Page 59 - Lok Sabha Elections

ASHA, mid-day meal workers on poll duty to get Rs 200 a day: Punjab CEO

ASHA and mid-day meal workers who are engaged in election duties will receive an honorarium of Rs 200 a day, Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sibin C said on Wednesday. All 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will go to polls on June 1 in the seventh and last phase of the general elections. In a statement, Sibin said mid-day meal workers will be tasked with preparing food for polling parties. In addition, considering the anticipated hot weather conditions during polling day on June 1, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) will be stationed at polling booths to provide immediate assistance to polling staff or voters experiencing health issues, he said. The CEO said ASHA workers will also be compensated at the rate of Rs 200 a day. He said a directive has been issued to all district election officers-cum-deputy commissioners of Punjab for the implementation of this honorarium scheme for mid-day meal and ASHA workers.

'PoK is a part of India, we have rights over it': Home Minister Amit Shah

Lok Sabha elections 2024: CAA is the country's law, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in an interview with ANI

Centre issues first set of citizenship certificates under CAA to 14 people

Citizenship process under CAA involves granting Indian nationality to persecuted migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh

LS elections: PoK is part of India, we will take it, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday referred to protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and said "PoK is part of India and we will take it". Addressing a rally in Serampore, Shah said while peace has returned to once trouble-torn Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir "now echoes with slogans of Azadi and protests. "After the abrogation of Article 370 by the government in 2019 peace has returned to Kashmir. But now we witness protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Earlier slogans of Azadi were heard here, now the same slogans are heard in PoK. Earlier stones were pelted here, now stones are pelted in PoK," he said. Hitting out at Congress leaders for not supporting the demand of taking over PoK, Shah said, "Congress leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyar say it should not be done as they have an atom bomb. But let me say this Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is part of India and we will take it." Shah said the present Lok Sabha elections are about "choosi

LS polls: Narendra Modi will not be PM after June 4, says Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said no matter how much the BJP consoles itself through its "lies", it will not make any difference and Narendra Modi will no longer be the prime minister after June 4. Gandhi shared a video put out by the Congress on social media where they highlighted how his comments made during a poll rally in Uttar Pradesh were being "distorted" and differentiated between the truth and lies. "No matter how much the BJP consoles itself through the 'factory of lies', it is not going to make any difference. I am saying it again -- Narendra Modi will no longer be the Prime Minister after June 4," he said in a post in Hindi on X. "A storm is blowing in every corner of the country in favour of INDIA," he said referring to the opposition bloc. The Congress and Gandhi have been claiming that the INDIA bloc is forming the next government and the BJP was being thrown out of power in these Lok Sabha elections.

BJP diverting people's attention, bringing up religion in polls: Priyanka

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday accused the BJP of diverting people's attention and bringing up religion during elections. Gandhi said the government was not accountable to the people in the last 10 years due to this "politics of religion". "The leaders of BJP have realised that they can come to power after tricking you in the name of religion," she said addressing a rally in support of her brother and Congress' Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat candidate Rahul Gandhi. The BJP's leaders, right from Narendra Modi to the BJP candidate from Rae Bareli all think that there is no need to work for the public and "divert your attention in the name of religion" during elections, she added. BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh has been fielded against Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli. Priyanka Gandhi said there are two kinds of politics being done in the country: one is truthful, devoted and willing to work for the voters, while the other is the politics of BJP -- they play with your emotions, s

More governance and less of govt in Modi's third term: FM Sitharaman

FM Nirmala Sitharaman was addressing a session titled 'Viksit Bharat 2047 - Vision for Indian Financial Markets,' organised by the BSE stock exchange at the BSE International Convention in Mumbai

PM Modi vs Rahul Gandhi assets declared: Who's wealthier and by how much?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who are locked in an intense face-off in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, have declared their assets

LS polls 2024: PM Modi should focus on development issues, says Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to talk about development matters rather than other issues in his campaign speeches, and said "mutton-chicken", "Hindu-Muslim" are his words and not ours. His remarks came after Prime Minister Modi in an interview to News 18 said he won't be fit for public life if he starts playing the Hindu-Muslim card. "Why is the PM not seeking votes on the work he did in the last 10 years," he said at a joint press conference with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav here. On PM Modi's remarks that he has never discriminated between Hindu and Muslim, Kharge responded, "Had the prime minister not said mutton, beef, chicken, fish and mangalsutra. These words are not mine but his (PM's). "I am saying that leave these things, tell people about the work you did and seek votes on its behalf. They talk of mutton-chicken not us," Kharge said. The Congress chief asserted that the opposition INDIA bloc is in a strong position afte

PoK is part of India, we will take it: Amit Shah amid ongoing protests

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday referred to protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and said "PoK is part of India and we will take it". Addressing a rally in Serampore, Shah said while peace has returned to once trouble-torn Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir "now echoes with slogans of Azaadi and protests. "After the abrogation of article 370 by the government in 2019 peace has returned to Kashmir. But now we witness protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Earlier slogans of Azaadi were heard here, now the same slogans are heard in PoK. Earlier stones were pelted here, now stones are pelted in PoK," he said. Hitting out at Congress leaders for not supporting the demand of taking over PoK, Shah said, "Congress leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyar say it should not be done as they have an atom bomb. But let me say this Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is part of India and we will take it." Shah said the present Lok Sabha elections are about .

