Page 147 - Lok Sabha Elections

Lok Sabha elections: Will housing market create another peak in 2024?

Anuj Puri, Chairman of ANAROCK Group, attributes the market performance in the election years of 2014 and 2019 to the decisive election outcomes

LS polls: Mining baron Janardhana Reddy to rejoin BJP on March 25

Mining baron and lone MLA of Karnataka Rajya Pragathi Paksha (KRPP) G Janardhana Reddy on Sunday said he would rejoin BJP on March 25. The KRPP founder said he took the decision to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister again for the third time. "After consulting my supporters, I took the decision. Tomorrow at 10 am I am rejoining BJP," he told reporters here. Reddy said he would support the BJP candidate from Ballari Lok Sabha constituency, B Sriramulu, whom he called a boy raised by him. Sriramulu, a former minister, lost the assembly election from Ballari assembly segment in 2023. Reddy was a minister in the BJP government headed by B S Yediyurappa and was jailed in the mining scam. He had distanced himself from the BJP and founded the KRPP. In the 2023 assembly election, he was instrumental in the defeat of his two brothers, G Karunakara Reddy and G Somashekara Reddy, who were BJP candidates from Harapanahalli and Ballari City respectively. Reddy fielded his wife Aruna Laksh

BJP attacks 'INDIA' bloc over DMK minister's remarks against PM Modi

Accusing Tamil Nadu minister Anitha Radhakrishnan of making derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP lashed out at the INDIA bloc on Sunday, saying the conscience of the opposition alliance "is dead". K Annamalai, the BJP's Tamil Nadu unit president, alleged that DMK leaders have reached a new low in their "uncouth behaviour" and said his party would take up the matter with the Election Commission and the Director General of Police seeking the "strictest and immediate action" against Radhakrishnan. Posting on 'X' a purported video clip of the DMK leader's remarks, the BJP's Tamil Nadu unit alleged that Radhakrishnan "spoke disgustingly" about Modi in the presence of DMK MP K Kanimozhi and others who witnessed the "nauseating act", and alleged that it reflected the "vulgar political culture" of the ruling party in the state. Addressing a press conference in the national capital, BJP leader and Union minister Anurag Thakur strongly condemned Radhakrishnan's ..

Over 1,500 poll code violation complaints from Raj registered on cVigil app

More than 1,500 complaints related to violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) from across Rajasthan have been registered on the Election Commission's cVigil app over the last week, a senior official said on Sunday. Since the MCC came into force on March 16, more than 200 complaints are being received every day on the cVIGIL (Citizen Vigilance) app, said Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta. A total of 1,515 complaints were registered on the app in the last seven days, he said. "Out of the 1,515 complaints received in the last seven days, 546 were found correct by the returning officers and were disposed of within the stipulated time (of 100 minutes). Six complaints are still pending for decision by the investigating teams and returning officers while 789 complaints were dropped," he said. At 241, the maximum number of complaints related to MCC violations were received from Tonk district. Of these, 218 complaints were found true and were resolved within the stipulated time, Gu

David vs Goliath: Congress fields rookie against BJP stalwart in Indore

The Congress has fielded Akshay Bam, a newbie in the poll arena from Indore Lok Sabha constituency, an unbreached BJP citadel for 35 years, against sitting MP Shankar Lalwani, who had won the 2019 contest by a huge margin of over 5.47 lakh votes. Bam (45), a businessman from the Jain community, has to shoulder a big responsibility of keeping the Congress cadre motivated in view of three former MLAs and several workers of the party joining the ruling BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Prominent among Congress defectors are Pankaj Sanghvi, Sanjay Shukla, and Vishal Patel. He faces sitting BJP MP Shankar Lalwani, 62, who had won the last contest against his Congress challenger Pankaj Sanghvi by possibly the highest vote margin in Madhya Pradesh. Indore is the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh and is the cleanest city in India. The BJP holds all the eight assembly constituencies under the Indore Lok Sabha seat. The BJP has set a target to win the Indore constituency, the larges

LS polls: Rs 1.88 cr cash, liquor worth Rs 87.19 lakh seized in Karnataka

The Election Commission on Sunday said Rs 1.88 crore cash and liquor worth Rs 87.19 lakh were seized in the last 24 hours in the run-up to Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka. The general elections in Karnataka will be held in two phases on April 26 and May 7 for 28 constituencies. The Election Commission said the Static Surveillance Team seized Rs 1.44 crore cash at Hiriyur in Chitradurga parliamentary constituency and the remaining from other places. In the same constituency at Challakere, the Excise Department seized 14,688 litres of India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL). According to EC officials, since the MCC came into force, the flying squads, static surveillance teams and police authorities have seized Rs 17.66 crore cash, Rs 18.85 lakh worth of freebies, 7.69 lakh litres of liquor worth over Rs 24.25 crore, 87.04 kg narcotic substances worth over Rs 75 lakh, gold worth Rs 1.27 crore, silver worth Rs 21.47 lakh and diamond worth Rs nine lakh have been seized. The total seizure made

