Page 45 - Lok Sabha Elections

LS polls: Big guns missing in Maneka's low-decibel campaign in Sultanpur

In Sultanpur, near high-profile Amethi, BJP's Maneka Gandhi appears to be fighting a lone battle to retain her parliamentary seat with few top leaders of her party canvassing for her and no opposition biggies campaigning against her either. Sultanpur goes to polls on May 25 and Thursday is the last day of campaigning. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed a public meeting in support of Maneka Gandhi in Qazipur on Wednesday. Her son Varun Gandhi, who has been benched by the BJP in this Lok Sabha election, is expected to join her for campaigning on Thursday. Her nephew Rahul Gandhi and niece Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have visited Uttar Pradesh multiple times to canvass for INDIA bloc candidates but have not campaigned against her. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati campaigned in Sultanpur in support of her party's candidate Udraj Verma, an OBC, on Wednesday and attacked both the BJP and the Congress. Despite little help from the BJP's big guns, Maneka Gandhi is .

LS polls 2024: Who made Haryana number 1 in unemployment, Cong slams BJP

The Congress on Thursday alleged that despite repeated promises, the BJP government has "failed" to provide permanent employment opportunities in Haryana and instead, it is promoting temporary contractual jobs through the skill employment corporation. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his rally in Haryana's Mahendragarh. "Outgoing PM. Now that we have his attention, here are today's questions for him in Mahendragarh: Who made Haryana Number 1 in unemployment? Why has BJP slowed down private investment in Haryana? Why are Bhiwani residents being forced to protest for clean drinking water and proper sewerage?" Ramesh said in a post on X. Ramesh, citing the latest data from the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE), said Haryana has the highest unemployment rate in India at 37.4 per cent, far surpassing the national average. "Despite repeated promises and announcements, the BJP government has failed to provide .

BJP responsible for unemployment, corruption in Haryana, says Priyanka

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday slammed the BJP government for "unemployment, corruption and inflation" in the Haryana. "There is a huge wave of Congress in Haryana. Haryana has the highest unemployment in the entire country, the price of which is being paid by the youth here. "The public is fed up with the rampant inflation, corruption and instability of the BJP and is going to bring about a big change)," she said in a post in Hindi on X. The Congress will win all seats in the state with a huge margin, she said. Earlier, she led a roadshow to garner support for party nominee Kumari Selja for the May 25 Lok Sabha poll in Haryana. Standing in an open vehicle along with Selja and former Haryana minister Kiran Choudhary, Priyanka waved towards people during her roadshow, which lasted for about an hour. It was her first such election outing in Haryana. Holding party flags, Congress workers raised slogans 'Congress party Zindabad' and showered flower petals on her.

Kejriwal travelling with accused shows where his loyalty lies, says BJP

The BJP said on Thursday that no one should hamper the probe into the alleged assault on AAP MP Swati Maliwal, claiming it is part of the investigation to ascertain who were present at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence and the role they played when the incident occurred. "Who all were present at Kejriwal's residence from his family and office, the role they played and what they witnessed when Maliwal was being beaten up are part of the investigation. I am a spokesperson of the BJP, not the police. I will only request that no one should hamper the investigation," Union Minister Smriti Irani said at a press conference. She was responding to a question about the AAP's attack on the BJP over the Delhi Police's move to question Kejriwal's parents over the issue. The fact that Kejriwal has been seen travelling with the accused, his aide Bibhav Kumar, signals where his loyalty lies in the case, she said. "Can he be expected to do justice?" Irani asked. Taking a swipe at th

LS polls 2024: Election is fight to safeguard Constitution, says Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday charged that the BJP always wanted to "tear and throw away" the Constitution, and asserted that the Lok Sabha elections this time is a fight to safeguard it. At an election meeting in northeast Delhi's Dilshad Garden in support of party candidate Kanhaiya Kumar, he claimed that the BJP always wanted to change the Constitution. "These people (BJP) have always wanted to tear and throw it (Constitution) away. They never accepted neither the Indian Constitution nor the Indian flag. In this election finally they have accepted that they want to change it," he charged. "In this election, the fight is for safeguarding the Indian Constitution. It is not simply a book, our Constitution carries thousands of years of ideological heritage of Gandhi, Ambedkar and Nehru ji," the Congress leader said. The former Congress president said the BJP has finally "accepted" in this election that it wanted to change the Constitution. However, the BJP will have to f

