Page 248 - Bjp

Cong's Satheesan accuses CM Vijayan of 'creating space' for BJP in state

As the campaign for the Lok Sabha polls intensified, Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, on Monday accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of attempting to create "a space" for the BJP in the southern state. Speaking to reporters in Attingal near here, Satheesan also asserted that the saffron party would not secure a foothold in the state during the Lok Sabha polls. Referring to LDF convener E P Jayarajan's earlier statement that the BJP would come second in many constituencies in Kerala and that many candidates of the saffron party were good, Satheesan said what the CPI(M) leader stated was not echoed by BJP state chief K Surendran or his party. He alleged that Vijayan was influencing Jayarajan, "a poor man," to make such statements to "appease the BJP" at the Centre. Vijayan, who is apprehensive about investigations in various cases, "is trying to create space for the BJP," he alleged. Neither the CPI(M) nor the chief minister have

Ahead of LS polls, Kamal Nath's close aide, other functionaries join BJP

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, a close associate of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and some other functionaries of the opposition Congress joined the ruling BJP on Monday. The Bahujan Samaj Party's state in-charge also joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Syed Zafar, a former Congress spokesperson, joined the BJP in Bhopal in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and the party's state head VD Sharma. Zafar, a native of Chhindwara, was considered a close associate of Congress veteran and former chief minister Kamal Nath. As per his profile on X, he was currently holding the post of MP Congress general secretary. However, state Congress media department chairman K K Mishra said Zafar was not holding any post in the party at present. Earlier this month, there were speculations that Nath might switch over to the BJP, but he refuted such reports as "creation of media." Besides Zafar, MP Congress general secretary Maneesha Dubey, some other party leaders and B

Remembering 'Shakti': Why PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi are talking about it

Stating that he considers every mother, daughter, and sister, as well as 'Bharat Mata' as 'Shakti', Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he accepts Congress' challenge

PM Modi has laid strong foundation for 'Viksit Bharat': BJP's Ashok Tanwar

A strong foundation for a 'Viksit Bharat' or developed India has been laid under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP leader and party's Sirsa Lok Sabha candidate Ashok Tanwar said. Tanwar, who quit the Aam Aadmi Party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party two months ago, said it is "Modi ji's guarantee" that India will soon become the world's third largest and reach the top spot in the years to come. He said the people of the country want to give a third term to Modi as the prime minister and the people of Haryana also want to contribute by giving all the 10 seats to the BJP like they did in the 2019 parliamentary election. Tanwar had quit the Congress in 2019 and joined the AAP in 2022. In between, he had floated his own party and even joined the Trinamool Congress for a brief period. The BJP has fielded Tanwar from the Sirsa Lok Sabha seat from where he is a former MP. The seat is presently represented by BJP's Sunita Duggal. Tanwar said a strong foundation for a

Elections 2024: Electoral bonds may not be Opposition's core campaign issue

Without establishing quid pro quo and given their own handicaps, it is unlikely the Opposition parties can present an effective narrative about 'corruption' involving electoral bonds to the voters

Influencer show: How important are social media personalities in elections?

The evolving relation between social media personalities and the political landscape continues to intrigue and challenge the norms of electoral engagement, Aditi Phadnis explains

Multiple bullet train corridors may feature in BJP's LS poll manifesto

Delhi-Varanasi corridor has been demanded by the govt of Uttar Pradesh and the ministry of civil aviation for enhanced connectivity to the state's cities and upcoming airports

2024 Lok Sabha polls: Women to overseas voters, here's what numbers say

The seven phases in the 2024 polls are scheduled for April 19 (102 seats), April 26 (89 seats), May 7 (94 seats), May 13 (96 seats), May 20 (49 seats), May 25 (57 seats) and June 1 (57 seats)

Jana Sena Party only unrecognised party to receive electoral bonds

A single party showed donations which have resulted in an uptick to donations to unrecognised parties

