Page 19 - Elections In India

LS polls: BJP, Congress again set for battle in 14 seats in Karnataka

The Congress and BJP will lock horns on the electoral battleground again in less than a fortnight in Karnataka, as the stage is set for the second phase of elections in the 14 remaining Lok Sabha seats on Tuesday. It is going to be a straight fight between the ruling Congress and BJP in Parliamentary segments in the northern districts. The JD(S) is not contesting in these seats and is supporting its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partner -- the BJP. The state has a total of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. The first phase of polling in 14 seats in most of the southern and coastal districts was held on April 26. A total of 227 candidates -- 206 men and 21 women -- are in the fray for the second phase. More than 2.59 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in 28,269 polling stations where voting will take place between 7 am to 6 pm. The segments where elections will be held on Tuesday are: Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Bellary,

TDP quitting NDA in 2018 not a mistake, says ex-Minister Ashok

Telugu Desam Party quitting NDA in 2018 was not a mistake, senior party leader and former Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapati Raju has said. The regional party rejoining the alliance (NDA) was justified as BJP is saying it would do "something" for Andhra Pradesh, he added. The scion of the Vizianagaram royal family said he did not retire from politics, but only chose not to contest the ongoing polls due to health reasons. His daughter Aditi is vying for the Vizianagaram Assembly seat taking on the present YSR Congress legislator Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy. Aditi is likely to face headwinds to some extent as former TDP MLA Meesala Geetha is contesting as an independent after being denied ticket by the former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu-led party. "I don't think it (TDP leaving NDA in 2018) was a mistake. Because what had happened at that time (was that), there were certain commitments made in the legislation (AP Reorganisation Act) which needed to be attended to. Cert

LS polls: PM Modi begins two-day Odisha visit, to address 2 rallies today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Sunday night to lead the BJP's campaign for its candidates on Monday, officials said. Modi was received by senior BJP leaders including party's Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi at the Biju Patnaik International Airport. Modi was seen flashing a lotus symbol to people who were standing on both sides of the road connecting the airport with Raj Bhavan. He is likely to visit Shree Lingaraj temple in the city on Monday morning, sources said. The PM is scheduled to address two election rallies in Berhampur and Nabarangpur on Monday. Sarangi said Modi will again visit Odisha on May 10 and hold a road show here. He will address an election rally in Bolangir on May 11, she added. Modi arrived at the state capital hours after BJP president J P Nadda left the city after releasing the party's manifesto ahead of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections to be held between May 13 and June 1.

Cong govt in Karnataka to give financial aid to Prajwal rape victims

The Congress government in Karnataka will provide financial assistance to those allegedly sexually assaulted by JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna, the national party said on Sunday. Congress general secretary and the party's Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala made this announcement at a press conference here in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. He said former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had demanded that appropriate action be taken against the accused. "Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has announced financial assistance to the rape victims who are in hundreds, since it is a unique case which has never happened in the last 75 years," Surjewala said. Prajwal, the JD(S)-BJP alliance candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, is the grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and nephew of former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy. He is wanted in a case pertaining to rape and molestation after hundreds of explicit videos allegedly came out in open. Flanked by ...

Modi will seek votes in Lord Ram's name, won't speak on development: Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek votes in the name of Lord Ram but will not speak on development, inflation and jobs. Talking to reporters here, Raut claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was trailing after the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections. The third phase of polls will take place on May 7. Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit the Ram temple in Ayodhya on Sunday and hold a roadshow. "Modi will go to Dwarka, Mathura and Ayodhya. He will go to every temple but won't talk about development, inflation and jobs. He will not talk about why the (2019) Pulwama attack took place," the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said. He also hit out at the prime minister over the attack in Jammu and Kashmir, in which a soldier was killed and four were injured as terrorists ambushed an Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy in Poonch district. "Yesterday, in broad daylight, our soldiers were attacked and killed. He will not talk about t

