Page 53 - Indian National Congress

Lok Sabha elections 2024: All you need to know about phase five polls

The fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024 will be conducted on May 20. A total of eight states and union territories will go to polls on that day

Himachal CM's first reaction as BJP fields ex-Cong rebel MLAs in by-polls

The Congress had disqualified the six rebel MLAs, including Rajinder Rana for voting in favour of the BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan during the Rajya Sabha polls in February

LS elections: Congress invites Varun Gandhi to join the party post-BJP snub

In its fifth list of candidates released on Monday, the BJP replaced the sitting Pilibhit MP with ex-Congress MP Jitin Prasad for the upcoming elections

EC asks K'taka poll officer to act on complaint by Deve Gowda on freebies

The Election Commission has directed the chief electoral officer of Karnataka to take "immediate appropriate action" on a complaint filed by JD (S) president H D Deve Gowda that Congress MP D K Suresh was allegedly planning distribution of freebies and the state poll machinery failed to take swift action. In a letter to the state CEO, the EC asked him to take action keeping in mind the provisions of the model code of conduct and relevant laws, and sought a compliance report at the earliest. The EC letter was sent out on March 21 based on a complaint of former prime minister Gowda to the poll panel. The JD(S) leader has alleged that the state election machinery failed to take swift action to prevent the "corrupt activities" in the Bengaluru (Rural) Lok Sabha seat. He alleged that the freebies were removed from a godown as the field machinery failed to take appropriate action. "...there is not only dereliction of duties by the concerned officer but the officers are afraid of taking

Lok Sabha polls: Cong's Nakul Nath files nomination from Chhindwara in MP

Nakul Nath, the lone Congress winner in the last general elections in Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday filed his nomination papers from his traditional Chhindwara constituency, which his father and former chief minister Kamal Nath represented for nine terms. Accompanied by his wife and parents, including former MP Alka Nath, Nakul submitted his papers to the returning officer in Chhindwara. Before that, the senior and junior Nath worshipped at the Lord Hanuman temple in the town. His supporters also took out a rally, which was attended by state Congress president Jitu Patwari and the Leader of the Opposition Umang Singhar. Of the 29 Lok Sabha seats in MP, the BJP in 2019 had won 28, barring Chhindwara. The saffron party has fielded its district unit president Vivek Bunty Sahu against Nakul Nath. Though the Chhindwara seat has been the bastion of the Congress, with the grand old party losing elections here just once, BJP is channelling all its energies to wrest this seat this time. In 20

Hope govt gives strong rebuttal to China on Arunachal claims, says Kharge

Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable, indistinguishable and inseparable part of India, the Congress asserted on Tuesday and called on the Modi government to come out with the "strongest rebuttal" to the Chinese on their "pathetic claims" on the state. China on Monday continued to claim that Arunachal Pradesh has "always been" its territory, notwithstanding India dismissing Beijing's claim as "absurd" and "ludicrous". On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian reiterated China's claim reacting to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's assertions on Saturday, dismissing China's repeated claims on Arunachal Pradesh as "ludicrous" . In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable, indistinguishable and inseparable part of India. "The Indian National Congress strongly condemns and opposes any idea of an iota of Chinese claims on Arunachal Pradesh. This is the fourth time in a month, that the Chinese, from its highest offices, h

Modi govt's Atal Pension Yojana poorly designed, a paper tiger: Cong

The Congress on Tuesday attacked the Modi government over the Atal Pension Yojana, alleging it is a "very poorly-designed scheme" and a "paper tiger" that needs officials to hoodwink and coerce people into participating in it. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the scheme is a "fitting representation of the Modi Government's policy making: headline management, with few benefits actually reaching the people". His attack came after a media report claimed that nearly one of three subscribers who dropped out of the central government's pension scheme for the unorganised sector, the Atal Pension Yojana (APY), did so because their accounts were opened without their "explicit" permission. The report cited a recent sample study by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). In a post on X, Ramesh said, "The Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) was in Bengaluru on the 24th of March, where she was proclaiming the benefits of the Atal Pension Yojana initiated by the Modi

LS polls: Congress fields Vasundhara Raje's 'aide' from Kota in 6th list

Lok Sabha elections: The Congress had named five new candidates for Rajasthan, including a "close aide" of former BJP CM Vasundhara Raje, who joined the party on Thursday

LS elections: Kerala BJP chief Surendran to take on Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad

K Surendran was named in the BJP's fifth list of candidates and faces a tough task to challenge the Left-Congress dominance in Kerala

Election latest: Cong drops 'pro-BJP' Jaipur nominee, Kangana on poll debut

Lok Sabha elections: The BJP revealed many surprising names in its latest list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, naming actors Kangana Ranaut and Arun Govil as debut nominees

BJP spreading lies against Rahul Gandhi over his 'shakti' remark: Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed the BJP was spreading a false narrative against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi while targeting him over his "shakti" remark. In his weekly column "rokhthok" in the party mouthpiece Saamana, Raut said during his Mumbai rally, Gandhi had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is just a mask and the opposition has to fight the "shakti" behind it. "Gandhi meant 'dhan shakti' (money power) against which the opposition has to fight. PM Modi immediately said this was an attack on Hindutva and women power. People who consider themselves as the avatar of Lord Vishnu were shocked by Gandhi's 'shakti' attack and started spreading a false narrative against him. There is also a shakti behind this false propaganda machinery," the Rajya Sabha claimed. "The BJP has become a mental illness patient," he alleged. Raut also wondered why a hospital whose income is generated from patients should purchase electoral bonds. "The Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital .

