Page 87 - Lok Sabha

Free and fair Lok Sabha polls would be ensured in J&K, says CEO Pole

Jammu and Kashmir's Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole on Saturday said free and fair Lok Sabha polls would be ensured in the Union Territory. Pole reviewed the preparations for the polls in the Anantnag Parliamentary constituency in south Kashmir. "The notification for Lok Sabha polls would be issued in 10-12 days. Election is definitely a challenging task, but our officers are experienced. Our endeavour is to have a peaceful, transparent, free and fair election and improve the voter turnout compared to the last elections," Pole told reporters. Asked about the security arrangements, the CEO said the security environment has become better over the last few years but there were some challenges. "The challenges are still the same and so we have flagged the requirement for forces. The locally available forces and those who come from outside will be deployed according to the norms of the election commission whether it is on polling station duty or area domination or other duties. We will

AAP to announce candidates for LS seats in Punjab in 2-4 days: CM Kejriwal

The Aam Aadmi Party will announce candidates for all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab in next two to four days, party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday. Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal said that discussion on the candidates for the Lok Sabha polls was going on, and urged the people of the state to make the party victorious in all seats. "In next two to four days, the announcement will be made," said Kejriwal while speaking to reporters in Jalandhar after virtually launching 165 'Aam Aadmi Clinics' to be set up across Punjab. "If you ensure (the party's) victory in all 13 seats, you will strengthen Bhagwant Mann's hands. It is Mann alone who is fighting the Centre. It is Mann who is only fighting the governor and the BJP," said Kejriwal who was accompanied by the Punjab chief minister. The Delhi chief minister also slammed the Centre for allegedly withholding Rs 8,000 crore worth of funds from Punjab.

Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' resumes from Dholpur district

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra resumed from Rajasthan's Dholpur district on Saturday afternoon. Gandhi, along with former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Rajasthan AICC in-charge Sukhjinder Randhawa and other leaders started the yatra in the presence of a large number of party workers. He was in an open jeep, greeting the party workers who were carrying the party flag. The yatra, which resumed after a break of five days, will enter Madhya Pradesh from Rajasthan and the night halt will be in Gwalior, a party spokesperson said here.

LS polls: EC calls for action against officials indulging in favouritism

The Election Commission of India on Saturday directed all the district magistrates and superintendents of police to take strong action against officials, who are indulging in favouritism. The poll body's move comes in a bid to ensure "temptation free (inducement-mukt)" Lok Sabha elections and provide a level-playing field to all the political parties. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that directions have been issued to all the DMs and SPs to ensure level playing field for all the political parties, and to take strong action against those officials indulging in favouritism. "Ensure impartiality with junior officials working at cutting-edge level for level playing field. All the DEOs (District Election Officers) have been asked to immediately act on the complaint lodged by the political parties," Kumar told reporters in Lucknow. "At present, no complaint is pending and all the problems have been satisfactorily redressed," he said. Kumar, who was accompanied by Election .

Jayant Sinha becomes second BJP MP to opt out of 2024 general elections

BJP MP Jayant Sinha on Saturdday said he has requested the party president J P Nadda to relieve him from direct electoral duties, joining the list of party leaders not contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In a post on social media platform X, the MP from Jharkhand's Hazaribagh said he will continue to work with the party on economic and governance issues. The BJP is said to be contemplating giving tickets to several new leaders and some other sitting MPs also are understood to have told the party that they would like to focus on other organisational work. Earlier in the day, BJP's East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir also said he said asked the party to relieve him from political duties so that he can focus on his upcoming cricket commitments. Sinha, a former union minister, said he wants to focus his efforts on "combating global climate change in Bharat and around the world". "I have had the privilege of serving the people of Bharat and Hazaribagh for the past ten years. Moreover

BJP flags off vans in Goa to collect inputs for Lok Sabha poll manifesto

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday flagged off two vans in North and South Goa Lok Sabha seats to gather inputs from people for its poll manifesto. The flagging off ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, state BJP chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade, tourism minister Rohan Khaunte, among others. "The vans will travel across the state and collect inputs from people for drafting the Lok Sabha poll manifesto of the BJP. More than 50,000 suggestions are expected to be collected. The BJP has fulfilled all its promises in the manifestos for the 2014 and 2019 LS polls," Tanavade said. The BJP's manifesto will be a "people's manifesto" and everyone, especially the youth, must give suggestions, CM Sawant said on the occasion.

