In a veiled reference to West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said he cannot speak in favour of someone who wants to finish him politically and his party in the state. His comment comes hours after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that Chowdhury is no one to take a decision on whether Banerjee would be part of the INDIA bloc in the event of the anti-BJP alliance coming to power after the Lok Sabha polls. Asked about Kharge's statement, Chowdhury, who is seeking re-election from Baharampur on a Congress ticket, said, I cannot speak in favour of someone who wants to finish me politically and our party in Bengal. This is a battle for every Congress worker. I have spoken on their behalf. Stating that his opposition to Banerjee stemmed from his principled stance, not from his interest, Chowdhury said There is no personal grudge but I question her political ethics." Asked about Mamata Banerjee's comment
Two persons were injured in a clash between activists of TMC and BJP in West Bengal's Nadia district on Saturday, police said. The clash broke out in Gayeshpur when a procession in support of Union Minister and BJP's Bongaon Lok Sabha candidate Shantanu Thakur was passing by a locality where a TMC street-corner meeting was going on, a senior officer said. TMC Nadia South president Debasish Ganguly alleged, "BJP workers intentionally took the route where our street-corner meeting was taking place. Our activists urged those present in the BJP procession to turn off the microphone but they did not listen. They assaulted one of our women activists." Countering the allegation, a local BJP leader claimed that one of the saffron party workers was injured after being attacked by TMC activists and admitted to AIIMS Kalyani. Thakur said, "The incident shows how the Trinamool Congress has become jittery as they are losing ground. People will respond to such attacks." There was a report of tw
Campaigning concluded on Saturday for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls covering 49 constituencies in six states and two UTs including the high-profile Rae Bareli and Amethi seats from where former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister Smriti Irani are in the fray respectively. In Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla, former chief minister Omar Abdullah, who is among 22 candidates in the fray, held a roadshow in Soibugh - a central Kashmir village that was once a hotbed of militancy- on the last day of campaigning. While temperatures soared across the country, there was no let up in the campaign heat as the Lok Sabha election season entered the last fortnight. The Election Commission on Tuesday said it expects star campaigners, particularly of the national parties, to lead by example in the remaining three phases of the Lok Sabha polls and not vitiate the delicate fabric of society. With over 40 of these seats with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Prime Minister Narend
INDIA bloc's North East Delhi candidate Kanhaiya Kumar on Saturday claimed the constituency's sitting MP Manoj Tiwari Kumar carried out an attack on him as he has realised that the people of the constituency are no longer accepting him. Kumar's accusation against his BJP rival in the Lok Sabha elections came a day after he was allegedly assaulted and attacked with ink by some people. The incident happened outside the AAP office in the New Usmanpur area as he was coming out after a party meeting with local Councillor Chhaya Sharma. Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Kumar accused Tiwari of trying to instigate people against him though false rumours and doctored videos. "Instead of showing his work, ever since I was nominated as the candidate for northeast Delhi, the MP (Tiwari) is continuously lying, circulating doctored videos, and trying to instigate the common people." He further alleged that the sitting North East Delhi MP did not have even 10 projects to show in hi
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra expressed solidarity with Maliwal, with the Congress' women leaders in Delhi echoing her
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Ahead of the May 25 polls on seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital, Delhi BJP on Friday issued a "charge sheet" against its INDIA bloc rivals AAP and Congress, listing alleged scams and corruption involving the two parties that ruled the city for last more than two decades. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva alongwith other party leaders released the 40-page Hindi and English booklet titled "Congress and AAP- Partners in Loot", at the party office. No immediate reaction was available from the AAP or Congress on the allegations. "For the first 15 years, the Congress, and now in the last 9 years, the Delhi government (run by AAP) has inflicted harm on the people of Delhi," the charge sheet read charged. It is unfortunate that the Aam Aadmi Party, born out of anti-corruption movement, has its senior leadership in jail or facing charges of corruption, it said Sachdeva said there was a long trail of scams of AAP government in Delhi related to excise policy, health, educati
PM Modi said that Akhilesh Yadav should ask his "bua" why she calls people from UP and Bihar outsiders
A day after announcing that he would extend outside support to the opposition front INDIA after it comes to power, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she is very much part of the anti-BJP alliance at the national level and would form the next government with it. While addressing an election rally at Tamluk, Banerjee said that the TMC is not in alliance with the CPI(M) and the Congress in West Bengal. "At all India level, some people have misunderstood my statement yesterday. I am very much part of the INDIA alliance. The INDIA alliance was my brainchild. We are together at the national level and will continue to be together. INDIA bloc was brought together by me. We will form a government with that alliance and we are a part of it," she said. Banerjee alleged that the West Bengal units of both CPI(M) and Congress, who are part of the INDIA alliance, have joined hands and helped the BJP in the state. "Do not count on the CPI(M) and the Congress in Bengal. Th
