Category: NATIONAL NEWS

Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot on Wednesday declared that they both will contest the December 7 assembly election, firing up the race for the chief minister’s post in the state where the party is seeking to wrest power from the BJP.Gehlot and Pilot, however, dismissed suggestions that there was any infighting among the state leaders and asserted that they will unitedly take on the BJP.The two leaders ended the speculation over whether they will contest the polls at a joint press conference here at…

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Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister and long-time BJP leader Ananth Kumar died at a private hospital here in the early hours of Monday after battling lung cancer for several months. He was 59.The Bangalore South MP, who returned home in October after undergoing treatment in the US and Britain, breathed his last around 2 am with his wife Tejaswini and two daughters by his side, B R Nagaraj, chairperson of the board of trustees of Sri Shankara Cancer Foundation, told DIN.The Union minister, who passed away from complications following cancer and…

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Nearly one lakh security personnel have been deployed in the Naxal-affected districts going to polls in the first phase in Chhattisgarh on Monday, amid the threat from Maoists who have called for a boycott of the elections.On the eve of the polls, a sub-inspector of the Border Security Force (BSF) lost his life when Naxals detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kanker district while a Maoist was gunned down in an encounter in Bijapur district.Voting will be held on Monday in 18 seats spread over eight Naxal-affected districts in…

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Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has broken all records of development during his tenure, BJP president Amit Shah claimed Saturday, and sought to know what the Congress has done for the state.Once counted among laggards, Chhattisgarh has now emerged as one of the most developed states in the country under the leadership of Singh, who became the chief minister in 2003, he said. Shah asked BJP workers to ensure Singh’s victory by at least 70,000 votes from Rajnandgaon assembly seat from where the chief minister is seeking a re-election. The…

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 In a tense showdown at Sabarimala in Kerala, about 200 frenzied devotees Tuesday tried to prevent a woman pilgrim from entering the hilltop shrine suspecting her to be of menstrual age and allegedly attacked a cameraman of a Malayalam television news channel.Ignoring prohibitory orders, devotees and right wing activists gathered in huge numbers at Sannidhanam, the shrine complex, following which a senior state RSS leader addressed them using a microphone to bring the situation under control.Though a rush of pilgrims is hardly witnessed during the annual “Sree Chitira Atta Thirunal”,…

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With the Ram Mandir movement gathering momentum, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said no Hindu text condones the use of violence to get one’s way and scriptures say people should build Ram in their hearts.“In fact, if anything, there is a scripture that says build Ram in your heart. And if Ram is built in our heart it should little matter where else he is or he is not, because he is everywhere,” Tharoor said in an exclusive interview to DIN. The Congress MP was responding to a question about…

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  Aam Admi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal Thursday played down the dissidence led by the party MLA Sukhpal Khaira in its Punjab unit, terming it as the “party’s internal matter”.The AAP’s MLA from Bholath, Khaira is leading a group of eight dissident legislators who revolted against the party after he was removed from the post of the leader of opposition in Punjab assembly in July.As I have said it is the party’s internal matter. Whatever action needs to be taken will be taken at the appropriate time by the party, said…

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday said Congress president Rahul Gandhi is exhibiting “fancy dress Hinduism” to fool people and demanded action against his party colleague Shashi Tharoor for his “scorpion” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The saffron party’s attack on Gandhi came in the backdrop of his frequent visits to temples — the latest being a trip to Ujjain’s Mahakaleshwar temple Monday, ahead of his tour of the politically significant Malwa-Nimar region in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh. The ruling party asked Gandhi to expel Tharoor from the Congress for his…

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Friday welcomed the “intervention” by the Supreme Court in the turmoil at the CBI and hoped the institutional integrity of the investigating agency will be upheld.His reaction came after the Supreme Court asked the Central Vigilance Commission to complete within two weeks its inquiry into allegations against CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma and barred interim director M Nageswara Rao from taking any major policy decision. “Welcome intervention by the hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the CBI matter.”In the interests of the nation, hope that…

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Alok Verma, the chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation, was sent on indefinite leave to pre-empt an investigation into the Prime Minister’s role in the Rafale deal, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said today. The timing of the move – late on Tuesday evening – was a “panic reaction” on part of the government, but “PM Modi will be caught, the nation won’t let the PM escape,” the Congress chief added in his strongest attack so far over the 36-aircraft deal with France. The Congress has said the government’s action…

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