Page 46 - Indian National Congress

LS polls 2024: AAP delegation meets EC over its LS polls campaign song

A delegation of senior AAP leaders on Tuesday met the Election Commission (EC) over the Delhi poll panel asking the party to modify its campaign song, and asserted that there was "nothing objectionable" in its lyrics. The party on Sunday had claimed that the commission has "banned" its Lok Sabha campaign song "Jail Ka Jawab, Vote Se Denge", but officials of the Delhi poll body had said the AAP was asked to modify the contents of the song since it violated EC's guidelines and advertising codes. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) delegation included Delhi ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Atishi, national secretary Pankaj Gupta and senior leader Dilip Pandey. After meeting the EC, Bharadwaj said they told the commission that many objectionable hoardings had been put up by the BJP all over Delhi for about a month. "In these hoardings, opposition leaders, especially (AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal, have been shown in an objectionable manner through pictures. We ha

Cong trying to divide Hindus for appeasement politics: PM Modi slams Kharge

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked the Congress over party president Mallikarjun Kharge's recent remark on Lord Ram and Lord Shiva, accusing the opposition party of trying to create divisions among Hindus due to its appeasement politics. He was addressing a poll gathering at Surendranagar in Gujarat in support of BJP candidates for Surendranagar and Bhavnagar Lok Sabha seats. "Now, Congress is trying to create divisions among Hindus. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has made a very dangerous statement about Lord Ram and Lord Shiva. This statement has been made with malafide intentions. They are playing a game to divide the Hindu community," he said. "They are creating differences among the devotees of Lord Ram and Lord Shiva so that they fight with each other. Even Mughals could not break our thousands of years of traditions. And now Congress wants to break it? How low will Congress stoop for appeasement?" Modi added. The PM also alleged that Congress, in its ..

Seek votes on performance, not through 'hate speeches': Kharge to PM Modi

In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said when the elections are over, people will only remember him as the PM who indulged in "divisive and communal speeches filled with lies" to avoid an inevitable defeat. Kharge urged the prime minister to seek votes on the performance of his government over the last ten years instead of indulging in "hate speeches". The Congress president made the remarks in a letter to Prime Minister Modi in which he rebutted the attack and charges levelled against his party in the PM's letter to NDA candidates after the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls. Prime Minister Modi has asked the BJP-led NDA candidates in the Lok Sabha polls to spread awareness among voters about the Congress's intention to snatch "reservation from SC, ST and OBC communities and give it away to their vote bank". In a personal letter written to them, Modi also accused the Congress and its allies of having divisive and

Cong Pak 'disciple'; neighbour eager to make 'shehzada' next India PM: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday dubbed the Congress party a "disciple" of Pakistan, and said the neighbouring country was eager to make the 'shehzada' of the grand old party the next prime minister of India. His comments came amid reports that Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, a former minister in Imran Khan's cabinet in Pakistan, shared a video featuring Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on his social media handle and praised him. "Pakistan is crying because Congress is dying here. Pakistani leaders are praying for Congress. Pakistan is eager to make 'shehzada' (referring to Rahul Gandhi) the next prime minister. This is not surprising because we already know that Congress is Pakistan's 'mureed' (disciple). The partnership between Pakistan and Congress has been exposed. It shows the country's enemies want a weak government in India, not a strong one," Modi said. Addressing a poll rally in Anand town of central Gujarat in support of BJP candidates for Anand and Kheda Lok Sabha seats, PM .

Hearing in 2018 defamation case against Cong leader Rahul Gandhi postponed

Hearing in a 2018 defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his alleged objectionable remark targeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah will now be held on May 14 as no judge was assigned to the MP-MLA court. According to Gandhi's counsel Kashi Prasad Shukla, the hearing was scheduled for Thursday but could not be held as a judge was yet to be assigned to the court. The MP-MLA court fixed May 14 as the next date of hearing in the matter, he added. The defamation complaint against Gandhi was filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra six years ago. Last December, the court issued a warrant against Gandhi. Subsequently, Gandhi halted his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Amethi on February 20, appeared in the court and was granted bail. The complaint was filed here on August 4, 2018, against Rahul Gandhi for his alleged objectionable comments against Shah made at a press conference in Bengaluru in May that year during the Karnataka elections. The complainant referred to Gandhi's comment

49 Lok Sabha, 318 Assembly candidates withdraw nominations in Andhra: CEO

Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena on Tuesday said 49 Lok Sabha candidates and 318 Assembly candidates have withdrawn their nominations for the May 13 simultaneous elections in the state. Consequently, the number of candidates contesting the 25 Lok Sabha seats got pruned to 454 and the 175-member Assembly to 2,387 candidates, the CEO said. "Following the withdrawal of nominations on Monday, April 29, 454 candidates will contest from the 25 Parliament constituencies and 2,387 from the 175 Assembly constituencies, said Meena in a press release. After the scrutiny of nominations on April 26, the Election Commission rejected 183 out of 686 Lok Sabha nominations and 939 out of 3,644 Assembly nominations. It accepted 503 Lok Sabha and 2,705 Assembly nominations which now stand at 454 and 2,387 after the withdrawals.

