Page 95 - Lok Sabha Elections

Lok Sabha polls 2024: Political mercury rising, 2nd phase of voting today

The BJP and its allies won 62 of the 87 seats in 2019

Stage set for Lok Sabha elections in Ghaziabad, Noida today; 5.6 mn to vote

Gautam Buddh Nagar is set for the Lok Sabha election on Friday and around 20,000 personnel will be on polling duty to facilitate the process for more than 26.75 lakh registered voters in the constituency, according to officials. "Of the personnel on poll duty, around 11,000 are from the security, including police, paramilitary, civil force, and homeguards, while about 9,000 are administrative staff and officers who will be deployed at voting booths and stations," District Election Officer Manish Kumar Verma told PTI. There are 1,852 booths in the constituency and live web casting will be done on 931 of them, while the remaining will have provisions for either CCTV or videography. The constituency has 164 vulnerable booths and 165 critical booths, he said. "Micro observers will be stationed at vulnerable and critical booths," Verma said. He added that all booths will have at least four polling officials and paramilitary personnel will be deployed. He said 20 per cent extra EVMs are

Explained: What the raging debate about inheritance tax is all about

India implemented an inheritance tax, known as estate duty, in 1953. It was abolished in 1985 by Rajiv Gandhi government

LS polls: India's Silicon Valley to vote amid searing heat, water shortages

About 10 mn citizens will cast their ballot in Bengaluru, which is home to the country's $194 billion IT services industry and houses the biggest office of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. outside New York

LS polls: Sena (UBT) manifesto focuses on 'reclaiming' Maharashtra's glory

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday released his party manifesto, a day before voting in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls, focusing on stopping the "loot" of Maharashtra, job creation and farm loan waiver. Thackeray said the Sena (UBT), in association with the INDI Alliance government, will work to bring back the glory of Maharashtra. Referring to the GIFT City in Gandhinagar, he said a financial centre, which he claimed was moved to Gujarat, will be built in Maharashtra, enabling employment opportunities in the state. He said jobs will be created at the district level so that youth from the state won't have to migrate. Thackeray said an industry-friendly atmosphere will be created in Maharashtra and environment-friendly projects will be encouraged in the state. His party has been opposing the Jaitapur nuclear power project, a refinery project in Barsu and the Vadhavan port all along the state's coast. After Maha Vikas Aghadi was toppled through betrayal, th

Lok Sabha elections: NCP (SP) unveils manifesto; backs caste census

The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) on Thursday unveiled its manifesto, favouring caste census and promising a separate commission for farmers' welfare, right to apprenticeship, 50 per cent reservation for women in jobs. The Sharad Pawar-led party said it supports full statehood for Jammu and Kashmir and rejects the idea of 'one nation, one election'. As per the manifesto, titled "Shapatnama", the NCP (SP) will review and propose changes to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Register for Citizens (NRC), Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other laws "conflicting" with the constitutional principles. It also mentioned that the party advocates empowering state and local governments, reviewing power distribution and enforcing constitutional amendments. "We will demand a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations. We will ban contract labour in government sectors and legally protect the contract workers' benefits," ...

Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav files nomination papers from Kannauj

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav asked people to "clean bowled" the BJP as he filed his nomination papers from Kannauj Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday. Yadav filed the nomination in the presence of party leaders, including Ram Gopal Yadav. The SP chief replaced his nephew Tej Pratap Yadav, days after the latter was announced as the party's candidate from Kannauj. Talking to reporters after filing his nomination, Akhilesh promised to ensure development in the city. "The people and party workers wanted me to contest from here as SP candidate. I hope I will get the blessings of the people. When I came here for the first time after Netaji (his father and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav) asked me to contest from here, top leaders, including Janeshwar Mishra, Amar Singh, Azam Khan, Netaji were there." Asked about some BJP leaders' reported comments that the polls were a cricket match between India and Pakistan, Akhilesh said, "They will not be able to throw a ball nor be able

