Page 71 - Lok Sabha

LS polls: Nominations of 16 candidates found invalid for second phase in MP

The nomination forms of 93 candidates were found to be valid, while 16 were rejected during the scrutiny of papers for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, poll officials said on Saturday. These 16 rejected nominations include that of the opposition INDIA bloc nominee and Samajwadi Party's (SP) Khajuraho candidate Meera Yadav. Yadav's form was declared invalid by the returning officer on Friday. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anupam Rajan said candidates are allowed to withdraw their forms till April 8. The nominations of 93 candidates are valid, while those of 16 candidates were found invalid during the scrutiny on Friday, Rajan said. Seven seats Tikamgarh (SC), Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Rewa, Hoshangabad and Betul (ST) will go to polls in the second phase on April 26. Union minister and sitting MP Virendra Khatik is contesting from Tikamgarh (SC). Khatik has won all three elections held in this constituency after it was carved out following delimitation in

Will win by over 200K votes against Gaurav Gogoi in Jorhat: Assam BJP MP

Sitting BJP MP from Jorhat Lok Sabha seat, Topon Kumar Gogoi, on Saturday exuded confidence of retaining the constituency by trouncing his rival Gaurav Gogoi of the Congress by a margin of over two lakh votes. In an interview to PTI, the BJP leader asserted that people of his constituency and the entire country want Narendra Modi elected as prime minister for the third consecutive term so that the "development journey continues. He also claimed that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which the opposition is "trying to make an election issue", is not at all a concern among voters. "My campaigning is going on very well. Political meetings are being held in every panchayat of all the legislative assembly constituencies of Jorhat, and I am getting spontaneous reactions of people irrespective of religion, caste and creed," the BJP MP said. Jorhat will vote in the first phase on April 19 along with four other seats in Upper Assam. "We have done enough work in the tea gardens. Earlie

BJP India's preferred party, people will elect it once more: PM Modi

On the 44th foundation day of the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said it has become India's preferred party and expressed confidence that people will elect it for another term at the Centre, allowing it to build on the "ground covered in the last decade". Greeting members of the BJP, he said the youth of India see it as the party which can fulfil their aspirations and provide leadership to the nation in the 21st century. Modi asserted the BJP has freed India from the culture of corruption, cronyism, casteism, communalism and vote bank politics, which was the "hallmark" of those who ruled the nation for the longest time. In today's India, emphasis is on clean and transparent governance which ensures the fruits of development reach the poor without any discrimination, he said. "Be it at the Centre or states, our party has redefined good governance. Our schemes and policies have given strength to the poor and downtrodden. Those who were left on the margins for decades .

Lok Sabha elections 2024: PM Modi to hold rally, roadshow in UP today

Polling for Saharanpur will be held in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 19, while Ghaziabad will poll in the second phase on April 26

LS elections: Kharge, Rahul to address poll rally in Hyderabad today

Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be addressing a Congress rally on Saturday at Tukkuguda near here, party sources said. Tukkuguda on the outskirts of Hyderabad is where the party had earlier announced its six poll 'guarantees' for the Assembly elections held in November last year. The Congress is expected to show its strength by mobilising huge crowds from surrounding areas to the 'Jana Jatara' meeting, the sources said. Industries Minister D Sridha Babu visited the venue on Friday with others. He said that about 10 lakh people are expected to attend the meeting. He said all the arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of the rally. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who is also TPCC president had earlier opined that the rally will serve as a launchpad for the INDIA bloc to come to power at the Centre in the upcoming LokSabha polls.

EC asks officials to work on increasing voter turnout in Lok Sabha polls

The ECI identified urban-specific hurdles and recommended the development of tailored, region-specific outreach programmes according to the demographics of the constituency

BJP not 'ideologically rich to 'buy' him, says 'Singham' actor Prakash Raj

In January this year, Prakash Raj claimed that three political parties are trying to get him on board for the 2024 elections

Decision on INDIA bloc PM candidate after winning polls, says Rahul Gandhi

The former Congress chief said the Lok Sabha polls are between forces who are trying to 'destroy' the Constitution and democracy in the country and those protecting them

LS elections: 53.5 mn voters in Rajasthan, 4.5 mn up since 2019 polls

A total of 5.35 crore voters are registered in Rajasthan for the Lok Sabha elections. Of these, 1.40 crore are service voters. During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 4.89 crore voters were registered. The total number of voters in the state has increased by 45.51 lakh. Rajasthan Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said on Friday that the voter lists of all 25 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state have been published. He said out of all the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state, Pali has the highest number of registered voters at 23.48 lakh and Dausa Lok Sabha constituency has the least number of voters at 19.03 lakh. Gupta said as compared to 2019 Lok Sabha elections, there has been a total increase of 45.5 lakh voters. During this period, the number of male voters has increased by 23.13 lakh and the number of female voters by 22.37 lakh and the number of third gender voters increased by 361. Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan will be held in two phases, on April 19 and April 26.

Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Congress manifesto: 'Nyay Patra', top highlights

The Congress party unveiled its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on April 5, at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in Delhi.

