Page 159 - Lok Sabha Elections

SC to examine EC rule on grant of symbols on first come, first served basis

The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Election Commission on a plea of Tamil Nadu-based unrecognised political party, Naam Tamilar Katchi, challenging the allotment of free symbols to unrecognised political parties on a first come, first served basis. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also issued a notice to another unrecognised political party which was granted the poll symbol which was earlier with the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK). The high court, on March 1, had dismissed the petition of NTK challenging the allotment of free symbols by the poll panel to unrecognised political parties on first come, first served basis. It had rejected the contention of the petitioner, NTK, that the Election Symbols Order to this effect was arbitrary and unconstitutional, saying a contrary view would operate against the very essence of having free symbols. The petitioner was aggrieved by the allotment of free symbol 'ganna kisa

RIL denies links with Qwik Supply the third largest electoral bond buyer

Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited, a little-known company with registered address at Navi Mumbai's Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) and having links to Reliance Industries, was the third largest donor to political parties using electoral bonds. It bought Rs 410 crore of electoral bonds between financial years 2021-22 and 2023-24 but Reliance said the company is not a subsidiary of any Reliance entity. Electoral bond purchases and donations by Qwik Supply were behind Rs 1,368 crore of Future Gaming and Hotel Services - another little-known lottery company - and Rs 966 crore of Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering & Infra, according to information uploaded by the Election Commission on its website. Publicly available information describes Qwik Supply as a manufacturer of warehouses and storage units. The unlisted private company was incorporated on November 9, 2000 with an authorised share capital of Rs 130.99 crore. Its paid-up capital is Rs 129.99 crore. The firm had a revenue .

Ex-Karnataka CM Yediyurappa denies Pocso charges levelled by minor's mother

Yediyurappa said he is not sure if there is any political angle to the matter. The Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara echoed a similar view but noted that the case would be handed to the CID

Electoral bonds: 22 entities donated Rs 100 crore+ each to parties in 5 yrs

The BJP received the largest share of donations, totaling more than Rs 6,000 crore

Lok Sabha election 2024 poll schedule to be announced on Saturday: ECI

The Election Commission of India will also announce key dates for State Assembly elections

Supreme Court agrees to hear pleas seeking stay on implementation of CAA

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear pleas seeking a direction to the Centre to stay the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024 till the pendency of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 before the apex court. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Indian Union Muslim League, that once the citizenship is granted to migrant Hindus, it cannot be taken back and hence the issues needed an early hearing. We will hear this on Tuesday. There are 190 plus cases. All of them will be heard. We will place a full batch with the IAs (Interim applications), the CJI said. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said there were 237 petitions and in those pending ones, four interim applications have been filed against the implementation of the rules. The applications were filed

Sibal demands investigation into electoral bonds, calls it 'big scam'

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Friday described the electoral bonds scheme as a "very big scam" and demanded that a special investigation team (SIT) be set up with court-appointed officials to probe the alleged quid pro quo and wrongdoings under it. Sibal, a senior advocate who is leading the arguments for the petitioners in a case in the Supreme Court against electoral bonds, alleged at a press conference here that the scheme was "illegal" and aimed at enriching a political party in such a manner that no other political party can compete with it. His remarks came a day after the Election Commission (EC) put up the data on electoral bonds on its website. Attacking the BJP-led Centre over the issue, Sibal said, "The person who started this scheme was our former finance minister (Arun Jaitley) and he thought that in this manner, no political party would be able to compete with us (BJP) and he was proven right. The one who has money can play the game." The Rajya Sabha MP said it has to

Meet Santiago Martin, the 'Lottery King' who is top electoral bond donor

Electoral bonds: Santiago Martin's company, Future Gaming and Hotel Services, purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 1,368 crore between April 2019 and January 2024

LS elections 2024: PM Modi to address rally in TN as part of South push

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a BJP rally here on Friday, as part of his southern outreach with the Lok Sabha polls around the corner. He is slated to address rallies next week as well, in the western region of the state. The BJP has not been able to make significant electoral gains in Tamil Nadu in the past but the saffron party is hopeful of reversing that trend, especially under an aggressive K Annamalai who is heading its state unit. Modi had made a number of visits to Tamil Nadu in the past, besides other southern states. Among others, he visited Hindu temples and places with religious significance. The BJP is attempting to a stitch up a non-DMK, non-AIADMK alliance in the state and has already roped in GK Vasan-led Tamil Maanila Congress, expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam and AMMK, headed by TTV Dhinakaran. Tamil Nadu has a total of 39 Lok Sabha seats and the neighbouring Puducherry one.

Electoral bonds data exposes BJP's 'corrupt tactics', says Congress

The Congress on Friday alleged that the electoral bonds data has exposed "corrupt tactics" of the BJP such as quid pro quo, seeking donations for the company's protection, kickbacks and money laundering through shell companies. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also said the party continues to demand unique bond ID numbers, so that it can precisely match donors to recipients. In a post on X, Ramesh put out a "quick first analysis" of the Electoral Bonds (EB)data disclosure that the SBI put out after weeks of "attempting to postpone it until after the election". "Over 1,300 companies and individuals have donated electoral bonds, including over 6,000 crore to the BJP since 2019," he said. So far, the electoral bonds data exposes at least four corrupt tactics of the BJP, Ramesh claimed. "Quid Pro Quo: There are many cases of companies that have donated electoral bonds, and immediately afterwards gotten huge benefits from the government: Megha Engineering & Infra has given over

Newly appointed ECs Gyanesh Kumar, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu assume charge

Newly appointed election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu assumed charge on Friday. The former bureaucrats were appointed as election commissioners on Thursday. They are the first ones to have been appointed as members of the poll panel after the new law on appointment of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and ECs came into force recently. Welcoming them, CEC Rajiv Kumar spoke about the significance of their joining at a historic point when the Election Commission is all set to conduct Lok Sabha elections, a spokesperson said. The vacancies had come up in the Election Commission after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the sudden resignation of Arun Goel on March 8. Gyanesh Kumar and Sandhu, both 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, belonged to the Kerala and Uttarakhand cadres, respectively.

