Page 168 - Lok Sabha Elections

On second Bihar tour, PM Modi to unveil projects worth Rs 12,800 cr

Amid a soaring political temperature in Bihar in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday set foot in the state for the second time in less than a week. Modi is scheduled to visit Bettiah town, the headquarters of the West Champaran district, in the afternoon and unveil projects worth Rs 12,800 crore. Former state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal, who is the local MP, came out with a video message, urging the people to "turn up in large numbers and welcome the dearest member of our family". Jaiswal's refrain of "humaare parivaar ke sabse pyaare sadasya" came in the backdrop of the BJP's "Modi ka Parivaar" campaign, in response to a jibe of RJD president Lalu Prasad at a rally in Patna on Sunday. Prasad, whose three children, including heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, are in politics, had taken potshots at Modi, taunting him for having no family of his own. The RJD leader was apparently sore over Modi's speeches at back-to-back rallies in Aurangabad

Rahul likely to announce 10-point poll promise for youth in MP rally today

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who heads the manifesto committee, said the draft report will be presented to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge

BJP will win all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan, claims Bhupendra Yadav

Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav on Tuesday expressed confidence that the BJP will win all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan in the upcoming general election. Interacting with reporters at the state headquarters of BJP here, the BJP's Alwar Lok Sabha candidate said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is busy making India a developed nation while the Congress is nowhere seen. "We are working with the resolve to hold elections on Modi's guarantee for a developed India and to make the country strong in 2047. We will win all 25 seats in Rajasthan and will work on the vision for Viksit Bharat at 2047," he said. Yadav said that it is the result of Prime Minister Modi's guarantee that in the last 10 years, India moved rapidly on the path of development. It is due to the determination of PM Modi that India became the fifth-largest economy in the world. The day is not far when India will become the third largest economy in the world, the Union minister said. Hitting out at the Congress, Yadav said th

Highlights of the day: Air India resumes flights to Tel Aviv after 5 months

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

Highlights: Cong, BRS have an alliance built on basis of scams, says PM

Countdown to Lok Sabha elections 2024 highlights: Catch all the latest updates on the buzz surrounding the Lok Sabha polls today

BJP chief Nadda attacks Cong govt, party on 'pro-Pak slogan' issue

Targeting the Congress government in Karnataka and its leadership over the 'pro-Pakistan slogan' issue, BJP national President J P Nadda on Tuesday questioned whether they were running the party to speak Pakistan's language and if they were representatives of the neighbouring country in India. Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain's supporters allegedly raised "Pakistan zindabad" slogans, while celebrating his victory in the Rajya Sabha polls on February 27 at Vidhana Soudha, the seat of state legislature and secretariat. A purported video of the incident was telecast by TV news channels and it also had gone viral on social media. Police on Monday arrested three persons in connection with the incident, following the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report confirming that the slogans were indeed chanted. "The Assembly assembly poll results have not come in our favour, but you might have realised by now and also the people of Karnataka that the government they have elected is cheating

Day after quitting Cong, ex-MLA Modhwadia and Ambarish Der join BJP

Former Gujarat Congress chief and ex-MLA Arjun Modhwadia along with the party's former working president Ambarish Der joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, a day after they quit the grand old party. The two leaders joined the saffron party at its state headquarters 'Kamalam' here along with several others. State BJP chief C R Paatil inducted them into the party by offering them saffron caps and scarves. The two leaders resigned on Monday expressing anguish over the party's decision to "boycott" Lord Ram temple consecration ceremony held in Ayodhya in January. Interestingly, both leaders announced their decision to quit the Congress just three days ahead of the scheduled entry of Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Gujarat. Days before Der and Modhwadia quit Congress, the party's Rajya Sabha member and former Union minister Naran Rathwa joined the ruling BJP along with his son and a large number of supporters. Modhwadia, who represented the Porbandar ..

No place for violence in polls, bureaucracy must be impartial: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday said strict instructions have been issued to the West Bengal bureaucracy to ensure a level playing field for all political parties, and asserted that any form of violence will not be tolerated during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Kumar, addressing a press conference here, said the goal of the Election Commission is to ensure a free, fair and violence-free elections in the state. "There is no place for fear or intimidation in elections. Partisan approach of the bureaucracy will not be tolerated; we have made this clear," he said. Kumar said sufficient number of central forces will be deployed in West Bengal, and it will be done in an impartial manner. "The SPs have been repeatedly told that if there is any complaint of intimidation, they should take immediate action. They have assured us that it will be done. If they don't act, we know what needs to be done to make them act. Police officials have been instructed to be impartial an

Bihar CM Nitish files his nomination for re-election to legislative council

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday filed his nomination papers for re-election to the state legislative council. Kumar, who is running for a fourth consecutive term, filed his nomination papers in the presence of a host of senior leaders of the ruling NDA, including his deputies Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, who belong to the BJP, and Rajiv Ranjan Singh "Lalan" whom he succeeded as the JD(U) national president. Besides Kumar, nomination papers were filed by his cabinet colleague Santosh Suman and JD(U) MLC Khalid Anwar. Suman's father Jitan Ram Manjhi, a former chief minister who heads Hindustani Awam Morcha, was also present. The Election Commission has announced biennial polls for 11 seats of the state legislative council, the terms of which would end in May. Of these, the JD(U) had held four, though following a diminution in its strength in the assembly, the party has given up its claim on two of the seats. Besides Kumar and Anwar, those from the JD(U) whos

