Page 132 - Lok Sabha

EC begins manufacturing 0.89 mn new VVPATs ahead of Lok Sabha polls

The Election Commission has started preparing for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls by commencing the manufacturing of 8.92 lakh new Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines and retiring 2.71 lakh such M2 model machines, sources said on Wednesday. They also said the poll panel has identified 3.43 lakh VVPATs for "preventive maintenance" and 2.43 lakh for upgrade to reduce nachine replacement rate. The poll panel undertakes the exercise of checking electronic voting machines and paper trail machines ahead of every Lok Sabha polls, the sources said. They said the Commission has undertaken a detailed "preparatory exercise" for next Lok Sabha polls by reviewing VVPAT stocks by retiring obsolete M2 type machines, producing new VVPATs, upgrading VVPAT to M3 from available upgradable 'M2M3' machines and carrying out preventive maintenance of 3.43 lakh such machines. Referring to media reports regarding defects in VVPATs, they said that 3.43 lakh VVPATs were identified for preventive ..

BJP to plummet by 100 seats in 2024 Lok Sabha polls: Sanjay Raut

Referring to certain surveys pointing at huge reversals for the BJP in the state, Raut said "we don't need to depend on surveys" as the ground realities are very clearly pointing to a power-change

BJP to win 350 plus LS seats in 2024 polls as people are with PM: Union Min

Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Sunday claimed that the BJP will win more than 350 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 elections, as "people of the country are with Prime Minister Narendra Modi". Choubey, who was in Jharkhand's capital Ranchi to highlight various initiatives taken by the public distribution and environment departments, said that "all those involved in corruption are coming together in one platform" after the Centre started taking action against them. Corrupt leaders are trying to mislead the people of the country through a nexus. But, they don't know that people are with PM Modi. In the 2024 elections, Modi will again become prime minister and the BJP will win 350 plus Lok Sabha seats, he said. Alleging that corruption is at its "peak" under the rule of the Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand, Choubey claimed that "the law and order situation has deteriorated in the state, and unemployment has also increased". "The Jharkhand government is anti-people. Over 5,000 r

Haryana on the ropes in tug-of-war ahead of 2024 Assembly elections

It wants to form a government , but the Congress is riven by internal differences

Despite all assurances, Jagdish Shettar chose himself over party: BJP

Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) on Saturday said that former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar has chosen himself over the party after he announced his resignation on Saturday from the party

Nitish Kumar reprises role played by George Fernandes in formation of NDA

After the successful meeting with opposition leaders in Delhi, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is turning out to be the biggest challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2024 elections

Amit Shah's Sunday rally to kickstart BJP's 2024 LS poll campaign in Goa

Union Minister Amit Shah's rally on Sunday in Ponda will kickstart the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign in Goa for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, a senior party functionary said. Shah will arrive in the state at 3:30pm on Sunday, chair a meeting with party functionaries to discuss organisational issues, and then address a public gathering in Farmagudi town, some 30 kilometres from Panaji, Goa BJP general secretary Narendra Sawaikar said. "We are expecting more than 25,000 people to attend the rally. Allies will also take part. This meeting will kickstart the BJP's Lok Sabha campaign in Goa," he said. Sawaikar exuded confidence the BJP would win both Lok Sabha seats in Goa. Incidentally, Sawaikar had lost from the South Goa Lok Sabha seat to Congress' Francisco Sardinha in the 2019 polls.

Rahul Gandhi starts shifting belongings ahead of vacating official bungalow

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has started shifting his belongings from his 12, Tughlaq Lane residence as he was asked to vacate the premises by April 22 following his disqualification from Lok Sabha. Two trucks were seen parked outside his residence and the belongings were later shifted to his mother's 10, Janpath residence. Sources said Gandhi is likely to soon vacate the official bungalow allotted to him. While Rahul Gandhi has seen a number of houses, he may also opt to stay with his mother and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The Lok Sabha Secretariat had sent Gandhi a notice asking him to vacate the premises by April 22 following his disqualification as MP after his conviction and two-year sentence by a Surat court in a defamation case. A few years ago, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was also asked to vacate her Lodhi Estate bungalow as SPC cover was removed from her security.

Unity in futility

The pitch for 'Opposition unity' is back in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. In the past, it has proven to be a bogus, defeatist idea, as elections are not just about arithmetic

Those who will vote for BJP in 2024 LS polls will bring destruction: Nitish

Launching a veiled attack on the BJP-led NDA, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said those who will vote for them in the next year's Lok Sabha elections will bring destruction on themselves. Kumar, who dumped the BJP in August last year and formed the Mahagathbandhan government, claimed that he has been working to forge opposition unity. I am working towards forging opposition unity...but I am not a claimant for the prime minister's post. All opposition parties are united over forming an alliance against the BJP-led government at the Centre before the 2024 general elections," the JD(U) supremo said. He was addressing party workers at a JD(U) office here on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the architect of India's Constitution. "I must tell one thing that those who will vote for them (BJP) in the coming general elections will bring destruction on themselves and the country and those who will vote for us will ensure the well-being of themselves, t

Shah to start tours of various states including Bengal, Goa from tomorrow

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit four states in the three days from Friday as he spearheads the BJP's drive to tone up its organisation machinery and boost public outreach in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls next year. Party leaders said Shah will visit Birbhum in West Bengal on Friday followed by Bharatpur in Rajasthan on Saturday and Maharashtra and Goa on Sunday. He will lay the foundation stone of a party office and address a rally in Birbhum and address a meeting of booth presidents in Rajasthan, they said. In Maharashtra, Shah is scheduled to attend an event in Raigarh, where 'Maharashtra Bhushan' award will be given to Appasaheb Dharmadhikari. He will address a public meeting in south Goa on Sunday, BJP leaders added.

BJP MP Srinivas announces retirement, says will not contest 2024 LS polls

BJP MP and former Union Minister V Srinivas Prasad has announced his retirement from politics, and said he would not be contesting in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. During an election campaign in favour of Gundlupet BJP candidate C S Niranjan Kumar, who will contest the May 10 Assembly election, the 75-year-old said the current term in the Lok Sabha would be his last. According to sources close to him, the six-time Chamarajnagar MP made the announcement as "there is an unofficial age bar (75 years) in the BJP for leaders to contest in polls or hold official positions". He quit the Congress in 2016 after being dropped as a minister in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet and joined the BJP. He resigned from the Assembly seeking a fresh mandate on a BJP ticket but lost the contest. The veteran MP successfully contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha election on a BJP ticket.

BJP spokesperson takes a dig at Kejriwal, calls him 'Natwarlal of politics'

The BJP on Thursday called Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal the "Natwarlal of Indian politics" and said he has given the biggest example of "political conversion" by deciding to ally with the coalition of corrupts. Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said he can understand the "political helplessness" of Bihar Chief Nitish Kumar to forge an alliance with the Congress and the RJD, but he failed to understand why Kejriwal, a "political pinocchio", decided to make a U-turn on corruption. On Wednesday, Kejriwal met Kumar and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav at his residence in New Delhi. The meeting came hours after the Bihar leaders met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi as part of Kumar's initiative to forge an alliance of opposition parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. "We understand Nitish ji's political helplessness. But what is the political compulsion and helplessness of Arvind Kejriwal, who was born to fight against ...

Those ridiculing Mudra scheme don't understand common man's abilities: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the "new India" is moving ahead with new policies and strategies, and his government is working proactively in matters of technology and infrastructure, shunning the "reactive approach" of the past. In a video address to a 'Rozgar Mela', Modi asserted the 'Mudra' loan project for small and micro enterprises has created over eight crore new entrepreneurs, and the government's policies and strategies have opened the doors to new possibilities. He also took a swipe at those who "consider themselves big economists" and gave "loans on phone" to big businessmen but are "ridiculing" the scheme. Though he named no one, his swipe was apparently aimed at Congress veteran and former finance minister P Chidambaram who recently questioned the 'Mudra' scheme and wondered what kind of businesses can be started with a loan of Rs 50,000. Modi said Rs 23 lakh crore loan has been given under the scheme with 70 per cent of beneficiaries being ...

Nitish Kumar should know PM post for 2024 not vacant: Giriraj Singh

Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday took a swipe at Nitish Kumar a day after the Bihar chief minister met with Congress leaders Mallikarkun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi

Nitish meets Cong, AAP in attempt for Oppn unity for 2024; BJP hits back

Anurag Thakur took a swipe at the opposition parties over their efforts to forge unity to take on the BJP in the 2024 elections and said these parties were coming together for 'Maha thug Bandhan'

Ensuring scrutiny by Parliament

The recent passage of the Budget for 2023-24 without discussion underlines the need for an institutional fix

BJP to return to power by winning over 300 seats in next year's polls: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asserted that the BJP will win more than 300 Lok Sabha seats across the country in next year's general elections and return to power with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm. Addressing a rally in Dibrugarh, the senior BJP leader exuded confidence that the saffron party will win 12 out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the northeastern state. Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, Shah said, "Northeast was once considered a fortress of the Congress but despite Rahul Gandhi's yatra (Bharat Jodo Yatra), the party failed to perform well in the recent assembly elections in three states in the region." Assembly elections were held in Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland. The BJP formed the government in Tripura, and came in power as alliance partners in the other two states. Alluding to Rahul Gandhi's controversial remarks during his visit to United Kingdom, Shah said, "He (Gandhi) insulted India from foreign soil. If he continues like this, ...

Rahul to take his first trip to Wayanad tomorrow after LS disqualification

He is on bail, which was extended by the Sessions Court in Gujarat. The court will hear his appeal against conviction in the case on April 13

Make lotus bloom in both civic polls, LS elections in 2024: UP CM

CM Yogi said, "The country under the leadership of PM Modi is scaling new heights and has emerged as an ideal nation for the world"