Page 209 - Bjp

'Shehzada' insulted maharajas, silent on nawabs: PM Narendra Modi

Congress says PM guilty of distorting remarks

LS candidates in the fray: Tamil Nadu and Gujarat at opposite ends

In Gujarat, the result has already been declared for the Surat Lok Sabha seat, where nominations of 12 candidates were rejected, including that of the Congress' candidate, because of discrepancies

Among national parties, Bahujan Samaj Party's candidate owns fewest assets

Baluswamy owns less than an average Indian household

Just 8% of women candidates in first two phases of Lok Sabha polls

Women constituted only eight per cent of the total 1,618 candidates in the first two phases of the Lok Sabha polls, with political activists saying it reflects a deeper issue of gender bias and that the talk of empowering them rings hollow. In the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls, there were 135 women candidates while in the second phase, there were 100 women candidates, bringing the combined total for the first two phases to 235 women candidates. Of the 135 women candidates in phase 1, Tamil Nadu had the highest share at 76, but they account for just 8 per cent of the candidates in the state, while Kerala has the maximum women candidates at 24 in phase 2. Party-wise, the Congress has fielded 44 women till now while 69 women have been fielded by the BJP in the first two phases. This significant gender imbalance has sparked criticism from political analysts and activists, who ask why parties are waiting for the Women's Reservation Bill to be implemented instead of proactively ...

'Shehzade' insulted Maharajas, but silent on atrocities by Nawabs: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of insulting India's Rajas and Maharajas, but remaining silent on the atrocities committed by Nawabs, Nizams, Sultans and Badshahs for the sake of appeasement politics. Addressing a mega public meeting here, he said, "Congress has ensured the writings of our history and our freedom struggle with an eye on appeasement and vote bank. Even today, the Congress' shehzade (prince) is carrying forward that sin. You might have heard Congress' shehzade's recent statement -- he says Bharath's Rajas and Maharajas were atyachari (oppressive)," Modi said. "He (Gandhi) has accused them (Rajas and Maharajas) of usurping the lands and properties of people and poor...Congress' shehzade has insulted great personalities like Chatrapati Shivajji Maharaj and Kittur Rani Channamma, whose administration and patriotism inspires us even today," the prime minister said. Recalling the contribution of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family

INDIA bloc's 7 sitting MLAs to contest from Jharkhand, BJP chooses 3

Intriguing dynamics in Jharkhand's political landscape has come to the fore in the wake of the candidate lists that have been finalised by the state's ruling INDIA bloc and its prime opposition, the BJP. While the INDIA alliance has opted for continuity by nominating seven sitting legislators, the BJP has chosen three MLAs as candidates across the state's 14 Lok Sabha constituencies. These decisions underscore a combination of factors, including trust in incumbent representatives and a perceived shortage of viable contenders. Interestingly, two sitting legislators from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) have decided to contest independently, reflecting potential internal discord within the party. The elections, scheduled to commence on May 13, are poised to witness the participation of 2.56 crore eligible voters in the state. The ruling alliance, comprising the Congress, JMM, RJD, and CPI-ML(L), has delineated seat-sharing arrangements, with Congress contesting seven seats and JMM .

Big blow to opposition, several Samajwadi Party leaders join BJP in Lucknow

Former Samajwadi Party MLA Jai Choubey and several other leaders including Balram Yadav, and Jagat Jaiswal joined the BJP in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak.

SAD to contest Gurdaspur LS seat on party symbol for 1st time in decades

After snapping ties with the BJP, the Akali Dal is all set to contest the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat on party symbol 'takdi' or scales for the first time since 1996 as it braces for a showdown with its former ally which has used star power to clinch the seat on numerous occasions. The Shiromani Akali Dal had joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1996. As part of the seat-sharing arrangement for the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies of Punjab, the BJP used to contest from Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur. The SAD walked out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in 2020 over the now-repealed farm laws. The SAD walked out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in 2020 over the now-repealed farm laws. The Sukhbir Singh Badal-led SAD has placed its bet on the party's senior vice president and veteran leader Daljit Singh Cheema from the seat. The SAD workers are enthusiastic over the party fielding its own candidate from Gurdaspur and are happy to see the party symbol ...

