Page 141 - Congress

Lok Sabha polls: 11 candidates older than 80 years, 537 in 25-30 age range

Eleven candidates older than 80 and 537 in the 25-30 age range are contesting the Lok Sabha elections, according to an analysis of election data gathered by the Association for Democratic Reforms. The analysis looked at data of 8,337 of the 8,360 candidates contesting the elections. According to the analysis, 505 candidates aged between 25 and 40 contested the elections in the first phase. There were 849 candidates aged between 41 and 60, 260 between 61 and 80, and four over 80 years. During the second phase, 363 candidates in the 25-40 age group were in the fray, followed by 578 aged between 41 and 60, 249 between 61 and 80, and two over 80 years. In the third phase, 411 candidates in the 25-40 age range contested the elections while 712 were aged between 41 and 60. There were 228 candidates aged between 61 and 80 and one aged 84. During the fourth phase, 642 candidates in the fray were aged between 25 and 40, 842 in the 41-60 age range, and 226 between 61 and 80 years. In the

Lok Sabha polls highlights: Campaigning ends for 6th phase of general elections in 58 seats

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Congress, AAP responsible for crisis of credibility in politics: Rajnath

Senior BJP leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday attacked opposition INDIA bloc partners Congress and AAP, alleging that they are responsible for the crisis of credibility in Indian politics. Singh made the remarks while addressing an election meeting in favour of BJP's West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency candidate Kamaljeet Sehrawat, hours before campaigning for the May 25 round of polling ended. Targeting Congress and AAP, which are contesting the general elections in the national capital under a seat-sharing arrangement, he said, "The leaders of the Congress and the AAP have contributed the most to the crisis of credibility in the politics of India." While the AAP is contesting four seats, the Congress has fielded candidates from three seats. The seven Lok Sabha constituencies in Delhi go to polls in the sixth round of the seven-phase general elections. Taking a swipe at Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on continuing on the post despite being ..

BJP has already crossed 310-mark, Congress struggling to get 40: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday claimed that in the first five rounds of polling, "BJP has crossed 310" and that Congress Party is "not even getting 40 seats" this time. "INDI alliance has been wiped out in the first five phases. I am telling you, this time Congress is not even getting 40 seats and Akhilesh Yadav will not even get four seats," said Shah addressing a poll meeting in Siddharthnagar in support of Domariyaganj BJP candidate Jagdambika Pal. He said that the PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) is a part of INDIA and the BJP will take it back. "Leaders of Pakistan say that PoK is theirs. Congress leaders also say that they (Pakistan) have an atom bomb. BJP people are not scared of atom bombs. PoK is and will remain part of India and we will take it back," he said. Shah said the opposition was attempting to end reservation for SC/ST and OBC. "Rahul Baba and Akhilesh Yadav you have been blinded by vote banks politics. We will finish reservation on the basis of religi

LS polls 2024: Who made Haryana number 1 in unemployment, Cong slams BJP

The Congress on Thursday alleged that despite repeated promises, the BJP government has "failed" to provide permanent employment opportunities in Haryana and instead, it is promoting temporary contractual jobs through the skill employment corporation. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his rally in Haryana's Mahendragarh. "Outgoing PM. Now that we have his attention, here are today's questions for him in Mahendragarh: Who made Haryana Number 1 in unemployment? Why has BJP slowed down private investment in Haryana? Why are Bhiwani residents being forced to protest for clean drinking water and proper sewerage?" Ramesh said in a post on X. Ramesh, citing the latest data from the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE), said Haryana has the highest unemployment rate in India at 37.4 per cent, far surpassing the national average. "Despite repeated promises and announcements, the BJP government has failed to provide .

BJP responsible for unemployment, corruption in Haryana, says Priyanka

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday slammed the BJP government for "unemployment, corruption and inflation" in the Haryana. "There is a huge wave of Congress in Haryana. Haryana has the highest unemployment in the entire country, the price of which is being paid by the youth here. "The public is fed up with the rampant inflation, corruption and instability of the BJP and is going to bring about a big change)," she said in a post in Hindi on X. The Congress will win all seats in the state with a huge margin, she said. Earlier, she led a roadshow to garner support for party nominee Kumari Selja for the May 25 Lok Sabha poll in Haryana. Standing in an open vehicle along with Selja and former Haryana minister Kiran Choudhary, Priyanka waved towards people during her roadshow, which lasted for about an hour. It was her first such election outing in Haryana. Holding party flags, Congress workers raised slogans 'Congress party Zindabad' and showered flower petals on her.

