Page 136 - Lok Sabha Elections

Battleground 2024: Cong set to contest fewest Lok Sabha seats since 1951-52

With the latest list of candidates, the Congress has announced its contestants on 231 seats and is set to field its lowest-ever number of candidates for any general elections since 1951-52

27 candidates file nominations for second phase of LS polls in Rajasthan

Twenty-seven candidates, including Rajasthan BJP chief C P Joshi, filed their nomination papers for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in the state on Tuesday, a senior official said. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Praveen Gupta said that so far 54 candidates have submitted 89 nominations for the second phase of the elections which will be held on April 26. He said not a single nomination has been received for the Bagidora assembly bypoll which will also be held on April 26. The last date for filing nomination papers for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls is April 4. Gupta said four candidates, including BJP's Joshi, have filed their nomination papers from Chittorgarh Lok Sabha constituency; three each from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Pali, Jodhpur, Jalore and Kota; two each from Ajmer and Barmer; and one each from Udaipur, Rajsamand, Bhilwara and Jhalawar-Baran. The Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan will be held in two phases on April 19 and April 26. In the first phase, voting wil

Democracy, autocracy, or both?

Most democracies, or autocracies, fall in a category of one. Why then are we trying to judge all of them in the same way?

Lok Sabha elections: Amit Shah holds road show in Karnataka's Channapatna

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday held a road show in Channapatna as part of Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.The home minister was seated on a specially designed vehicle and greeted the people. He was accompained by former Chief minister of Karnataka, Basavaraj Bommai.A huge number of BJP supporters and party members gathered on both sides throughout the roadshow.The chants of "Modi Modi" resonated throughout the streets of Ramanagara as Shah and his supporters made their way through.Earlier in the day, Shah addressed the party workers in Karnataka's Bengaluru. The event was aimed at bolstering grassroots leadership and organizational strength ahead of Lok Sabha elections."I have come here to tell you that BJP-JDS alliance in Karnataka will win all 28 (Lok Sabha) seats in the State and not let Congress open its account here," Shah said while addressing the fellow party workers in Bengaluru.The Union Minister's visit underscores the significance of .

Cong names 8 candidates for LS polls, 47 nominees for assembly elections

The Congress on Tuesday released its first list of eight candidates for the Lok Sabha polls and 47 nominees for the assembly elections, which will be simultaneously held in Odisha in four phases. The eastern state has 21 Lok Sabha and 147 assembly seats. The party renominated its sitting MP Saptagiri Ulaka, who will contest from the Koraput seat. The other candidates for the Lok Sabha seats are Sanjay Bhoi (Bargarh), Janardan Dehury (Sundergarh), Manoj Mishsra (Bolangir), Droupadi Majhi (Kalahandi), Bhujabal Majhi (Nabarangpur), Amir Chand Nayak (Kandhamal) and Rashmi Ranjan Patnaik (Berhampur). Among the assembly poll nominees, it named Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattnatak as the candidate for Nuapada, while the party's campaign committee chairman and former Union minister Bhakta Charan Das will contest from the Narla seat in Kalahandi district. Das' son Sagar Charan has been fielded for the Bhawanipatna assembly segment and bureaucrat-turned-politic

'Cong threatening nation will be on fire if BJP wins': PM Modi in Rajasthan

'This is the first election in which leaders of the Congress party are not talking about winning elections,' PM Modi said in Rajasthan

People's mood has changed, it is now against PM Modi, says Sharad Pawar

NCP leader Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said the mood of the people has changed and it is now against PM Narendra Modi. Addressing a press conference in Nagpur, Pawar also said there was "no thinking yet" on who would be the INDIA bloc's prime ministerial face. I can see clearly that the mood of people has changed. It is now against PM Modi, Pawar said. In the present regime, institutions are being attacked, he added. Asked how the INDIA bloc seat sharing for the Lok Sabha elections will look like finally, Pawar said, I am not an astrologer. On the Supreme Court granting bail to AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy, Pawar said, This is a good thing. Injustice was done to him. Now the real picture will come out, he added. We Maha Vikas Aghadi want him, Pawar said, replying to a query on Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi fielding candidates in some seats. Asked if the NCP split will affect his group's ...

