Page 38 - Lok Sabha Elections

Bengal's chit fund victims await justice amid LS polls corruption discourse

For the past decade, 52-year-old Rishin Majumdar has been working two shifts, trying to repay a hefty Rs 30 lakh loan he took out to compensate the investors of Saradha group, where he once served as an agent. "After the Saradha group collapsed in 2013, people who invested money through me wanted it back. I was beaten, and even my family members were not spared. I was then forced to take a Rs 30 lakh loan from a local money lender. I lost Rs five lakh in the chit fund," Majumdar said. His story is a familiar one among lakhs of people who fell victim to the multi-crore chit fund scams that rocked West Bengal in 2013. As corruption scandals like school recruitment scams take centre stage in the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, the enduring and hopeful victims of the 2013 chit fund scamsone of the state's largest financial scandals since independenceare still waiting for justice after more than ten years. The chit fund scam of Bengal saw several companies, most notably the Saradha Grou

BJP MP calls for arrest of ex-Telangana CM KCR over phone tapping claims

Telangana Phone Tapping Case: Last month, DMK leader R S Bharathi accused agencies like the ED, CBI, and I-T Department of illegal interceptions, potentially using software like Pegasus

India to stick to policy path whether PM Modi wins 3rd term or not: Rajan

The new govt will announce a budget shortly after it comes to power, which will likely focus on "all the good stuff that is happening while trying to see what other changes have to be made," he said

Some Oppn parties will perish, their nominees to lose deposits: Ravi Kishan

Actor-politician and BJP candidate from Gorakhpur constituency Ravi Kishan has claimed that half a dozen opposition parties will cease to exist and their candidate lose their deposits after the results of the Lok Sabha elections are declared. In an interview with PTI at his home here, Bhojpuri superstar Ravindra Shukla, better known as Ravi Kishan, claimed that if the opposition INDIA bloc comes to power, it would run the country based on Shariat. "You will see on June 4 that these 26 parties are going to face defeat. More than half a dozen of them will cease to exist and the deposits of their candidates forfeited," Kishan, who is the current MP from Gorakhpur, said as he thumped the table to emphasise his point. "The opposition wants the country to run on the basis of Shariat but this cannot happen. The country will be run according to Baba Saheb Ambedkar's Constitution. "I promise that the Constitution will not be tampered with (if the BJP wins)... The Congress definitely wants

Over 82% Indians oppose GenAI use in poll campaigns, says Adobe study

A high percentage of Indians, around 93%, agreed that it was important to know if the content they are consuming is generated using AI

Lok Sabha exit poll on June 01: Here's your stock market strategy handbook

Lok Sabha Exit Polls: Markets, analysts believe, are likely to remain volatile in the run-up to the exit polls. The markets, analysts said, expect the NDA to form the next government

'Our Droupadi' vs local poll dynamics in tribal terrain of Mayurbhanj

There were media reports that Uparbeda, 120 km from the district headquarters in Baripada, got electricity only after Murmu became President

Lok Sabha elections: Can Rashtriya Janata Dal break the Pataliputra jinx?

According to locals, Ram Kripal is accessible while RJD's Misa Bharti is not

LS polls: Trade via Attari-Wagah border now a poll plank in Amritsar

Several candidates, including the BJP's, promising resumption of trade on the route

LS polls highlights: PM has developed strategies to distract people from 'real' issues, says Rahul

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

Lok Sabha polls: In Mandi, it's PM's charisma vs Raja Saheb's legacy

After the BJP announced Kangana's candidacy for the Mandi constituency, Pratibha decided not to contest, making way for her son

LS polls: Misuse of ED, CBI will not help BJP retain power, says Alka Lamba

The misuse of the ED, CBI and electoral bonds will not help the BJP retain power and its slogan of "400 paar" will remain a slogan, said Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba here on Monday. Addressing a press conference, she said the Narendra Modi government has been giving benefits to the business houses and waived off Rs 16 lakh crore to 21 industrialists. Lamba said she toured 27 states and no Modi wave is visible anywhere as claimed by the BJP. At present, there are only two issues -- unemployment and inflation, she added. "Misuse of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the electoral bonds will not help the BJP to retain power," she said. The Congress has already announced that it will give Rs 8,500 per month to the eldest women of poor families and will also scrap the Agniveer scheme once voted to power. She said Himachal Pradesh has given a message to the people of the rest of the country by throwing the "double engine government" o

