Poll at general meeting

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat from Sunday, during which he will hold a town hall meeting on “free electricity” and also administer oath to the newly-appointed party office-bearers, a party leader said in Ahmedabad. During his two-day stay in Ahmedabad, the Delhi Chief Minister will also hold meetings with senior leaders of the AAP and interact with party members, he said on Saturday. The Kejriwal-led party is gearing up to contest elections to the 182-member Assembly in BJP-ruled Gujarat to be held by the end of this year. “Kejriwal will reach Ahmedabad airport at 3 p.m. on Sunday. He will administer oath to 7,500 newly-appointed office bearers at a function at 4 p.m. They will take pledge to work whole-heartedly for the party and encourage workers for the upcoming Assembly election,” AAP’s national joint secretary Isudan Gadhvi told reporters in Ahmedabad. Also read: AAP announces new office-bearers in Gujarat … [Read more...] about Kejriwal to be on two-day Gujarat visit from Sunday; to hold town hall meet on ‘free electricity’

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is trying its luck in the municipal elections for the first time in Madhya Pradesh, promising free water, better schools and healthcare facilities. The party has chosen mayoral candidates for 14 out of 16 municipal corporations in the State, the AAP’s State unit chief Pankaj Singh said on July 2. “We have chosen mayoral candidates in 14 out of 16 municipal corporations. We have also fielded candidates for corporators post,” Mr. Singh said. The elections to 413 urban bodies in Madhya Pradesh will be held on July 6 and 13. The party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will take out a roadshow in support of his party’s mayoral candidate Rani Agrawal in Singrauli during the day. “Our major poll plank for the municipal elections is free water. We are going to make water tax-free in the urban civic bodies where we win,” Mr. Singh said. He further claimed that schools in the state were in a bad shape. As many as 22,000 institutions were shut … [Read more...] about Madhya Pradesh civic polls: AAP testing electoral waters with promise of free water, better schools

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao has appealed to the electors of the Presidential election, scheduled to be held on July 18, to vote as per their conscience after weighing the two candidates in the fray, and not based on their political affiliation. Addressing a meeting of TRS MPs, MLAs, MLCs, its State executive committee members and other senior leaders of the party convened in support of Yashwant Sinha, the candidate fielded by the Opposition, here on Saturday, the Telangana Chief Minister said Mr. Sinha’s candidature outweighs that of his rival’s as he was a towering personality. “He (Mr. Sinha) is an honest politician and an able administrator who handled the key portfolios of finance and external affairs in the Union Cabinet in the A.B. Vajpayee Government,” Mr. Rao said. In an appeal to all Parliamentarians in the country, the TRS chief said that there was a democratic practice in the country of voting as per conscience on some occasions and … [Read more...] about Telangana: KCR asks TRS legislators to vote as per conscience during Presidential poll

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing a public meeting titled as ‘Vijay Sankalpa Sabha’ at Parade Grounds in Secunderabad here on July 3. As the title of the meeting suggests, PM Modi may sound the poll bugle for the 2023 Assembly polls in Telangana to prepare the BJP cadre for the electoral contest. Modi, who landed here on Saturday to attend the BJP’s two-day National Executive Committee meeting, will address the rally on Sunday evening. During his last visit to the city on May 26, Modi, indirectly referring to TRS party, lashed out at family politics saying ‘parivaarvadi’ is democracy’s “greatest enemy”. He had expressed confidence that the BJP would storm to power in the state in the next assembly elections. According to political pundits, Modi is expected to continue his tirade against Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and the ruling TRS. Rao, popularly known as KCR, on Saturday in a party meeting in support of opposition parties’ presidential candidate Yashwant … [Read more...] about PM Modi to Address Public Meeting in Hyderabad on July 3

Hyderabad Police Commissioner C.V. Anand asked the general public and motorists to avoid all roads in and around Parade Grounds, Secunderabad, between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Sunday, in view of the BJP public meeting. Invoking provisions under the Hyderabad City Police Act, Mr. Anand said on Saturday that certain traffic diversions and designated parking arrangements would also be made to ensure smooth flow of traffic. Apart from roads near Parade Grounds, people are also told to avoid roads from HICC Madhapur - Jubilee Hills check-post – KBR Park – Punjagutta –Greenlands – Begumpet – Parade Ground route. The road between Tivoli crossroads and Plaza crossroads will be completely closed on Sunday. Traffic congestion is expected on several junctions leading to the meeting venue - Chilkalguda, Alugaddabai, Sangeeth, YMCA, Patny, SBH, Plaza, CTO junction, Brook Bond junction, Tivoli, Sweekar Upakar, Secunderabad Club, Trimulgherry crossroads, Tadbund, Centre Point, Diamond Point, … [Read more...] about BJP public meeting: Avoid roads near Parade Grounds