Not scared of Oppn: PM Modi vows stronger action on corruption in 3rd term

Lok Sabha elections: PM Modi, during a rally in Uttarakhand, said that he is not scared of the Opposition's abuses and will act on their alleged corruption with greater force in his third term

Highlights: Congress releases list of 17 candidates for Lok Sabha polls, YS Sharmila to contest from Kadapa

General Elections 2024 highlights: Catch all the latest updates on the announcements related to General Elections here

Lok Sabha polls: Understanding VVPAT slips -- uses, background & debates

The Supreme Court has sought the Election Commission's response following a petition which challenged the current practice of verifying five random EVMs

Over 113,000 Kashmiri migrants eligible to vote for 3 LS seats in Kashmir

Over 1.13 lakh Kashmiri migrants are registered to cast their votes for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections for three seats in the Valley, officials said. The Jammu and Kashmir administration will hold special awareness camps for Kashmiri migrants in Jammu and Udhampur districts from April 3 to 14 to ensure their participation in the Lok Sabha elections. "We have 1.13 lakh registered Kashmiri migrant voters as of now. The updated voter list is being prepared as per the election process," Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner Arvind Karwani told PTI. Karwani, who is looking after the arrangements for the polling of migrants, said that polling will be held in three phases in the Valley. "In Anantnag, polling will be held on May 7, followed by Srinagar on May 13 and Baramulla on May 20. It will be held in three phases, and polling stations for each constituency will be the same, Karwani said. A total of 26 polling stations have been set up for the migrants, out of which 21 polling stat

Cong fields Y S Sharmila from Kadapa; Jawed to contest from Kishanganj

The Congress Tuesday declared a list of 17 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, fielding Mohammad Jawed and Tariq Anwar from Bihar's Kishanganj and Katihar respectively and its Andhra Pradesh unit chief Y S Sharmila from Kadapa. The party also fielded Union minister M M Pallam Raju from Andhra Pradesh's Kakinada. The Congress released its list of candidates for eight seats of Odisha, five seats of Andhra Pradesh, three of Bihar and one of West Bengal. In Bihar, besides Anwar and Jawed, the party fielded MLA Ajeet Sharma from Bhagalpur. With this, the total number of candidates declared by the party so far is 228. However, the suspense over the high-profile seats of Amethi and Raebareli continues.

DMK spreading false propaganda on Katchatheevu, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday accused the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu of spreading a false campaign on the Katchatheevu islet, ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974, and for making "irresponsible" statements on the issue. Then DMK president and TN Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was aware of the ruling Congress' move but did not object, she said. The Congress, which failed to come to power in Tamil Nadu after 1967, owes an explanation to the nation for the loss of the territory which former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi described as a tiny mass of rock, she said. Sitharaman claimed former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had described Katchatheevu as a "nuisance." "Let them set right the lies they have been saying for half a century," Sitharaman told reporters after an interaction at the Viksit Bharat Ambassador campus dialogue programme here. Ahead of the April 19 Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, the Katchatheevu issue has taken centre stage in the state, after Pr

LS polls: Ex-CM Baghel files nomination from Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh

Congress candidate and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday filed his nomination from Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat in Chhattisgarh and expressed confidence that voters in the constituency will make him emerge victorious. The seat is currently held by Bharatiya Janata Party's Santosh Pandey, who defeated Congress' Bholaram Sahu by a margin of 1,11, 966 votes in 2019. The BJP has renominated Pandey from the seat. Elections to the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh will be held in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7 and votes will be counted on June 4. Polling in Rajnandgaon will be held on April 26. Baghel, 62, posted his pictures of filing the nomination papers at the Rajnandgaon collectorate on his X handle and said, "Considering the trust of every citizen of Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha as a witness, I have filed my nomination today. #will_win_rajnandgaon." Talking to reporters, the former CM expressed his gratitude to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and senior