'No ground' for India's request for return of Katchatheevu: Lanka minister

The statements coming out of India on "reclaiming" Kachchatheevu island from Sri Lanka have "no ground", the Sri Lankan Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda has said. The senior Sri Lankan Tamil politician's comments came days after the Narendra Modi government targeted the Congress Party and its ally the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu accusing them of overlooking national interests in the ceding of Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974. The BJP has also been targeting the two parties for not ensuring the rights of the fishermen wanting to fish in waters around the Katchatheevu island. It is the election time in India, it is not unusual to hear such noises of claims and counterclaims about Kachchatheevu," Devananda told reporters in Jaffna on Thursday. I think India is acting on its interests to secure this place to ensure Sri Lankan fishermen would not have any access to that area and that Sri Lanka should not claim any rights in that resourceful area, Devanan

Lok Sabha polls: ED seized assets worth Rs 1 trillion in 10 yrs, says Modi

Lok Sabha elections: PM Modi said that whatever has been done in last year is an appetiser and the main course would come in his new term

From jobs to MSP, what has changed in Congress' manifesto from 2019

Lok Sabha elections 2024: The manifesto pledged to conduct a nationwide Socio-Economic and Caste Census to assess caste and sub-caste demographics along with their socio-economic status

RJD's Sarvjeet owns movable, immovable assets worth Rs 8.70 cr: Affidavit

Senior RJD leader and former Bihar Agriculture Minister Kumar Sarvjeet, who is the INDIA coalition nominee from the Gaya Lok Sabha seat, owns movable and immovable assets worth Rs 8.70 crore and has Rs 30,000 cash in hand, according to the affidavit filed by him. Sarvjeet recently filed his nomination papers for the Gaya constituency. Voting for the first phase of elections in Gaya, Nawada, Jamui and Aurangabad is scheduled to be held on April 19. As per the affidavit, the RJD leader owns movable assets worth Rs 90.31 lakh, while his wife Sima Kumari has immovable assets to the tune of Rs 1.95 crore. Sarvjeet owns immovable assets (only inherited assets) worth Rs 7.80 crore. There is no self-acquired immovable asset that is owned by the RJD leader. Whereas his wife owns immovable assets (self- acquired) worth Rs 1.13 crore. Sarvjeet's movable assets include two bank accounts, three four-wheelers, a pistol and a rifle and 108 gm gold (worth Rs 5.94 lakh). His wife has three bank ...

Lok Sabha polls: Rahul Gandhi, Kharge to launch Congress manifesto today

Lok Sabha elections: The Congress has made poll promises focussing on five segments of the society, including women, youth, dalit, farmers and workers

175 candidates file nomination papers in UP for 2nd phase of LS election

A total of 175 candidates have filed their nomination papers from the eight Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh where polling will be held on April 26, a senior election official said here on Thursday. Thursday, which was the last day for filing nominations, saw 94 candidates file their papers. Till Wednesday, 81 nominations had been filed. The highest number of nominations were filed from Ghaziabad at 35 and the lowest from Bulandshahr at 10, said Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa. He said 21 nominations were filed from Amroha, 22 from Meerut, 16 from Baghpat, 34 from Gautam Budh Nagar, 21 from Aligarh and 16 from Mathura. Prominent among those who filed their nominations on Thursday are BJP MP Hema Malini, who is seeking a third term from Mathura, and her Congress rival Mukesh Dhangar. Congress' Amroha candidate Kunwar Danish Ali, BJP's Ghaziabad candidate Atul Garg, and BJP's Gautam Buddha Nagar nominee Mahesh Sharma are among the other prominent candidates. Scrutiny

INDIA alliance joins CPI to contest 1 Lok Sabha, 8 Assembly seats in Andhra

INDIA alliance partners Congress and CPI in Andhra Pradesh have struck a seat sharing deal for the ensuing simultaneous polls, entailing the CPI to contest one Lok Sabha and eight Assembly seats. As per the agreement reached on Thursday, CPI will contest the Guntur Lok Sabha constituency, while the Assembly segments include Vijayawada West, Visakhapatnam West, Anantapur and Pattikonda. Other Assembly constituencies allocated to the CPI are Tirupati, Rajampet, Eluru and Kamalapuram. Congress party will leave one Parliament constituency, namely Guntur to the CPI to contest. Congress party will leave the following eight Assembly constituencies to CPI to contest, the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) said in a press release on Thursday night. YS Sharmila Reddy, president, APCC, held a series of consultations with Ramakrishna, secretary, CPI, on sharing of seats between Indian National Congress and CPI for the upcoming elections to Parliament and Assembly in Andhra Pradesh, it ..

Over 99% independent candidates lost deposits in LS polls since 1991

As India heads to the 18th general election, data over the years show voters' trust in independent candidates has been diminishing, with more than 99 per cent of independent candidates losing their deposits since 1991. Data compiled by the Election Commission of India show that since independence, even as the number of independent candidates has remained high, numbers of those winning polls have come down from over six per cent in 1951 and eight per cent in 1957, to around 0.11 per cent in 2019. An independent candidate is one who is not aligned with any recognised party. In the first elections of 1951-52, 533 independent candidates had contested, and 37 of them won, around 6.90 per cent. Election Commission regulations stipulate that candidates failing to secure a minimum of one-sixth of the total valid votes polled would have their deposits redirected to the treasury. The security deposit amount was Rs 500 for general candidates and Rs 250 for candidates from SC/ST communities i

LS polls: Not Hemant, but Nalin Soren to fight BJP's Sita Soren in Dumka

Lok Sabha elections: The JMM has named Nalin Soren as its candidate for the Dumka constituency, where the BJP has fielded Hemant Soren's sister-in-law, Sita Soren

LS polls 2024: CPI(M) manifesto promises 'super tax' on rich, scrap UAPA

Lok Sabha elections 2024: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday launched its poll manifesto, making several promises, including unemployment allowance, scrapping UAPA, CAA and more