LS elections: Congress, AAP come together to put up tough fight in Gujarat

The Congress-Aam Aadmi Party tie-up in Gujarat is hoping to challenge the electoral hegemony of the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, while the ruling party is confident the opposition alliance will not affect its prospects. The Congress-AAP alliance this time aims to give a tough fight and stop the division of anti-BJP votes. In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won all 26 seats parliamentary seats in Gujarat, which is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, garnering more than 60 per cent of the vote share in both the elections. In the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections, the Congress and the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP contested separately, resulting in the division of opposition votes and leading the BJP to a huge win by bagging 156 out of the 182 seats in the state. The BJP received around 51 per cent of the votes, the Congress secured 27.5 per cent votes and 17 seats, while the AAP got around 13 per cent votes and five seats. A .

Cong like well-established firm with fluctuating mcap; BJP startup: Jairam

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh likened his party to a "well-established company" whose market capitalisation keeps fluctuating and asserted that it will stage a comeback. In an interaction at the PTI office here, Ramesh also dismissed suggestions that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charisma that was responsible for the BJP's electoral performance and stressed on the importance of organisational strength. The idea of a charismatic leader was a "dangerous concept" to believe in as one doing so, automatically believes in a "demagogue", the Congress general secretary in charge communications asserted. Talking about the need for bringing in new faces, Ramesh, however, noted that this was difficult in the Congress because people have been in the party for long. "It's easier for the BJP. Because, you know, the BJP is a startup in many states. You look upon the BJP as a startup. The Congress is not a startup. The Congress is a well-established ...

INDIA bloc like 'filtered coffee'; Cong can win elections: Shatrughan Sinha

Senior TMC leader and MP Shatrughan Sinha has dubbed opposition bloc INDIA as "filtered coffee" which is gaining momentum ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and emphasised the importance of not discounting the Congress, citing its track record of comebacks in politics. Lauding Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for conducting "krantikari (revolutionary) yatras" across the country, the Asansol MP, however, asserted that TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would be a "game-changer" after the results are announced. In an interview with PTI, the actor-turned-politician termed the electoral bond as a "major scam and extortion racket" of the BJP and said the "seven-phase elections are a boon for the opposition parties to expose the saffron camp's extortion and blackmail racket in the form of electoral bonds." "The BJP will be defeated in this election. If the NDA has the support of the CBI, ED, and Income Tax, INDIA has the support of the masses. Many think that INDIA doesn't .

BJP MP, Vadodara LS seat candidate Ranjan Bhatt pulls out of poll race

The Bharatiya Janata Party's Lok Sabha member from Vadodara, Ranjan Bhatt, who was renominated by the party from the same seat for the upcoming parliamentary elections, on Saturday pulled out of the poll race citing personal reasons. "I, Ranjanben Dhananjay Bhatt, am unwilling to contest the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 due to my personal reasons," she announced on X. Her move comes days after banners criticising the BJP's decision to renominate her from the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat came up at different spots in the city. Some local BJP leaders had also expressed their displeasure over Bhatt's nomination. BJP national women's wing vice president Jyotiben Pandya resigned from the party and all posts after Bhatt's name was announced as a candidate for the third time from Vadodara. Bhatt had won the 2014 by-election after Prime Minister Narendra Modi vacated the seat. She also won the Lok Sabha election in 2019, and was announced as BJP's candidate for the upcoming poll.

Disqualified Congress MLAs, Independents in Himachal likely to join BJP

Several former MLAs of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly are expected to join the BJP and contest the upcoming bypolls on its ticket, sources said on Saturday, as the political crisis plaguing the state continues to rumble on. Six rebel Congress MLAs -- Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto -- were disqualified on February 29 for defying a party whip to be present in the House and vote in favour of the Himachal Pradesh government during a cut motion and budget. The Election Commission has announced bypolls for their constituencies. Three Independent MLAs -- Ashish Sharma, Hoshiyar Singh and KL Thakur -- submitted their resignations on Friday. Bypolls are expected to be held for their seats as well. "We have submitted our resignations. We will join the BJP and contest the elections on its ticket," Singh had later told reporters. The Congress government led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was last month plunge

Electoral bond disclosures: Jalan group bonds well with political parties

Financial records of two group companies show that the donations gave are disproportionately high compared to the of the firms, at least in the years they purchased the bonds

Electoral bonds data: Here's how much the BJP, Congress and TMC received

While BJP received the largest amount of corporate donations via electoral bonds, Congress ranked behind Trinamool Congress in terms of donations

Frozen Bank Account: Key causes and its impact on account holders explained

India's main opposition party, the Congress, cannot access its money, and that too right before the Lok Sabha elections. What is a frozen bank account? What causes it and what's the impact? Find out

Company that's biggest electoral bond donor funded 10 state-level parties

Future Gaming and Hotel Services spread its bets across national and regional players