Lok Sabha polls: After first two phases, Modi is ahead, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on the campaign trail in Andhra Pradesh, on Sunday said after the first two phases of the general elections in the country, Narendra Modi has hit a century and was moving forward towards getting over 400 seats. Addressing a poll rally in Dharmavaram Assembly constituency in the state, Shah also attacked Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), accusing them of encouraging corruption, sand and land mafias and crime in Andhra Pradesh. The Home Minister said he was in Andhra Pradesh to lend strength to the BJP, TDP and Jana Sena alliance's fight against corruption, crime, mafia and conversion in the state. He said they formed the alliance to bring an end to the alleged rule of goondas and criminals, rampant corruption and sand mafia in the state and to make Amravati the capital of Andhra Pradesh once again. Shah further said the whole country has decided to make Modi the Prime Minister for the third time, asserting that no

LS polls: PM Modi to file nomination papers from Varanasi on May 14

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be filing his nomination papers from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat on May 14, BJP's city president Vidyasagar Rai said on Sunday. On May 13, Modi will hold a roadshow in the constituency, and preparations for it are underway, he added "The route for the roadshow has been finalised. On May 14, Prime Minister Modi will file his nomination from the Varanasi seat," he said. The Congress has fielded its Uttar Pradesh chief Ajay Rai in Varanasi and the BSP Athar Jamal Lari. Elections in Varanasi will be held on June 1 in the seventh and last round of the general elections.

Congress files complaint with EC against JP Nadda over MCC violation

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Sunday sought the Election Commission to initiate action against BJP's national president J P Nadda and other senior leaders for allegedly violating the model code of conduct by posting a video on social media intimidating members of SC and ST community not to vote for a particular candidate. In a complaint to the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer, the Congress mentioned about a video uploaded on social media platform 'X' by the official account of Karnataka State Bharatiya Janata Party @bjp4karnataka which is operated by Amit Malviya, the head of IT cell on instructions of J P Nadda, BJP National President, B Y Vijayendra, BJP State President and Social Media incharge- Karnataka BJP on May 4 at 5.34 pm. "The said video posted on social media featured animated characters of Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah. In the clip, SC, ST and OBC community are portrayed as "eggs" in a nest and it also suggested Rahul Gandhi planting a big egg ...

Lok Sabha polls: PM Modi, Nadda on two-day Odisha visit from today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president J P Nadda will arrive in Bhubaneswar on Sunday on their two-day visit to Odisha. PM Modi is scheduled to arrive in the Odisha capital around 9.30 pm and will make a night halt at Raj Bhavan. He will address election rallies at Berhampur and Nabarangpur on Monday, a BJP leader said. PM Modi will again come to the state on May 10, when he will lead a road show in Bhubaneswar. On the following day, he would address an election rally in Bolangir, he said. Odisha Police have tightened security arrangements for the PM's visit on Sunday. Tight security will be ensured from Biju Patnaik International Airport to Raj Bhavan on Sunday evening, a police officer said. Nadda, on the other hand, is slated to reach Bhubaneswar this afternoon. He is scheduled to release the election manifesto of the state unit of the BJP in Bhubaneswar around 3 pm. The BJP president will also hold meetings with party leaders and workers in Bhubaneswar and neighbouri

Congress has lost faith of people, confidence of its leaders: CM Sai

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Sunday took a swipe at the Congress, saying the party has lost the faith of people and even the confidence of its leaders. Addressing a press conference at the BJP office Ekatma Parisar here, Sai exuded confidence that the saffron party will win all 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Sunday is the last day for campaigning for the third and last phase of the general elections in Chhattisgarh, where seven Lok Sabha constituencies will go to polls on May 7. Elections to 11 parliamentary constituencies in the state are being held in three phases, and polling in four seats took place in the first two phases. "This has been a unique election for me because, for the first time, I connected with the people as a chief minister during campaigning. I addressed 64 public rallies and 11 party workers convention and attended 26 meetings of different communities in 45 days while campaigning from March 20 to May 4, Sai said. The chief minister said he w