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The Congress has adopted a multi-pronged social media strategy with Rahul Gandhi directly reaching out to people via the 'speak to the camera' mode on various issues and deploying of 20,000 volunteers to spread his messages and views on WhatsApp, party sources said on Thursday. The core theme of the outreach is to directly connect with people and get feedback about their problems, aspirations and come up with solutions in the form of the party's much talked about Nyay Patra manifesto, they said. According to the sources, more than 88 lakh people have downloaded its manifesto from Congress website so far. Apart from his letter to party workers, rallies and press conferences, Gandhi is connecting directly with people through his interactive sessions such as Yuva Nyay Manch, lectures on Samajik Nyay and his outreach to farmers and women in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. The former Congress president's YouTube channel has 5.6 million subscribers and had about 350 million views in last one
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The Congress on Thursday claimed that the BJP is "spreading lies" about food rations in India and asserted that what Karnataka has accomplished through its 10 kg free rice guarantee scheme of 'Anna Bhagya' will now be implemented across the country by an INDIA bloc government. The party's assertion came a day after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced that if the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is voted to power, it will double the quantity of free rations provided by the BJP government to the poor. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said once again, "The PM and the BJP are spreading lies about food rations in India". "This is the real chronology' of recent events: The National Food Security Act, passed in September 2013 by the Manmohan Singh Government, provided grains for 80 crore Indians (based on 2011 Census). It was opposed in writing by only one CM: the-then CM of Gujarat. As PM, Mr. Narendra Modi did nothing to impleme
Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday said people are looking at his party with great hope and it is set for a clean sweep in Haryana in the Lok Sabha elections. The former chief minister said the Congress is receiving overwhelming public support. Voting for the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana will be held in the sixth round of the seven-phase elections on May 25. While the Congress is contesting nine seats, its INDIA bloc ally AAP has fielded its candidate from the Kurukshetra constituency. "People are looking at the Congress with great hope and there is a wave in our favour," Hooda said, exuding confidence that his party and its ally AAP will win all the 10 seats in Haryana. He also exuded confidence that the INDIA bloc will form the next government at the Centre. Targeting the BJP dispensation in Haryana, the leader of opposition in the Haryana Assembly said it is a "non-performing government" and "every section is fed up with it". On the BJP replacing Manohar Lal
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday the country has started granting citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act while the opposition Samajwadi Party and Congress tried to cause riots in the country by spreading lies about the law. Addressing a Lok Sabha election rally in the Lalganj area here, he said, "The work of giving refugees citizenship under the CAA has already started. These are those people who have been living in the country for a long time as refugees and were victims of partition of the country done on the basis of religion." Modi also accused the Congress of neglecting these refugees. "The Congress and the SP tried to spread lies in the name of CAA. They tried to push Uttar Pradesh and the entire country towards riots," he alleged. The prime minister added that although the people of "INDI alliance" claim they will remove CAA, "no one can do it". "You are a fraud... you forced the country to burn in the fire of communalism," he said, attacking the oppositi
The Congress on Thursday renewed its attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the BJP giving a Lok Sabha ticket to the son of incumbent MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing charges of sexually harassing women wrestlers, and asked whether women ever be safe in "Modi's India". Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to the prime minister ahead of his rallies in Uttar Pradesh. "Will the Jaunpur medical college ever be completed? Why has the Gomti river been re-branded and not re-vived? Will women ever be safe in Modi's India?" Ramesh said. Elaborating on what he said were "jumla details", Ramesh said the foundation stone of the Jaunpur medical college was laid by Akhilesh Yadav in 2015 but nine years later, it is still not complete. It was meant to be completed in 2017 but when the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh, they chose not to prioritise this project, he alleged. "Despite this, the half-functional college was 'inaugurated' by the outgoing PM and CM
Lok Sabha Elections 2024: From crorepati candidates to rallies, here are the latest updates on general elections in India as of May 16
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday alleged the Congress during its previous rule wanted to allocate 15 per cent of the government budget for minorities and vowed not to allow splitting of budget or reservation in jobs and education on the basis of religion. Addressing an election rally at Pimpalgaon Baswant in north Maharashtra's Nashik district in support of Mahayuti candidates -- Union minister Bharati Pawar (BJP) and Hemant Godse (Shiv Sena) -- the PM said splitting budget on religious lines was dangerous. The BJP's star campaigner maintained Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution, was firmly against religion-based reservation in jobs and education. Modi claimed the Congress, when in power at the Centre, had drawn up plans to allocate 15 per cent of the total budget to minorities. "When I was the chief minister (of Gujarat), the Congress had brought up this proposal. The BJP opposed this move strongly and hence it could not be implemented. But ..