Two-tier security for polled EVMs locked in strong rooms in Delhi: CEO

The Delhi poll body on Monday said it has implemented two-tier security arrangements for the polled EVMs and VVPATs stored in the strong rooms of the seven parliamentary constituencies. Polling for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was conducted across all seven parliamentary constituencies in the capital on May 25. The counting of votes will take place on June 4. The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said it has deployed a two-tier security around the clock at strong rooms with the innermost perimeter guarded by the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPFs) and the outermost perimeter by the state armed police in accordance with the ECI safety protocols. A 24x7 CCTV camera coverage of the sealed doors of the strong rooms and corridors with continuous monitoring has been made with single entry/exit point to the strong rooms and double lock system, it said in a statement. Mandatory videography during the opening and closing of the strong rooms and maintenance of a logbook for .

Narrow escape for Rahul Gandhi: Stage collapses partially in Bihar rally

INDIA bloc rally in Bihar: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi momentarily loses his balance as the stage almost collapsed during a rally in Bihar's Paliganj

Rahul Gandhi slams PM Modi for raising '22-25 rajas and maharajas' in India

Speaking at an election rally in Bihar's Bakhtiyarpur, the Congress leader accuses PM Modi of favouring top industrialists like Adani and Ambani, alleging Modi's allegiance to them

J&K records highest turnout in 35 yrs, assembly polls to be held soon: CEC

The Election Commission on Monday said the voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir this time was the highest in a Lok Sabha election in the last 35 years with the Kashmir Valley witnessing a "massive" 30 percentage point jump in poll participation compared to 2019. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said this achievement sits on a 25 per cent increase in the number of contesting candidates since 2019. "This active participation is a huge positive for the assembly elections to be held soon so that the democratic process continues to thrive in the Union Territory," he said. The poll panel also said the combined voter turnout at the polling stations for the entire Union Territory with five Lok Sabha seats was 58.46 per cent. On Saturday, CEC Kumar told PTI Videos that encouraged by the voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir in this Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission will "very soon" initiate the process of conducting the assembly polls in the Union Territory. The voter turnout of 5

'TMC unlikely to attend INDIA bloc meet on June 1 due to phase 7 polling'

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is unlikely to attend a meeting of the INDIA bloc on June 1, sources said, as it coincides with the last phase of voting in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. According to sources, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has convened a meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders on the afternoon of June 1, when the last phase of polling will be underway. Sources in the TMC said the voting will be done on nine seats, including two seats in Kolkata - Kolkata Dakshin, and Kolkata Uttar, in West Bengal on the day which are crucial for the party. Other constituencies that go to polls that day in the state include Jadavpur, Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jayanagar, Mathurapur and Diamond Harbour. TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and other top leaders will be voting on the day and hence will be unable to attend the meeting, a source said, also pointing out that the party has so far attended all meetings of the opposition bloc. The sou

Modi 'playing with' national security by bringing in Agnipath scheme: Cong

The Congress on Monday accused the Modi government of "playing with" national security and the future of the youth, and asserted that the military recruitment scheme would be scrapped when it comes to power at the Centre. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Agnipath scheme is the contribution of the "outgoing prime minister". "This is playing with national security and the future of the youth. Before Agnipath, about 75,000 youth were recruited (annually) into the armed forces and now that has been reduced by one-fourth," Ramesh said in a video statement posted on X. He said that under the Agnipath scheme, training is given to the youth for six months and they are told to go and take on China and Pakistan at the borders. Ramesh recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi's June 2020 statement, which the Congress describes as a "clean chit of China", and claimed that it had reduced India's negotiating power. "We should remember that the three chiefs of the army, navy and air

Prajwal Revanna denies allegations in video response, to appear before SIT

Denying the allegations of rape levelled against him, the Hassan MP said in a video that the cases filed against him are false and went into isolation because of depression

'PM Modi will use his biological story to evade ED', says Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will use his cooked up 'biological story' when the ED questions him about Adani after the ongoing Lok Sabha polls