BJP's poll body mulls over Lok Sabha candidates for nearly 16 states

The BJP's Central Election Committee (CEC) in its meeting for deciding Lok Sabha poll candidates has deliberated on the party's nominees for nearly 16 states amid indications that several heavyweights may figure in the first list. The CEC members, which included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party's national president J P Nadda and Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, pored over the probables for states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa and Uttarakhand among others to finalise the nominees. The CEC meeting, which began around 10:30 pm on Thursday and lasted for more than five hours, was held at the party's headquarters here. Before that, Shah and Nadda hat met Modi at his residence to hold consultations, sources said. They said the first list may have the names of Modi, Shah and Singh from their current seats Varanasi, Gandhinagar and Lucknow respectively besides several Union ministers, including some who will be ...

Don't seek votes on basis of caste, religion, language: EC to parties

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission on Friday asked parties and their leaders to refrain from seeking votes on the basis of caste, religion and language, and not insult the devotee-deity relation or make any suggestion of a divine censure. In an advisory warning the parties, candidates and star campaigners of stern action for any violation of Model Code of Conduct instead of the previous practice of only 'moral censure', the poll panel also said that temples, mosques, churches, gurdwaras or any other place of worship should not be used for poll propaganda or electioneering. It said that the star campaigners and candidates who have received notices in past will face stern action for repeat violation of model code. The advisory comes days before the model code is expected to come into effect with the announcement of the Lok Sabha and four state assembly polls later this month, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had recently emphasised that political parties sho

Number of candidates contesting LS polls rose 4-fold between 1952 and 2019

The number of candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls has seen a rise of over four times from 1,874 in 1952 to 8,039 in 2019, according to official data. The average number of candidates per constituency has jumped from 4.67 to 14.8 in the same period, the data showed. With the Lok Sabha polls nearing, the battleground is set but it is yet to be seen how many candidates are in the fray even as the proportion of candidates contesting has seen a rise since 1952 when the first elections were held. On an average, there used to be only around three to five contestants per Lok Sabha seat until the sixth Lok Sabha elections in 1977 but in the last elections 14.8 candidates on average contested from per constituency across the country. According to an analysis by non-profit organisation PRS Legislative Research, there were 8,039 candidates contesting from 542 Parliamentary constituency seats in the 2019 general assembly elections. A closer look at the last Lok Sabha polls in 2019 show t

PM Modi launches projects worth Rs 7,200 cr in West Bengal's Arambagh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 7,200 crore in Arambagh area of Hooghly district in West Bengal. The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation multiple developmental projects related to sectors like rail, ports, oil pipelines, LPG supply and wastewater treatment. India of the 21st century is progressing at a fast pace and together we all have set the goal of making a developed India by 2047, he said at the programme. Modi said the Centre has taken steps for the welfare of the poor and that is why in the last 10 years, about 25 crore people of the country have come out of poverty. Our effort is that the modernization of railways in West Bengal should happen at the same pace as it is happening in other parts of the country, he said.

BJP's manifesto on defence

From an arms importer, India now ranks among the top 25 arms-exporting nations. BJP's 2024 manifesto must include a coherent policy to increase defence exports

Lok Sabha polls 2024: BJP to contest 11 seats in Assam, AGP 2, UPPL 1

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said the BJP will contest 11 seats in the state for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and the party's allies AGP and UPPL will field their candidates for the remaining three seats

PM chairs CEC meet in Delhi to finalise 1st list of candidates for LS polls

At the meeting, Party President JP Nadda along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and representatives and Chief Ministers of 16 states are present

'Abki baar 400 paar' slogan for LS polls given by people, not BJP: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the BJP is preparing for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls keeping in mind its aim to make India the world's third-largest economy and asserted people have coined the slogan about the saffron party-led bloc NDA crossing the 400-seat mark this time. He lashed out at the Congress and accused the grand old party, which has ruled at the Centre for decades, of destroying the traditional manufacturing prowess of the country. The PM noted India's credibility on the international stage has gone up several notches in the last 10 years of his tenure, helping attract more investment in the country, and added nations all over the world are keen to have good ties with New Delhi. Modi made the comments while virtually addressing the 'Viksit Bharat, Viksit Madhya Pradesh' programme after launching or inaugurating development projects worth more than Rs 17,551 crore in the BJP-ruled state. On the occasion, he laid foundation stones or dedicated to the ...

