Page 31 - Lok Sabha

Elections: BJP 'promises' Rs 50,000 cash vouchers to women, then clarifies

Elections updates: In a now-deleted post on 'X', the BJP initially promised the cash vouchers to all eligible women; however, it later clarified that it applied to women in Odisha

LS polls 2024: Foreign investors most short on India stocks since 2012

Modi is still widely expected to secure a third successive five-year term with the leader having predicted that his Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies will win more than 400 of the 543 seats

Congress wanted to allocate 15% of budget to minorities, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday alleged the Congress during its previous rule wanted to allocate 15 per cent of the government budget for minorities and vowed not to allow splitting of budget or reservation in jobs and education on the basis of religion. Addressing an election rally at Pimpalgaon Baswant in north Maharashtra's Nashik district in support of Mahayuti candidates -- Union minister Bharati Pawar (BJP) and Hemant Godse (Shiv Sena) -- the PM said splitting budget on religious lines was dangerous. The BJP's star campaigner maintained Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution, was firmly against religion-based reservation in jobs and education. Modi claimed the Congress, when in power at the Centre, had drawn up plans to allocate 15 per cent of the total budget to minorities. "When I was the chief minister (of Gujarat), the Congress had brought up this proposal. The BJP opposed this move strongly and hence it could not be implemented. But ..

'PoK is a part of India, we have rights over it': Home Minister Amit Shah

Lok Sabha elections 2024: CAA is the country's law, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in an interview with ANI

LS elections: PoK is part of India, we will take it, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday referred to protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and said "PoK is part of India and we will take it". Addressing a rally in Serampore, Shah said while peace has returned to once trouble-torn Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir "now echoes with slogans of Azadi and protests. "After the abrogation of Article 370 by the government in 2019 peace has returned to Kashmir. But now we witness protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Earlier slogans of Azadi were heard here, now the same slogans are heard in PoK. Earlier stones were pelted here, now stones are pelted in PoK," he said. Hitting out at Congress leaders for not supporting the demand of taking over PoK, Shah said, "Congress leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyar say it should not be done as they have an atom bomb. But let me say this Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is part of India and we will take it." Shah said the present Lok Sabha elections are about "choosi

LS polls: Narendra Modi will not be PM after June 4, says Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said no matter how much the BJP consoles itself through its "lies", it will not make any difference and Narendra Modi will no longer be the prime minister after June 4. Gandhi shared a video put out by the Congress on social media where they highlighted how his comments made during a poll rally in Uttar Pradesh were being "distorted" and differentiated between the truth and lies. "No matter how much the BJP consoles itself through the 'factory of lies', it is not going to make any difference. I am saying it again -- Narendra Modi will no longer be the Prime Minister after June 4," he said in a post in Hindi on X. "A storm is blowing in every corner of the country in favour of INDIA," he said referring to the opposition bloc. The Congress and Gandhi have been claiming that the INDIA bloc is forming the next government and the BJP was being thrown out of power in these Lok Sabha elections.

BJP diverting people's attention, bringing up religion in polls: Priyanka

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday accused the BJP of diverting people's attention and bringing up religion during elections. Gandhi said the government was not accountable to the people in the last 10 years due to this "politics of religion". "The leaders of BJP have realised that they can come to power after tricking you in the name of religion," she said addressing a rally in support of her brother and Congress' Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat candidate Rahul Gandhi. The BJP's leaders, right from Narendra Modi to the BJP candidate from Rae Bareli all think that there is no need to work for the public and "divert your attention in the name of religion" during elections, she added. BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh has been fielded against Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli. Priyanka Gandhi said there are two kinds of politics being done in the country: one is truthful, devoted and willing to work for the voters, while the other is the politics of BJP -- they play with your emotions, s

LS Polls 2024 updates: BJP releases star candidate list, MEA slams US

Lok Sabha elections 2024: From PM Modi's election campaign in Maharashtra to Rahul Gandhi's bike rally in Odisha, here are the latest updates in politics on May 15

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Traffic advisory for Modi's Ghatkopar roadshow

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a roadshow today in Mumbai's Ghatkopar. The constituency will go on to polls with other Mumbai seats on May 20

LS polls 2024: Stock market slump doesn't mean PM Modi is in trouble

Indian politics is complicated enough to predict without throwing stock prices into the mix as well, Mihir Sharma writes

LS polls: Raebareli still Gandhi stronghold amid threat of Amethi redux

Dressed in a grey cotton suit and white trainers, Priyanka seeks vote for her bhaiyaa, Rahul Gandhi, as she has been doing for the past several days

Lok Sabha elections: Panda prestige vs Biju legacy in Odisha's Kendrapara

What may work for the BJP, on other hand, is the growing resentment against V K Pandian, a bureaucrat-turned-politician who Panda alleges has hijacked state govt. "Apart from anti-incumbancy