'Is this language of democracy?' PM slams Rahul's 'India on fire' remark

Opposition leader's statement that 'India would be set on fire' if BJP wins elections is unacceptable, says Prime Minister

LS polls: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan alleges 'BJP touch' in Cong actions

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleged on Tuesday that the actions of the Congress bore a distinct 'BJP touch,' which became particularly evident in the unfolding details of the electoral bond scam. Addressing an election meeting organised by the CPI(M)-led LDF at Perinthalmanna in this district, Vijayan, a veteran Marxist leader, described the electoral bond allegations as a "mega scam" and alleged that the BJP played a key role in it. "The Electoral Bond is a mega scam that unfolded under the watch of the BJP government at the Centre. Initiated by the BJP, the party amassed Rs 8,251 crores through such bonds. However, the BJP cannot be solely blamed; Congress is also complicit, having secured Rs 1,951 crore," the CPI(M) leader said, continuing his attack against his party's INDIA bloc partner. In his speech, Vijayan outlined the communist parties' stance on the electoral bond issue, crediting the legal battle spearheaded by CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury at the .

Advised to join BJP or be prepared to be arrested in a month, claims Atishi

Senior AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi on Tuesday claimed a person close to her said that she should join the BJP or be prepared to be arrested by the Enforcement Directorate within a month. At a press conference here, Atishi claimed that besides herself, three Aam Aadmi Party leaders -- Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, MLA Durgesh Pathak and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha -- would also be arrested. The Delhi minister claimed that she was told that in the coming days, the ED would conduct raids at her residence and that of her relatives. The BJP has been rattled by the success of the INDIA bloc's Ramlila Maidan rally on Sunday and has realised that sending Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to jail would not lead to the disintegration of the AAP, she asserted. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, arrested on March 21 by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy of his government, was on Monday sent to judicial custody till Apr

Pashupati Paras calls on Nadda, says will 'support NDA' in LS polls

As part of the deal the NDA clinched with Chirag earlier, his party is to contest five Lok Sabha seats in Bihar

HC gives last chance to Oppn to reply on plea against use of INDIA acronym

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted a last opportunity to the Centre and several opposition parties to respond to a petition seeking to restrain them from using the acronym INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance). A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora said that the replies be filed within one week to the public interest litigation which alleged that by using the INDIA acronym, the parties were taking undue advantage in the name of our country. The high court, which refused to prepone the date of hearing of the petition, said an endeavour shall be made to hear and dispose of the petition on April 10. The contesting respondents are given the last and final opportunity to file their replies within a week, the bench said. The court was hearing an application by petitioner Girish Bharadwaj seeking early hearing of the matter on the grounds that the petition was pending since August 2023 and pleadings are yet to be completes and the ..

Criminal cases against 4 candidates in 1st phase of LS polls in Assam

Four candidates, including Congress nominees Gaurav Gogoi and Premlal Ganju, in the fray for the first phase of Assam Lok Sabha polls on April 19 have criminal cases pending against them though none have been convicted, according to affidavits submitted by them at the time of filing of nomination papers. Besides Gogoi and Ganju, Sonitpur's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) contestant Rishiraj Kaundinya and Kaziranga's Bharatiya Gana Parishad candidate Sailen Chandra Malakar also have criminal cases, related to corruption and cheating respectively, pending against them. There are 35 candidates in the fray for the April 19 first phase polls to five Lok Sabha constituencies of Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Kaziranga and Sonitpur. Gogoi, the Congress deputy leader in the outgoing Lok Sabha and party candidate from Jorhat seat has a case filed against him at the Basistha police station in Kamrup (Metro) district under various sections of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984 during the