Page 181 - Lok Sabha Elections

JMM leader Champai Soren takes oath as chief minister of Jharkhand

JMM legislature party leader Champai Soren on Friday took oath as the chief minister of Jharkhand. He was administered the oath of office by Governor C P Radhakrishnan at the Raj Bhavan here. Along with Champai Soren, senior Congress leader Alamgir Alam and RJD leader Satyanand Bhokta took oath as state ministers. The oath-taking ceremony was held at the Durbar Hall of the Raj Bhavan and senior leaders of the JMM-led alliance were present on the occasion. The 67-year-old tribal leader was sworn in as the 12th chief minister of the state. He became the sixth CM from Jharkhand's Kolhan region which comprises East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan districts. Champai Soren was appointed to the chief minister's post on Thursday after he urged the governor to accept his claim to form the government at the earliest as there was "confusion" in the state which was without a chief minister since the resignation of Hemant Soren on Wednesday, deepening a political crisis. Cha

Tripura BJP announces 73-member state executive committee ahead of LS polls

The ruling BJP in Tripura announced a 73-member state executive committee months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. All senior leaders of the party in the state, including Chief Minister Manik Saha, Rajya Sabha MP Bilab Kumar Deb, Union MoS for Social Empowerment and Social Justice Pratima Bhoumik and former deputy CM Jishnu Dev Varma, found a place in the committee announced on Thursday night. There are 14 invitee members in the committee. Names of 18 office-bearers of the party's state unit were announced on December 30. With an eye on the elections, the state BJP has reconstituted the committees of office-bearers of all its frontal organisations, including Mohila Morcha and Yuva Morcha.

Rahul Gandhi-led 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' resumes from Bengal's Nabagram

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' on Friday resumed from Nabagram in West Bengal's Murshidabad after the district administration asked the party to delay it owing to the class 10 state board examination, senior leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claimed. The Yatra, which was scheduled to resume at 8 am from Gokarna in Murshidabad, started around 10.30 am from Nabagram. Chowdhury, the Baharampur MP, said that permission to hold the Yatra was refused in neighbouring Birbhum district, through which it is to pass to enter Pakur in Jharkhand later in the day. He said that the permission to hold a roadshow was not granted in Murshidabad district owing to the commencement of West Bengal secondary education board's class 10 examination being held across the state. "I do not understand what is the problem if we peacefully conduct our Yatra after the examinees enter the centres," Chowdhury told reporters. The Yatra commenced with only a few vehicles as Gandhi rode a red SUV

CM Mamata Banerjee to stage dharna in Kolkata today over West Bengal's dues

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will stage a dharna here from Friday to protest against alleged withholding of the state's dues by the Centre. The issue of the Centre withholding the dues, particularly under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), has snowballed into a significant political controversy in the state. "The dharna will start at 1 pm in Red Road area in Maidan. Our party supremo Mamata Banerjee will lead the agitation. Other senior leaders of the party will also be present," a senior TMC leader said. Earlier demonstrations by TMC's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, along with a cohort of party legislators, MPs, ministers, and MGNREGA workers at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, followed by a five-day sit-in outside Raj Bhavan here, have underscored the gravity of the situation. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005, aims at enhancing the livelihood security of households in rural areas by providin

Lok Sabha elections: Mamata rebuffs Congress' seat-sharing optimism

The Congress' optimism of clinching a seat-sharing deal with the TMC to resolve the stalemate in the opposition bloc INDIA in West Bengal was spurned as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her intention of uniting regional parties after elections to strategise government formation at the Centre. Despite efforts by the Congress to reconcile with the TMC after a seat-sharing deadlock in West Bengal, its general secretary Jairam Ramesh remained hopeful about reaching a "mutually acceptable" arrangement with the TMC, despite the latter's reluctance to concede seats in the state to the grand old party. Addressing a government programme in Nadia district, Banerjee asserted that while her party was keen on forming an alliance with the Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state, it was the grand old party that rejected her proposal. "We wanted an alliance, but the Congress did not agree. They have joined forces with the CPI(M) to assist the BJP in the elections... We ar

Centre conspiring to implicate oppn leaders in parl security breach: Cong

The Congress on Thursday alleged that a "conspiracy" was being hatched by the government to pressure those arrested in the Parliament security breach case to take the names of opposition leaders so that they can be held responsible for the security lapse. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh's attack on the government came a day after five of the six people arrested in the Parliament security breach case told a court here that they were allegedly being tortured by the Delhi Police to accept their association with opposition parties. In a post in Hindi on X, Ramesh said, "To make false allegations against the opposition to hide his crime is the way of 'Ahankaracharya'!" The Modi government, which has put opposition leaders in jail by misusing the ED, CBI and IT department is now hatching another conspiracy, he claimed. "Firstly, no action was taken against the BJP MP who gave passes to the youth who intruded in Parliament and 146 opposition MPs who were raising their voices over

Union Ministers laud 'inclusive Budget', Oppn terms it 'election Budget'

PM Modi, in his first post-budget remarks, said that the Interim Budget empowers the four pillars of Viksit Bharat

Expect our govt will be blessed again by people with resounding mandate: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday expressed hope that the BJP-led government will be blessed again by the people with a resounding mandate in the forthcoming general elections. The elections to the Lok Sabha will be held in the next few months. "Based on stupendous work, we expect our government will be blessed again by the people with a resounding mandate," she said. She also said India overcame challenges of Covid-19, created foundations for self-reliant India. India was facing enormous challenges when the Modi government took office in 2014, and it overcame those in right earnest, Sitharaman said.