LS polls: TMC, BJP tread cautiously in Jhargram amid identity politics

The tumultuous days of Maoist violence may now be a thing of the past for residents of Jhargram constituency in western West Bengal but the tribal-dominated seat sits on a powder keg of identity politics which has a direct bearing on the elections. A long-standing demand for Scheduled Tribe status by the minority Kurmis, a traditional tiller community listed as OBCs in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha, had led to sporadic violence in the recent past and has vertically divided the inhabitants of region with the majority Adivasis, enlisted STs, firmly opposing it. Both the Trinamool Congress and the BJP have chosen to tread cautiously over this "extremely sensitive" issue which, some voices from the ground feel, has the "potential to explode at the slightest provocation". While the ruling party in the state has declared in its poll manifesto that it would "actively work with the Centre" to award the desired status to the Kurmi-Mahato community, the saffron party has officially remain

LS polls: Vidisha's huge tourism potential remains untapped, say historians

Vidisha's links with former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, late BJP stalwart Sushma Swaraj and Madhya Pradesh ex-chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan may have brought it under the spotlight from time to time, but the town has the potential to create its identity as a tourist destination, according to historians. Flanked by world heritage sites like Sanchi and Bhim Baithika, which are a part of the Vidisha Lok Sabha seat, this town is home to many historically important sites, including the 10th-century Bija Mandal. "It is a fact that a large number of tourists visit Sanchi, a renowned Buddhist site. But very few among them visit the city of Vidisha which is hardly 10 km from the world heritage site despite having historically and archaeologically important places like Bija Mandal," historian Govind Deolia told PTI. He claimed that the "design of the new Parliament building in Central Vista (in New Delhi) is inspired by the Bija Mandal-Vijaya Mandir". Vidisha is also surrounde

PM Modi's political history based on 'Hindu-Muslim dispute': Digvijaya

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's political history is based on the "Hindu-Muslim dispute" and he should do some soul-searching as to who is benefiting from it, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has claimed. Singh, who has been fielded by the Congress from Rajgarh Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, also said that he was not satisfied with the recent Supreme Court ruling on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister spoke to PTI while campaigning in the rural areas of Raghogarh assembly segment that falls under Rajgarh parliamentary constituency. "If you look at the political history of Modi ji, it is based on the Hindu-Muslim dispute. It would be better if Narendra Modi does some soul-searching as to who is benefiting from it and who all are suffering due to it," Singh said. Polling will be held in Rajgarh in the third phase of the Lok Sabha polls on May 7. Singh targeted the BJP for seeking votes on lines of caste and religion instead of real ...

Lok Sabha polls: 15 'crorepati' candidates in third phase in Assam

Altogether 15 candidates out of the 47 in the fray for the four Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam going to the polls on May 7 are 'crorepatis', with the richest being AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal contesting from the Dhubri seat. The 'crorepati' candidates include two each from Congress and AGP, one each from BJP, AIUDF, Bodo Peoples' Front (BPF), United People's Party, Liberal (UPPL), Trinamool Congress, CPI(M) and Ekam Sanatn Bharat along with four independents, according to the affidavits filed by the contestants. Independent candidate Triptina Rabha, contesting from Kokrajhar (ST) constituency has the lowest assets with Rs 25,521 as movable assets. There are two women in the crorepati list and they are BJP's Bijuli Kalita Medhi and Congress's Mira Borthakur Goswami, both contesting from Guwahati constituency. All the four candidates of the ruling NDA are crorepatis. Barpeta and Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency have five crorepati candidates each, Dhubri three and Kokrajhar (ST) tw

Rahul has no fire but Cong playing with fire by risking divide: Rajnath

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has no fire while his party is playing with fire by attempting to create Hindu-Muslim divide for electoral dividends, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said. In an interview to PTI, Singh also indicated that the BJP will implement its big-ticket plans like rolling out of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and implementing the 'One Nation One Election' push if it retains power for the third consecutive term. The defence minister also said that he was confident that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will cross 400 seats and the BJP will get over 370 as these projections were made after detailed assessment of the ground situation and not made only for public consumption. On the overall political landscape, the defence minister accused the Congress of attempting to disturb social harmony and trying to create tensions on religious lines. "They are attempting to create Hindu-Muslim divide for electoral gains. The Congress is trying to create tensions on ...