Congress slams Modi govt's desperation as SBI moves SC on electoral bonds

The Congress on Tuesday attacked the Centre over the State Bank of India moving the Supreme Court to seek more time to disclose electoral bond details, alleging that the Modi government is using the largest bank of the country as a shield to hide its "dubious dealings". The State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking an extension till June 30 to disclose details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties. In its verdict last month, the top court directed the SBI to furnish the details to the poll panel by March 6. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Congress' position on the electoral bonds scheme is that it is "opaque, undemocratic and destroyed the level playing field". "Modi government is using the largest bank of our country as a shield to hide its dubious dealings through Electoral Bonds," he said. No less than the Supreme Court of India had struck down Modi government's "black money conversion scheme" of Electoral Bonds, holding it

BJP counters Lalu's jibe against PM with Modi ka parivar campaign

Addressing a public meeting in Telangana's Adilabad, the PM said 1.4 billion people of the country were his family

Obscene video: Won't contest election till proven innocent, says Rawat

A day after an obscene video allegedly involving him surfaced on social media, BJP MP Upendra Singh Rawat who has been fielded again by the party from Barabanki on Monday said he will not contest any election till proven innocent. He also demanded an investigation into the matter. In a post on X in Hindi, Rawat said, "A fake video of mine generated by deepfake AI technology is being made viral, for which I have lodged an FIR." He said he has requested the party president to get it investigated. "I will not contest any election in public life until I am proven innocent," the first-time MP said. An obscene video purportedly involving Rawat emerged on social media, police said on Sunday. The video surfaced a day after the BJP fielded him as its candidate from the Barabanki Lok Sabha seat. On the basis of a complaint by MP's personal secretary Dinesh Chandra Rawat, a case has been lodged against an unknown accused, Kotwali police station in-charge Aditya Tripathi had said. It was a

NDA partner RLD declares candidates for Bijnor, Baghpat in UP for LS polls

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which formally joined the NDA last week, declared its candidates on two seats - Bijnor and Baghpat - from Uttar Pradesh for the coming Lok Sabha elections. The senior National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partner BJP had announced 51 candidates from the state on Saturday. According to a post on X, Chandan Chauhan will be RLD's candidate from Bijnor and Dr Rajkumar Sangwan from Baghpat constituencies. While Chauhan is a sitting MLA of the party from Meerapur in Muzaffarnagar, Sangwan is a senior leader and national secretary of the party. He has been associated with the RLD since the time of Chaudhary Ajit Singh. In the previous elections, BJP's Satyapal Singh had won from Baghpat, defeating RLD chief Jayant Singh while BSP's Malook Nagar had won Bijnor. There is, however, no clarity on the number of seats RLD will be getting to contest in the alliance. On Saturday, Jayant Singh had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda and ..

Unwarranted: India's response to UNHR High Commissioner's comment on polls

India on Monday said that the concerns" raised by the UN's top human rights official over its electoral process are unwarranted and do not reflect the reality of the world's largest democracy, as New Delhi highlighted that many across the globe seek to learn from its electoral experience and aspire to emulate it. India's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Arindam Bagchi said Delhi has noted comments by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk about the country's forthcoming general elections. In his global update to the 55th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Turk voiced concern by "increasing restrictions on the civic space with human rights defenders, journalists and perceived critics targeted as well as by hate speech and discrimination against minorities, especially Muslims. However, his concerns in this regard are unwarranted and do not reflect the reality of the largest democracy in the world, Bagchi said. Bagchi underlined that in

Lok Sabha polls: BJP candidates' second list likely on Mar 5. Top points

The BJP named as many as 195 candidates in the first list on Saturday, featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, among others

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Who's replacing Harsh Vardhan, Sadhvi Pragya, Meenakshi Lekhi, and more

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its candidates for 195 Lok Sabha constituencies across 16 states and Union Territories

Gujarat Cong working president Ambarish Der quits party, set to join BJP

In a setback to the opposition Congress ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, its Gujarat unit working president Ambarish Der resigned from the party on Monday and said he will join the ruling BJP on Tuesday. Just ahead of his announcement, Gujarat Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil told reporters that during a meeting held on Sunday night, the party's disciplinary committee suspended Der from all party posts and as primary member of the Congress for a period of six years for his "anti-party activities". Notably, Gohil's statement came immediately after local TV channels aired visuals of Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president CR Paatil visiting former MLA Der's residence in Ahmedabad in the morning. Within minutes of Gohil's announcement of the Congress' action, Der called a press conference at his residence, saying he was not aware when he was suspended by the party and announced he will join the BJP at its state headquarters 'Kamalam' in Gandhinagar on Tuesday. Der told

BJP demands deployment of CAPF only in Bengal during Lok Sabha polls

The BJP, in its representation to the full bench of the Election Commission (EC), on Monday demanded that only central armed police forces (CAPF) be deployed in West Bengal to ensure free and fair Lok Sabha polls in the state. A three-member delegation of the party met EC officials here and said that area domination exercise and route march must be carried out based on central IB inputs. The saffron party also demanded that the route march by CAPF personnel must be supervised by police observers, and not by the local police due to a "partisan role" of the West Bengal Police. The saffron camp said that "only CAPF and no force from any other states be deployed" during the general elections, the date of which is yet to be announced. Leaders of the state unit of BJP demanded that only CAPF personnel be deployed within 200 metres of polling booths. There should be "no deployment of home guards, civic volunteers or green police even for monitoring queues in front of the polling stations

What is Modi's 'Viksit Bharat 2047' plan ahead of Lok Sabha elections?

PM Modi on Sunday led a meeting of his Council of Ministers to talk about 'Viksit Bharat: 2047' vision report and 100-day plan for new government

Pre-election rally: Can Nifty hit 24,000 in March? Here's what history says

The BSE Sensex has gained on an average 7.7 per cent in the month of March in the last three general election years. Will history be repeated?