Page 238 - Bjp

SC seeks EC response on 'complete count' of VVPAT slips, Congress lauds

The Congress on Monday hailed as an "important first step" the Supreme Court's notice to the Election Commission and the Centre on a plea seeking a complete count of VVPAT slips and said the matter should be decided before the Lok Sabha polls commence. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The Supreme Court has issued a notice today to the Election Commission on the issue of VVPATs. It bears constant repetition that the Election Commission has refused to meet a delegation of INDIA (bloc) party leaders who have been demanding 100 per cent VVPATs in order to increase public confidence in EVMs and to ensure the integrity of the electoral process." The court on Monday sought responses from the commission and the central government on the plea seeking a complete count of VVPAT slips in polls as opposed to the current practice of verification of only five randomly-selected EVMs through VVPAT paper slips. "The notice is an important first step, but for it to be ..

Highlights of the day: Above normal heatwave projected for next 3 months

Latest news updates: Catch all the news updates from around the world here

'From liberal officer to RSS mouthpiece': P Chidambaram attacks Jaishankar

Congress veteran P Chidambaram on Monday took a dig at External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar over the Katchatheevu island row

No relief to Kerala; SC refers plea on borrowing to Constitution bench

Supreme court referred the plea filed by the State against the Centre over interference with the State's power to borrow and regulate its own finance to a Constitution bench

Himachal HC extends anticipatory bail of Ashish, Rakesh Sharma till Apr 26

The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Monday extended the interim anticipatory bail of Hamirpur independent MLA Ashish Sharma and Rakesh Sharma, father of Gagret MLA Chaitanya Sharma, who were booked by the police for electoral offences and criminal conspiracy till April 26. Ashish, now BJP candidate from Gagret Vidhan Sabha, and Chetanya are among the nine MLAs, including six Congress rebels and three independents, who voted in favour of BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan in the recently held Rajya Sabha polls. All of them later joined the BJP. Advocate General Anoop Rattan on Monday said that the High Court has extended the interim bail till April 26 and asked them to join the investigations and appear before the investigation officer whenever called. "We have mentioned in our status report that Rakesh Sharma, a retired bureaucrat, despite orders of the court did not join the investigations and threatened the investigation officer when asked to appear before the police," he said. Meanwhile,

BJP urges EC to file FIR against TMC leader for 'casteist slur' on PM Modi

BJP has asked the Election Commission to lodge an FIR against Piyush Panda and ban his campaigning for the remainder of the election period for his alleged derogatory remarks

Arvind Kejriwal called AAP national treasurer confused, says ED in court

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called his party's national treasurer "confused" when he was confronted with his statement on issues related to the affairs of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Enforcement Directorate claimed before a court on Monday. The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court of Judge Kaveri Baweja sent the 55-year-old Kejriwal, also the national convener of the AAP, to judicial custody till April 15 in connection with the money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped. The ED also alleged that Kejriwal, during his questioning, said AAP communication in-charge Vijay Nair "did not report to him" but to his cabinet colleagues Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj and that his interaction with Nair was "limited". Nair was arrested in this case by the ED. The federal agency charged Kejriwal, in its application filed while seeking his judicial custody, of being "evasive", giving "mislead

BJP files EC complaint against TMC for posting private info of Rekha Patra

TMC is accused of targeting Sandeshkhali victim and BJP candidate Rekha Patra, sharing her private information on social media

Excise policy case: Kejriwal gave evasive replies in interrogation, says ED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday moved a plea before a court here seeking 15 days' judicial custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who was arrested in the alleged Delhi excise policy 'scam' case. Underscoring that Kejriwal was misleading the agency, the ED said it was still investigating the chief minister's role, unearthing the further proceeds of the crime and identifying the other persons involved with the activities related to proceeds of crime. Special Judge Kaveri Baweja sent Kejriwal to judicial custody till April 15. In its remand application, the ED said during Kejriwal's custodial interrogation, he gave "evasive replies" and concealed information. It said the chief minister's statements were taken over a period of nine days and he was confronted with the statements of different witnesses, approvers and other co-accused. The plea listed "few of the glaring examples of evasive and misleading replies" given by Kejriwal. "He (Kejriwal) stated that Vijay Nair di

BJP writes to EC, seeks 'stringent action' against Rahul over EVM remark

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of engaging in 'match-fixing' in the Lok Sabha election

Cracks in Oppn as Vijayan rakes up Congress' role in probe against Kejriwal

The unity among 18 anti-BJP parties, who gathered in New Delhi to protest the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, showed signs of fracture a day later when veteran CPI(M) leader and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday accused the Congress of demanding the ED probe into the Delhi liquor excise policy case. Addressing a press conference amidst his Lok Sabha poll campaign, seeking votes for LDF candidates, who are in direct fight against the Congress-led UDF in many constituencies, Vijayan alleged that it was the grand old party which levelled the allegations against the Delhi government, demanded the ED probe, and lodged a complaint regarding the matter. The Marxist veteran said the huge participation of people in the INDIA bloc rally held in New Delhi a day ago was a strong warning for the BJP. He, however, added that the Congress should also learn a lesson from the rally. Referring to the stand taken by the Congress in the Delhi liquor excise policy case, h

