Page 90 - Lok Sabha

LS Polls: BJP seeks to woo farmers, poor under GYAN campaign in UP

The BJP in Uttar Pradesh will be seeking to increase its vote count through its campaign GYAN Ghareeb, Youth, Annadata, Nari by taking its work among the young, poor and farmers, and women. The campaign has been forged in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to party workers in the state to increase the vote count in each booth by 370 votes a cue to remind people that it was the BJP government which enabled the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. Modi had earlier in February claimed that BJP will cross the 400-mark in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. There are more than 1.60 lakh booths in the state with an average of 950 voters registered in each of them. According to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, about 15.29 crore people are expected to exercise their franchise in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. According to BJP's election strategists, if each booth increases its vote count by 370, it will amount to 6 crore more votes for the ..

LS polls: EC full bench arrives in West Bengal to oversee preparations

The full bench of the Election Commission (EC) arrived in West Bengal on Sunday to oversee the preparations for the Lok Sabha elections in the state, officials said. During the three-day visit, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar along with Election Commissioner Arun Goel will meet representatives of all political parties in the state, and hold a meeting with district magistrates and superintendents of police, they said. It will also meet Chief Electoral Officer Aariz Aftab, and is also slated to hold a meeting with Chief Secretary BP Gopalika and DGP Rajeev Kumar. The visit is primarily aimed at taking stock of the law and order situation in the state, and overseeing the preparations for the Lok Sabha polls, officials said.

Everyone benefiting from govt schemes without any discrimination: UP CM

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said everyone is benefiting from the schemes without any discrimination under the Narendra Modi government. He said a good government's priority is to serve all and exhorted the people to support the Modi government once again in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, stating that the double-engine government focuses on both development and the welfare of the poor, ensuring prosperity along with security, livelihood and respect for faith. According to a press statement issued by the state government, the chief minister performed the bhoomi-pujan and laid the foundation stone of the first Veterinary Science College of eastern UP at Tal Nador in Gorakhpur. The construction of this college, to be built on 80 acres, will cost around Rs 350 crore. Addressing the crowd, Adityanath said, "In the previous governments, people were troubled by goons and mafia. Only a few benefited from the

BJP's Asansol candidate Pawan Singh steps aside from Lok Sabha contest

Bhojpuri singer-actor Pawan Singh withdrew from the Lok Sabha poll contest from the Asansol seat in West Bengal on Sunday, a day after the BJP named him as its candidate from the constituency currently represented by the TMC's Shatrughan Sinha. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) was quick to mock the BJP by saying it surrendered the seat even before the commencement of the election campaign. In a post on X, Singh thanked the BJP leadership for his candidature but added that he would not be able to contest from Asansol "due to some reason". Though he did not specify the reason behind his decision, his candidature had drawn criticism from the TMC, the ruling party in West Bengal, which alleged that many of his songs were crude and depicted women, including those from the state, in a vulgar way. TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee shared Singh's post on X and said, "The INDOMITABLE SPIRIT AND POWER OF THE PEOPLE OF WEST BENGAL." TMC leader Santanu Sen alleged that the BJP spea

Agniveer scheme against youths of country, says Rahul Gandhi in Bihar

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday claimed that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre was neglecting 73 per cent of the country's population, which belongs to marginalised sections of the society. Addressing the 'Jan Vishwas Rally' organised by the RJD here, Gandhi, in an apparent reference to the BJP, alleged that "one party" was trying to create hatred among people but "we are offering 'nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat' (love in the market of hatred)". He alleged that injustice is being meted out to farmers, youths and downtrodden in the country. "The Centre is neglecting 73 per cent of the population that belongs to marginalised sections of the society," Gandhi said. Referring to the Agniveer recruitment scheme, the implementation of which saw protests in Bihar, the Congress leader asserted that the initiative was against the youths of the country. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, speaking on the occasion, claimed that the INDIA bloc will win the maximum number of

LS polls: PM Modi to attend programmes in 12 states, UTs in next 10 days

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend 29 programmes spread across 12 states and union territories over the next 10 days ahead of the likely announcement of the Lok Sabha polls. Officials said he will be visiting Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Delhi. On Monday, he will unveil multiple development projects in Adilabad in Telangana and later visit the Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI) in Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu. He will address public meetings in Adilabad as well as Chennai, the officials said. Modi will launch several projects in Sangareddy in Telangana on March 5 and address an event before travelling to Odisha where he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of numerous development initiatives. He will then address a public meeting in Chandikhole in Odisha before travelling to West Bengal. On March 6, he will unveil development projects in Kolkata

BJP fields 71% of its sitting MPs in list of 195 Lok Sabha candidates

Includes mix of veterans and new faces, drops underperformers

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