LS polls: JP Nadda and Rahul Gandhi to address rallies in Odisha today

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and BJP president JP Nadda will address election rallies in different parts of Odisha on Sunday. Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to address an election rally at Salepur in Cuttack district around 1 pm, and also visit Satyabhamapur to pay tributes to 'Utkal Gourav' Madhusudan Das, AICC general secretary and the party's Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar said. People from across four Lok Sabha constituencies of Cuttack, Kendrapara, Jajpur and Jagatsinghpur would be attending Rahul Gandhi's rally, he said. On the other hand, Nadda is scheduled to reach Bhubaneswar at 4.30 pm and address a public meeting in Ambapua area in Gopalpur assembly segment around 5.30 pm, BJP spokesperson Golak Nayak said. He will also have "exhaustive interactions" with party workers from three Lok Sabha constituencies of Berhampur, Koraput and Nabarangpur, in Berhampur. Police have made elaborate arrangements for the arrival of the two national leaders at Bhubaneswar. Both of them will reac

Will Mamata Banerjee win polls by threatening people, asks BJP Prez Nadda

BJP president J P Nadda on Sunday asked if West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wants to win the Lok Sabha elections by scaring and threatening people as he hit out at her government over the seizure of arms and ammunition by the CBI in Sandeshkhali. In a statement, he expressed confidence that the BJP will win over 35 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state and conveyed his party's solidarity with the Sandeshkhali women who were allegedly sexually assaulted by former Trinamool Congress strongman Shahjahan Sheikh and his associates. Sheikh, now suspended from the TMC, is in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody and is also accused of land grab by locals. The CBI on Friday seized arms and ammunition, including a police service revolver and foreign-made firearms, during searches at two premises of an associate of Sheikh. The searches were conducted in connection with the January attack on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team by a mob that was allegedly instigated by ...

LS polls: BJP will win more than 10 seats in T'gana, claims party leader

The BJP will win more than 10 of the total 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana on the back of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity and his development agenda and corruption-free governance, BJP Rajya Sabha member K Laxman said. It is going to be a landslide victory for the BJP in Telangana in the Lok Sabha elections, Laxman, a member of BJP's parliamentary board, said. The BJP won four seats in Telangana in the 2019 general elections. "People from every nook and corner of the state are looking towards PM Modi, his development agenda and welfare schemes for the poor and his achievements during the last 10 years," he told PTI here. In the Assembly polls held last year, people might have voted for the local issues, but they are definitely going to vote for Modi as their choice for PM in the Parliament elections, he said. The Congress had won the Assembly elections, defeating the BRS which was in power since 2014 when Telangana was formed. Asked what are the factors that will contri

AAP govt not increasing MCD's financial powers, alleges L-G office

All MCD projects above Rs 5 crores are essentially to be cleared by the Standing Committee

Lok Sabha elections: Several leaders, workers of BJD join BJP in Odisha

BJP's Pradhan said that the members and leaders of other parties are joining the BJP as the people's faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi is increasing

Lok Sabha polls: Mandi will teach lesson to Cong's prince, says Kangana

People of Mandi will teach a lesson to the gangs of "shehzadas" for making inappropriate comments and disrespecting the women of the state, BJP candidate from Mandi and Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut said on Saturday. Addressing a public gathering in the Jhakari area of the Mandi Parliament constituency, Kangana trained her guns at Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh, calling him "Prince of Rampur," and took exception to his referring to her Bollywood connection. Vikramaditya Singh is a scion of the erstwhile Bushahr estate, now known as Rampur, one of the 17 assembly segments in the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency. Referring to Kangana, Singh had earlier said, "I pray to Lord Ram to give her wisdom and hope she goes back pure from 'Dev Bhoomi' Himachal to the Bollywood because she will not win the election since she knows nothing about people of Himachal." In her rally, Kangana responded to the dig, saying, "Now they are saying that I am impure because I have come here after working

Centre never gave relief funds to Tamil Nadu in past, alleges AIADMK

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday alleged that the Central government never provided the disaster relief funds as sought by the Tamil Nadu government whenever the state was severely affected by cyclones. Tamil Nadu's plight remains unchanged irrespective of the parties that captured power at the Centre, he claimed, flaying both the BJP government at the Centre and the ruling DMK in the state. The DMK government, which has been complaining of a lack of financial support from the Centre to help the state tide over the loss due to the Michaung cyclone in December 2023, was unable to obtain the funds even during the UPA regime, he claimed. "Despite sharing power with the Congress at the Centre, the DMK then failed to secure the funds when the state was badly hit by the cyclone," Palaniswami told reporters here after inaugurating water and buttermilk booths to quench people's thirst this summer at Konganapuram and Edappadi areas in the district. Many cyclones s