LS polls: EC censures Cong's Shrinate & BJP's Ghosh for offensive remarks

The Election Commission said the two leaders violated the model code of conduct and that their election-related communications will be closely monitored from now on

Congress mayor from Kamal Nath's home turf Chhindwara joins BJP

In another setback to the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, its leader and Chhindwara mayor joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh on Monday morning. Vikram Ahake, the mayor of Chhindwara, joined the BJP in the presence of MP Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and state party chief VD Sharma in state capital Bhopal. Last week, Kamlesh Shah, the Congress legislator from Amarwada in Chhindwara district and a close associate of party stalwart Kamal Nath, had joined the BJP. Chhindwara, which goes to polls in the first phase on April 19, is the home district of former state CM Nath. Nakul Nath, the lone Congress winner in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, has filed his nomination papers from Chhindwara, which his father Kamal Nath has represented for nine terms in Parliament. The BJP has fielded Vivek Bunty Sahu from this seat. Kamal Nath is currently the MLA from the Chhindwara assembly seat. His wife Alka Nath was elected from the Chhindwara Lok

Katchatheevu row: Island history, controversy and handover to Sri Lanka

The decades-long Katchatheevu island controversy has erupted again with PM Modi calling the move to cede the island to Sri Lanka by the Congress in 1974, 'callous'

LS polls: FIR against Dhanbad's BJP nominee for threatening ex-party leader

An FIR was lodged against BJP nominee for Dhanbad Lok Sabha constituency and Baghmara MLA Dulu Mahato for allegedly threatening the district president of Marwai Sammelan Krishna Agarwal for opposing his candidature, police said. Barbadda police station officer-in-charge Sunil Kumar Ravi told media persons on Sunday that on the basis of the complaint of Agarwal, an FIR has been lodged against Dulu Mahto and Prince Khan under sections 387(extortion), 506 (criminal intimidation), 109 (abetment) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code (IPC). Agarwal, a former BJP leader, in his complaint stated that Khan, an alleged extortionist, through an audio clip had threatened him not to protest the candidature of Mahato. The Marwari Sammelan president in a letter to the Senior Superintendent of Police also expressed apprehension that on the directive of Mahto, Khan and his henchmen might attack him and his family members. On Friday, Agrawal and Jamshedpur East MLA Saryu Roy held a .

Gujarat BJP sees differences over selection of candidates in some LS seats

Differences have cropped up among BJP workers over the selection of candidates in some Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat even as senior party leaders have sought to address their concerns to maintain grip over the state. The Congress, however, claimed the internal differences could hamper the BJP's bid to repeat a clean sweep and win all 26 seats in the state for the third time in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. With differences over the selection of candidates in seats such as Amreli, Rajkot, Sabarkantha, Surendranagar and Vadodara, the BJP has been making every effort to resolve them by holding meetings with the disgruntled members. On Saturday, Kshatriya community leader Raj Shekhawat resigned from the BJP in protest against Union minister and Rajkot Lok Sabha candidate Parshottam Rupala's remarks wherein he claimed that several Rajput rulers had collaborated with the British. Asserting that the community was being neglected by the BJP in ticket distribution, Shekhawat said, The party ..

Lok Sabha polls: No Sunny Deol from Punjab as BJP announces eighth list

In the eighth list, the party gave tickets to a number of turncoats like Bhartruhari Mahtab, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Sushil Kumar Rinku, and Preneet Kaur

Congress' absence from Ram temple event put party leaders in spot: Chouhan

BJP veteran Shivraj Singh Chouhan has claimed the "wrong" decision of Congress to not attend the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya has put party leaders in a spot as they cannot give a convincing reply to the common people. Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Chouhan was speaking on Sunday at a gathering in Vidisha where several Congress workers joined the BJP ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. "After the Congress refused to participate in the consecration ceremony, several friends from the opposition party told me that they are finding it hard to give a reply to people. Such wrong decisions can't give the right direction to the country," said Chouhan, who is the BJP candidate from the Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency in MP. The former CM said his father was in the Congress, but the party has undergone a sea change from the old days. "There was only Congress at that time. But today's Congress is not that one. This is not the Congress of Mahatma Gandhi or even that of .

Should I-T babus or voters decide the fate of the Congress?

It can be nobody's case that I-T Department must not do its job. However, blindly following bureaucratic rules cannot be allowed to tamper with democratic processes on the eve of the general election

BJP unveils campaigners list for Lok Sabha polls, bye-elections in Tripura

The upcoming general polls are scheduled to be held in two phases in the state. The West Tripura seat will go to the polls on April 19, while the East Tripura seat will witness voting on April 26