Page 120 - Lok Sabha Elections

Special polling booths arranged for 5K voters displaced by Manipur violence

All arrangements to enable displaced people to vote have been made in accordance with the guidance received from the central government

Friends are foes, foes turned friends in Maharashtra's electoral battle

With parties breaking up and new alliances forming, Maharashtra is seeing head-spinning political realignments in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections where one-time colleagues have become rivals, and enemies have become allies. An illustration of this was on display at Union minister Amit Shah's rally in Nanded on Thursday where former chief minister Ashok Chavan and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Pratap Patil Chikhalikar shared the stage. Chikhalikar, then the MLA of undivided Shiv Sena from Loha in Latur district, joined the BJP in 2019 and went on to defeat sitting Congress MP Ashok Chavan from Nanded, a Congress bastion, in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. Modi, at a campaign rally then, had targeted Chavan over the Adarsh society scam, while then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had said Chavan was a "dealer and not a leader." Chavan joined the BJP in February this year, and became its Rajya Sabha member. He is now campaigning for Chikhalikar and other BJP candidates in the .

Emerging-market bulls bet on PM Narendra Modi's return as election nears

In 2019, the alliance led by the BJP won more than 350 of the 543 seats in the lower house of Parliament

Lok Sabha elections: Will RLD tie-up help BJP retain Muzaffarnagar?

For 2024, Balyan would expect an easier contest than five years back when the RLD, SP, and Bahujan Samaj Party had an alliance

LS polls: Swami Prasad Maurya extends support to Chandrashekhar Azad

Former Uttar Pradesh minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who left the Samajwadi Party and formed the Rashtriya Shoshit Samaj Party in February, on Friday extended support to the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) candidate Chandrashekhar from the Nagina Lok Sabha seat. In a post on the social media platform 'X', Maurya said, "The Rashtriya Shoshit Samaj Party (RSSP) extends support to Chandrashekhar Azad, the candidate of the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) from the Lok Sabha constituency number-5, Nagina (reserved). " Maurya also appealed to the people of the Nagina constituency to elect Azad with an overwhelming majority. Maurya has been a five-time member of the Legislative Assembly, a minister in governments led by Mayawati and Yogi Adityanath. Recently, Maurya had hit headlines with his controversial remarks on the Ramayana and the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Azad, a prominent leader of the scheduled caste who founded the Bhim Army, has formed a political party nam

My party not like your degree: Uddhav attacks PM over 'fake' Shiv Sena barb

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "fake Shiv Sena" remark, and said his party was not like "your degree". Speaking at a campaign rally at Boisar near Mumbai for his party's Palghar Lok Sabha constituency candidate Bharti Kamdi, Thackeray also claimed that the opposition INDIA grouping will cross the 300-mark and defeat the BJP. He also vowed to scrap the Vadhavan port project in Palghar district, which he said is opposed by local fishermen. Attacking the Union government and BJP, Thackeray alleged that good projects were being taken to Gujarat, while environmentally destructive projects were being introduced in Maharashtra. He also assured that a new airport will be built in Palghar. "The Shiv Sena, founded by the Shiv Sena pramukh (Bal Thackeray) to fight for the rights of sons of soil, is being called fake. It is not your degree to call it fake," Thackeray said. Earlier this week, at a rally in Maharashtra, Modi had

Modi's new BJP at 44

As the BJP heads for a likely third successive term in power, it's fascinating to debate how true it looks to the original proposition: A party with a difference

Mr Techie goes to the polls

Chandrasekhar paid the price for being an early mover in a business that was at best perilous. The business had to be sold for an undisclosed sum

T-shirts, masks, banners: Poll paraphernalia misses on-ground excitement

Centralised operations, focus on digital campaigns hit traditional election business

Lok Sabha polls: Omar Abdullah to contest elections from Baramulla

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah will contest elections from the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency, the National Conference announced here on Friday. Making the announcement, party president Farooq Abdullah also told reporters here that influential Shia leader Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi will contest from central Kashmir's Srinagar constituency, which has been an NC bastion. After the abrogation of Article 370, and the downgrading and division of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, Omar Abdullah, the NC vice president, had announced he would not contest assembly elections unless J-K's statehood was restored. Spread over 18 assembly segments, the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat would be one of the keenly watched contests as electoral dynamics in the constituency have changed after delimitation. The constituency, which encompasses four districts of Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora and parts of Budgam, is pegged for a key contest with a largely .

LS polls: AAP announces unconditional support to 'INDIA' candidates in UP

Announcing unconditional support to the INDIA bloc candidates in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday said that these elections are being held to save democracy and end an "autocratic government". "AAP will fully support the INDIA bloc candidates in Uttar Pradesh. What our role will be and how we will be involved in the campaign will be decided after holding talks with the Congress leadership involved in the campaigning. We will fully support the Samajwadi Party candidates," said AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh. Addressing a joint press conference with Sawajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav at the SP headquarters here, the AAP leader asserted there is "no condition or demand". "These are not normal elections, they are for saving democracy, ending the autocracy and saving the Constitution. We are together in UP, wherever the Samajwadi Party candidate is in the fray, INDIA alliance candidate is in fray we will work for them," he ...

