Page 79 - Lok Sabha Elections

Those who talk about 'jihad' are tarnishing democracy: UP CM Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that those who talk about 'jihad' are tarnishing democracy and they should remember that India is the land of Lord Ram and Lord Krishna. Adityanath was addressing a public meeting in Farrukhabad in support of sitting BJP MP Mukesh Rajput, who is seeking re-election from the Lok Sabha constituency. His remarks came days after Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Maria Alam, the niece of senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, called for "vote jihad" in favour of Naval Kishore Shakya, the INDIA bloc candidate from Farrukhabad Lok Sabha seat of Uttar Pradesh. According to a statement issued by the BJP, Adityanath said the people of the SP and the Congress are trying to create divisions on religious lines. "This is a conspiracy to Islamise India. Under this, they talk about vote jihad. There is no jihad in voting, we have to vote for the strongest democracy in the world so that our rights are protected," he said. Addressing a public

Rahul took rights of his sister by entering fray from Rae Bareli: MP CM

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's filing nomination from Rae Bareli constituency is akin to him snatching the rights of his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her husband, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav alleged on Saturday. Addressing a rally in the Guna Lok Sabha constituency, Yadav claimed Rahul ran away to Kerala (Wayanad constituency) from Amethi (Uttar Pradesh) after facing defeat. "There is the sea ahead (in Kerala), otherwise it is not clear where Rahul would have gone," Yadav quipped. Rahul Gandhi had said he would contest from Amethi while his sister will be in the fray from Rae Bareli, Yadav said. "Smriti Irani (Union minister and BJP candidate) was sitting in Amethi and calling Rahul but he developed cold feet by the time he reached Uttar Pradesh," Yadav said, a day after Rahul filed his nomination from Rae Bareli seat, currently represented by his mother Sonia Gandhi. Yadav claimed Rahul's brother-in-law (Vadra) had put up posters in Uttar Pradesh that he was rea

Rahul Gandhi promotes caste survey, promises to abolish Agniveer scheme

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi once again advocated for a caste survey and an economic review to ascertain who possesses how much wealth and asserted that this will be the first task of the INDIA bloc if it is voted to power. Addressing students at "Nyay Manch - Ab India Bolega" in the national capital, Gandhi said an INDIA bloc government will also abolish the Agniveer scheme and compensate the 1.5 lakh youngsters who were selected but not given entry into the armed forces. "The first step is a caste census along with an economic survey and it will ascertain who possesses how much wealth in the country," he said. People making up 90 per cent of the country's population do not even know their strength and are unaware as to how much of India's wealth they possess, he added. "They say that they have almost 50 per cent of the population but they do not know how much wealth they have. We are going to conduct a caste census and the OBCs (Other Backward Classes) will know how much they hav

1 IAF soldier killed, 4 injured in terror attack ahead of polls in Poonch

Three weeks ahead of polling in Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency, terrorists ambushed two security vehicles, including one belonging to Indian Air Force (IAF), in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, leaving five soldiers injured, officials said. Poonch is part of Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency which is going to polls in the sixth phase on May 25. The border district of Poonch along with adjoining Rajouri have witnessed some of the major terrorist attacks over the past two years, signalling return of terror activities to the region, which was once cleared of terrorism and remained peaceful between 2003 and 2021. The officials said five security personnel were injured, two of them critically, when terrorists opened fire on two vehicles, including one belonging to the IAF, near Shashidhar in the evening. "An Indian Air Force vehicle convoy was attacked by militants in the Poonch district of J-K, near Shahsitar. Cordon and search operations are underway presently i

JD(S) MLA H D Revanna arrested from Deve Gowda's home in abduction case

Karnataka JD(S) MLA H D Revanna was arrested by sleuths of a Special Investigation Team on Saturday in a kidnapping case linked to sexual abuse allegations against his son Prajwal. He was arrested soon after a court here rejected his anticipatory bail plea, officials said. The former Minister was picked up from the Padmanabhanagar residence of his father, JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda here, and brought to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) office. The case was registered against Revanna, a former minister and his confidant Sathish Babanna in Mysuru on Thursday night for allegedly abducting a woman. The case was registered on a complaint filed by the woman's son, who also alleged that his mother was sexually abused by Revanna's son and the BJP-JD(S) candidate for Hassan Lok Sabha seat Prajwal Revanna. Babanna has already been arrested in connection with the case. The woman was allegedly abducted to prevent her from testifying against Prajwal, police sourc