Giving tickets to children of ministers not dynastic politics: Siddaramaiah

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said giving tickets to the children and relatives of ministers was not dynastic politics but acknowledging the recommendation of voters. In its second list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Congress on March 21 announced fielding its national president M Mallikarjun Kharge's son-in-law and children of five ministers in Karnataka. "Yes, we have given. We gave tickets to those whom the people of the constituency recommended. This is not dynastic politics but acknowledging people's opinion," Siddaramaiah told reporters. He was replying to a query about 10 family members and relatives of Karnataka ministers getting tickets to contest the Lok Sabha polls on behalf of Congress. Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani will be in the fray in Gulbarga (Kalaburagi) Lok Sabha constituency. PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi's daughter Priyanka Jarkiholi will fight from Chikkodi. Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy's daughter

Dharmendra Yadav booked for model code of conduct violation over motorcade

A case has been registered against Samajwadi Party candidate for Lok Sabha polls Dharmendra Yadav for alleged violation of the model code of conduct for elections in Azamgarh district, a police official said on Sunday. While travelling in Mehnagar assembly constituency of the district on March 22, Yadav's motorcade had more vehicles than those permitted by the Election Commission, the official claimed. Superintendent of Police (city) Shailendra Lal said that according to the guidelines of the Election Commission, after the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct, not more than 10 vehicles can run in the convoy of candidates. There were more than 42 vehicles in Yadav's convoy, he said, adding a case was registered against him at Mehnagar police station on March 22.

BJP will win 4-5 seats in Kerala in Lok Sabha polls: 'Metroman' Sreedharan

'Metroman' E Sreedharan on Sunday said that the BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi would definitely come back to power at the Centre and that the saffron party would win at least four-five seats in Kerala in the Lok Sabha polls. He asserted that BJP candidate Suresh Gopi would surely win from Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency in the state and Union Ministers Rajeev Chandrasekhar and V Muraleedharan would win in Thiruvananthapuram and Attingal segments, respectively. Senior woman leader Shobha Surendran has good chances in Alappuzha constituency, the Metroman added, while speaking to TV channel Asianet News here. Sreedharan, who had unsuccessfully contested as a BJP candidate from Palakkad constituency in Kerala's assembly polls, also made it clear that he has no plans to come back to active politics due to his advanced age of 94 years. "The Narendra Modi government will definitely come back to power at the national level after the polls. In Kerala also, the party will

'INDIA' intact, will cross 272, PM's corruption pitch hollow: Jairam Ramesh

The INDIA bloc is intact despite Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's "somersault" and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee deciding to be Mamata Banerjee, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has said, rejecting as "hollow" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pitch against the opposition on corruption. In an interaction with PTI editors at the news agency's headquarters here, Ramesh also said the opposition will unitedly cross the halfway mark of 272 in the elections and oust the BJP from power. He spoke on a range of issues including electoral bonds, the arrests of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and JMM leader Hemant Soren, who resigned as Jharkhand CM, and also addressed speculations around Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra potentially contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Amethi and Raebareli, respectively. "Look at the way the electoral bonds scheme has worked. Rs 4,000-crore of bonds are directly linked with Rs 4-lakh crore of contracts. There is a clear correlation between the ...

Overseas Friends of BJP launches 'Modi for 2024' campaign in Australia

The campaign is aimed at drumming up overseas support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) going into the Lok Sabha elections in the country

BJP slams Kerala CM on anti-CAA protests, says fostering communal division

As the ruling Left party in Kerala intensified its protest against the implementation of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the BJP on Sunday attacked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and said he was making statements with the intention of fostering communal division. BJP state chief K Surendran, while addressing the media here, said the decision to withdraw cases registered against the anti-CAA protestors was taken to appease a particular community. He said the chief minister was violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by withdrawing the cases and his party will approach the Election Commission of India (ECI). "The chief minister in the name of CAA is spreading fake narratives and is attempting communal polarisation. The CM is claiming that Muslims are being targeted. What is the basis of this allegation? CAA does not deny citizenship to any one particular community," Surendran claimed. The CAA grants citizenship to undocumented migrants of all religions -- exce

LS elections 2024: BSP releases list of 16 candidates for 80 seats in UP

The BSP on Sunday formally declared its list of candidates for 16 of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls. The party in-charges in some districts had earlier declared candidates at district level. The Mayawati-led party has fielded Majid Ali from Saharanpur, Shripal Singh from Kairana, Dara Singh Prajapati from Muzaffarnagar, Vijyendra Singh from Bijnor, Surendra Pal Singh from Nagina (SC seat) and Mohammad Irfan Saifi from Moradabad. From Rampur it has given ticket to Zishan Khan, Shaulat Ali from Sambhal, Mozahid Hussain from Amroha, Devvrat Tyagi from Meerut and Praveen Bansal from Baghpat, it said. From Gautam Buddha Nagar, Rajendra Singh Solanki will be the party candidate, while Girish Chandra Jatav will be in fray from Bulandshahr (SC seat), Abid Ali from Aonla, Anis Ahmad Khan alias Phool Babu from Pilibhit and Dodaram Verma from Shahjahanpur (SC), it added. Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases beginning April 19.