Record-breaking election spending to ignite rural demand: Experts

Even as the 2024 Lok Sabha polls have started to unfold, anticipation remained high not only in the political landscape but also about the ripple effects on the economy, particularly in rural India, as experts described the elections as the most expensive one ever fought in the country's history. With an expenditure of a staggering Rs 1.35 lakh crore estimated by N Bhaskara Rao, who chairs the Centre for Media Studies and has been tracking election spending for 35 years, significant parts of the amount spent during the polls will reach the pockets of India's rural population boosting sales, business houses feel. According to a study, about 35 per cent of election expenditure in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in India was made on campaigns and publicity. The second highest expenditure head was payments to voters via various means hiring workers, purchasing campaign materials, freebies and direct cash transfers in some cases. Industry leaders expect these will have a positive impact on

LS polls: 'Country will rise' if Constitution is changed, says Uddhav

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday claimed that the BJP wants to change the Constitution, and warned that the "country will rise" if that happens. Central agencies had become "servants"of the BJP, he said at a rally at Dharashiv in central Maharashtra, adding that after the results on June 4, those who "troubled" his party men will be made to "pay with interest." "The BJP wants to change the Constitution. The day they try to change the Constitution, the entire country will rise (against the attempt)," Thackeray said. He also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remark that Pakistan was eager to make Congress leader Rahul Gandhi India's next PM, stating that none of the INDIA bloc leaders had gone and "shared a cake" with Nawaz Sharif. The Sena (UBT) chief was apparently referring to Modi's surprise visit to Pakistan in 2015 for a meeting with his then counterpart Sharif. After the INDIA alliance government comes to power, GST on seeds, pesticides and ...

'Anarchy' of YSRCP govt will end in 10 days, says TDP chief Naidu

The "anarchy" of the YSRCP's five-year government will end in 10 days, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu said on Saturday. Addressing a public meeting in NTR district's Nuziveedu as part of his Prajagalam election campaign tour, Naidu also labelled Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy a "gang leader of robbers and landgrabbers". "The anarchy that the state is now facing will end in another 10 days We are coming as an alliance to save the people from these conspirators," the leader of opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly said. Elections for the 175-member assembly and the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh will be held simultaneously on May 13. The votes will be counted on June 4. Labelling Reddy a "gang leader of robbers and landgrabbers", the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief called on people to dump the fan -- the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) election symbol -- in the dustbin. Naidu alleged Reddy is formulating deceptive strategies to grab people's lands through the Land Titling A

Rahul took rights of his sister by entering fray from Rae Bareli: MP CM

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's filing nomination from Rae Bareli constituency is akin to him snatching the rights of his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her husband, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav alleged on Saturday. Addressing a rally in the Guna Lok Sabha constituency, Yadav claimed Rahul ran away to Kerala (Wayanad constituency) from Amethi (Uttar Pradesh) after facing defeat. "There is the sea ahead (in Kerala), otherwise it is not clear where Rahul would have gone," Yadav quipped. Rahul Gandhi had said he would contest from Amethi while his sister will be in the fray from Rae Bareli, Yadav said. "Smriti Irani (Union minister and BJP candidate) was sitting in Amethi and calling Rahul but he developed cold feet by the time he reached Uttar Pradesh," Yadav said, a day after Rahul filed his nomination from Rae Bareli seat, currently represented by his mother Sonia Gandhi. Yadav claimed Rahul's brother-in-law (Vadra) had put up posters in Uttar Pradesh that he was rea

Rahul Gandhi promotes caste survey, promises to abolish Agniveer scheme

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi once again advocated for a caste survey and an economic review to ascertain who possesses how much wealth and asserted that this will be the first task of the INDIA bloc if it is voted to power. Addressing students at "Nyay Manch - Ab India Bolega" in the national capital, Gandhi said an INDIA bloc government will also abolish the Agniveer scheme and compensate the 1.5 lakh youngsters who were selected but not given entry into the armed forces. "The first step is a caste census along with an economic survey and it will ascertain who possesses how much wealth in the country," he said. People making up 90 per cent of the country's population do not even know their strength and are unaware as to how much of India's wealth they possess, he added. "They say that they have almost 50 per cent of the population but they do not know how much wealth they have. We are going to conduct a caste census and the OBCs (Other Backward Classes) will know how much they hav