LS polls: Phase 2 turnout reaches 66.7%; both phases see dip since 2019

The voter turnout in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections has touched the 66.7 per cent mark, which is less than the figures of the 2019 parliamentary polls, according to sources. Both phases of the ongoing polls have seen a dip in the voter turnout as compared to the last general election. The 66.7 per cent figure is approximate and the Election Commission has so far not come out with the polling percentage formally. Phase two of the Lok Sabha elections was held on Friday across 88 constituencies spread in 13 states. In the second phase of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, held in 95 constituencies across 13 states, the turnout was higher at 69.64 per cent. In the first phase of this election, the turnout was 65.5 per cent as compared to 69.43 per cent in the phase one of the 2019 parliamentary polls. Some of the constituencies were different then and the total number of seats which went to poll were 91. Heat wave is believed to have contributed to several voters not turning up at po

Modi's 'factory of lies' won't work forever, says Congress chief Kharge

Rejecting the BJP's claims that the Congress' election manifesto resembled that of the Muslim League, party president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday asserted that "Modi's factory of lies" won't work forever. Addressing an election rally at Kayakuchi in Barpeta district of Assam, he said unemployment is a big problem in the country and that 65 per cent of educated youths have no jobs. "The INDIA bloc will surely come to power and stop the BJP. Modi's BJP will be decimated. Once our government comes to power, we will control price rise and our focus will be on poor people. We will fill up 30 lakh vacancies in government departments," he added. Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi a 'sardar (leader) of liars', Kharge charged him with lying about providing two crore jobs annually, bringing back black money to the country and giving Rs 15 lakh to each citizen, and doubling farmers' income. "Modi's 'factory of lies' won't last forever. He even called the Congress manifesto Muslim League'

Congress-led INDIA bloc plans to have five PMs in 5 years if elected: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday targeted the Congress-led INDI alliance, saying it is mulling to have five prime ministers in five years if voted to power. Addressing a rally at Kolhapur in western Maharashtra, Modi said the opposition bloc cannot even reach a three-digit figure or "at the doorstep of forming a government, but has plans to have one prime minister every year if they get a chance". "In Karnataka, Congress has planned to rotate the post of the chief minister by handing it to the deputy chief minister after 2.5 years. They had this arrangement in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan as well," he said. Modi said the Congress wants to extend the "Karnataka model wherein Muslims were inducted in the 27 per cent quota for OBCs", in the entire country. "The Congress-led alliance has vowed to murder social justice," he said and accused the Congress of stooping low for appeasement and vote bank politics. "Congress wants to change the Constitution and rob Dalits, OBCs of quota

CBI 'might have brought' seized arms in Sandeshkhali, alleges CM Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said there was "no evidence" of arms seizure in Sandeshkhali, asserting that CBI teams conducted searches without informing the state police. She expressed skepticism regarding the operations, stating that the recovered items "might have been brought by officials of the central agency". Even if a firecracker goes off in Bengal, the NIA, CBI, NSG are coming to investigate. It seems that a war is going on. The state police were not informed. It is not known what was found. There was no evidence. The seized items might have been brought by them (CBI) in a car," Banerjee said here. She was addressing an election rally for TMC's Asansol Lok Sabha candidate Shatrughan Sinha. The CBI on Friday seized arms and ammunition, including a police service revolver and foreign-made firearms, during searches at two premises of an associate of now-suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh in Sandeshkhali, officials said. The searches were conducted

LS polls: Large number of Sikhs, including DSGMC members, join BJP

A large number of Sikhs, including members of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, joined the BJP on Saturday. Citing a host of measures taken by the government to help the minority community, BJP president J P Nadda on the occasion said if anybody has really worked for the community, it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Nadda also cited central government decisions such as the opening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, the FCRA registration for donations to the Golden Temple and the action against accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases. He said the BJP highly regarded the contribution and sacrifices of the community for the country and will keep working for its welfare. The BJP has been in an overdrive to deepen its bond with Sikhs and is looking to put up a strong fight in the Lok Sabha polls in Punjab, where they are in a majority. A number of well known Sikh politicians from the state have joined the party recently.