Page 159 - Congress

LS polls: BJP eyes hat-trick as Cong mounts challenge in Udhampur, Jammu

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has gone full-throttle with a high-voltage campaign, while the Congress seems to have adopted a subdued approach as the parties gear up for a three-cornered contest -- scheduled on April 19 and 26 -- in the Udhampur and Jammu constituencies. In both the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling BJP secured the Udhampur and Jammu seats with Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore emerging triumphant, respectively. Now, seeking a hat-trick of wins in the two constituencies, the saffron party is vigorously working to fortify its support base. It, however, faces stiff competition from the Congress, which has nominated two-time MP Lal Singh in Udhampur and its working president Raman Bhalla in Jammu. Campaigning for the first phase draws to a close on Wednesday. The BJP's campaign in Jammu and Kashmir included rallies by top party leaders, such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Defence Minister

LS polls: Kamal Nath fighting lone battle to help son win Chhindwara

With many of his close associates leaving his side, it is virtually a lone battle for Congress stalwart Kamal Nath to help his parliamentarian son Nakul Nath win from Chhindwara for a second time amid the BJP's aggressive push to wrest the seat. Chhindwara is the only Lok Sabha seat in MP which the BJP lost in 2019. As the polling date of April 19 nears, campaigning in Chhindwara seems like a family affair for Naths. On the other side, a number of senior BJP leaders have visited the constituency to campaign for their party candidate Vivek Bunty Sahu in this prestigious seat in Madhya Pradesh's Mahakoshal region. The BJP won from Chhindwara against the Nath family only once in the last 44 years. Last year, Sahu was defeated by Kamal Nath in the assembly poll from Chhindwara. MP Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, who has visited Chhindwara six times during the poll campaign, raised the issue of "local vs outsider". He termed Sahu a local, and Kamal Nath, who hails from a business family o

Cong's economic agenda divisive, seeks to derail India's growth: Deora

The Shiv Sena MP also hit out at the Congress for opposing the abrogation of Article 370

First we need to win polls, says Kharge on INDIA bloc's PM choice

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is already charting programmes for next five years calling all secretaries, and "this kind of overconfidence and arrogance is not good for the country and democracy." He said, who will be the INDIA bloc's Prime Ministerial face is a matter to be settled only after the results. "First we need to win the elections." In an interview to PTI, the Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka said after Congress won Assembly elections in Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh things are looking "positive and good." "Our guarantee schemes have proved that people want programmes and schemes that have benefits like reduction in prices. These have caught the eye of the voter," he said. Reacting to Modi's claims about NDA winning over 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, Kharge said, "Luckily, he has not said 'ab ki baar 600 par'. This egoistic propaganda, undermining the opposition and portraying that everything is me is ...

Elections 2024: ECI receives 200 complaints on code violations; acts on 169

BJP has filed 51 complaints, Congress 59 and other parties 90 with the Election Commission

Highlights of the day: AAP created myth of free water, says Lt Governor in letter to Arvind Kejriwal

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LS polls highlights: EC bans Surjewala from campaigning for 48 hours over his remarks on Hema Malini

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EC bans Surjewala from campaigning for 48 hrs over remarks on Hema Malini

The Election Commission on Tuesday reprimanded Congress leader Randeep Surjewala over his alleged derogatory remarks against BJP MP Hema Malini and barred him from campaigning for 48 hours. This is the first campaign ban imposed by the poll body in this Lok Sabha election cycle. The Election Commission had last Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to Surjewala for his alleged "undignified, uncivilised and vulgar" remarks against Malini. In his reply to the show-cause notice, the Congress general secretary had maintained that the video cited by the BJP was "doctored". The EC rejected his claim and said the district returning officer of Kaithal had noted that the Congress leader had made the remarks on March 31 at Faral village under the Pundri assembly segment and the entire speech was videographed by the video surveillance team. The poll watchdog told him that it was convinced that he had made the said statement and thus violated provisions of the model code of conduct. "The commis

LS polls: Cong will raise tea workers' wages in Assam, says Priyanka Gandhi

Leading a roadshow in support of party candidate Gaurav Gogoi in Jorhat district of Assam, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday said daily wages of tea garden workers will be hiked if the opposition alliance wins the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Addressing a huge crowd while taking part in a roadshow here, she claimed the ruling party also wants to "change" the Constitution and if that happens, the common people of the country will suffer the most. "When I came to Assam and visited tea gardens before assembly polls 2-3 years ago, I had promised to raise the wages if Congress formed the government. But you chose BJP and the wages were not raised from around Rs 250. "I am again telling you that our manifesto has guaranteed to increase the wages of tea garden workers if we form the government at the Centre," Vadra said. She also claimed that the ruling party will "change" the Indian Constitution if it returns to power for the third term and the common people will suffer t

LS polls: 'Modi govt gave Bihar raw deal,' says Congress' Jairam Ramesh

The Congress attacked the Modi government on Tuesday over key issues of Bihar, and asked why has the state not been granted special category status as promised. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh hit out at the prime minister ahead of his poll rallies in Bihar. "Today's questions for PM Modi as he heads to Bihar: Why hasn't Bihar been granted Special Category Status as the PM had promised?" Ramesh said on X. When will the Modi government address the flooding of the Kosi river and what happened to the airports that the PM promised, he asked. "Jumla details below: After 10 years in power at the Centre, and 15 years in power in Bihar, why has the Modi Sarkar failed to deliver Special Category Status in the state? As per the Centre's own Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Report, Bihar ranked as the poorest state in India, and 52% of the state's population lacks access to requisite health, education and living standards," Ramesh said. In 2013, the Raghuram Rajan Committee ...