LS polls 2024: Election is fight to safeguard Constitution, says Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday charged that the BJP always wanted to "tear and throw away" the Constitution, and asserted that the Lok Sabha elections this time is a fight to safeguard it. At an election meeting in northeast Delhi's Dilshad Garden in support of party candidate Kanhaiya Kumar, he claimed that the BJP always wanted to change the Constitution. "These people (BJP) have always wanted to tear and throw it (Constitution) away. They never accepted neither the Indian Constitution nor the Indian flag. In this election finally they have accepted that they want to change it," he charged. "In this election, the fight is for safeguarding the Indian Constitution. It is not simply a book, our Constitution carries thousands of years of ideological heritage of Gandhi, Ambedkar and Nehru ji," the Congress leader said. The former Congress president said the BJP has finally "accepted" in this election that it wanted to change the Constitution. However, the BJP will have to f

LS polls: Maneka Gandhi locked in contest against SP's Nishad in Sultanpur

In Sultanpur, next door to Amethi, another Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi of the BJP, is locked in a keen contest with her Samajwadi Party rival. Mayawati-led BSP's party nominee Udraj Verma, who hails from OBC Kurmi caste, is causing trouble to the BJP as well as the SP candidates but Akhilesh Yadav-headed SP candidate Ram Bhual Nishad is at a greater loss. Verma threatens to divide the OBC votes of the SP. Contesting from the Sultanpur seat in Uttar Pradesh for the second consecutive time, Maneka Gandhi had won the previous poll by a margin of around 14,000 votes. She is working hard to register a victory with a comfortable margin this time. Maneka Gandhi told PTI in an interview that her focus is on the local issues and asserted that her victory margin will be bigger this time. She is mostly fending for herself so far. Among the top leaders of the BJP, only UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has campaigned in Sultanpur which goes to polls in the sixth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha electi

LS polls: Cong slams BJP for not fulfilling promises made to farmers

The Congress on Thursday hit out at the BJP for not fulfilling the promises made to farmers' organisations and asserted that an INDIA bloc government will implement all its guarantees to the tillers, including the legal guarantee of MSP. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh noted that elections have been held in 428 constituencies and now polling on 115 seats, including those in Punjab and Haryana, are left. In a video statement on X, he said the farmers' movement has been going on in Haryana and Punjab since five years and though the government took back the "three black farm laws", it has "not fulfilled the promises" it made to farmer organisations "For the last five years, the Modi government has continuously ignored the farmers' movement of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Atrocities were committed against the farmers. Now they are talking about snatching the MSP from the farmers of Punjab and Haryana for burning stubble," Ramesh said and asserted that the Congress strongl

EC wrong in directing Cong not to 'politicise' Agnipath scheme: Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday said the Election Commission was "egregiously wrong" in directing his party not to 'politicise' the Agnipath scheme, asserting that it is the right of an Opposition party to criticise a policy of the government. The Election Commission Wednesday came down heavily on the ruling BJP and opposition Congress, asking them to desist from campaigning along caste, community, language, and religious lines. The EC also asked the Congress not to politicise defence forces and make potentially divisive statements regarding the socio-economic composition of the armed forces. The Commission was referring to remarks made by top Congress leaders on the Agnipath scheme. In a post on X, Chidambaram said the ECI is wrong in directing the Congress party not to 'politicise' the Agnipath scheme. "What does 'politicize' mean? Does the ECI mean 'criticise'? Agniveer is a scheme, a product of the policy of the government. It is the right of an Opposition ...