Gujarat hikes DA of govt employees by 4%, also raises its NPS share

Just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Gujarat government on Thursday announced a 4 per cent hike in dearness allowance (DA) for its employees and pensioners. With this hike, the DA of Gujarat government employees, which was 42 per cent earlier, will now be 46 per cent, a state government resolution (GR) said. The DA has been hiked with effect from July 1, 2023, and employees will be given arrears for the last eight months, it said. Around 4.45 lakh state government employees and 4.63 lakh pensioners will benefit from the decision to hike DA, an official release said. The government has also decided to increase its own contribution in the National Pension System (NPS) from 10 per cent to 14 per cent, while state employees will have to pay 10 per cent, the release said. The Gujarat government employees have been demanding restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) instead of NPS. Under the OPS, retired government employees received 50 per cent of their last drawn salary plus DA as

LS elections: First phase of CAPF companies to be mobilised from March 1

The first phase of deployment of more than 3.4 lakh central armed police forces (CAPFs) for the upcoming general elections in the country and assembly polls in few states will begin from Friday, official sources said Thursday. According to the plan, about 2,000 companies will be mobilised as part of the pre-poll deployment in sensitive and hyper-sensitive constituencies beginning March 1. About 1.5 lakh personnel will move through roads and rail as part of this mobilisation, the sources told PTI. The first CAPF units will start reaching the states affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), apart from West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir, later this week, they said. The second phase of inducting the poll companies will be initiated from March 7, followed by some last units moving in their designated locations in the second and third week of March, they said. The commanding officers of these units have been issued the movement orders and directed to familiarise their troops about the areas

Lok Sabha polls: Left Front urges Rahul Gandhi to contest from Hindi belt

CPI (M) state secretary M V Govindan said if the slogan is to defeat the BJP, Gandhi should contest from the Hindi belt

Campaign launched to encourage 1st-time voters to exercise their franchise

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Centre on Tuesday launched a national campaign to encourage first-time voters to exercise their franchise and make the poll process more participative. The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Union Ministry of Education launched a jingle -- "Banega Desh Mahan, Jab Vote Karenge Hum" -- aimed at about 1.85 crore first-time voters in the country who are eligible to vote in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. "Let us make our electoral process even more participative. I call upon people from all walks of life to spread the message, in their own style, among first time voters," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X, using the #MeraPehlaVoteDeshKeLiye hashtag. "As the nation gears up for its biggest festival of democracy, I urge all of you to join the #MeraPehlaVoteDeshKeLiye campaign and encourage young voters to exercise their democratic right," Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said. Union Educat

Lok Sabha elections: SP, Congress to focus on Muslim votes in Uttar Pradesh

Looking to consolidate Muslim votes, SP and Congress have joined hands for the parliamentary polls. Radhika Ramaseshan explains what it means for their LS prospects

CPI announces LS poll candidates in Kerala, Annie to contest from Wayanad

The Communist Party of India (CPI), the second-largest coalition partner in Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front, has announced the names of its candidates for four crucial seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Notably, senior party leader Annie Raja has been nominated to contest from the pivotal Wayanad constituency, a seat presently held by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Party veteran and former MP Pannian Raveendran will contest from Thiruvananthapuram, another crucial seat represented by senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. The announcement was made by Party State Secretary Binoy Viswam at a press conference. Former agriculture minister V S Sunil Kumar and the party's youth wing AIYF's leader C A Arunkumar will be fielded from Thrissur and Mavelikkara seats respectively, he added.