Today being the second last day today to file their nominations leaders of all parties filed their respective nominations from their respective constituencies.
Nomination Glore Today
Coalition theory should be followed by both JDS and Congress: Kumaraswamy
Mysuru, Mar 25 : Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, who heads the JDS-Congress Coalition government, today said that his party will follow the coalition theory but other party should also follow the same.
Speaking to newsmen at Chamundi Hill, after offering special Prayer before his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy filing his nomination for Mandya Lok Sabha seat.
Stating that there was some coalition theory problem particularly in Mandya, Hassan as well as in Tumkur Lok Sabha seats, he asked the Congress party leaders to support his party candidates in eight constituencies including Bangaluru North.
“I am ready for joint campaign in all the 28 constituencies in the state and expecting same response from the Congress leaders also”, he added.
Agencies
No one should politicise or take credit for air strikes against Pakistan: Gadkari
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[Nasheman news] New Delhi Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the Indian Air Force strikes against terrorists in Pakistan’s Balakot should not be linked to the general elections and no one should either politicise or take credit for it.
In an interview to IANS, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation said that he was neither a contender for any post nor was he in any race for the prime ministership.
He said that Narendra Modi would return as Prime Minister with a huge mandate and it would be bigger than the one he got in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
“Air strikes against Pakistan should not be linked to elections. It should neither be made an electoral issue nor should anyone take credit for it,” Gadkari said, and added that if opposition parties were raising doubts over it, it was their problem.
“But I would request them that they should not do politics over it,” he said.
Asked why the ruling dispensation was raising the issue in its election campaign, he said: “Security is supreme for us. This issue should not be politicised. If anyone in India raises doubts on the martydom of our soldiers, if someone speaks in the language Pakistan speaks, all these go against the country’s interest. These are issues of national security and everyone should speak in one voice. There should not be politics over such issues.”
On speculation that he could be projected as the next Prime Minister if his party needed the support of other political parties to form a government after the elections, Gadkari said he was not in the race to be Prime Minister in case of a fractured mandate.
“Neither do I have any aspirations nor does the RSS have any such plans. There is nothing like this. My statement was twisted by the media. You can go to YouTube and listen to it. I never said so. Neither am I a contender for any post nor am I in any race. In fact, I am sure that the we will get a bigger majority than we got in 2014 and Modiji will again become Prime Minister,” he said.
Asked about the reasons behind this confidence, he cited the steps taken by the government like the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, full tax rebate on earning up to Rs 5 lakh, assured monthly pension for the unorganized labour force and 10 per cent reservation for the poor among the general categories.
Gadkari said the fact that opposition parties were trying to unite against Modi was not a new political phenomenon. A similar attempt had been made in the 1971 elections against Indira Gandhi and had failed.
“My experience in politics says two plus two is not always four. So speculating on the basis of arithmetic will not be proper. I don’t think that the BJP will lose much seats as being predicted. We will increase our tally. Like Indira Gandhi, Modi will defeat the opposition,” he said.
The senior BJP leader and former party President rejected the charges as opposition’s conspiracy that his party was trying to create an atmosphere in the country that “Modi is India and India is Modi” on the very lines of the Congress slogan “India is Indira and Indira is India”.
“We are patriots and dedicated to our motherland. We never said this. This is a conspiracy of the opposition parties,” he said.
On the BJP’s 2014 election promise of “achhe din” and bringing back black money stashed abroad, he said the government had provided electricity in all villages, houses for all, gas cylinders and health security.
“Those who have benefitted from these schemes are saying that achhe din has come for them.
“India’s image has also gone up across the world and the return of Wing Commander (Abhinandan) in 48 hours following his capture by Pakistani forces is the best example of this,” he said.
Asked about the impact of Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Uttar Pradesh politics, he said: “I don’t think that she would make any impact.”
On her boat ride from Prayag Raj to Varanasi, he said: “If I had not constructed the waterways, how she could have travelled. I got to know that she drank Ganga water. These two things prove that she has accepted our good work.”
“I am confident that the Ganga will be 100 per cent clean by March 2020. We will show the world that our heritage river and symbol of our rich history and culture is restored. We will overcome. We are also working to clean the Yamuna river. Thirteen projects are already going on for cleaning and with these the sewage water going into the Yamuna will be stopped. A change can be seen in the next one year,” he said.
The minister said the BJP was a cadre-based party which opposed dynasty and caste politics.
“I can say with full confidence that our ideology, our cadres and our organisation is our strength. The party never belonged to any leader. Be it Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L. K. Advani, Gadkari, Amit Shah or Modi. This party runs on its principles.
“Good governance and development is our mission. We work for socio-economic transformation. Work that could not be done in the last 50 years has been completed by us in five years,” he said.