Black money routed to BJP's accounts through electoral bonds, alleges Cong

The Congress on Sunday charged the government with engaging in "quid pro quo" for receiving electoral bonds and "conspiring" to route black money into the BJP's accounts through the scheme. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were answerable on the electoral bond "scam". He also accused the ruling party of indulging in "tax terrorism" and "surgical strikes" on the Congress after its accounts were frozen by the Income Tax authorities ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The opposition party also hoped the Election Commission would maintain "total impartiality and neutrality" during polls and would live up to its constitutional duties as expected by the people from it. Addressing a press conference, Ramesh alleged that the electoral bonds scheme introduced in 2018 was the "biggest extortion racket" ever run by the government, after it was revealed that the BJP garnered around Rs 6,800 crore through electoral bonds while

Plea seeks details of electoral bonds sold from Mar 1, 2018 to Apr 11, 2019

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking disclosure of the details of electoral bonds sold from March 1, 2018, to April 11, 2019, saying voters are entitled to know funding to political parties for the entire period since the start of the scheme. In a landmark verdict last month, the top court scrapped the Centre's electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous political funding calling it "unconstitutional" and ordered the State Bank of India (SBI), the authorised financial institution under the scheme, to submit the details of the bonds purchased from April 12, 2019 to February 15, 2024 to the Election Commission of India (ECI). A new application, filed by Citizen's Rights Trust, has submitted that 9,159 bonds worth Rs 4,002 crore have been sold between March 2018 to April 2019 which should also be disclosed. The petition seeks a direction to the SBI to share the details of electoral bonds sold and redeemed from March 1, 2018, to April 11, 2019, including the alphanumeric

NPP to support BJP candidates in Arunachal: Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Sunday that his National People's Party (NPP) would not field any candidates in the two Lok Sabha seats in Arunachal Pradesh and support the BJP nominees. The NPP is a part of the BJP-led NDA at the Centre. "The National People's Party has decided not to contest the two Lok Sabha seats in Arunachal Pradesh. Being partners in the NDA, the NPP National Committee has decided to support NDA candidates in Arunachal Pradesh and has directed its State Committee to extend support to the NDA candidates," Sangma posted on X. Hailing Sangma's decision, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said such commitment of NDA partners will ensure over 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections for the ruling alliance. "Such unparalleled commitment among our partners will ensure the NDA under the leadership of Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji secures over 400 seats. Thank you so much Shri @SangmaConrad Ji," Sarma posted on X. The BJP has named

Rahul Gandhi a liability for INDIA bloc: BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi feels Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is the biggest liability of the opposition bloc and warned that several opposition parties could risk losing recognition from the Election Commission after defeat at the hands of the Narendra Modi-led BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The former Union minority affairs minister tried to dispel fears revolving around the implementation of CAA by saying, "Not a single Indian citizen, including Muslims, would be affected by the new legislation" and accused the opposition of trying to create communal conflict and confusion across the country. In an interview to PTI, Naqvi predicted a decisive victory for the BJP government for a third consecutive term, citing a widespread loss of faith among the populace in opposition parties, particularly the Congress. He criticised opposition bloc INDIA, saying it lacks coherent leadership and policies, with internal conflicts and ambitions hindering its effectiveness. "INDIA

BJP makes noise, but doesn't have courage to 'change' Constitution: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday claimed the ruling BJP makes "lot of noise" but does not have enough courage to "change" the Constitution, and asserted that the truth and the country's people are on his side. Notably, BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde recently said his party needed a two-third majority in both Houses of Parliament to amend the Constitution and set right the distortions and unnecessary additions made to it by the Congress. The BJP subsequently moved to defuse the row sparked by Hegde's remarks as it dubbed it as his "personal opinion" and sought a clarification from him. Rahul Gandhi was addressing a gathering in a hall here after taking out the 'Nyay Sankalp Padyatra' from the Mani Bhavan, Mahatma Gandhi's home in Mumbai, to the August Kranti Maidan, where the Quit India movement started in 1942 during India's struggle for independence from the British rule. He said, "The BJP makes a lot of noise, but it does not have enough courage to change the Constitution. Truth a