PM Modi declares Rs 3.02 cr of assets in poll affidavit, has no house, car

PM Modi has declared Rs 52,920 in cash and fixed deposits worth Rs 2.85 cr, according to the election affidavit

After Delhi and Jaipur, bomb threats made to 10 schools in UP's Kanpur

Schools in Kanpur were threatened a day after seven Delhi hospitals received bomb threats by email on Tuesday

LS polls: Migration of skilled workforce main issue in Odisha's Kendrapara

Lack of industries, unemployment and migration of skilled workforce are the main issues in Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency in coastal Odisha from where BJP national vice president Baijayant Panda is contesting against BJD's Anshuman Mohanty. Kendrapara parliamentary constituency has sent a galaxy of political heavyweights including late Biju Patnaik and former Lok Sabha Speaker Rabi Ray to the Lok Sabha in the past. This time, the fight is mainly between Panda and Mohanty with Sidharth Swarup Das of Congress also in the fray. Elections to the Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency will be held on June 1. This coastal region is primarily an agrarian belt with people largely dependent on farming for sustenance. The district, despite sending several political heavyweights to Lok Sabha and state Assembly, still does not figure in the industrial map though the Naveen Patnaik government in December last year had approved ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel's proposal to set up a Rs 1,02,275 crore wo

LS polls: BJP wiped out from south India, halved elsewhere, says Ramesh

Calling Narendra Modi the "outgoing prime minister", Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday claimed the polling held so far clearly indicates that the BJP has been "wiped out" from south India and reduced to half in the rest of the country. Addressing a press conference in Ranchi, Ramesh alleged that the PM polarised voters on religious lines, and was now "lying" that he "never did Hindu-Muslim" politics. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an outgoing prime minister, and his desperation after the initial phases of the elections says this. Amit Shah is an outgoing home minister. We will get rid of the pandemic of lies after June 4," he said. Ramesh claimed the INDIA bloc would form the government at the Centre and would ensure a nationwide caste census. Alleging that the BJP-led government "badly misused" ED, CBI and IT Department, Ramesh said that if voted to power, the Congress would ensure that powers given to these agencies are revisited. He accused the BJP-led ...

Outgoing PM has no agenda barring Hindu-Muslim politics, claims Cong

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress on Wednesday alleged that the "outgoing PM" has had no agenda barring Hindu-Muslim politics as 'Modi ki Guarantee' has "fallen flat" and '400 paar' given a "silent burial". The opposition party's attack came after Prime Minister Modi in an interview to News 18 said he won't be fit for public life if he starts playing the Hindu-Muslim card. Slamming the PM, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the nation knows very well that "the outgoing PM is a pathological liar". "But even by his own pathetic standards, Mr. Modi's latest claim that he does not do Hindu-Muslim politics shows the new depths he reaches daily in lying. Since April 19th 2024, it is a matter of public record that cannot be erased from our collective memory - even if Mr. Modi erases it from his own - that the outgoing PM has blatantly and brazenly used communal language, symbols, and allusions," Ramesh charged on X. "We have brought this to the attention

Case against 2 poll officials in Palghar for not distributing voter slips

Police have registered a case against two booth level officers for allegedly not distributing voter slips to electors in Maharashtra's Palghar district for the Lok Sabha election scheduled on May 20, an official said on Wednesday. The duo, deputy teachers at a Zilla Parishad school in Dahanu, had been appointed as booth level officers for the election work, the official from Kasa police station said. They were assigned the task of collecting and distributing the voter slips but they ignored it, he said. Based on a complaint by a naib tehsilar (revenue officer), the police on Tuesday registered a case against the two persons under provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

LS polls: Khattar takes on Congress' youth leader Budhiraja in Karnal

Two months after the BJP replaced Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini as Haryana chief minister, the 70-year-old leader and former RSS 'pracharak' is preparing for another innings -- to enter the Lok Sabha for the first time. Though 19 candidates are in the fray from the Karnal parliamentary seat, the contest is mainly between Khattar and Haryana Youth Congress president Divyanshu Budhiraja (30). Karnal is an agricultural-industrial district in the north-central part of Haryana and is also famous for its Basmati rice. It is said to have been founded by Raja Karna who was one of the main characters in the epic Mahabharata. In October 2014, when the BJP came to power in Haryana on its own strength for the first time, Khattar, a first-time MLA from Karnal, was made the chief minister. Nine-and-a-half years later, the party handpicked Khattar's protege and Kurukshetra MP Nayab Saini to replace him as chief minister. The change of guard by the ruling BJP in Haryana came as a big

LS Polls 2024 updates: BJP releases star candidate list, MEA slams US

Lok Sabha elections 2024: From PM Modi's election campaign in Maharashtra to Rahul Gandhi's bike rally in Odisha, here are the latest updates in politics on May 15

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Traffic advisory for Modi's Ghatkopar roadshow

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a roadshow today in Mumbai's Ghatkopar. The constituency will go on to polls with other Mumbai seats on May 20

LS polls 2024: Stock market slump doesn't mean PM Modi is in trouble

Indian politics is complicated enough to predict without throwing stock prices into the mix as well, Mihir Sharma writes