Modi's thrifty populism is working for now, but may have a cost in future

Over the years, Modi has instead spent the extra money available to him on infrastructure

Govt likely to lay out modest economic manifesto in pre-election budget

She is expected to highlight the Modi government's 10-year economic performance, but will hold back on expensive schemes to lower the fiscal deficit.

Congress-TMC talks 'on hold', Mamata reiterates vow to fight alone

The Trinamool supremo without naming any party or leader said that there were some who appeared only during elections like Cuckoos in spring

Gujarat govt transfers 50 IAS officers ahead of Lok Sabha elections

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls due in a few months, the Gujarat government has transferred 50 IAS officers, including various collectors and district development officers (DDOs). The state General Administration Department issued a notification to this effect on Tuesday night, an official said. As per the notification, Jamnagar district collector B A Shah has been transferred as the new collector of Vadodara district. AB Gor, currently serving as the Vadodara collector, has been appointed in the Chief Minister's Office in Gandhinagar as Officer on Special Duty (OSD). Surat collector Aayush Oak has been transferred as the new collector of Valsad. Sourabh Pardhi, currently serving as the managing director of the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd, has been appointed as the new collector of Surat. Morbi district collector GT Pandya has now been appointed as the collector of Devbhumi Dwarka district. Navsari collector Amit Prakash Yadav has now been made the collector of Kheda distric

Congress' Jairam Ramesh accuses govt of importing 5.6 mn tonnes cheap steel

India is currently the world's second-biggest crude steel producer

Rahul Gandhi-led 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' to re-enter Bengal today

The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to re-enter West Bengal from Bihar on Wednesday. The first phase of the yatra in West Bengal concluded on Monday, as it stepped into Bihar from Islampur. It will re-enter West Bengal through Debipur, Ratua in Malda district in the northern part of the state around 11.15 am, party leaders said. After the handover of the flag, the yatra will resume from Ratua stadium and move towards Sujapur, where Gandhi will address people before a night halt. On February 1, it will enter Murshidabad before exiting the state the next day. Covering 523 km across six West Bengal districts so far, the yatra has traversed Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Uttar Dinajpur, with Malda and Murshidabad slated for the second phase, they said. The journey through North Bengal, once a Congress stronghold, witnessed enthusiastic reception, as Gandhi interacted with locals along the route. Encountering obstacles akin to those fa

Odisha govt's anti-tribal schemes only to woo adivasis ahead of polls: BJP

Terming the ruling BJD in Odisha as anti-tribal, opposition BJP alleged that the state government rolled out special packages for tribals only to woo them ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and the assembly elections. The BJD's programmes for adivasis are a poll gimmick to mislead the one-crore tribal population in the state, Opposition chief whip Mohan Charan Majhi told reporters here on Tuesday. They were actually planning to grab tribal land for corporate houses by amending the Odisha Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property (by Scheduled Tribes) Regulation. However, the government failed in its bid in the wake of strong protests from different quarters, Majhi claimed. The Odisha Cabinet on Monday withdrew its earlier decision on tribal land transfer to non-tribals. The BJP leader also mocked the cabinet's approval of a new scheme Laghu Bana Jatiya Drabya Kraya (LABHA) to assure minimum support prices for minor forest produces. With the elections approaching, the state govern

Lok Sabha polls: Telangana CM Revanth Reddy accuses BJP, BRS of collusion

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy hit out at Bharatiya Janata Party and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), accusing them of collusion while claiming that only Congress can defeat BJP

2024 Lok Sabha elections: Congress hires DDB Mudra for publicity campaign

In 2019, the Congress hired advertising agencies Percept, Silverpush, and Nixon Advertising, while in 2014, it turned to Dentsu India

Highlights of the day: 2 killed in clash between ethnic groups in Manipur

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Samajwadi Party names 16 candidates for Lok Sabha elections. Check list

Dimple Yadav, the wife of Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, will contest from Mainpuri

CIEL Group plans IPO by Q3FY25, aims to raise nearly Rs 500 crore

CIEL continued to focus on its HRTech and Consulting lines of business; as a result, the group contribution of these segments in the overall portfolio has increased to 41 per cent