Senior Congress leader and former Speaker of the State Assembly K.R. Suresh Reddy expressed his shock and dismay over the untimely demise of YSRCP sitting member and contestant Shoba Nagireddy in a ghastly road accident.
TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao today lambasted BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu for their unholy alliance and their criticism in recent public speeches.
Terming “Modi as an enemy” of the region, KCR found fault with Naidu for having a truck with the BJP, which is communal. The TDP and BJP combine is not pure and will not clinch support of people, he said. KCR said Naidu will go to jail after the general elections as he allegedly sold Nizam Sugar Factory.
Congress MLA candidate from Secunderabad Assembly constituency Jayasudha is expected to get support from another noted Telugu Actress and former MP Jayaprada. She is likely to conduct campaigning for her cinema colleague Jayasudha in Secunderabad Assembly segment.
In a dramatic development, Israel today suspended peace talks with the Palestinians in the wake of a unity deal between Fatah-led Palestinian Authority and Islamist Hamas that rules the Gaza Strip since June 2007.
Following a seven hour marathon meeting of Israel’s top decision making body, the Jewish state also threatened to take unspecified steps against the unilateral moves of the Palestinian leadership.
Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan today urged Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung to ban sale of junk food from all government and private schools in the national capital for the “good health” of children, following a High Court observation.
The court yesterday had directed for a list to be prepared segregating healthy food items from that of eatables which have high fat, sugar and salt contents.
Pakistan Cricket Board today removed Muhammad Akram as the bowling coach of the national team while giving him the fresh responsibilities of being a member of the national selection committee and head coach at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.
As expected, Akram, a former Test pacer, was removed as bowling coach in the shake up in Pakistan cricket as the PCB also announced five members on the selection committee which is headed by former Test captain Moin Khan.
The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Partap Singh Bajwa today proposed that the sacred Kartarpur Sahib shrine situated across Ravi in Pakistan opposite Dera Baba Nanak of Gurdaspur district should be exchanged with some other Indian territory.
He said for a long time the Sikh devotees had been longing for free access to this shrine where the founder of the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak Dev, spent last years of his entire life.
Former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress candidate from Amritsar, Captain Amarinder Singh today questioned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi whether he is coming to Amritsar to give his stamp of approval to Bikram Singh Majithia’s criminal politics.
Captain Amarinder also reminded Modi of the promise he had made to people of Punjab about Punjabi farmers of Gujarat that they won’t be forced to leave Gujarat but has not done anything about it so far.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said Narendra Modi and BJP cannot be viewed as separate from each other and maintained the Prime Ministerial candidate has blessings of all top party leaders.
“BJP and Modi are complementary to each other. They are inseparable and Modi has full blessings of party’s stalwarts like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, among others,” he said.
Chouhan was talking to reporters after casting his vote along with his wife, Sadhna, at his ancestral village Jait in Vidisha Parliamentary constituency.
Hours after filing nomination papers from here, Narendra Modi laid a roadmap for the constituency to bring a “sea change” in lives of people of the city, to clean up the town as well as the Ganga river, and to infuse weaving sector with latest technology.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will be addressing public gatherings in Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh Friday (April 25), according to a statement issued by his office Thursday.
“Rahul Gandhi will hold an election rally in Lalitpur district of Jhansi Lok Sabha constituency in the morning, and then head for Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, where he will be addressing a public meeting at 15:15 hours,” the statement said.
Gandhi will hold his third rally at 17:15 hours at Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad, which comes under the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency.
–IANS
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of crossing all boundaries of corruption. Addressing an election rally in Valsad district of Gujarat, Gandhi hit out at the BJP and said Congress party only brought Right to Information Act (RTI). “BJP leaders, who have crossed all the limits of corruption, allege Congress party for indulging in corruption. We only brought a strong weapon like RTI (Right to Information) to fight corruption,” said Gandhi. Sonia Gandhi reiterated that Congress was not just a party but an ideology.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Thursday said that BJP’s “Tsunami wave” will wash away the Congress. Speaking at a rally here, Modi said, “There is Tsunami like wave in the entire country and this Tsunami will washout the existence of Congress party.” The rally on the day of the sixth phase of the general elections, in which voters of 117 constituencies in the nation”s 11 states and one Union Territory cast their ballots.
Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah retained a clear lead in the latest Afghan presidential election results released today, but he remained below the threshold needed for a decisive first-round victory.