Rahul dubs NEET anti-poor, says states can decide if INDIA voted to power

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday assured a legislation to provide apprenticeship to young people and filling 30 lakh vacant government jobs. Addressing his first election rally in Tamil Nadu, Rahul Gandhi dubbed the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test anti-poor. "I know, the people of Tamil Nadu have a big issue with NEET. We are going to leave the decision to the state; on whether you want to do NEET or not to do NEET. NEET is an anti-poor exam and we are more than happy to allow you (Tamil Nadu) to take a decision on whether or not to take the exam." Picking from ally DMK's campaign themes, the Congress leader said when Tamil Nadu sought flood relief, it is "refused," by the Centre. The ruling DMK has been consistently focusing on the Rs 37,000 crore flood relief sought by Tamil Nadu alleging that the Union government did not give even a single paisa. The Centre labels Tamil Nadu's request for flood relief as "Pitchai," a plea made to seek "alms," Gandhi alleged. DMK and

There will be no impact of Kejriwal's arrest on elections, claims Bansuri

Bansuri Swaraj, BJP candidate from the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat, Friday claimed there will be no impact of Chief Minister Kejriwal's arrest on the elections as the "Vastu shastra" of the city is in favour of her party and the lotus will also bloom in the 2025 assembly polls. In an interaction with PTI editors at the agency's headquarters, Swaraj, daughter of late Delhi chief minister and former external affairs affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, also accused Kejriwal of "orchestrating" the situation to gain sympathy before the Lok Sabha polls. The Delhi chief minister is lodged in Tihar Jail in connection with a money laundering case stemming from the alleged excise scam. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21. "You will see in 2025 that lotus will bloom in Delhi. There will be only one impact (of Kejriwal's arrest on the polls) -- abki bar 400 paar, fir ek baar Modi Sarkar," Swaraj asserted. The AAP has accused the BJP of trying to finish it before the Lok Sabha .

LS polls: BSP releases list of candidates, fields Simnani from Gorakhpur

The Bahujan Samaj Party on Friday released its fourth list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, fielding former state president of the party Bhim Rajbhar from Azamgarh and ex-MP Balkrishna Chauhan from Ghosi. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has given ticket to Javed Simnani from Gorakhpur --- the stronghold of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP contested the polls along with the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). Of the seats on which the BSP announced its candidates on Friday, Ghosi was won by BSP's Atul Rai in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Mohammad Irfan has been fielded from Etah, while Shyam Kishor Awasthi is the BSP candidate from Dhaurahra Lok Sabha seat, the party said in a statement. Sachidanand Pandey and Dayashankar Mishra have been fielded from Faizabad and Basti Lok Sabha constituencies respectively. Satyendra Kumar Maurya is the BSP candidate from Chandauli and the party has fielded Dhaneshwar Gautam f

Lok Sabha polls: CSDS survey reveals dip in trust in Election Commission

The decline in the trust in poll body corresponds to doubts over the electronic voting machines and the alleged use of federal agencies by the ruling party for personal vendetta

Lok Sabha polls 2024: EC updates 'Form M' procedure for Kashmiri migrants

Kashmiri migrant voters in Jammu and Udhampur zones won't fill out Form M anymore; they'll be assigned 'special polling stations'

LS polls: Of filial bonds, sibling rivalries and ideological obligation

Family dynamics and political allegiances reflect both individual ambitions and familial ties ahead of the Lok Sabha polls

CSDS survey: Ram temple boosts Hindu identity, strong backing for pluralism

While 77 per cent of Hindus expressed faith in religious pluralism, an even higher percentage of Muslims (87 per cent) and other minority groups (81 per cent) shared this view

Violation of law: CIC pulls up EC for not replying to RTI query on EVMs

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has expressed "severe displeasure" over the Election Commission (EC) not furnishing a reply to an RTI plea that had asked the poll panel about the action taken on a "representation" given to it by eminent citizens, raising questions on the credibility of EVMs and VVPAT machines during elections. Terming it a "gross violation" of the law, the CIC has also directed the EC to submit a written explanation. Former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer M G Devasahayam, who was one of the signatories to the representation on the credibility of electronic voting machines (EVMs), voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) and the vote-counting process, had filed an application with the poll panel under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, seeking details of the action taken on it. The representation was sent to the EC on May 2, 2022. Through the RTI application filed on November 22, 2022, Devasahayam wanted to know about the persons and public .

LS elections: Mayawati to kickstart campaign in western UP from April 14

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati is set to launch her Lok Sabha election campaign in western Uttar Pradesh with a rally here on April 14, after a gap of seven years to shore up electoral support for the party. Mayawati would be holding rallies from April 14 to April 23 to seek votes for BSP candidates in Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Rampur, Moradabad, Bijnor, Nagina, Ghaziabad, Baghpat, Amroha, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Meerut and Hapur constituencies. Western UP's Bijnor, Nagina, Saharanpur, and Amroha constituencies are among the 10 seats on which the BSP candidates had emerged victorious in 2019. The seats going to polls in the first phase of elections this year have a sizable chunk of Dalit and minority community voters. Party workers, busy in preparations for 'Behen ji's' programmes, said they believe the rallies are going to be "historic" and "the atmosphere on the ground would change" after April 14. "On April 14, our national president will hold a programme at the