangana,” Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said.
In a setback to poor patients, the Delhi High Court Monday exempted city’s four big private hospitals from the “mandatory obligation” to provide free treatment to certain percentage of poor patients.
Saying such mandatory requirement was “not provided in their lease deed”, a division bench of Justice S.Ravindra Bhat and Justice R.V.Easwar allowed the pleas of the hospitals challenging the central government’s order of incorporating a condition inserted in its lease deed for free treatment to the poor.
The heat wave condition in Odisha intensified Monday, with its coal town of Talcher recording a maximum temperature of 43.8 degrees Celsius, the day’s highest in the state, officials said.
People stayed indoors in Talcher town in Angul district, about 170 km from Bhubaneswar.
Talcher is known for its coal reserves and has a number of coal mines.
Shops were closed, government officials who usually go home for lunch preferred to stay at the offices. Roads also wore a deserted look in the town and its nearby areas.
Congress’ star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi will visit Salon assembly segment of Amethi Lok Sabha constituency tomorrow to campaign for her brother and sitting MP Rahul Gandhi.
UPCC spokesman Akhilesh Pratap Singh told PTI that Priyanka will address meetings in Pothai, Dheeh, Chaknenampur and Dharai villages in Salon. She would join padyatra in Ganeshganj and Naseerabad and also address a meeting in Kutiya village.
Salon is a reserved segment in Rae Bareli district.
-_PTI
A case was lodged today against former BJP president Nitin Gadkari, party candidate for Bhadoi Lok Sabha seat Virendra Singh and a dozen other leaders for alleged violation of the model code of conduct.
“A case has been lodged against Gadkari, Singh and dozen other BJP leaders for violation of the model code of conduct at Suryawan Police Station,” Deputy Returning Officer Uma Kant Tripathi said.
In the first such move involving Narendra Modi during the current poll campaign, the Election Commission today sought the CD and transcript of his speech in West Bengal in which he raised questions on the sale price of a painting of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The state EC took suo motu cognisance of Modi’s speech at the rally in Serampore yesterday for any violation of model code even as Banerjee hit back at him, saying the country will be “ruined” and plunge into darkness if he comes to power, a day after a furious Trinamool Congress slammed him as “Butcher of Gujarat”.
BJP leader Arun Jaitley Monday accused Priyanka Gandhi of lowering quality of political debate by her remarks about “panic-stricken rats” for his party after it accused her husband of corruption but she dismissed the charge as a “gift she chose to reject”.
Jaitley’s response came a day after Gandhi reacted strongly in response to a video launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party alleging her husband Robert Vadra made a “Rs.300 crore empire” out of “fraudalent” land deals.
A special CBI court today issued summons to former Andhra Pradesh home minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy and former Secretary of Mines, B Kripanandam in the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) illegal mining case.
The court asked them to be present on June 4.
The summons was issued after the court took cognisance of the supplementary chargesheet filed against Sabitha Reddy and Kripanandam by the CBI on April 9.
According to the CBI, the two sanctioned OMC’s proposal for mining lease by giving it a preferential treatment while rejecting applications of other firms.
The sudden ban on import of Indian mangos by the European Union has hit hard the farmers of Maharashtra, renowned for the luscious Alphonso and other varieties which are in great demand worldwide.
“The ban effective for two seasons till December 2015, subject to a review, will mean losses of at least Rs.50-60 crores for Maharashtra farmers alone,” Federation of Associations of Maharashtra president M.Gurnani told IANS.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today raked up the issue of terrorism to attack BJP, saying nearly 22,000 people died due to the menace during the NDA regime, while there were only 800 such deaths in the UPA’s last five-year tenure.
“During the NDA government’s tenure, nearly 22,000 people died due to terrorism. One of their ministers went to Kandahar to plead with terrorists for the release hostages (of a hijacked Indian Airlines plane),” said Rahul Gandhi while addressing a rally here in support of party candidate Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on the last day of campaigning.
The Supreme Court Monday issued notice to the central government challenging the appointment of woman IPS officer Archana Ramasundram as additional director of the CBI, disregarding the recommendation of the selection committee.
A bench of Chief Justice R.M. Lodha, Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Kurian Joseph issued notice to the central government and others on a plea by journalist and anti-corruption activist Vineet Narain who contended that Ramasundram’s appointment was in breach of statutory provisions and the apex court judgment in the Vineet Narain case.
Pro-Russian militia seized control of TV station in Ukraine”s eastern city of Donetsk. The separatists forcibly switched off Ukranian channels and broadcasted Russian channels that exclusively show and opinionate pro-Kremlin views.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday sought Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP)prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s unconditional apology for his personal attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, or else it would file a defamation suit against him.
Music lovers cheered, as a Bangalore-based rock band paid tribute to English rock band Pink Floyd for their progressive and psychedelic music at a concert in Manipur”s capital Imphal over the weekend.
Enthusiasts thronged the rock music show on Sunday in a bid to promote peace, harmony and tranquillity in the state. Distinguished by their use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, and elaborate live shows, Pink Floyd were one of the most commercially successful and musically influential groups in the history of popular music.
YSR Congress Party chief Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday said people’s welfare is hallmark of YSRCP politics, and called for a change in the present political system.
“We need to change this system and bring in value based politics. We play the politics of people welfare unlike others who come during elections and drift away after polls never to be seen till the next elections,” said Jagan while campaigning here today.
Former Member of Parliament (MP) Shahid Siddiqui on Monday said he not only condemns what the National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah”s threat to secede from India if Narendra Modi gets elected as prime minister, but also, is scared about such statements being aired in the public domain. “I not only condemn what Farooq Abdullah has said, but I am also scared.
Hours after Congress released a CD purportedly showing Narendra Modi in pictures with hawala accused Afroz Fatta, BJP hit back by coming out with pictures showing the same man with Congress MP Md Azharuddin.
BJP legislator Harsh R Sanghavi brought out a picture showing Fatta with cricketer-turned-politician Azharuddin and questioned Congress on it.
“Afroz Phatta with Congressi Leader @azhrudeen will Congress answer what’s there connection with him?,” Sanghavi tweeted.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said the party would persist raising the issue of land dealings, which involves Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra. Vadra has denied the allegations leveled against him of improper dealings with DLF.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Monday described Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as a ”specimen”, who does not have knowledge about Gujarat. “If you want to relieve your stress, then listen to Rahul”s speeches.
Pakistan today said there is “unanimous consensus” that the dialogue process with the Taliban should have a concise agenda and talks should take place under well defined parameters.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today reviewed the overall security situation at a meeting attended by Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi and ISI chief Lt Gen Zaheer-ul-Islam among others.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nitin Gadkari on Monday said that the country was reeling under inflation and price rise due to wrong economic policies and misrule of Congress-led UPA Government. Gadkari criticized Congress party and its alliance United Progressive Alliance (UPA), saying they had created a world record in corruption.
Appealing to the people to vote for a leader who can give them a clean and transparent governance, YS Vijayamma has said that YSR Congress chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will carry forward the legacy of his father, YSR, and balance welfare and development. “We have seen governments before and after YSR that have been very taxing while YSR has given a very soothing touch through his welfare schemes without imposing any fresh taxes.