Maratha community should select LS candidates before Mar 30: Jarange

Quota activist Manoj Jarange on Sunday appealed to the Maratha community to choose candidates for contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as independents before March 30. The Maratha community holds sway over 17-18 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra, he claimed. With their influence, they can garner the support of not only Muslims and Dalit communities but also wider section of the society, Jarange said addressing a meeting of the Maratha community members, who had come from across the state, at his native Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district. Elections to the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20 and votes will be counted on June 4. "I don't know politics and am not interested in it," Jarange said. He said the Maratha community members such choose candidates, irrespective of caste and religion and those not belonging to any political party, before March 30. A decision on fielding them as independe

J-K's lithium reserve will be plundered, 'gifted' to firms by BJP: Mehbooba

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday charged the lithium reserves in Jammu and Kashmir will be gifted to companies that will later donate a part of the "illicit proceeds" to the ruling party at the Centre. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister was reacting to a news report which said the government will again auction the lithium blocks in Jammu and Kashmir "Now J&Ks lithium reserves too are being plundered & gifted to dubious companies who will then donate a part of these illicit proceeds to the ruling party as 'party fund'," she charged in a post on X. The former chief minister also said that the "nexus between BJP and crony capitalists" explained why the Centre was not taking note of legitimate demands of Ladakhi people for inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. "Now that the nexus between BJP & crony capitalists stands exposed it offers the perfect explanation why GOI continues to ignore the legitimate demands of Ladakhis. Disturbing visuals of .

TMC won't last till 2026 if BJP gets even one more seat than them: Sukanta

Exuding confidence in the party's prospects for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said the TMC government will not complete its full term till 2026 if the saffron party gets even one more seat than the Mamata Banerjee-led party. Claiming that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is an ideological issue for Bengal BJP akin to the Ram Mandir issue for the central unit, Majumdar said the Act will help the party sweep the elections in the state. In an interview with PTI, Majumdar said the people of the state have decided to defeat the corrupt and anarchic TMC in the LS polls. "We have set a target of winning 35 seats from Bengal. We are confident about it. If we get even one more seat than that of the TMC, which we will get, the Mamata Banerjee government will not complete its full term till 2026. Its government would collapse," he said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah in April last year had set a target of winning 35 out of the 42 Lok Sabha

JD(U) releases candidate list; drops two sitting MPs, fields two turncoats

The JD(U), headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Sunday announced candidates for all the 16 Lok Sabha seats it is contesting in the state, dropping two sitting MPs and fielding two turncoats. The announcement was made here by the party's national vice president Vashishth Narayan Singh in the presence of several other senior JD(U) leaders. The seats where sitting MPs have been dropped are Sitamarhi, where legislative council chairman Devesh Chandra Thakur will be the JD(U) candidate, and Siwan, where Vijay Laxmi Kushwaha got the ticket just a day after she joined the party along with husband Ramesh Singh Kushwaha who was the state president of Rashtriya Lok Morcha, an NDA ally. Another turncoat to have got the party ticket is Lovely Anand, who had quit the RJD to join the JD(U) earlier this month. She will be contesting the polls from Sheohar.

Prakash Ambedkar calling off alliance with Sena (UBT) unfortunate: Raut

A day after Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar said the alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT) doesn't exist any longer, Sanjay Raut of the Uddhav Thackeray-led party termed it as a "one-sided" and unfortunate decision. Talking to reporters here on Sunday, Raut said when Uddhav Thackeray and Prakash Ambedkar announced their alliance more than a year back, the upcoming Lok Sabha elections were not on the agenda. It was basically working together for the assembly and local bodies elections, he said. "The alliance was made with good intentions," the Sena (UBT) leader said. "Ambedkar should have discussed with Thackeray before making such an announcement. It is one-sided and unfortunate," Raut said, adding that the VBA chief, grandson of Dr B R Ambedkar, should reconsider his decision. The Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) offer of four seats in Maharashtra to Prakash Ambedkar still remains, Raut said. Elections to the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April

LS polls: Discontent grows in TMC, BJP in Bengal over ticket distribution

Discontentment seems to be increasing by the day in sections of the BJP and the TMC in West Bengal with several leaders of both camps expressing displeasure over the selection of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Several TMC leaders aspiring for tickets have openly voiced their unhappiness over not being nominated for the seats they eyed. The BJP has witnessed similar dissatisfaction among some influential leaders over candidate selection. At least five senior TMC leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Mausam Benazir Noor and party spokesperson Santanu Sen, who were seeking nomination from Malda North and Dum Dum seats respectively, have expressed dissatisfaction after being denied tickets. Even Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's younger brother, Babun Banerjee, voiced his displeasure after not being nominated for the Howrah seat, in which the TMC gave its ticket to sitting MP Prasun Banerjee. The CM disowned her brother following his outburst. Sitting BJP MP from Barrackpo

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 .