Swati Maliwal case updates: Kejriwal's 'sick' parents to be 'quizzed' today

On May 16, Swati Maliwal complained against Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar, alleging that she was assaulted by him at the CM's residence at Civil Lines earlier that week

LS polls: PM Modi predicts market surge, highlights BJP's financial reforms

In a recent interview, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on stock market performance, the rights of poor over natural resources and the West Asia conflict

LS polls: Maneka Gandhi locked in contest against SP's Nishad in Sultanpur

In Sultanpur, next door to Amethi, another Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi of the BJP, is locked in a keen contest with her Samajwadi Party rival. Mayawati-led BSP's party nominee Udraj Verma, who hails from OBC Kurmi caste, is causing trouble to the BJP as well as the SP candidates but Akhilesh Yadav-headed SP candidate Ram Bhual Nishad is at a greater loss. Verma threatens to divide the OBC votes of the SP. Contesting from the Sultanpur seat in Uttar Pradesh for the second consecutive time, Maneka Gandhi had won the previous poll by a margin of around 14,000 votes. She is working hard to register a victory with a comfortable margin this time. Maneka Gandhi told PTI in an interview that her focus is on the local issues and asserted that her victory margin will be bigger this time. She is mostly fending for herself so far. Among the top leaders of the BJP, only UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has campaigned in Sultanpur which goes to polls in the sixth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha electi

Kejriwal has 'no intention' of becoming PM if INDIA wins Lok Sabha polls

AAP leader and Delhi CM says AAP is a 'small party' and Opposition alliance will discuss its PM pick after elections

Will industrialise Jaunpur so youth doesn't migrate, says BJP candidate

BJP candidate Kripashankar Singh says his priority on winning the election would be to set up industries in this parliamentary constituency so that people don't have to leave home to find jobs like he once did. For this, I will use my "Mumbai contacts", said Singh, who moved to the city in 1971 and was once considered a strong leader of the Maharashtra Congress and also served as a former Minister of State for Home in the state. "Jaunpur, with a population of about 46 lakh, is a district where most of the youth migrate to Mumbai and other cities every year in search of employment,' Singh told PTI. "Every sixth North Indian in Mumbai is from Jaunpur district who has gone there for employment," Singh said. Singh started his political career with the Maharashtra Congress in the 1970s. About four years ago, he resigned from the Congress party and joined the BJP. He said Jaunpur produces potatoes in huge quantities and its people are hardworking, yet there are no sugar and potato ...

LS polls: Cong slams BJP for not fulfilling promises made to farmers

The Congress on Thursday hit out at the BJP for not fulfilling the promises made to farmers' organisations and asserted that an INDIA bloc government will implement all its guarantees to the tillers, including the legal guarantee of MSP. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh noted that elections have been held in 428 constituencies and now polling on 115 seats, including those in Punjab and Haryana, are left. In a video statement on X, he said the farmers' movement has been going on in Haryana and Punjab since five years and though the government took back the "three black farm laws", it has "not fulfilled the promises" it made to farmer organisations "For the last five years, the Modi government has continuously ignored the farmers' movement of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Atrocities were committed against the farmers. Now they are talking about snatching the MSP from the farmers of Punjab and Haryana for burning stubble," Ramesh said and asserted that the Congress strongl

Volume up: Elections songs connect candidates with voters, boosts campaign

From singing the praises of candidates' roots and family legacies to highlighting their personality traits, playful campaign songs have struck a chord with voters here this election season with their liberal use of catchy phrases in locals dialects. The dialects and languages used in these songs -- from Hindi and Bhojpuri to Haryanvi and Punjabi -- are reflective of the linguistic and cultural diversities of the national capital, inhabited by people from all parts of the country. "Phir se Modiji ki sarkar dekhna chahusu" (want to see a Modi government once again) is one such Haryanvi song renting the air at the rallies of BJP candidates. Underlining the progress achieved under the Modi government, BJP bigwigs have got composed several songs that also talk abut their roots and their family background. Bansuri Swaraj, the BJP's New Delhi candidate and the daughter of the late party stalwart Sushma Swaraj, has also got a song composed that pays tributes to her mother and launches a ..