Lok Sabha polls: Development, jobs key focus of parties in Madhya Pradesh

The BJP dominated all the six regions of Madhya Pradesh in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when it won 28 out of the 29 parliamentary seats in the state and will seek to repeat its performance this time as well. The saffron party will also try to wrest Chhindwara, the lone seat won by the Congress in the 2019 polls in the home turf of former chief minister Kamal Nath. Development and issues pertaining to employment have been the key focus areas of the BJP and Congress in the six regions of the state. The BJP has declared its candidates in all 29 seats, while the Congress has so far announced names of its candidates for 10 seats. Out of the 29 seats, five are reserved for the Scheduled Tribe and four for Scheduled Caste candidates. In the 2019 polls, all these seats were won by the BJP. The state broadly has six regions - Gwalior-Chambal, Central MP (Bhopal), Malwa-Nimar, Mahakoshal, Vindhya and Bundelkhand. The Malwa-Nimar region has the highest number of eight Lok Sabha seats. 1. ...

BJP targets Congress LS candidates in Chhattisgarh through cartoons

The ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh has come up with a set of cartoons on social media to target the opposition Congress' Lok Sabha poll candidates, including former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, over politics of appeasement and other issues. While the BJP said it has only portrayed some incidents which happened during the previous Congress regime through the cartoons which are not meant to hurt anyone, the grand old party accused it of releasing such illustrations out of frustration. The 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh will see polling in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7 as per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India. The cartoon posters were released over the last one week. One such poster targeting former CM Baghel, who has been fielded by the Congress from Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat, was posted with the comment "Rajnandgaon or Jihadgaon...selection is yours". The post shows a caricature of Baghel leading a queue, holding a green flag with "jihadi

LS polls: Reluctance of ministers to enter fray puts Karnataka Cong in spot

Reluctance of some ministers and lawmakers in Karnataka to contest the Lok Sabha polls seems to have put the Congress scouting for "winnable" candidates in a spot of bother in finalising contestants for bulk of the seats. It has been ten days since the Congress announced its candidates for seven segments while the process to pick nominees for the remaining 21 seats is on. The Congress' first list released on March eight did not have names of any of the ministers and legislators. According to party sources, the Congress leadership has been making efforts to convince some ministers and lawmakers to contest, as they have faced problems in identifying winnable candidates in several segments. Senior Congress leader and Home Minister G Parameshwara had recently said there are discussions in the party to field seven to eight ministers. Some ministers instead of themselves contesting, are said to be pushing for the candidature of their family members and, according to sources, the party .

LS polls: SP ally Congress under INDIA bloc to stop BJP juggernaut in UP

The coming general election may throw some surprising results in Uttar Pradesh with the SP-BSP alliance now replaced by the SP-Congress pact under the INDIA bloc. The Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance in 2019 had offered some resistance to the BJP on a handful of seats in the western and eastern parts of UP, but failed to make a big impact. With BSP supremo Mayawati deciding to duke it out alone this time, it will be up to the SP and Congress to stop the marauding juggernaut of the NDA, which has now has RLD on its side, as well as a number of caste-based regional parties in the Poorvanchal region. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and allies won 73 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The party ceded some ground in the 2019 general election, when the opposition parties scraped their combined tally to 16. Even with the conventional anti-incumbency apprehensions at work, the saffron party laid its claim on the state winning 62 seats, bolstered further by two mo

Highlights of the day: LS election counting on Jun 4 after 6 wks of voting

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Biggest festival of democracy here, BJP-NDA fully prepared: PM Modi

Asserting that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is fully prepared for the general elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday slammed the opposition as "rudderless" and "issueless" and expressed confidence about retaining power. Soon after the Election Commission announced the seven-phase schedule for the Lok Sabha polls, Modi, in a series of posts on X, highlighted the "glorious turnaround" India has seen in the 10 years of his government and said the ruling alliance will go to people based on its track record of good governance and service delivery across sectors. "The biggest festival of democracy is here! EC has announced the 2024 Lok Sabha election dates. We, the BJP-NDA, are fully prepared for elections," he said with the hashtag 'Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar' ('once again Modi government'). Reiterating his confidence about winning the polls, the prime minister said the war against poverty and corruption will go on at an even faster pace in his third term and the .