Congress fields B.K. Hariprasad from Bangalore South
Bengaluru, March 24 (Nasheman News) : Senior Congress leader B.K. Hariprasad has been named the party candidate from the high-profile Bangalore South constituency.
The name of Hariprasad, currently a Rajya Sabha member, was among the 10 candidates in various states released on Sunday after a meeting of the Central Election Committee.
The party on late Sunday night named candidates for 18 of the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies it is contesting in the state under a seat-sharing agreement with its ruling ally Janatal Dal-Secular (JD-S), which will contest the remaining eight seats. The candidates for Bangalore North and South were not named.
Late Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.N. Ananth Kumar was the sitting MP from the prestigious Bangalore South constituency for a record six terms since 1996.
In the 2014 general elections, he had defeated Congress star candidate and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, who entered the political arena after resigning as Chairman of the state-run Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues the Aadhaar card to citizens across the country.
Though the BJP is yet to name its candidate from the seat, Kumar’s widow Tejaswini has been tipped to enter the fray in a bid to retain the seat, riding on the sympathy wave for her husband and the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Tejaswini has agreed to contest from Bangalore South to carry on the legacy of her husband who was a popular leader in the constituency,” a BJP official told media.
Though there were rumours that Modi may contest from the same constituency, there was no confirmation from the party’s high command.
Modi has already been named to re-contest from the Varanasi parliamentary seat in Uttar Pradesh.
Petrol price down 7 paise, diesel dips 8 paise
[Nasheman news] New Delhi Petrol prices declined by 7 paise across the metropolitan cities on Thursday after remaining unchanged for the last two days, data from the Indian Oil Corp’s website showed.
In the national capital, petrol was priced at Rs 72.71 per litre, down from Rs 72.78 on Wednesday. In Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, price of the fuel was at Rs 74.79, Rs 78.33 and Rs 75.52 per litre respectively, against the previous levels of Rs 74.86, Rs 78.40 and Rs 75.59 per litre.
Although domestic fuel prices declined on Thursday, largely, the price trend has been on an upward movement during the first three months of 2019, except a few days of price drop. In Delhi, petrol prices have risen around Rs 4 per litre since January 1, 2019.
The uptrend in domestic prices is largely attributed to the recent bullish global crude oil prices. The benchmark Brent crude oil is currently trading around $68 per barrel.
Under the dynamic pricing policy, the retail fuel prices in the country are based on the a 15-day average of global crude prices along with the rupee-US dollar exchange rate.
In tandem with petrol prices, the cost of diesel also declined on Thursday. In Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, diesel was sold for Rs 66.72, Rs 68.51, Rs 69.89 and Rs 70.50 per litre, down from Rs 66.80, Rs 68.59, Rs 69.97 and Rs 70.59 per litre on Wednesday.
34 farmers’ suicides in Bengal in 8 months: Congress
[Nasheman news] Kolkata Alleging that 34 debt-stressed farmers and agricultural labourers have committed suicide in West Bengal in the recent past, state Congress president Somen Mitra on Sunday ridiculed the Trinamool Congress government’s claims that peasants’ income has tripled since it came to power in 2011.
Joining issue with senior Trinamool leader and state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim, Mitra said: “The situation in the state is such that 34 farmers and agricultural workers have taken their own lives over the past eight months as they were debt-stressed.
“But the problem is the state government is in a denial mode. The minister claims that farmers’ income has tripled. Why would the farmers commit suicide then?”
Assailing the state government, Mitra said when distressed farmers throw their produce like potato, chillies and vegetables on the highway, then the state ministers remain mum.
“Due to the inefficiency of this government, the famers do not get the minimum support price and are forced to sell their produce at a very low price to middlemen backed by the Trinamol.”
Regarding unemployment, Mitra accused the state government of resorting to statistical jugglery to downplay the number of jobless people in the state.
“But any discerning observer would find the real situation diametrically opposite to the government’s projections. School Service Commission candidates are on indefinite hunger strike. Our youths are getting killed in other states where they had gone in search of jobs. If there are adequate job opportunities in Bengal, then why are they being forced to move to other states?” he asked.
Referring to Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s speech at an election rally in Malda district’s Chanchal, Mitra said he has highlighted the true picture of the state.
On Hakim’s criticism that Gandhi was ignorant about the state due to the state Congress’ss failure in feeding him the proper data, Mitra said “Firhad has also commented that Gandhi’s allegations will strengthen the hands of the BJP.
“Nothing can be further from truth. The leader who is giving sleepless nights to BJP across the country, and under whose leadership the Congress has defeated the BJP in three key states, is now being given a bad name. Nothing can be more unfortunate.”
Prince Charles in Cuba on first royal visit
[Nasheman News] Havana Britain’s Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall Camilla have arrived in Cuba on their first royal visit to the country.
The royal couple arrived on Sunday and was greeted by Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Ana Teresita Gonzalez at the Jose Marti International airport here, Xinhua news agency reported.