LS polls 2024: Ex-bureaucrats Sukhbir Sandhu, Gyanesh Kumar named new ECs

Former bureaucrats Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar have been named as the new election commissioners by a panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, committee member and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Thursday. Addressing reporters at his residence soon after the meeting ended, Chowdhury said six names came up before the panel for the selection of the two ECs and the names of Sandhu and Kumar were finalised by a majority of members of the high-powered panel. He, however, said the Chief Justice of India should have been part of the selection panel and there was no clarity on how six names were shortlisted from over 200 candidates that are said to have come before the search committee headed by the Law Minister. The six names shortlisted were that of Utpal Kumar Singh, Pradeep Kumar Tripathi, Gyanesh Kumar, Indevar Pandey, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, Sudhir Kumar Gangadhar Rahate, all former bureaucrats. "Of the six names, the names of Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir .

Lok Sabha elections 2024: PM Modi to hold roadshow, rallies in Hyderabad

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a roadshow in Hyderabad on Friday and address BJP rallies in Telangana on March 16 and March 18 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Modi's roadshow would be held from Mirjalguda to Malkajgiri Chowrasta here this evening, state BJP general secretary G Premender Reddy said in a release on Thursday. On March 16, the prime minister will address a public meeting at Nagarkurnool. Modi would attend a rally at Jagtial in the state on March 18, the release added. The prime minister on March 5 inaugurated and laid the foundation for development projects worth more than Rs 7,200 crore at Sangareddy, about 60 km from Hyderabad. Addressing a BJP rally at Sangareddy, Modi had attacked the Congress, saying it was 'scared' to promote young leaders. He also said the "dynastic parties" were targeting him as he was exposing their "scams worth several thousands of crores of rupees.

Hiding monetary exchange between capital & politics unhealthy for democracy

SBI, the institution that operated the six-year-old election funding mechanism, knows very well which political parties got money from whom in accounts specially opened for the purpose

Concerned about CAA, closely monitoring its implementation, says US

The United States on Thursday said it is concerned about the notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in India and is closely monitoring its implementation. We are concerned about the notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on March 11, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at his daily briefing. We are closely monitoring how this act will be implemented. Respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law for all communities are fundamental democratic principles, Miller said in response to a question. The Indian government implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 on Monday, paving the way for the grant of citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014. The government also came out with a press statement to say that Indian Muslims need not worry as the CAA will not impact their citizenship and has nothing to do with the community which enjoy

No tie-up with BJP but 'like-minded parties' welcome: SAD chief Badal

Claiming that such speculations were only confined to social media platforms, Badal said his party was keen to continue its tie-up with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the state

Electoral bonds data: Cong flags discrepancy in entries, recipient files

Soon after the Election Commission released electoral bonds data, the Congress on Thursday said there was a discrepancy in the numbers of entries in donor and recipient files -- 18,871 against 20,421. It also asked why the data shared pertained to a period from April 2019 even though the scheme for anonymous political funding was introduced in 2017. Amitabh Dubey, in charge of research and monitoring in the Congress' communication department, said the electoral bond scheme began in 2017, but the data presented began in April 2019. "The donors file has 18,871 entries, the recipients file has 20,421 entries. Why the discrepancy @TheOfficialSBI?" he said on X. Tagging Dubey's post, Congress MP and AICC in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Manickam Tagore said, "Ah, yes, the electoral bond scheme, where transparency meets selective amnesia. Donors file: 18,871 entries. Recipients file: 20,421 entries. Coincidence? I think not." "@TheOfficialSBI, you've truly mastered the art of hiding in plain

Sleight of hand: Chidambaram takes dig at govt over cut in fuel prices

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday took a swipe at the government after petrol and diesel prices were cut by Rs 2 per litre, saying this was the same kind of "sleight of hand" witnessed in increasing the LPG price and then reducing it before elections. Petrol and diesel prices were cut by Rs 2 per litre each as state-owned oil companies ended a nearly two-year-long hiatus in rate revision. The revised price will be applicable from 6 am on Friday, March 15, the oil ministry said on Thursday evening. Reacting to the development, Chidambaram said, "I had said at a media briefing last week that prices of petrol and diesel will be reduced. It was done today. "Will the government say that the prices will not be increased after the elections (if the BJP comes to power again)?" the former finance minister asked. Price of LPG cylinder was increased by Rs 700 by the BJP government and then reduced by Rs 100 on the eve of elections, he said. "The same kind of sleight of hand has been

Work on FY25 full Budget begins ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections

Industry sources said that they have shared certain tax proposals which are being considered by the finance ministry

Highlights of the day: PM Modi prays for best health for Mamata Banerjee

Latest news updates: Catch all the news updates from around the world here