Author: News Analysis India

Phase 1 of Lok Sabha Election 2019 will be held on April 11, Thursday, on 91 seats and voters will be choosing their representatives from nearly 1,300 candidates. Before the first phase of the national election, the Association for Democratic Reform (ADR), a non-governmental organisation that works towards electoral and political reforms, has released a report identifying the richest and poorest candidates. According to the report, Konda Vishweshwar Reddy or KV Reddy, the Congress party candidate from Telangana’s Chevella Lok Sabha constituency, is the richest candidate in phase 1 elections with family assets of Rs. 895 crore. Mr Reddy owns movable assets of Rs. 223 crore, while the movable…

The Indian government may have to make a series of major changes at the top of the nation’s civil service if Prime Minister Narendra Modi is re-elected to a second term in May, according to multiple sources in the administration. At least eight senior bureaucrats in the prime minister’s office have either sought a transfer to other departments or plan to take premature retirement, three government officials said. The officials, from the prime minister’s office, the home (interior) minis ..

Hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was quoted as saying he sees a better chance of peace talks with India if Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP wins the national election, reactions poured in from the opposition, which is often accused by the Prime Minister and the ruling BJP of “speaking Pakistan’s language”. Leaders from the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Jammu and Kashmir politicians Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti seized the chance to get back at the PM and the ruling party. Imran Khan has said if the next government in India were led by the Congress party,…

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections on Monday, three days before the first phase of polling. Drafting a vision for the future, or making a set of commitments, for a party which has been in power for five years is a challenge because it gives rise to an obvious question: why have these promises not been fulfilled in the preceding five years? The BJP has addressed this question by focusing on both what it considers to be its achievements since 2014, especially in the realm of rural welfare and infrastructure, and the unfinished…

Suspected terrorists fired at a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader and killed his personal security officer at a hospital in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar, the police said. The local RSS leader, identified as Chandrakanta, was injured in the attack that targeted him, officials said. Mr Chandrakanta had gone to a local hospital for a check-up, they added. Officials said the suspected terrorists barged into the hospital and snatched the personal security officer’s weapon. They attempted to fire at the RSS leader. However, in a scuffle, the security official was shot dead while the RSS leader was injured Senior police officials…

The Congress on Friday moved the Election Commission (EC) alleging wilful non-disclosure of liabilities by BJP President Amit Shah and sought his disqualification from contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Gandhinagar. The party also demanded action against Shah for filing a “false affidavit.” In its complaint, the Congress said that Shah has “once again filed a false affidavit with two glaring omissions.” “First, with regard to a plot in Gandhinagar and second, with regard to loans taken from a commercial bank by his son for which he is the guarantor,” the Congress said in its complaint. Citing reports, the party…

Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha joined the Congress on Saturday at the party headquarters in New Delhi. He was with the BJP till recently. Hours later, the Congress announced his candidature for the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha cinstituency in Bihar to take on Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and in charge of party’s Bihar unit Shaktisinh Gohil welcomed Mr. Sinha into the party fold. Mr. Venugopal termed him the “best politician who was earlier with the wrong party“.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said a US report which found none of Pakistan’s F-16s “missing” vindicated the country’s stand that it did not use the jets in the aerial dogfight with India on February 27. The finding by the US on the ground in Pakistan “directly contradicts” India’s claim that its air force shot down an F-16 fighter jet during the offensive. The Indian Air Force on February 28 displayed pieces of the AMRAAM missile, fired by a Pakistani F-16, as evidence to “conclusively” prove that Pakistan deployed US-manufactured F-16 fighter jets during an aerial raid targeting Indian…

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday warned voters of the BJP’s “sinister” designs and claimed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is another ploy to turn legal citizens of this country into refugees. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi is returned to power, he will throw away the Constitution and change the country from a democracy to a totalitarian regime, she added at a rally in Cooch Behar. Union minister Smriti Irani today hit out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of betraying the people of Amethi by choosing to file his nomination from Kerala’s Wayanad. Irani, speaking from Gandhi’s turf…

The Bengal unit of the BJP has hired four special trains at a cost of Rs 53 lakh to bring in party workers and supporters to fill the iconic Brigade Ground where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a public rally, a Bangla news daily Anandabazar Patrika reported. The Brigade Ground is as iconic as it is unforgiving. On one hand, political rallies at the venue — where Mamata Banerjee held her united opposition rally — is emblematic of a party’s strength, on the other hand, the vastness of the venue implies that any empty spaces in the…