Election Financial News

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday alleged that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lied when she said that the drought relief fund was not released because the Model Code of Conduct is in force. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Sitharaman sought to defend the Centre saying procedures to release funds had taken time by which time the MCC came into effect. She said that after the Karnataka government submitted a memorandum in October and the inter-ministerial central team conducted a spot assessment, the release of drought relief had to go through a few procedures and that it had taken time. According to the finance minister, the central authorities had written to the Election Commission on March 28 to get prior approval to convene a high-level committee, given that the Model Code of Conduct in force — and the EC's approval is awaited with regard to the grant of drought relief.

Rajnath Singh on Sunday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guarantee as 24-carat pure gold and said there is distrust among people about the guarantees of the Congress. He said Prime Minister Modi delivers whatever he says and people of the country are its witness. «PM Modi's guarantee is 24-carat pure gold whereas there is a distrust among people about the guarantees of the Congress,» Singh told reporters at a press conference here. The Lok Sabha elections are due in the state on April 19 and 26.

BJP leader and party candidate from the New Delhi Lok Sabha parliamentary seat, Bansuri Swaraj, slammed the Aam Aadmi Party and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and alleged pathetic conditions in Mohalla Clinics in the city. Swaraj, who was addressing a gathering on Sunday, said fake medicines are being distributed in Mohalla clinics, and administrative staff treat patients. «On one side, PM Modi distributes good quality and less expensive medicines in Janaushadhi Kendra, on the other side, the AAP government distributes fake medicines in Mohalla Clinics. Doctors don't treat patients in Mohalla Clinics but the administrative staff look after patients. This is what their Delhi Model is?, she asked.

Yogi Adityanath on Sunday the country was capable and equipped to deal with all internal and external security threats, while ensuring the safety of all citizens. Addressing a rally at Rajasthan's Bharatpur, ahead of the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections, CM Yogi said, «We don't know how credible The Guardian report is, but the new India knows how to protect its citizens and international borders. In 1952, the Congress inflicted a deep wound on the country's heart by extending certain constitutional privileges to (the erstwhile state of) Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah corrected the historic blunder by abrogating Article 370, as it put an end to terrorism in J-K forever.» «Now, no one can shelter terrorists and Naxals in the country without fearing the consequences. The Guardian report has brought to the fore how our external security threats are being neutralised on foreign soil. However, it was the Congress that treated terrorists to biryani when they were in power,» he added.

Chhattisgarh's Durg district, a bustling metropolis which played a key role in the state's economic and educational growth, has turned into a political hotspot ever since the declaration of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Four candidates of the opposition Congress, including former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, and two of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Lok Sabha elections hail from Durg district, bringing it to the centre stage ahead of the polls. