Page 99 - Lok Sabha Elections

Lok Sabha polls: BJP's bastion gears up for a triangular contest in Akola

For the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has fielded Sanjay Dhotre's son, Anup Dhotre, against the Congress' state committee general secretary Abhay Patil

Highlights of the day: India completes delivery of 1st batch of BrahMos missiles to Philippines

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

Gujarat LS polls: 49.7 mn registered voters, 1.2 mn to vote first time

A total of 4.97 crore voters, including 12.20 lakh first-time electors, will be able to exercise their franchise in Lok Sabha elections and bypolls to five assembly seats in Gujarat on May 7, Chief Electoral Officer P Bharathi said on Tuesday. As per the final list of candidates published on April 22, a total of 266 candidates are in the fray for the general elections and 24 for the bypolls. BJP candidate for Surat Lok Sabha seat has been declared an uncontested winner. Out of a total of 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, polling will be held for 25 constituencies on May 7. As per the final electoral roll, a total of 4,97,68,677 voters are expected to cast their votes in these elections. Among them, there are 12,20,438 voters in the age group of 18-19 years who will be exercising their right to vote for the first time, Bharathi told media persons. "EPIC (voter) cards have been distributed to all the citizens who applied for it by March 15, 2024, and the print of e-EPIC will also be ...

LS polls highlights: 'My mother sacrificed her mangalsutra for India', says Priyanka Gandhi amid row

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

TDP's Pemmasani second richest to contest Lok Sabha polls in 20 years

Previously Nakul Nath, son of former Madhya Pradesh chief Minister Kamal Nath, was considered the richest candidate in the 2024 elections with declared assets of over Rs 716 crore

BJP's road ahead to fulfill agri promises in 2024 election manifesto

Significant progress has been made in the production, yields and the cultivation area of pulse and oilseed between FY19 and FY23

What do election manifestos of BJP & Congress have for the new-age voters?

The Congress manifesto promises to remove any impediments, whether legal or administrative, to larger industrial production, while the BJP aims to position Bharat as a trusted global manufacturing hub

Uttar Pradesh's sugar rush: Parties sweeten deal for cane growers

5 million sugarcane farmers on radar of contesting parties

'In a first', RBI asks fintech to track suspicious transactions in polls

The banking regulator routinely directs banks in the country to monitor and track suspicious transactions during elections

Lok Sabha elections: Is UP's Pasmanda population warming up to BJP?

PM Modi accused SP and Congress of ignoring the plight of Pasmanda Muslims, a section of minority community which BJP has been trying to woo for some time now

Infiltration continuing unabated in Bengal under TMC rule: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah on Tuesday alleged that infiltration was continuing unabated in West Bengal under the TMC regime. Shah, addressing a roadshow in the Malda South constituency, also slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. "Under the Trinamool Congress rule, infiltration is continuing unabated. Mamata didi is opposing the CAA and not allowing refugees to get citizenship. If you want to stop infiltration and corruption, vote for the BJP, he said. The roadshow started around 1 pm in the Malda South constituency, from Head Post office More to the Rabindra statue. Shah, standing atop a decorated vehicle along with state BJP leaders, was seen waving at the crowd. BJP supporters shouted slogans in praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah, as hundreds of people gathered on both sides of the road. The constituency will go to polls in the third phase on May 7.

Congress will do X-ray of wealth, distribute it to 'select' people: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Congress tried to extend reservation on the basis of religion and give it to Muslims, and once again accused the party of hatching a "deep conspiracy" to snatch people's wealth and distribute it among "select" people. Launching a blistering attack on the Congress, Modi also charged that it is difficult to follow one's faith under the Congress and that even listening to Hanuman Chalisa becomes crime under that party's rule. His remarks come on a day when the country is celebrating Hanuman Jayanti. Addressing an election rally in Tonk, the prime minister said as soon as the Congress formed the government at the Centre in 2004, one of its first tasks was to reduce the SC/ST reservation in Andhra Pradesh and give it to Muslims. "Modi is giving you a guarantee with an open heart that reservation for Dalits and backward tribals will neither end nor will it be allowed to be divided in the name of religion," he said. Asserting that he ...

India sugar demand surges amid heat wave, elections; set to hit record high

But this year demand is above average as heat waves and election rallies boost consumption of ice-cream and soft drinks, said Avantika Saraogi, executive director at Balrampur Chini Mills

Congress tried to give reservations to Muslims out of SC/ST quota: PM Modi

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Congress of plotting to snatch property, assured reservation for Dalits and backward classes

PM Modi's 'infiltrators' remark: What did ex-PM Manmohan Singh say in 2006?

Lok Sabha elections 2024: During a rally in Rajasthan, PM Narendra Modi claimed that former PM Manmohan Singh believed that Muslims had 'first claim on resources' and wealth of the nation

Naidu calls for strengthening anti-defection law, ending freebies in polls

Former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said the "frequent" party-hopping by political leaders was a "disturbing trend" and called for strengthening the anti-defection law. Speaking at a function at his residence here after receiving the Padma award, Naidu said announcing "freebies" during elections without listing out funds mobilisation is an unhealthy trend which should be discouraged and people should question the leaders and parties making such lofty promises. Naidu was awarded the Padma Vibhushan award on Monday evening by President Droupadi Murmu at a function at Rashtrapati Bhawan. "Defections are being encouraged. We should strengthen the anti-defection law," he asserted. "Now, the worry is that there is a fall in the standards in public life. In political parties, people often change their parties. The latest trend is people are in one party in the morning and join another party in the evening and then they criticise your leader and say things left and right. Som

Deepfakes of Bollywood stars spark concerns of AI meddling in LS elections

Both AI-generated videos end with the Congress election symbol and slogan: "Vote for Justice, Vote for Congress"

Referred to Gandhi's old name due to his recent statements: Kerala CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday defended his recent recollection of Rahul Gandhi's "old name", stating that it was in response to certain statements made by the Congress leader during campaigning in the state, which according to the left leader, helped the BJP and agencies under its control. Vijayan said that such a conduct from the Congress leader was "completely immature" and therefore, Gandhi should not simply repeat what some of his party's leaders in the state tell him. "That is why I said he should not go back to his old name," he said at a press meet held here. Vijayan was responding to a reporter's query regarding the correctness of him making such a remark when in the past the CPI(M) had taken a stand against such personal attacks. Vijayan had referred to Gandhi's old name on April 19 a day after the Congress leader had wondered why the Marxist veteran was not jailed by the BJP government at the Centre, unlike two other Chief Ministers of opposition-ruled

Noida once 'centre of corruption', now known for its biz growth: Rajnath

Noida was once known as "centre of corruption" but it has now transformed into "centre of business" due to efforts of the double-engine government of the BJP, senior party leader Rajnath Singh said in Gautam Buddh Nagar on Tuesday. Criminals once dominated this region in western Uttar Pradesh, even forcing people to migrate but all that has now become a thing of the past, the defence minister also said as he slammed previous non-BJP governments in the state. Singh was speaking at an election rally at Bisaha village in Greater Noida while canvassing support for BJP's Gautam Buddh Nagar Lok Sabha candidate Mahesh Sharma ahead of the April 26 voting. "You people know very well about Noida. There was a time when Noida was the centre of corruption for the politicians of Uttar Pradesh. It was said for the officers, too, that if there is any biggest centre of corruption, it is Noida," he said. "But today I can say with pride that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ch

Citizenship, connectivity, unemployment key issues in Assam's Barak Valley

Citizenship, unemployment, poor infrastructure and lack of proper connectivity with the rest of the country are the major issues being highlighted by candidates contesting in the two Lok Sabha constituencies - Silchar (SC) and Karimganj - in Assam's Barak Valley, bordering Bangladesh. Thirty-two candidates are in the fray in the two Lok Sabha constituencies in Barak Valley which will go to the polls on April 26. In these two constituencies in the valley, which gets its name from River Barak, the ruling BJP first made inroads winning both seats in 1991 and 1996 when the party had practically no organisational base in the state. In Silchar, the contest is likely to be among BJP's candidate and Assam minister Parimal Suklabaidya, Congress's Surya Kanta Sarkar and AITC's Radheyshyam Biswas, a former AIUDF MP from neighbouring Karimganj. In Karimganj, a close contest is expected between BJP's sitting MP Kripanath Malla, Congress candidate Hafiz Ahmed Rashid Choudhury and AIUDF's Sahabul