Page 167 - Lok Sabha Elections

Highlights of the day: Sweden joins Nato, completes its accession process

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

UK trade minister Badenoch doesn't see Indian election as deadline for FTA

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to win a third term, with the official election campaign expected to begin in the coming weeks

LS polls highlights: Cong's poll body meets to finalise candidates

Lok Sabha elections 2024 latest news updates: Catch all the latest updates from around the world here

Lok Sabha polls: Congress unveils 5 guarantees to woo youth in poll promise

A Congress government will guarantee a "bharti bharosa" to the youth, where the Centre will take steps to fill three million vacant government jobs

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Congress promises 3 mn govt jobs to young people

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress launched five major promises to ensure "justice" for the youth. These include right to employment, social security and a law against paper leaks

Delhi cabinet approves power subsidy scheme for 2024-25, says Atishi

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called an "emergency" meeting of his Cabinet at his residence here on Thursday to discuss the issue of power subsidy, officials said. Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Cabinet may take a "major decision" on power subsidy for the next year, they said. The meeting will be held at 4 pm, they said. The Kejriwal government is providing free electricity to consumers with a monthly consumption of 200 units. A subsidy of 50 per cent is given to those who use 201-400 units per month.

INDIA bloc lacks unity, has no vision or agenda for LS elections: BJP

The Opposition grouping INDIA has no unity, vision or agenda for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, claimed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party here on Thursday. BJP Goa spokesman Yatish Naik said that hours after the constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) met in Goa, the Congress and AAP were seen sparring in the Punjab Assembly. Leaders of INDIA parties, including Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Goa Forward Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar) met here on Wednesday and decided to set up a coordination committee to formulate a joint strategy for the Lok Sabha elections in Goa. The coastal state has two Lok Sabha constituencies North Goa and South Goa. In the 2019 general elections, the BJP won the North Goa seat, while the other went to the Congress. Addressing a press conference in Panaji, Naik said on Thursday that the Opposition bloc was focussed on resurrecting a rejected dynast who has failed time and again. The BJP spokesman claimed the

FMCG sector to see subdued growth till Sept quarter of 2024: Kantar report

The fast-moving consumer goods sector will have a "subdued" growth till September quarter in 2024 due to factors including an uncertain outlook for the agricultural sector, said a report from data, insights, and consulting firm Kantar. The agricultural sector has uncertainty and the upcoming general elections would not surge the consumption of FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) products, according to Kantar Worldpanel's FMCG pulse report. But it expects growth to get "progressively" better after September, and the year might yet turn good, especially in the second half, helped by good Rabi harvests. Some summer-related categories and even laundry products will help the industry to an extent, however, the growth in these categories combined will have a negligible impact on overall FMCG, it added. "As a result, we do see FMCG growth to be subdued, at least until Q3 of 2024. Keeping in mind the stronger first half of 2023, we may even end up seeing some stagnation in the early part of

LS polls: Kharge's son-in-law emerges as front-runner for Gulbarga seat

M Mallikarjun Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani has emerged as the front-runner for Congress ticket to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the home turf of the party's President. The 81-year-old Kharge had won from Gulbarga (Kalaburagi) Lok Sabha segment twice but lost the 2019 polls. "The Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha's hands are full. In addition to managing party affairs at the national level, he has to coordinate with INDIA bloc partners", a senior party leader said. "Also, he has four more years of his term left in Rajya Sabha", he said, seeking to confirm reports that Kharge is not in favour of contesting from Kalaburagi. His son, Priyank Kharge, who represents Chittapur assembly constituency in Gulbarga segment and is a Minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet in Karnataka, is also not interested to throw his hat in the ring. "Doddamani, a businessman who also manages educational institutions, seems to be the front runner", a party leader said.. Party .

NDA will win 22 of 25 Lok Sabha seats in Northeast: Assam CM Himanta

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday asserted that the ruling BJP-led alliance will win 22 of the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the Northeast in the upcoming elections. Addressing a press conference here, Sarma said only three of the 14 seats in Assam are "uncertain at the moment". "The NDA will win 22 of the 25 seats in the Northeast. Barring Assam, we hope to win all seats in other states of the region," he added. The convenor of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the regional arm of the NDA, asserted that the upcoming Lok Sabha polls are "simple elections" for the ruling front and it will win the polls without any difficulty. "This time, development is the only issue. Enormous works have been done to improve the overall infrastructure of the region," he added.