Separating Kukis, Meiteis geographically against India: Cong candidate

Separating Kukis and Meiteis geographically in violence-hit Manipur in name of "safety" is against the "very idea" of India and should be condemned left, right and centre, said Congress' Lok Sabha poll candidate A Bimol Akoijam. An associate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University's School of Social Sciences, Akoijam asserted that as long as the two communities continue to be citizens of the country, they will have to live and work together. The comments by Akoijam, 57, came amid demands by the Kuki-Zo community in Manipur for a separate administration. Equating the violence in Manipur to "Rwanda-like ethnic conflict", Akoijam alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre and in the state has deliberately allowed the situation to aggravate in the state and claimed that there is some purpose behind it. "The kind of situation we are seeing...we don't believe that this can happen in a settled democracy like India...it almost sounds like an ethnic conflict like those happen in Rwa

Oppn criticises PM for praising ED action, claims misuse of law can be seen

Taking a jibe at the Prime Minister's earlier 'jhola leke aye hain' (come with a jhola bag) remark, Patole said that people will vote him out of power LS polls

Unveiling Vidarbha ahead of polls: Of no half measures and brutal contrasts

Neither the BJP candidate from Chandrapur and Maharashtra Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar nor the Congress candidate Pratibha Dhanorkar has flagged the crisis in agriculture in Vidarbha

Highlights of the day: Reliance Industries to announce Q4 results, consider dividend on April 22

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Congress won't decide citizenship on basis of caste, religion: Rahul Gandhi

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday assured the people that if the Congress is voted to power, citizenship will not be decided on the basis of caste, religion or language, but on the principle of the idea of India. He said the job of the grand old party is to protect the Constitution and the democratic structure of India. Addressing a massive election rally of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in this northern Kerala district, he said that the Constitution protects the rights of every single Indian regardless of their religion, the state s/he comes from, the language s/he speaks and the culture s/he is part of. "We will never decide citizenship on the basis of caste religion or language. We will decide citizenship based on the idea of India, nothing less," Gandhi asserted. It is the "sacred duty" of the Congress to protect every single voice of this country regardless of caste, religion, language or age, he told the crowd, including hundreds of UDF workers gathered ...

LS polls highlights: My aim is to increase speed and scale of development, says PM Modi to ANI

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Won't be right to trust their manifesto again: Kharge on BJP's promises

The Congress President further said that the BJP's manifesto proves that the ruling party has nothing to offer people

BJP manifesto may bode well for business sentiment in India: UBS Securities

Implementing poll promises in the Congress manifesto would entail an additional fiscal cost of 2-3.3 per cent of the gross domestic product, it said in a note

2024 LS poll is about India's future, to safeguard Constitution: Congress

This Lok Sabha election is about the future of India and to safeguard the constitutional values that have been in existence in the country, senior Congress leader Girish Chodankar said on Monday. He said this while addressing a press conference here. "This election is about the future of India and to safeguard our constitution, our values that we believe in and also safeguard the purity that had been existent in India and safeguard the country in general," said Chodankar, AICC in-charge of Nagaland, Manipur, Sikkim and Tripura. Asserting that the Lok Sabha elections will decide the future faith of the country, Chodankar said "the mood of the country is changing and people are no longer believing the 'ache din' and fake promises and guarantees of Narendra Modi." He expressed confidence that the people of Nagaland will vote for the INDI Alliance. Chodankar expressed confidence that INDI Alliance would form its government at the Centre while Nagaland would send its representative by

LS polls: BJP's Sankalp Patra has nothing for poor, says Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the BJP poll manifesto does not have anything for the poor but talks about bidding for the 2036 Olympics. The BJP was keen on pushing its agenda of "One nation, one election," he said accusing the ruling dispensation at the Centre, during his brief visit to Nilgiris district. "What are the BJP's policies for the poor?" Gandhi asked during his interaction with college students at Thaloor here before proceeding to Wayanad in Kerala. The Congress manifesto has policies for all sections of the people including the youth and women. "But the BJP election manifesto talks about holding Olympics in 2036. This is the difference between the Congress and the BJP," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday released the BJP's Lok Sabha poll manifesto, outlining his vision for Viksit Bharat' as he exhorted people to give another mandate to his party to shape India's 'destiny' for the next 1,000 years. Describing the party's Sankal Patra' as a ...