Highlights of the day: Paytm President and COO Bhavesh Gupta tenders resignation

From Uddhav Thackrey's attacks on BJP, to Air India's decision to resume its flights between Delhi and Tel Aviv, catch all the latest news here

Time to choose new PM to correct politics of country, says Priyanka Gandhi

Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of bringing down the dignity of the office he holds through his speeches during the election campaign, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said that it is time to choose a new PM to "correct" the politics of the country. At an election rally here, she also targeted Modi for campaigning in favour of NDA's candidate from Hassan and suspended JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna, who is facing changes of sexual abuse. "There has been a good tradition of electing the Prime Minister in this country and several legends have been the Prime Ministers of the country like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri. Two other Prime Ministers sacrificed their life for the country. When you elect a PM, you will have complete respect for him and you expect him to keep up the dignity of the position he holds," Priyanka Gandhi said. Referring to the Prajwal Revanna case while addressing a public meeting here, she said, "But today, our Prime Minister .

LS polls: PM Modi holds roadshow in UP for Kanpur, Akbarpur candidates

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a roadshow here in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday to campaign for the BJP's Kanpur and Akbarpur Lok Sabha seat candidates. A large crowd cheered for the prime minister as he waved to them from his car. Modi visited the Gumati Gurdwara before starting his roadshow. He was accompanied by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Kanpur candidate Ramesh Awasthi and Akbarpur candidate Devendra Singh. The roadshow started from gurdwara.

Kejriwal, his wife Sunita, Sisodia, Jain in AAP's list of star campaigners

Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday issued a list of 40 star campaigners for Lok Sabha polls in Delhi and Haryana, featuring party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who is in judicial custody and his wife Sunita Kejriwal. AAP's star campaigners' list also included the names of jailed AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, as well as Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Sunita Kejriwal has already taken reins of party's campaigning for the polls, attending roadshows in support of party's Lok Sabha candidates in Delhi and Gujarat. Recently she attended roadshows along with AAP candidates in East Delhi, West Delhi and Bharuch and Bhavnagar constituencies in Gujarat. She is scheduled to attend a roadshow in support of AAP candidate from South Delhi seat Sahi Ram Pehalwan on Sunday, party leaders said. She will also hold roadshows in Punjab and Haryana under the party's campaign 'Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se' centred around the arrest of the Delhi chief minister by Enforcement

AAP 'urban Naxal party', will bring Maoist menace, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday called AAP an "urban Naxal party" and said Maoist menace would raise its head in the region if the opposition candidate wins from Valsad Lok Sabha seat. The Aam Aadmi Party is fighting the Gujarat polls in alliance with the Congress, which has fielded its Vansda (ST) MLA Anant Patel from Valsad. Addressing a rally in support of BJP candidate Dhaval Patel in Vansda, Shah said, "The Congress and urban Naxal party AAP have come together to disturb the peace of this tribal region. Do you want extortion to start in Valsad? Will you allow Naxalism to raise its head in our forest areas?" "Naxalism and urban naxalism will begin here if their candidate wins," Shah asserted. Shah claimed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's "misinformation" about the vaccination drive during the coronavirus pandemic led to the death of many tribals. "Rahul asked tribals not to take the vaccine and termed it as Modi vaccine. However, both brother and sister (Priyanka ...

INDIA bloc PM will be first among equals, will listens to others: Tharoor

Opposition parties, campaigning together or against each other, will join hands after the Lok Sabha polls, says Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, asserting that the people will get a prime minister who is first among equals and listens to others with an INDIA bloc coalition government. Including the Trinamool Congress in his argument on opposition parties getting together after the day of reckoning on June 4, Tharoor said in an interaction with PTI editors at the news agency's headquarters that a coalition government is nothing to be afraid of. The growth performance of the Indian economy has been better under such dispensations than under single party governments, he said. In his view, this is an election for "change" and as of now the BJP has "lost its grip" on the narrative. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) member also defended the party's decision to not attend the 'pran pratishtha' ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, saying it was right to turn down the invitation as it w

Supriya vs Sunetra: Baramati first electoral battle for Pawar clan rivals

Baramati in Maharashtra's Pune district is one of the most keenly watched seats in the state in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls as it is for the first time that two members of the influential Pawar family are contesting against each other. Sharad Pawar's daughter and sitting MP Supriya Sule and nephew Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar have been pitted against each other by the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) from the constituency that goes to polls on May 7. This is also the first major electoral battle between the factions after the party split in July last year. In February, the Election Commission (EC) recognised the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP as the official party and granted it the party's "clock" symbol while allotting "Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar" as the party name for the group led by Sharad Pawar. With the constituency gearing up for polling in the third round of the seven-phase general elections, campaigning by the candidates has .