EC wrong in directing Cong not to 'politicise' Agnipath scheme: Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday said the Election Commission was "egregiously wrong" in directing his party not to 'politicise' the Agnipath scheme, asserting that it is the right of an Opposition party to criticise a policy of the government. The Election Commission Wednesday came down heavily on the ruling BJP and opposition Congress, asking them to desist from campaigning along caste, community, language, and religious lines. The EC also asked the Congress not to politicise defence forces and make potentially divisive statements regarding the socio-economic composition of the armed forces. The Commission was referring to remarks made by top Congress leaders on the Agnipath scheme. In a post on X, Chidambaram said the ECI is wrong in directing the Congress party not to 'politicise' the Agnipath scheme. "What does 'politicize' mean? Does the ECI mean 'criticise'? Agniveer is a scheme, a product of the policy of the government. It is the right of an Opposition ...

Will stock market crash if BJP gets less than 270 seats in Lok Sabha polls?

In the worst case scenario where the NDA is unable to secure a majority (seats less than 272), analysts at Bernstein expect 'heavy profit booking' in the markets with low or negligible returns

Indiscriminate disclosure of voter turnout data online to cause chaos: EC

The Election Commission on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that "indiscriminate disclosure" of polling station-wise voter turnout data and posting it on website will cause chaos in the election machinery which is already in motion for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The poll panel said that public posting of Form 17C - which gives the number of votes polled in a polling station - is not provided in the statutory framework and could lead to mischief and vitiation of the entire electoral space as it increases the possibility of the images being morphed. The EC also dismissed as false and misleading the allegation that the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections saw an increase of "5-6 per cent" in the voter turnout data released on the day of polling and in the subsequent press releases for each of the two phases. The Election Commission stated this in an affidavit filed in response to a plea of an NGO seeking a direction to the poll panel to upload polling station-wise voter .

LS polls: 45,576 EVMs at 20,031 polling stations in Haryana, says officer

A total of 45,576 EVMs will be used in the state for the Lok Sabha elections and the by-election of Karnal Assembly constituency, Haryana Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Agarwal said on Wednesday. Agarwal said 24,039 control units and 26,040 VVPAT machines will be used at 20,031 polling stations for the elections. Among the polling stations set up, 19,812 are permanent and 219 are auxiliary stations, he said. There are 99 polling stations which will be operated entirely by women staff and 71 polling stations will be manned by Person with Disability (PwD) employees, he said. There are 5,470 polling stations in urban areas and 14,342 polling stations have been set up in rural areas, he said. Voting for 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana and bypoll for Karnal assembly seat will be held on May 25 in the sixth phase of general elections. Polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm. The state CEO said that 176 model polling stations have also been established. In view of the prevailing severe hea

Spent their lives concealing sins of Cong: PM's jibe at 'Khan Market gang'

He also accused them and all their current allies of perpetrating the anti-Sikh riots of 1984

Preparations begin in Delhi to host first-time Members of Parliament

The Western Court Annexe, located in Delhi's Janpath region is preparing to accommodate nearly 100 new MPs once they start the national capital after June 4

Lok Sabha elections: Anatomy of the surge in Kashmir's voter turnout

Valley braves militant attack in Pahalgam amid growing political vacuum

Lok Sabha elections 2024: 8,360 candidates in fray, highest since 1996

There were 8054 candidates in 2019 and 8251 in 2014, according to the Election Commission's 2019 'Atlas'