Rajya Sabha MP and national OBC president K. Laxman and vice-president D.K. Aruna were the only two leaders from Telangana who took part in the national office-bearers meeting held on Saturday morning. Another dozen leaders, including Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy, Telangana unit president Bandi Sanjay Kumar, MLAs T Raja Singh, Eatala Rajender, former MPs Jitender Reddy, Vivek Venkatswamy, party in-charge for Madhya Pradesh, in charge for Tamil Nadu P. Sudhakar Reddy, senior leader N. Indrasena Reddy, organising general secretary and former MP Vijayshanti, took part in the national executive meeting which would continue till tomorrow afternoon. … [Read more...] about Laxman & Aruna attend both meetings

Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal, who was allegedly killed by two men avenging an insult to Islam, and Punjabi singer and Congress party leader Sidhu Moosewala, who was shot dead, recently found a mention in a condolence message passed at the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) national executive meeting here on Saturday, sources said. The condolence message, moved as a resolution by BJP general secretary Dilip Saikia, also mentioned several dignitaries and BJP leaders, and the Army personnel who died in a landslide in Manipur. Days before his killing, Lal had told the local police that he had received threats over a social media post shared from his account, which apparently supported suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma’s remarks on Prophet Mohammad. Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, also known as Sidhu Moosewala, was shot dead in Punjab’s Mansa district on May 29, a day after the Punjab Government temporarily pruned the security cover provided to him and 423 others. … [Read more...] about BJP leader moves condolence resolution at national meet

A delegation of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) legislators on Saturday met the Opposition’s Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha and expressed their support for him, ahead of the election slated for July 18. “Four MLAs—Ahmed Balala, Kausar Mohiuddin, Mumtaz Khan and Moazzam Khan—met Mr. Sinha. They said that as per our party president’s decision, they would support him in the Presidential elections,” a party source familiar with the development told The Hindu . On June 27, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi announced that his party would support Mr. Sinha’s candidature. “AIMIM legislators will be voting for opposition candidate @YashwantSinha in the #PresidentialElections. Mr Sinha spoke to me on a call earlier as well,” Mr. Owaisi had tweeted. Party sources said that AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi was not present at the meeting as he was addressing a public meeting in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh, where municipal polls are due on July 6. “We have fielded 11 … [Read more...] about Telangana: AIMIM extends support to Yashwant Sinha

In the fall of 2012, an ailing Bal Thackeray, founder and patriarch of Maharashtra’s then dominant right-wing party — the Shiv Sena (Army of Shivaji) — had appealed to his Shiv Sainiks to stand by his son Uddhav and grandson Aaditya Thackeray. In what would be his final address to his party workers, Bal Thackeray, in his pre-recorded speech at the party’s annual Dussehra rally in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, called upon the Marathi manoos (Marathi-speaking sons-of-the soil) to remain united and smash the Congress. The speech, three weeks before the 86-year-old Thackeray’s death in November that year, also had an implied appeal to his estranged nephew, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, to join forces with the Shiv Sena. A decade later, while the prospects of the Sena and the MNS uniting have completely evaporated, a bleaker question facing Mr. Uddhav and his son today is whether ordinary Sainiks will stand by them after the recent rebellion of 40 MLAs led by Eknath … [Read more...] about Shiv Sena | The Maratha tiger in its labyrinth

WASHINGTON - Thanks to the Supreme Court, the battle for control of the House and Senate isn't the only major story in this year's midterm elections. Now there is renewed focus on the states, where a handful of gubernatorial races could change the balance of power between the parties and determine the future of abortion and voting rights, not to mention influencing who is elected president in 2024. The high court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade moves the abortion issue to the states, where legislatures and governors will determine what access, if any, women will have to abortions. In the absence of federal action, states have begun enacting laws restricting voting rights, and depending on what happens in the Supreme Court's next term, state legislatures could be even more empowered to set rules for future elections. Roughly half a dozen states - not surprisingly, they are the states that decided the 2020 presidential election and are likely to decide the 2024 race, as well - … [Read more...] about Why Republicans should be nervous about their candidates for governor