Rahul's 'yatra' another miserably failed re-launch attempt, says Rijiju

Union minister Kiren Rijiju advised Rahul Gandhi on Thursday to stop pursuing endeavours that are beyond his capabilities as he claimed that the Congress has failed in every attempt to re-launch his political innings. In a video interview to PTI, Rijiju said had he faced similar failures as the Gandhi scion, he would not have wasted the "precious time" of his party and colleagues in trying to do something that was not doable. The three-term Lok Sabha member from Arunachal Pradesh claimed that the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is yet another attempt to launch Gandhi and that the former Congress president has failed in that endeavour miserably. "Elsewhere in the world, you do not get a second chance to be launched. I think he (Gandhi) has now been launched 19 times. How long will you keep on launching one person?" asked Rijiju, who has held diverse portfolios in the central government, including home affairs (minister of state), minority affairs, sports and youth affairs, law and now, earth

Modi govt intends to put India in high-income category, says Kiren Rijiju

Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said the focus of the Narendra Modi government in its third term would be on putting India in the higher-income category for it to be counted amongst the developed countries of the world. In a video interview, Rijiju told PTI that a per capita income of USD 18,000 would be required for India to be counted among the world's developed countries and it would be the Modi government's endeavour in its third term to put the nation in the higher-income category. He said despite lagging on many counts, the prime minister's "aggressive and inspiring" leadership has catapulted India into another league in the global comity of nations. "The whole world looks at India as a leader except that we are not a high-income country yet. But our status has reached here," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said. Rijiju slammed the previous Congress governments for "not delivering" on basic necessities, such as toilets, bank accounts for people, food security,

Why are the BJD and BJP joining forces against Congress in Odisha

The alliance is likely to be formally announced soon. It will mark a return to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of one of its original constituents

Odisha BJP leaders meet Shah, Nadda amid possibility of alliance with BJD

Odisha BJP leaders on Wednesday met Home Minister Amit Shah and the party's national president J P Nadda here amid indications that it may enter an alliance for the Lok Sabha and assembly polls, which are held simultaneously in the state, with the BJD. Sources said there is a strong possibility of an alliance between the BJP and the BJD but noted that a final call has to be taken by the top brass of the national party depending on various aspects, most importantly the number of seats it will get to contest. In case of an alliance, the BJP will definitely contest a majority of Lok Sabha seats in the state while the regional party will contest a majority of assembly seats, they said. Odisha has 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 assembly seats. The BJD and the BJP won 12 and eight parliamentary constituencies and 112 and 23 assembly constituencies respectively in 2019. There has been a growing buzz about the alliance between the two parties, which have been allies in the past too. Prime ...

Cong leaders discuss LS candidates from Rajasthan, CEC meet on March 7

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh said that the winnable candidates were identified after the meeting

LS polls: Will Rahul Gandhi contest from Amethi, Priyanka from Rae Bareli?

Lok Sabha polls: Amethi and Raebareli seats are seen as Congress strongholds in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP has fielded incumbent MP Smriti Irani from Amethi while it is yet to name its Raebareli candidate

ENPO raises louder demand for carving out separate state from Nagaland

The ENPO, which is demanding a separate state carved out of Nagaland, declared a "public emergency" in six districts, stating that it would not allow any political party to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. The decision was taken by the Eastern Nagaland Peoples' Organisation (ENPO) after it held a meeting with tribal bodies and frontal organisations in Dimapur on Tuesday. "In view of the Government of India delaying to settle the offer for creation of Frontier Nagaland Territory (FNT) through the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Tribal Bodies and Frontal Organisations hereby declare Public Emergency all over Eastern Nagaland with immediate effect," it said in a statement. ENPO has been demanding a separate state since 2010, claiming that the six districts -- Mon, Tuensang, Longleng, Kiphire, Noklak and Shamator, in the eastern part of Nagaland have been neglected in all aspects for years. It also decided "not to accede to any assurance that may come up with by the MHA to be implemente

Committed to nationwide caste census, BJP should clear stand, says Congress

The Congress on Wednesday reiterated its commitment to conducting a nationwide socio-economic caste census as part of its participatory justice agenda and asked the BJP to clear its stand on the issue. Noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Bihar's Bettiah on Wednesday, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh claimed that there would be a "barrage of lies and statements" and urged the prime minister to speak on the issue of cast census. Ramesh said the people of the country have four main questions for Modi, including why his government is not conducting the regular census that takes place every 10 years. "This was to happen in 2021 itself but has not been conducted till now. The census will provide a complete picture of the population of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and linguistic and religious minorities, apart from other data," he said in a post in Hindi on X. Why has the Modi government not released the caste-related data under the .

LS polls: Congress will revoke CAA if voted to power, says Pawan Khera

Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera on Wednesday asserted that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 will be repealed if the party comes to power after the Lok Sabha elections. He also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting Manipur, which has been witnessing ethnic strife since May last year. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, Khera said, The cut-off date of 1971 is sacrosanct for Assam. But CAA will take it away and 2014 will be the cut-off date." He was referring to the cut-off date of March 25, 1971, for granting Indian citizenship to people entering Assam from Bangladesh, according to the Assam Accord. Under the CAA, the Modi government wants to grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who had come to India till December 31, 2014. The Congress will repeal the CAA if voted to power, Khera said. There were massive protests in some par

Rahul Gandhi is continuously speaking about Nyay: Jairam Ramesh

Rahul Gandhi is continuously speaking about Nyay (justice) which is Nari Nyay, Yuva Nyay, Kisan Nyay, Shramik Nyay, and Hissedari Nyay.