Page 45 - Indian National Congress

BJP to encourage voter participation in Indore amid Cong's appeal for Nota

Amid the Congress' appeal to voters to opt for NOTA in the Indore Lok Sabha poll, Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda has said the BJP will encourage the people to come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise. The BJP held a meeting here late Sunday night where a discussion was held on how to increase the voting percentage in the Indore Lok Sabha seat. Polling in Indore, where the Congress is out of race after its candidate withdrew his nomination, is scheduled on May 13. There are a total of 14 candidates in the fray, including BJP's sitting MP Shankar Lalwani. Nine of the candidates are contesting as independents. The Indore Lok Sabha seat is held by the BJP for last 35 years. After the meeting on Sunday, Deputy CM Devda, who is the in-charge of BJP's Indore cluster, told reporters, "It was discussed in the meeting that maximum voting should be held in the Indore Lok Sabha constituency." The BJP will motivate people to come out in large numbers to vote a

Lok Sabha polls Phase 3: 93 seats go to polls on May 7; all details here

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Seats contested by key candidates Amit Shah, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Supriya Sule, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Dimple Yadav, & Pralhad Joshi, will go to polls on May 7

Vehicles vandalised outside Amethi Congress office, party accuses BJP

Lok Sabha Polls: Congress has fielded KL Sharma from the Amethi seat against the incumbent MP Smriti Irani. Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from Raebareli

Former Delhi Congress Chief Arvinder Singh Lovely and others join BJP

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Arvinder Singh Lovely, Naseeb Singh and Neeraj Basoya, in their resignation letters, denounced the Congress's alliance with AAP for the general elections

28% contesting Phase 4 Lok Sabha elections are crorepati candidates

Lok Sabha elections 2024: A report by ADR and National Election Watch reveals that 476 out of 1,710 candidates in Phase-4 of LS polls are crorepatis, with 12% with assets worth more than Rs 5 crore

PM Narendra Modi a shahanshaah, cut off from public, says Priyanka Gandhi

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a shahanshaah' (king of king) who lives in a palace but is cut off from the public, responding to the PM's shehzada' jibe for her brother Rahul Gandhi. The Congress general secretary was addressing a public rally at Lakhani in Gujarat's Banaskantha Lok Sabha constituency to canvass for her party candidate Geniben Thakor. He calls my brother shehzada'. I would like to tell him that this shehzada walked for 4,000 kilometres from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to listen to your (people's) problems, met my brothers and sisters, farmers and labourers and asked how we can resolve their problems, she said. Addressing a rally in Gujarat on Thursday, PM Modi had targeted Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, saying Pakistan was eager to make the shehzada' of the grand old party India's next PM as the country's enemies want a weak government at the helm. On the other hand is your shahanshah', Narendra Modiji. He lives in a ...

Shah mocks Rahul for contesting 2 LS seats, says he will lose Rae Bareli

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday took a dig at Rahul Gandhi for contesting from the Wayanad and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seats, claiming that the Congress leader will lose from Rae Bareli by a huge margin. Addressing a gathering at Bodeli town in the tribal-dominated Chhotaudepur district, Shah accused the opposition INDIA bloc of robbing the quota meant for Dalits, tribals and backward classes by giving it to Muslims in some states. "The Congress is fighting elections under their leader Rahul Gandhi. When he lost elections from Amethi, he went to Wayanad. As he has realised that he will lose from Wayanad this time, he is also contesting from Rae Bareli instead of Amethi," Shah said. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi had contested from the Amethi and Wayanad seats. While he won from Wayanad, he lost the Amethi seat to Union minister Smriti Irani. "Rahul Baba, take my advice. The problem is with you, not with the seats. You will lose from Rae Bareli also, by a huge margin. Ev

21% candidates contesting Phase 4 LS polls have criminal cases against them

Lok Sabha elections 2024: A report by ADR and National Election Watch reveals that 360 out of 1,710 Phase 4 Lok Sabha candidates face criminal cases, with 16% facing serious criminal charges

Congress, JMM, RJD want to rob reservation of tribals, OBCs: PM Modi

The Prime Minister asserted that he would not allow any party to tamper with the Constitution