Ghulam Nabi Azad welcomes EC decision to postpone polls in Anantnag-Rajouri

Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chairperson Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday welcomed the Election Commission's decision to postpone polls in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency and said this has relieved several political parties. Azad emphasized the importance of the assembly elections over parliamentary elections stating it is very important to have a legislative assembly and legislators put in place through polls. "It is never too late. The decision of the Election Commission of India has relieved us. I thank the ECI for taking this right decision. All political parties will benefit from the decision. Actually, all parties are happy," he told reporters here. Azad, who is on campaign trial in Rajouri for his party's candidate Mohammad Saleem pitted in triangular contest with PDP's Mehbooba Mufti and NC's Mian Altaf on Anantnag-Rajouri seat, pointed out that the Election Commission should have scheduled polling in this constituency for the sixth or seventh phase. He explained

LS polls: BRS Supremo KCR critiques EC for inaction on CM Revanth Reddy

BRS president K Chandrashekar Rao, who has been barred by the Election Commission from campaigning for 48 hours, on Wednesday said that no action was taken against Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy though he made objectionable comments on him. Rao, who addressed an election rally in the Mahabubabad Lok Sabha constituency, referred to the 48-hour ban on him and said that lakhs of BRS activists would work tirelessly for "about 96 hours". Referring to certain comments allegedly made against him by the chief minister, he said the Election Commission has not imposed any ban on Revanth Reddy. Chandrashekar Rao's son and BRS working president K T Rama Rao said on X: "You can ban him temporarily, you can't kill the truth that he wants Telangana to know. Remember, the only people who are scared of you for speaking the hard truths are those who are living a Lie Jai Telangana." The Election Commission on Wednesday reprimanded Chandrashekar Rao and barred him from campaigning for 48 hou

Congress tried to defame Indian culture, civilisation: UP CM Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday attacked the Congress, saying after it became "directionless" post-Independence, it has now become "leaderless" as well and accused the party's leaders of attempting to defame Indian civilisation and culture. "Unfortunately, the country's oldest political party (Congress) went directionless after Independence and today it has become leaderless too. The Congress leaders have constantly tried to abuse the Indian culture and humiliate the 'sanatan dharma'," Adityanath told reporters here. "During the UPA government, a senior leader of the Congress and the then Union Home Minister had tried to insult India's 'sanatan' culture in the name of saffron terror," he said. The priest CM blamed the Congress's policies for the problem of terrorism and Naxalism in the country. He claimed that the central government has controlled the militancy in the Naxal-affected areas and pacified the restive northeast. "Every person knows that the ...

Congress, TMC critique EC over delay in sharing phase 1, 2 voting data

The Congress, CPI(M) and the TMC on Tuesday criticised the Election Commission over the delay in publishing the final voter turnout figures for the first two phases of the Lok Sabha polls. The commission in the evening made public the voter turnout of the first and second phases of polling held on April 19 and April 26. Voting for the general elections is being held in seven phases, the remaining are on May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. Counting of votes will be taken up on June 4. "Finally, ECI (Election Commission of India) has put out the final voter turnout figures for the first two phases which are substantially, not marginally as is normal, higher than the initial figures," Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on X. "But why are the absolute numbers of voters in each parliamentary constituency not put out? Percentages are meaningless unless this figure is known," he said. Yechury alleged that apprehensions of manipulation of resul

Cong Chief Kharge appoints Devender Yadav as interim chief of Delhi unit

Congress leader Ajay Maken took to X, formerly Twitter, and said that Yadav is the right choice for post

Congress has tried to strangle Constitution since beginning: UP CM Yogi

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in a scathing attack on the Congress, on Tuesday alleged that the grand old party has tried to strangle the Constitution drawn up by Babasaheb Ambedkar since the beginning. Adityanath's reaction came amid claims by the opposition parties, including the Congress, that the BJP's "400-paar" slogan is aimed at changing the Constitution and ending the reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and backward classes. Adityanath told PTI Video that there cannot be a bigger lie than these claims by the opposition. "Everyone knows the history of the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the parties associated with the INDIA bloc," he said. "The Congress' history has been to strangle the Constitution drawn up by Babasaheb Ambedkar. The Constitution came into force in 1950 and the Congress continuously worked to trample the freedom of expression. Even after that, there were continuous efforts to use the Constitution in its (Congress') own way," he