For workers at Manesar, even better conditions leave much to be desired

Manesar, part of the Gurgaon Lok Sabha constituency, emerged into prominence when the late Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi decided to establish a Maruti plant in 1970

Battleground 2024: I never do Hindu-Muslim politics, says Narendra Modi

'We used to celebrate Eid... food used to come to our house from all Muslim families,' he said, adding that he 'used to pass under the Tazia during the Muharram procession'

LS polls: 49 drones recovered along India-Pak border since MCC enforcement

Forty-nine drones have been either shot down or recovered from along the India-Pakistan international border by the BSF in the 60 days of the Model Code of Conduct being in force for the ongoing general election in the country, latest data show. Separately, the total recovery of these largely Chinese-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), originating from Pakistan and entering India's Punjab territory and a few in Rajasthan, has seen an about 13 times rise since 2022 in the January-May period. The MCC, or the Model Code of Conduct, came into force on March 16, the day the Election Commission held a press conference here to announce a seven-phase election in the country. The dataset, prepared by the Border Security Force (BSF), the unit that guards the 2,289 km India-Pakistan international border, and analysed by PTI, shows that a total of 49 drones, or UAVs, were either shot down or recovered by the security agencies from March 16 till date. The maximum recoveries, 47, were made in

LS polls: 7.5% dip in Indore LS seat turnout as Cong called for Nota

The voter turnout in Madhya Pradesh's Indore Lok Sabha constituency, where the Congress was out of poll race, has decreased by about 7.5 per cent compared to the 2019 parliamentary election, as per official data. While the BJP said voters in Indore did not like Congress' "negative appeal" to press the 'None of the Above' option on EVMs, the grand old party claimed no matter which candidate wins the Indore seat, NOTA will create a new national record. Polling in Indore and seven other Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh was held on Monday during the fourth and last phase of the general elections in the state. The Congress had urged voters to press the NOTA button on the electronic voting machines (EVMs) after its candidate Akshay Kanti Bam withdrew his nomination at the last minute and joined the BJP. An official at the district election office, quoting provisional figures, on Tuesday said out of the 25.27 lakh eligible voters, 61.75 per cent exercised their franchise on Monday. In t

Elections 2024 updates: Modi to file nomination; Thackeray slams BJP

Lok Sabha elections 2024: From rallies to arrests, here are the latest updates in politics on May 14

Sushil Modi shall be remembered for expanding BJP's footprint in Bihar

Arguably the tallest leader the BJP has produced in Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi shall be remembered for patiently working towards the party's ascendance in a state where it is on its way to become a dominant force. Born in a Vaishya family in Bihar, Modi got involved in student politics while pursuing his BSc at Patna University and had played a key role in the Bihar movement of 1974 led by legendary socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, during which he also came in touch with his future collaborator Nitish Kumar and would be adversary Lalu Prasad. He went on to become one of the most prominent leaders of the ABVP, the RSS's students' wing, in Bihar, and often credited his entry into politics to the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. According to an anecdote Modi often shared, it was at his marriage ceremony in 1986 that the former prime minister, who at that time headed the BJP, told him that it was time to give up student politics and become a "full time political activist". He made his ...

LS polls: 39% voting recorded by displaced Kashmiri Pandits in Srinagar

A turnout of 39 per cent among Kashmiri migrant voters was recorded in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in the Srinagar parliamentary constituency on Monday. There has been a marked increase in the number of votes cast by migrants as compared to 2019 and 2014. However, scores of displaced Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu were unable to vote on Monday due to their names missing from the electoral rolls. "Thirty-nine per cent polling was registered by Kashmiri migrants across the country for the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency," Assistant Electoral Returning Officer for Migrants, Riaz Ahmed, told PTI tonight. He said that of this, 38.73 per cent of votes were polled in Jammu. "Of the total 17,240 votes, 6,700 votes were polled," he said. A voter turnout of around 38 per cent took place in the redrawn Srinagar Lok Sabha seat without any untoward incident on Monday, the highest since 1996 when the constituency in Kashmir recorded nearly 41 per cent polling. Even as Kashmiri Pand

LS polls 2024: Srinagar records 38% voter turnout, highest since 1996

A voter turnout of 38 per cent was recorded in the redrawn Srinagar Lok Sabha seat without any untoward incident on Monday, the highest since 1996 when the constituency in Jammu and Kashmir witnessed nearly 41 per cent polling. The Srinagar constituency, which saw the first general election after the abrogation of Article 370 in J-K, recorded 38 per cent voting till 11 pm, according to the Election Commission of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi applauded voters in Srinagar for an encouraging turnout. "The abrogation of Article 370 has enabled the potential and aspirations of the people to find full expression. Happening at the grassroots level, it is great for the people of J-K, in particular the youth," he said in a post on X. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and the political parties congratulated the people of Srinagar constituency on the "historic" voter turnout. Kashmiri Pandits from the constituency flocked to special polling stations in Jammu and voted f