Girls, women unsafe under Congress govt in Karnataka, alleges BJP

The BJP on Saturday slammed the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government over the law and order situation in Karnataka and alleged that young girls and women had no protection. Sharing a newsreport where a minor Dalit girl was allegedly impregnated by a youth in Hubballi, the BJP took to social media platform to condemn the incident. In a post on 'X', the BJP alleged that the minor girl was "raped by a fanatic" and that there is no "protection for Hindu young women and girls in Hubballi." "Hindu young women are today victims of the mistake of giving power to terrorists, rapists, fanatic Jhihadists called brothers @INCKarnataka like the Kerala files," the party alleged in the post. Meanwhile, a youth has been arrested for allegedly impregnating minor girl in Hubballi, police said. Citing the recent murder case of Congress Councillor Niranjan Hiremath's 23-year-old daughter Neha, who was stabbed to death inside her college campus in Hubballi, the BJP attacked the state government over t

Rahul Gandhi writes to K'taka CM for support to Prajwal Revanna's victims

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has written to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, urging him to extend all possible help to the victims of JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna's exploits. In a letter to Siddaramaiah, Gandhi condemned the actions of Revanna, an MP from the southern state, and accused him of enjoying immunity with the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In a veiled attack on Modi, the Congress leader said he has never come across a senior public representative who has constantly chosen silence in the face of untold violence against women. "I request you to kindly extend all possible support to the victims," Gandhi said in his letter to the Karnataka chief minister. "They deserve our compassion and solidarity as they fight their battle for justice. We have a collective duty to ensure that all parties responsible for these heinous crimes are brought to book," he added. Describing the incidents as "horrific sexual violence" unleashed b

Pakistan leaders praying Cong shehzada' becomes India's PM: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted his government's surgical and air strikes had shaken Pakistan, and the neighbouring country's leaders are now praying that the Congress shehzada becomes India's PM. Modi, addressing a poll rally in Palamu, took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi without taking his name, and said the neighbouring country might want him as prime minister, but India wants a strong country with a strong PM. "Maa Bharati's disrespect won't be tolerated anymore. New India's surgical and air strikes shook Pakistan, which was known for supporting terror attacks on India during the Congress regime. The new India knows how to enter enemy territory and strike... Now shaken by the surgical and air strikes, leaders in Pakistan are praying that the Congress shehzada' becomes PM of India," Modi said. He urged the electorate to recognise the importance of one vote, which contributed in building the Ram Temple after generations struggled for 500 years, as well as

INDIA bloc PM will be first among equals, all parties will join: Tharoor

Opposition parties, campaigning together or against each other, will join hands after the Lok Sabha polls, says Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, asserting that the people will get a prime minister who is first among equals and listens to others with an INDIA bloc coalition government. Including the Trinamool Congress in his argument on opposition parties getting together after the day of reckoning on June 4, Tharoor said in an interaction with PTI editors at the news agency's headquarters that a coalition government is nothing to be afraid of. The growth performance of the Indian economy has been better under such dispensations than under single party governments, he said. In his view, this is an election for "change" and as of now the BJP has "lost its grip" on the narrative. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) member also defended the party's decision to not attend the 'pran pratishtha' ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, saying it was right to turn down the invitation as it w

LS polls: Denied party funding, Cong's Puri candidate returns ticket

Congress candidate for the Puri Lok Sabha constituency Sucharita Mohanty has declined to contest the elections and returned the party ticket alleging lack of funding from the party. Mohanty, daughter of former Congress MP Brajamohan Mohanty in a mail to AICC general secretary (organization) K C Venugopal on Friday claimed that her campaign in the Puri Lok Sabha constituency has been hit hard because the party has denied funding. She alleged that AICC Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar "categorically" asked her to fight from her own resources. "I was a salaried professional journalist who entered electoral politics 10 years ago. I have given all I have into my campaign in Puri. I tried a public donation drive to support my campaign for progressive politics without much success so far. I also tried to cut down the projected campaign spending to the minimum," she mentioned. As she was not able to raise funds on her own, the Congress leader had approached all senior leaders including the part

Step-motherly treatment dished out by Modi govt to Jharkhand, alleges Cong

The Congress on Saturday claimed that the Centre owed Jharkhand lakhs of crores of rupees in coal royalties and central scheme benefits, and alleged that the Modi government dished out a "step-motherly treatment" to the state. Congress general secretary posed questions to the prime minister ahead of his rally in Palamu, Jharkhand. "Why is the PM not releasing 1.36 lakh crores due to Jharkhand? Why is the PM denying 8 lakh people of Jharkhand the homes they were promised? What happened to the Mandal Dam?" Ramesh said in a post on X. In Jharkhand, coal mines are operated by subsidiaries of Coal India Limited, which owes huge sums of money to the state government, he said. "There is an outstanding of Rs 1,01,142 crore for non-payment of land compensation, Rs 32,000 crore under common cause dues head, and Rs 2,500 crore under washed coal royalty head. Sadly, given the BJP's track record in opposition-ruled states, the step-motherly treatment being dished out to Jharkhand is hardly a ..

