Trump launches new round of attacks on media
Washington, Aug 6 : US President Donald Trump has launched a new round of attacks against the US media, accusing them of being able to "cause war".
In a flurry of tweets on Sunday, the President continued to cast the media as the "enemy of the people," saying "They purposely cause great division & distrust. They can also cause war!"
That came amid heightened tensions between the Trump administration and US media, some which have been labelled by him as "the Fake News," a move heavily criticized by journalists, Xinhua news agency reported
Trump's daughter and presidential adviser Ivanka Trump, however, doesn't share the president's stance, saying last week that she does not think the media is the "enemy of the people".
Trump also fired another shot at the ongoing Russia probe, led by special counsel Robert Mueller, who's looking into the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and any potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.
Mueller is reportedly examining the president's elder son, Donald Trump Jr., for his role in arranging a June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in New York between a Russian attorney offering damaging information on Hillary Clinton and Trump campaign officials, including himself.
"This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics -- and it went nowhere," Trump defended his son in relation to the highly-scrutinised meeting.
The President also dismissed a Washington Post report that he's concerned about the meeting and his son, while trying to distance himself from the incident.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