Abdullah has secured 43.8 per cent of the vote, with his main rival Ashraf Ghani on 32.9 per cent, election officials said, after about 80 per cent of ballots were counted.
If no candidate gains more than 50 per cent, a second- round run-off between the two leading names is scheduled for May 28.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi would campaign in the Telangana region over the next three days as electioneering comes to an end on April 28.
The Prime Minister would address a public meeting at Bhongir in Nalgonda district at 4 pm on April 26, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh told reporters here today.
Rahul Gandhi would speak at two election meetings to be held tomorrow in Warangal and Hyderabad, while Congress president Sonia Gandhi would address a public meeting at Andhole in Medak district on April 27.
Sent into bat, Kolkata Knight Riders scored 150/7 in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Royal Challengers Bangalore here today.
Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders: 150/7 in 20 overs (Chris Lynn 45, Jacques Kallis 43; Varun Aaron 3/16).
Clarifying her allegedly controversial remarks that Muslims should become “communal” rather than secular, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Shazia Ilmi said today that she had made a sarcastic comment which meant “think about the community”.
“There is a difference between ‘communal’ and ‘sectarian’. There is also a diffrence between ‘communal’ and ‘communalism’,” Ilmi said, addressing a press conference here.
Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwar Lal today said that general elections will be held as per schedule and Allagadda segment will be part of it. He revealed this to press persons after receiving an appeal from YSRCP to postpone the elections in Allagadda as sitting MLA Shobha Nagi Reddy died in an accident. There is no postponement or cancellation of elections in Allagadda in the wake of Shobha’s death, he said. He said that YSRCP is not a registered party on which Shobha is contesting. When asked Bhanwar Lal maintained that he will write to Election Commission of India in this regard. (NSS)
Stating that TDP leader Nandamuri Balakrishna starrer “Legend” contains political dialogues and likely to influence the voters, the YSR Congress Party filed a petition before the Election Commission to suspend the screening of the film till the elections are completed in the State.
Following the complaint, a five-member team from the Election Commission viewed the “Legend” in Prasad Labs on Thursday. The EC officials are likely to submit a report to the State Chief Election Officer Bhanwar Lal about the film.
YSR Congress Party has deeply mourned the death of Party MLA Sobha Nagi Reddy (46), who died in a city hospital while undergoing treatment for multiple injuries.
Party President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Honorary President YS VIjayama and Sharmila have suspended their campaign and returned to city.
YS Vijayamma has visited the hospital and mourned the death of Sobha Nagi Reddy, the Deputy floor leader of the Party, who was critically injured in a road mishap at her native Allagadda while returning from electioneering last night. YS Vijayamma has consoled the bereaved family members.
Following strong criticism from different quarters of Muslim community for extending support to Lok Satta Party president Dr Jayaprakash Narayan from Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat, the Muslim United Forum on Thursday reversed its decision and announced its support for Union Minister Sarve Satyanarayana.
Loksatta Party national President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan today suggested that the unfolding titanium mining scam in Andhra Pradesh be viewed as an opportunity to usher in laws to ensure sure and swift punishment to the corrupt.
It may be recalled that the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation has asked the State Crime Investigation Department to “provisionally arrest” K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, MP and Adviser to Late Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy in connection with the mining license scam.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today asked Congress to help in formation of Third Front government at the Centre after polls if it really wants to stop communal party like BJP.
“If Congress was really serious about stopping communal BJP, it should help in formation of Third front government at the Centre,” Yadav said while talking to reporters after casting his vote.
Former Army Chief and BJP candidate from Ghaziabad seat V K Singh today accused Manmohan Singh government of making the Army weak in the last 10 years of his regime.
Singh, who was here to campaign for party candidate Smriti Irani contesting against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, said that there were several shortcomings but he being a former army chief was not in a position to speak more about it.
“But I want to say that during 10 year regime of Manmohan government attention was not given on the betterment of Army and it has become weak,” he said.
With her party facing the heat over the Saradha chit fund scam during the Lok Sabha elections, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said she never did politics for money.
“I do politics of people and not money. Now politics mean canards, propaganda and quarrels and a means to convert white money into black and to create leaders using money,” Banerjee told an election meeting at Burdwan without making any reference to the scam that defrauded lakhs.
“Rather than indulging in such politics, they should be involved in development politics of the people,” she said.