Congress heading towards its end, facing ideological bankruptcy: Scindia

The Congress is heading towards its end and is like a "termite" gnawing at itself, Union minister and BJP Guna Lok Sabha seat candidate Jyotiraditya Scindia has said. The Congress has become ideologically bankrupt and nobody wants to stay with it. While the party has not fielded candidates on many seats, some of its nominees have withdrawn from the poll race, Scindia told PTI in an interview. The scion of the erstwhile royal family of Gwalior severed his 18-year-long ties with the Congress in 2020 and joined the BJP. In a coordinated rebellion, Scindia quit along with 22 Congress MLAs loyal to him, leading to the collapse of the then 15-month-old Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government and the BJP's return to power in the state. Hitting out at the Congress over its allegation that the BJP will change the Constitution if it returns to power, Scindia said the party that imposed Emergency in the country is now giving lessons on the Constitution. "The Congress has become bankrupt in

Hope my joke not seen as expertise: Kasparov after post on Rahul goes viral

Russian chess great Garry Kasparov hoped that his "little joke" on Indian politics does not pass for "advocacy or expertise" after his cheeky social media post on Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's love for the game went viral. Within hours of asking Gandhi to "first win Rae Bareli before challenging for the top", the 61-year-old said it was just a joke and should be seen as one. "I very much hope my little joke does not pass for advocacy or expertise in Indian politics! But as an 'all-seeing monster with 1000 eyes,' as I was once described, I cannot fail to see a politician dabbling in my beloved game!" the former world champion, who retired in 2005, wrote in response to a post by actor Ranvir Shorey. Shorey's comment appeared to be a dig at Gandhi's recent assertion that he was the best chess player among all Indian politicians. Kasparov gave the same reply to a few other accounts which commented on his original post. The Congress recently shared a video of Gandhi playing chess on his ..

LS polls: AAP holds public meetings, seeks support for INDIA bloc nominees

With Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal behind bars, AAP leaders on Friday addressed public meetings in different parts of Delhi to rally support for the opposition INDIA bloc's candidates in the Lok Sabha polls. Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and Delhi minister Atishi held a 'Sankalp Sabha' as part of the AAP's 'Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se' campaign in Kalkaji assembly segment which falls under South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. The INDIA bloc has fielded Sahiram Pahalwan from South Delhi seat. Singh said Kejriwal has done a lot for the people of Delhi, including reducing electricity and water bills and providing free travel facility for women in public buses. "Therefore, it is an appeal to the people of Delhi that this time, give all the seven (Lok Sabha) seats in Delhi to the INDIA alliance and reduce the BJP's tally to zero," he said. The people should elect a candidate who can stand with them at any time, Singh said. "Sahiram Pahalwan will always be there for you and will fight for you

Win Rae Bareli before challenging for top: Kasparov to Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's favourite chess player Garry Kasparov appears to have taken note of his fondness for the game and has an advice for him -- "first win Rae Bareli before challenging for the top". The Russian legend, who retired from competitive chess in 2005, was responding to a post by a user on X on Friday. Recently, the Congress posted a video of Gandhi playing chess on his mobile phone while on the Lok Sabha election campaign trail. In the video, Gandhi named Kasparov as his favourite chess player and drew parallels between the game and politics. In the video, Gandhi described himself as the best chess player among politicians. "Feel so relieved that @Kasparov63 and @vishy64theking retired early and didn't have to face the greatest chess genius of our times," said the X user, in a cheeky comment on Gandhi. Kasparov, rather unusually, responded to the post. "Traditional (sic) dictates that you should first win from Raebareli before challenging for the top," wrote

Who is Dinesh Pratap Singh, BJP's Raebareli contender against Rahul Gandhi

A BJP MLC in Uttar Pradesh, Dinesh Pratap Singh switched from the Congress in 2018 after being suspended over alleged misbehaviour