2024 LS polls, costliest ever, expenditure may touch Rs 1.35 trn: Report

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections are on track to break past records and become the most expensive electoral event in the world, according to a poll expert. The estimated expenditure is expected to reach a staggering Rs 1.35 lakh crore, more than double the Rs 60,000 crore spent in 2019, claimed N Bhaskara Rao, who chairs the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), a not-for-profit organisation, and has been tracking election spending for 35 years. Rao stated that this comprehensive expenditure encompasses all spending, direct or indirect, related to polls, including that by political parties and organisations, candidates, the government, and the Election Commission. With the BJP vying for a third consecutive term under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, industry observers have noted the party's dominant presence in campaigns, irrespective of the mediums used for publicity. In an interview with PTI, Rao said he revised the initial expenditure estimate from Rs 1.2 lakh crore to Rs 1.35 l

EC sends notice to BJP and Congress over hate speech complaints

Congress claimed EC is 'super, super cautious' when it comes to complaints against PM Modi

Startups want more funds, tax relief once the new govt takes office

Lack of significant funding, heavy tax deductions and import duties and red tape are some of the biggest hurdles that startups want the new government to address once it comes into power after polls

2024 Lok Sabha elections: Chasing water dreams in Rajasthan hamlets

Jal Jeevan Mission progress has been slow in Jodhpur; even in villages having pipe water connections, taps are running dry

An agenda for next government

India's growth model needs a serious course correction

Highlights of the day: IndiGo places order for 30 Airbus widebody aircraft

Latest news updates: Catch all the news updates from around the world here

Rajiv scrapped inheritance tax to save Indira Gandhi's wealth: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday alleged that former PM Rajiv Gandhi had abolished inheritance tax in 1985 after his mother Indira Gandhi's death to save her wealth from going to the government, as he continued his relentless attack on the Congress over wealth redistribution and inheritance tax. Modi also claimed at a poll rally in Morena in Madhya Pradesh that after benefitting from the abolition of estate duty--a levy imposed on inherited movable and immovable assets, the Congress now wants to bring back the levy. As the political slugfest over the issue of inheritance tax escalated on the eve of the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress hit back at Modi, calling his remarks on Rajiv Gandhi "lies". The opposition party also cited the then finance minister V P Singh's budget speech in 1985 on scrapping of inheritance tax. If the Congress comes to power, it will snatch more than half of the earnings of the people through inheritance tax, Modi claimed. A day afte

Tharoor or Chandrasekhar? Kerala's capital braces for battle of titans

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP's O Rajagopal gave Tharoor a tough fight as the latter defended his seat only by a margin of less than 16,000 votes

LS elections: Sunita Kejriwal likely to join AAP's campaign in Delhi

The Aam Aadmi Party's campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls will get a boost with Sunita Kejriwal likely to hold roadshows in Delhi beginning this weekend in the absence of her husband Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, party leaders said on Thursday. Sunita is slowly emerging out of the shadows to assume a bigger role to give a fillip to the AAP's campaigning which has been affected by Kejriwal's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case in March. The Delhi chief minister's judicial custody has been extended till May 7. "The chief minister's wife is scheduled to attend her first roadshow in Kondli reserved assembly constituency represented by Kuldeep Kumar, who is the AAP's East Delhi Lok Sabha seat candidate, in the coming weekend," said a party functionary. Sunita will also attend roadshows in the other three Lok Sabha seats contested by the AAP in Delhi, he said. Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai said the next phase of party's Lok Sabha campaign 'Jail Ka Jawa

LS polls highlights: EC takes note of alleged MCC violations by PM Modi, Rahul; seeks response

General Elections 2024 news updates: Catch all the news updates on the announcements related to Lok Sabha polls here

Kharge writes to PM Modi, seeks time to explain Congress manifesto

Congress president says he is 'neither shocked nor surprised by the language used by the Prime Minister', referring to Modi's election speeches

Beer smuggling surge in Delhi this poll season, recovery of bottles doubles

Delhi police data indicated that by March of this year, 5,965 beer bottles were seized, up from the 2,117 bottles recovered last year

From Rahul Gandhi to Hema Malini, key candidates in Lok Sabha polls Phase 2

The second phase of Lok Sabha elections will see voting in 89 constituencies in 13 states and Union territories on April 26