Rishi Sunak wins first round of Conservative Party leadership vote in UK
London(PTI): Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak extended his lead in the UK prime ministerial race on Wednesday with the highest number of votes at 88 in the first round of voting by Conservative Party MPs, which narrowed down the race from eight to six candidates on the shortlist.
Fellow Indian-origin candidate, Attorney General Suella Braverman, features last on the latest tally with 32 votes, behind Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt (67 votes), Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (50 votes), former minister Kemi Badenoch (40 votes) and backbencher Tom Tugendhat (37 votes).
Newly appointed Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and former Cabinet minister Jeremy Hunt are out of the race after not being able to attract the requisite votes of at least 30 MPs, at 25 and 18 backers respectively.
While Sunak has maintained a steady lead among his Tory parliamentary colleagues since he declared his intention to run for party leadership last week, the Conservative Party membership base which will have the final say seems to be building momentum behind Penny Mordaunt.
At this early stage of the contest, the race seems to be narrowing down into a three-way Sunak, Mordaunt and Liz Truss clash, but the field is still seen as wide open.
The next round of voting by the 358 Conservative members of Parliament to pick their favourites left on the ballot paper is scheduled for Thursday, when the field of candidates will be narrowed down even further to a shorter list of finalists.
Under the timetable set by the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, the deadline to whittle down the shortlist to just two remaining candidates is July 21.
The process will then be taken over by the Conservative Party headquarters to organise a series of hustings in different parts of the UK for the final two to pitch their campaign pledges to the estimated 200,000 Conservative Party membership.
The candidate who receives the most votes will be elected the new Conservative Party and British Prime Minister leader on September 5.
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Udhayanidhi accuses BJP of not releasing funds for TN
Gobichettipalayam (PTI): Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Saturday charged the BJP government at the Centre with not releasing funds to the state and accused it of "snatching" TN's rights.
Addressing a poll rally at Gobichettipalayam in the western Erode district, the DMK youth wing chief claimed the Centre has not released funds to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore for education.
"They (union government) have snatched all our rights," he charged.
With regard to the Centre's proposal for delimitation, he said chief minister M K Stalin was the first person in the country to raise the voice against the union government's move. He claimed that it was a "huge victory" for the INDIA alliance, as the bill was defeated for lack of majority after the opposition voted against it in the Lok Sabha.
Listing out various welfare measures implemented by the DMK government, he said the existing "Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai" (monthly financial assistance for women) will be doubled to Rs 2,000 if DMK was voted to power again.
The deputy chief minister charged that the BJP and AIADMK have tried to stall it by moving the court. "At present more than 1.3 crore women have benefited from the scheme", he said.
"Similarly, the breakfast scheme for the government school students will be extended till Class VIII", he said adding "more than 35 lakh college students across the state will be getting free laptops once the DMK government is formed".
Udhayanidhi also pointed out at the "Illatharasi" poll promise, providing Rs 8,000 worth of coupons to non-income tax paying women where they could buy or replace any household appliances of their choice.
Elections to 234 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu will be held on April 23 and the results declared on May 4 following counting of polled votes.