Spent their lives concealing sins of Cong: PM's jibe at 'Khan Market gang'

He also accused them and all their current allies of perpetrating the anti-Sikh riots of 1984

Highlights of the day: Delhi Metro to commence services at 4 am on polling day

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LS polls highlights: INDIA bloc extremely communal, casteist and nepotistic, says PM at Delhi rally

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Congress, SP Pakistan's sympathisers: PM Modi at rally in UP's Basti

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday here called Congress and Samajwadi Party "sympathisers of Pakistan" and alleged that these parties are "scaring the country" with its nuclear power status. "This patron of terrorism which once used to make eyes at us, its condition has become such that its people are hard up even for grain. Pakistan is finished, but its sympathisers, SP and Congress, are busy scaring the country," Modi said at a poll rally while campaigning for BJP's Basti Lok Sabha candidate Harish Dwivedi. "They say one needs to be scared of Pakistan because it has an atom bomb. Don't they know what is 56-inch (chest)? It's not the weak Congress government ... but the strong government of Modi," Modi said. "India does not spare those who tries to bully it. India today beats them in their own homes," he said.

BJP ignored plight of UP's once-thriving sugar industry, alleges Congress

The Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP of ignoring the plight of Uttar Pradesh's once thriving sugar industry and neglecting farmers' frequent calls to increase the price of sugarcane. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his rallies in Shravasti and Basti. "Why does Shravasti has the highest infant mortality rate in UP? Why have 189 primary schools in Basti been declared unusable? Why has the BJP neglected Basti's sugarcane farmers and sugar mills?" Ramesh said on X. Elaborating on what he said were "jumla details", the Congress leader said Shravasti ranks among India's most underdeveloped districts on several parameters and 96 of every 1,000 children die within a year of being born, much more than the UP's shamefully high average of 68 deaths per 1000 births. "While there should be 36 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in Shravasti, 1 for every 30,000 residents, the district only has 11 PHCs, which amounts to 1 PHC for mo

LS polls: Congress questions delay in release of voter turnout data by EC

The Congress on Wednesday raised questions over the big difference between the real time voter turnout data and the final figures released by the Election Commission, and said voters are worried over the "strange goings-on" in the poll body. Congress leader and head of media and publicity department of the party Pawan Khera said the difference is around 1.7 crore votes, and termed it as unprecedented. "Voters are worried about the strange goings on in the Election Commission through the four phases of voting. First, the Election Commission takes 10-11 days to bring out the final figure of voting and then the difference between real time data and final figure turns out to be 1.7 crore votes. This is truly unprecedented," Khera said on X. "Unanswered questions about the missing EVMs are also very worrying," he added. AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "This difference of 1.07 crore overall translates into an increase of 28,000 in each LS seat. This is HUGE." "The discrepancy

Cong's decision to contest on fewer seats to keep Oppn together: Kharge

The Congress has consciously contested on a lesser number of seats in this Lok Sabha election as part of a strategy to keep the INDIA bloc together and defeat the BJP, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has said. In an interview with PTI, he said this does not exhibit "under-confidence" on the part of the party as the "compromise was struck to ensure victory of the united opposition while giving space to other parties which have strengths in different parts of the country". Kharge also termed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra an "asset" and a star campaigner and justified her decision to not contest the elections. Asked which seat Rahul Gandhi should leave, in case he wins both Wayanad and Rae Bareli, Kharge said it is his personal choice. "We have taken a conscious decision to contest on a lesser number of seats. This is being done to keep the alliance partners together and that's why we have made this compromise," he told PTI. Kharge said the Congress had formed a committee to forge ...

LS polls: Battle for Ranchi seat draws Congress, BJP in close contest

Congress' Yashaswini Sahay is pitted against a formidable rival in the form of the BJP's Sanjay Seth

People want change as lives have become miserable under BJP: Khera

Congress leader Pawan Khera on Tuesday claimed that people of the country want a change as their lives have become miserable under the BJP government due to unemployment and price rise. Addressing a press conference here, Khera said, "During election campaigning, I have visited 18 states besides Odisha and found that people everywhere are very angry as they are being harassed on all fronts, hence they want a change." People's complaints are similar everywhere, that petrol prices have increased from Rs 70 to Rs 100 in the last 10 years and LPG prices have increased from Rs 400 to Rs 1,100, he claimed. Farmers, women and youth have been the worst affected during the 10 years of Modi government, Khera said. On Sambit Patra's remark, he said, "Arrogance has crossed all limits as the BJP candidate from Puri says that Lord Jagannath is a 'bhakt' (disciple) of PM Modi." He asserted that the INDIA bloc will come to power at the Centre and the BJP-led NDA is on the backfoot everywhere in t

Highlights of the day: SC dismisses pleas seeking review of Article 370 verdict

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