Page 37 - Lok Sabha Elections

LS polls: Inflation higher when Congress governed at Centre, says Rajnath

Inflation was higher whenever the Congress governed at the Centre, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday and asserted that India's unemployment rate is the lowest among big countries. He also targeted the AAP government in Punjab, saying it has turned the state into 'Kangla Punjab' (bankrupt Punjab). Singh made the remarks at election rallies in Punjab's Ferozepur and Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituencies. Attacking the Congress, the Union minister said the inflation rate was 2 per cent from 1947 to 1950, and it "increased to 13.8 per cent during Nehru's time. From 1964 to 1966, it was over 10 per cent". During Morarji Desai's government, the first thing that was done was to lift restrictions on the movement of farm produce from one state to another, Singh said. As a result, inflation, which had touched 30 per cent, came down to 7 per cent, he claimed. "From 1947 to 2022, if you go by the record on inflation, whenever the Congress governed, it increased manifold,"

Incorrect to say Centre not giving funds to Punjab, says FM Sitharaman

It is incorrect to say that the Centre is not giving funds to the Punjab government, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday here, responding to the AAP government's allegation that the Union is shortchanging the state. "The reality is that the Punjab Government is not using money rightfully," she said. Sitharaman was in Ludhiana Tuesday evening to interact with the MSMEs and industrialists. During the interaction, she slammed the AAP government in Punjab and said that it is misleading the people of the state. Her remarks came in response to the Punjab AAP government's claim that the Centre withheld Rs 9,000 crore from the state's share. On another matter, the Finance minister said any changes in the income tax would be incorporated after the formation of the new government. She said she is confident that the industry will invest in Punjab again. She said that according to a study conducted by the MSME promotion council in January 2024, Punjab has witnessed 85

Lok Sabha elections: On Nitish Kumar's turf, CPI (ML) eyes an opening

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar hails from Nalanda and he had represented it in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. His party's dominance on the seat has been a barometer of his personal popularity

More pvt outlay will be the focus for Patna Sahib: Ravi Shankar Prasad

During an interaction with Harsh Kumar in Patna, Ravi Shankar Prasad said he had undertaken a slew of initiatives, which attracted companies like TCS

Lok Sabha elections: Purvanchal battle isn't easy for BJP and allies

As the political drama unfolds, one thing is clear -- the labyrinthine bylanes of Varanasi hold no easy answers

Benchmarks fall for third day amid poll jitters; Vix hits fresh 2-year high

Indian equities have been jittery amidst the ongoing elections and selling by foreign portfolio investors

Lok Sabha polls highlights: TMC spreading misinformation about CAA, says PM Modi in Jadavpur

General Elections 2024 Live: Catch all the latest news updates on the Lok Sabha polls here

LS polls: 63.37% voting recorded in phase 6, over 70.5 mn voters turn up

The penultimate phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections recorded 63.37 per cent voter turnout with 7.05 crore out of 11.13 crore eligible voters exercising their franchise, the Election Commission of India on Tuesday said. As many as 58 seats in eight states went to polls in the sixth phase on May 25. Of the 87.54 crore electors in the first six phases of the Lok Sabha polls, as many as 57.77 crore voters turned up at the polling stations to cast their votes. India has the largest electorate in the world at 96.88 crore. The citizens, who are enrolled in the electoral rolls, are described as electors while those who actually cast their votes are called voters. In the 2019 general elections, the turnout in the sixth phase (59 seats in seven states that went to polls) was 64.4 per cent. According to the Election Commission (EC), the voter turnout in the fifth phase of the ongoing polls held on May 20 was recorded at 62.2 per cent. The turnout in the fourth phase stood at 69.16 per

How Will Stock Markets React if BJP Wins or Loses Lok Sabha Elections?

Are you nervous about the June 4 results and wondering how it will impact financial markets? Global brokerage firm UBS outlines four possible scenarios for investors. Watch the video to know how stock

Here's what ex-RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said on joining politics

'I have a family and a wife, who doesn't want me to enter politics for a good reason,' says Raghuram Rajan

On Modi's 'sent by God' remark, Rahul and Kejriwal point to Adani, RSS

Opposition leaders' remarks refer to PM Modi's interview with a television news channel in which he claimed to be an "incarnation of God"

Sunday holidays linked to Christians, one district tried to change it: Modi

Lok Sabha elections 2024: While addressing election rally in Dumka, Jharkhand, Modi says one district in Jharkhand tried to change weekly-offs from Sunday to Fridays

After campaigning ends, PM Modi to take a meditation break in Kanyakumari

The meditation break will start just after the election campaigning for the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 ends on the evening of May 30