Only 170 of 1,717 candidates are women in Phase-4 of Lok Sabha polls: ADR

Lok Sabha elections 2024: 38% of candidates studied between standard 5 to 12; 26 candidates declared themselves illiterate

BJP set to be wiped out in 3rd phase of polling in UP, says Akhilesh Yadav

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday claimed the BJP is set to be wiped out in the third phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh scheduled for May 7 because of its "fake talks and false promises to all sections of society." "In the third phase of elections on May 7, the public will throw BJP seven miles away. This phase is going to wipe them out. In the first two phases, the people have overturned the BJP and in the third, the people are going to wipe out these people," The SP chief said in a public meeting in the Nadha town in Budaun Lok Sabha constituency. "They will be wiped out because they have not left any section with which they have not indulged in fake talks. If we take the last ten years into account, all their talks and promises have turned out to be false," Yadav said. "These people (BJP) were saying that they will double the income of farmers, but today when a farmer calculates his income, he gets worried that the cost of the produce and profits are not in ...

Former Delhi Congress Chief Arvinder Singh Lovely and others join BJP

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Arvinder Singh Lovely, Naseeb Singh and Neeraj Basoya, in their resignation letters, denounced the Congress's alliance with AAP for the general elections

'Sex scandal' row: SIT issues lookout notice against H D Revanna, Prajwal

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said a lookout notice has been issued by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) against Holenarasipur JD(S) MLA H D Revanna, who is facing sexual abuse allegations along with son and MP Prajwal Revanna, with two FIRs registered against him. He also said, Revanna, a former minister, who has been served a second notice (summons), has time till this evening to appear for questioning before the SIT probing the case. "It (lookout notice) has been issued against him (Revanna) already. It was issued against both -- Revanna and Prajwal. Anticipating that Revanna may also plan to go abroad, it has been done," Parameshwara said. While speaking to reporters here, he said, "Revanna has time till this evening to appear before SIT for inquiry. Second notice was given to him. In the meantime, in the Mysuru kidnap case he is said to have applied for a bail." Responding to a question on an arrest being made in the Mysuru kidnap case, the minister sai

LS polls: Firozabad's glass bangle industry looks for revival this election

Their livelihoods now as fragile as the glass bangles they make, lakhs of people in Uttar Pradesh's famed city of glass' are hoping this election will bring in change and their industry will get a much-needed revival. The once ubiquitous vendors selling bangles on carts have slowly faded away over the years and today you can see but a few, a visible sign of a once vibrant industry in decline. It has long been a symbol of local craft but now battles modern challenges, say artisans, factory owners and shopkeepers. The immense competition from plastic and metal bangles has eaten into their market share, resulting in a noticeable decline in sales of the traditional glass variety. "The demand for our handmade glass bangles is diminishing. The younger generation is not interested in learning our traditional art, and cheap plastic bangles are flooding the market. Also, not many women wear glass bangles now," said Ram Lal, an artisan at Natraj Lakshmi Bangles. "Additionally, the industry i

LS polls: Former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely joins BJP

Lovely joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, BJP General Secretary Vinod Tawde and Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva

28% contesting Phase 4 Lok Sabha elections are crorepati candidates

Lok Sabha elections 2024: A report by ADR and National Election Watch reveals that 476 out of 1,710 candidates in Phase-4 of LS polls are crorepatis, with 12% with assets worth more than Rs 5 crore

LS elections: Rahul Gandhi will lose Rae Bareli by huge margin, says Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday took a dig at Rahul Gandhi for contesting from the Wayanad and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seats, claiming that the Congress leader will lose from Rae Bareli by a huge margin. Addressing a gathering at Bodeli town in the tribal-dominated Chhotaudepur district, Shah accused the opposition INDIA bloc of robbing the quota meant for Dalits, tribals and backward classes. "The Congress is fighting elections under their leader Rahul Gandhi. When he lost elections from Amethi, he went to Wayanad. As he has realised that he will lose from Wayanad this time, he is also contesting from Rae Bareli instead of Amethi," he said. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi had contested from the Amethi and Wayanad seats. While he won from Wayanad, he lost the Amethi seat to Union minister Smriti Irani. "Rahul Baba, take my advice. The problem is with you, not with the seats. You will lose from Rae Bareli also, by a huge margin. Even if you run away, people will find you,