Highlights of day: Modi govt used privatisation to weaken reservations, says Congress

From PM Modi's election rallies in Karnataka to BJD leaders joining the BJP in Odisha, catch all the latest updates from around the world here

LS polls: BJP will win more than 10 seats in T'gana, claims party leader

The BJP will win more than 10 of the total 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana on the back of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity and his development agenda and corruption-free governance, BJP Rajya Sabha member K Laxman said. It is going to be a landslide victory for the BJP in Telangana in the Lok Sabha elections, Laxman, a member of BJP's parliamentary board, said. The BJP won four seats in Telangana in the 2019 general elections. "People from every nook and corner of the state are looking towards PM Modi, his development agenda and welfare schemes for the poor and his achievements during the last 10 years," he told PTI here. In the Assembly polls held last year, people might have voted for the local issues, but they are definitely going to vote for Modi as their choice for PM in the Parliament elections, he said. The Congress had won the Assembly elections, defeating the BRS which was in power since 2014 when Telangana was formed. Asked what are the factors that will contri

Cong attacks BJP on 2G spectrum, says BJP's 'hypocrisy knows no bounds'

The Congress on Saturday said the BJP's "hypocrisy knows no bounds" and alleged that while it called the administrative allocation of 2G spectrum under the UPA a "scam", the Narendra Modi government was now seeking permission from the Supreme Court to "give away spectrum" without an auction. The opposition party's attack came after the Centre on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking modification of its verdict in the 2G spectrum case which said the State was duty bound to adopt the auction route while transferring or alienating the country's natural resources. A top source, however, later said the government is not seeking to change the 2012 Supreme Court judgement that backed auction as the preferred mode of allocating telecom spectrum except for narrowly defined sectors such as satellite communication and defence where auction is not feasible. Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The hypocrisy of the 'Modi Sarkar' and 'Bhrash

Cong accuses CPI(M) of hijacking poll machinery to discourage voters

A day after polling concluded for the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the Congress on Saturday alleged that voters were harassed and the election machinery was hijacked by the ruling CPI(M) in the state with an aim to bring down the turnout percentage. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said the alleged hijacking of the election machinery by the ruling CPI(M) was one of the reasons for the decrease in polling percentage this year as compared to the turnout in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Despite heightened political fervour and anticipation about the general elections for the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the process concluded with a notable decrease in voter turnout, as the figure stood at 70.22 per cent at 8pm yesterday. This figure, while significant, was quite a drop from the polling percentage of 77.84 per cent registered in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Venugopal claimed that there were glitches in electronic voting machines (EVMs) in three to five per cent of the polling booths in

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Some of the most keenly watched contests

The once-in-five-year festival of democracy in the world's most populous nation has actors, sport stars and millionaires battling it out alongside the career politicians

Cong will continue the campaign on greater use of VVPATs: Jairam Ramesh

The Congress will continue with its political campaign on greater use of VVPATs to increase public trust in the electoral process, the party said on Friday after the Supreme Court rejected pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs. The Congress was not a party, directly or indirectly, to the petition on VVPATs rejected by the Supreme Court today, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said. "We have taken note of the verdict of the 2-judge bench and our political campaign on the greater use of VVPATs to increase public trust in the electoral process will continue," Ramesh said in a post on X. The Supreme Court has rejected pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and said "blindly distrusting" any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted scepticism. Maintaining that "democracy is all about striving to build harmony and trust between all institutions", a bench of Justices Sanjiv Kha

LS polls Highlights: Nearly 61% turnout recorded in 2nd phase of elections

Eighty-eight Lok Sabha seats (including parts of the outer Manipur seat), across 13 states and Union Territories, are set to vote today

Cong conspiring to transfer OBC, SC, ST rights to Muslims: Keshav Maurya

The Congress has "conspired" to snatch the rights of OBCs, SCs and STs, who are in "majority" in the country, and give these to Muslims, senior BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya alleged on Friday. The Congress' "dangerous thinking" of taking away the rights of Dalits, the backwards and adivasis (tribals) and hand them over to "intruders" is clear from its Lok Sabha poll manifesto, Maurya told a press conference at the BJP headquarters here. "They (the Congress) have clearly said in their manifesto that if given a chance, they will finish majoritarianism (in the country). The OBCs (Other Backward Classes), SCs (Scheduled Castes) and STs (Scheduled Tribes) are majority in the country," the Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister said. The Congress will be punished in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections for the "social injustice" it has done with the country's Dalits, backwards and adivasis for 70 years, he said. Maurya said the Congress has "conspired to snatch the rights of ?OBCs, SCs and STs ?a