INDIA bloc will protect Constitution with 'dil, jaan aur khoon': Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Monday that an INDIA bloc government will end the 50 per cent cap on reservation while asserting that the alliance will protect the Constitution with "dil, jaan aur khoon". Addressing an election rally in Uttar Pradesh's Bansgaon with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Gandhi said, "There is INDIA bloc and the Constitution on one side and those who want to finish the Constitution on the other." The INDIA bloc will protect the Constitution with "dil, jaan aur khoon (heart, life and blood)", he said and added that the alliance will end the 50 per cent cap on reservation while also increasing it. On Agnipath, Gandhi said the INDIA bloc, once it assumes power, will tear apart the scheme and throw it in the dustbin. The government rolled out the Agnipath recruitment scheme in June 2022 for short-term induction of personnel with an aim to bring down the age profile of the three armed services. It provides for recruiting youngsters between the age .

INDIA bloc will form govt at Centre after June 4: Lalu's jibe at PM Modi

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad on Tuesday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reported "God sent" remark and claimed that INDIA bloc will form government at the Centre after June 4. The results of the Lok Sabha elections will be announced on June 4. Talking to reporters here, Lalu said, "Modi calls him 'avtar' (messenger of god). He (Modi) says he is not biological but a messenger of God. We will know the results soon. PM Modi is gone now. We (INDIA bloc) will form the government on June 4." Lalu's remarks come in the wake of PM Modi's interview with a news channel recently in which he reportedly said that he was not biological but sent by god. Earlier in the day, the RJD supremo accused the NDA of intending to change the constitution and end reservations if it returns to power for a third term. In a post on X on Tuesday, Lalu wrote, "The BJP and its leaders, who have been despising our Constitution maker, Baba Saheb Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, are talking about abolishing the ...

Congress wants to give reservation on basis of religion, alleges Nadda

BJP president J P Nadda on Tuesday charged that the Congress wants to give reservation on the basis of religion. At a public meeting in Kinnaur in support of BJP candidate from Mandi, Kangana Ranaut, Nadda said BR Ambedkar had advocated reservation on the basis of geographical and social conditions of a place and not on religious lines. "People of Kinnaur are granted Scheduled Tribe (ST) reservation on the basis of geographical conditions because it is a far flung area but the Congress wants to give it to Muslims" he said. Hitting out at the opposition, Nadda charged that the 'INDI alliance' is nothing but an alliance of corrupt leaders as all its leaders and allied parties are corrupt and involved in various scams. The Lok Sabha elections for four seats in Himachal Pradesh are scheduled to take place on June 1 in the seventh and final phase.

Lok Sabha polls: Agnipath a national security threat, alleges Congress

Hitting out at the Modi government, the Congress on Tuesday claimed that the Agnipath military recruitment scheme is a "national security threat" and it has shrunk the stream of recruitment which can compromise the country's security for the next decade. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh's attack on the government came over a media report which claimed that the Department of Military Affairs is "actively" taking stock of the feedback on serving Agniveers from the services to analyse the effects of their induction to make the commensurate changes suitable for the Army, Air Force and the Navy. In a post on X, Ramesh claimed that Agnipath is a "national security threat". "The Indian Armed Forces need to maintain a dense/continuous deployment of personnel along Eastern Ladakh to protect against Chinese aggression," he said. "Agnipath has shrunk the stream of recruitment from 75,000 per year to 46,000 per year - the resulting shortfall of personnel can compromise our security for

Here's what PM Modi said on Kejriwal's allegations on political arrests

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had alleged that Prime Minister Modi decides who will go to jail

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Why is India VIX up 5% on Tuesday, May 28?

Lok Sabha elections and markets: From a 52-week low of 8.4, India VIX has soared 191 per cent to over 24 levels now. In one month, it has sprinted 124 per cent

Amit Shah's remarks boost Thakur's campaign, stakes high for Sukhu

Stakes are high for Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Union minister Anurag Singh Thakur in Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency where revolt in the Congress and four simultaneous six assembly byelections have made the parliamentary contest exciting. Thakur won the 2019 elections by 3,99,572 votes, 2014 polls by 98,403 votes, 2009 by 72,732 and 2008 byelection by 1,74,666 votes. Union Home minister Amit Shah's remarks that Hamirpur has got a ready-made minister and will not get an MP like him even if the people search with a lamp have given a boost to Thakur's campaign. It is also likely to benefit the BJP in the assembly byelections. Sukhu and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri are intensively campaigning in the constituency and accusing Thakur of making tall promises and claiming that the Congress will wrest the seat this time. The Hamirpur parliamentary constituency is considered a bastion of the BJP. Out of the 17 elections including two byelections hel