They set off for the Revolution Plaza first and attended a wreath-laying ceremony at national hero Jose Marti’s monument.
According to the schedule released by the Cuban Foreign Ministry, the royal couple will tour Havana’s colonial quarter on Monday.
They will be formally welcomed by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel later when official talks would be held.
On Tuesday, the foundation stone laying ceremony of a solar farm at the Special Development Zone of Mariel is scheduled. Later they will attend a Cultural Gala at the Havana’s Grand Theater “Alicia Alonso”.
On Wednesday afternoon they will depart on a private flight to the Cayman Islands.
This is part of their 12-day Caribbean tour, which has already taken them to Saint Lucia, Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada.
Live Band: 17 people, including Bar Owner arrested.
Bengaluru, Mar 23 : Police have nabbed 17 people, including Bar owners, Managers and 13 customers and rescued 10 girls from Punjab and Delhi during a raid conducted on illegal Live Band run in the name of Srinivasa Bar and Restaurant (Orange) in the city on Saturday.
Police said that during the raid Bar owners and Managers Santosh, Abishek, Umesh and Ramesh and 13 customers were arrested. Another Bar owner Venkatesh is absconding.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that the girls were recruited as Bar girls but forced them to dance indecently near the customers and provoked them to throw currency notes on the dancing girls.
During the raid Police have also seized 19 mobile phones, Rs 1,30,890 cash, Music systems worth about Rs 2,50,000.
Vyalikaval Police have registered a case and investigating.
Congress MP Muddu Hanumegowda decides to file nomination
Tumakuru, Karnataka, Mar 23: The JDS-Congress putting up united fight in the General Election may receive a setback in Tumakuru segment in Karnataka as sitting Congress Lok Sabha member Muddu Hanumegowda vowed to file his nomination papers on Monday.
Congress had alotted Tumakuru seat to JD(S) as part of pre-poll understanding though it had a sitting member in Mr Hanumegowda. Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda in all probability to contesting from this seat.
“I still have confidence of senior Congress leaders convincing Mr Devegowda and JD(s) to give up this seat in favour of Congress and giving me the ticket to contest. If I did not get the ticket I will file nomination as Congress candidate on Monday,” Mr Hanumegowda told crowded press conference here on Saturday.
JDS-Congress which joined hands to form the Government to keep BJP at bay, had decided to put up united fight in the General Election to the Lok Sabha in an attempt to deny BJP winning more seat in the State.
However, despite appeal by Deputy Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Dr G Parameshwara to allow Mr Muddu Hanumegowda to contest as per decision taken in the State Screening Committee to allow all the sitting Congress members to contest. However, Dr Parameshwara had also announced that he has no objection if Mr Devegowda himself decides contest from Tamakuru and had assured that Congress and JDS workers would work for his (Mr Devegowda) victory.
Since Mr Devegowda is yet to announce his candidature for the Tumakuru seat, Mr Hanumegowda is still hopping of his party senior leaders convincing him and wait till Monday for the decision of the leaders.
“Let me wait for the official decision of the leaders. I am confident of getting Congress ticket, even otherwise I will file my nomination on Monday on Congress ticket,” Mr Hanumegowda said.
LS polls: Confident Srinivas Prasad says he is ready for the battle
Mysuru, Mar 23 : Senior BJP leader V Srinivas Prasad will be filing his nomination from the Chamarajanagar constituency on March 26.
Speaking newsmen on Saturday he said, ?Battle lines are drawn and I will not not rest until I win this election and strengthen the BJP. We will get 16 days for campaigning and the preparations are already on.?
He said NDA retain power as the Congress has become weaker and given away eight seats to JD(S) fearing backlash. The coalition government has a lot of issues. People are confident about BJP and the party will surely win more number of seats than last time, he said.
Mr Prasad, a former union and Karnataka minister had won from Chamarajanagara five times in the past and twice was an MLA, all from Congress party. Later he shifted to the BJP.
Responding to B S Yeddyurappa’s diary row, for union minister said this will have no impact and no one has taken it seriously as it was fake and concocted document. He said that the BJP too can make such allegations and they don’t want to stoop down to such level.
Responding to the teacher-student relationship between him and Dhruvanarayan, the sitting Congress MP, Mr Prasad said he was not in BJP and that means he was a political rival. But as a junior in politics, the personal relationship was not affected. But there is no such relationship in politics. It is the people who will decide everything in democracy and said there has been a lot of changes in politics in the last couple of years.
Referring to Mandya constituency, he said BJP had fielded a candidate and whether it would deeply affect the Congress or help independent candidate Sumalata, all steps have been taken according to a plan.
”BJP central leadership will take the final decision. The situation in Congress in Mandya is bad and they are suspending their party members. Our leaders will take the right decision at the right time,? he added.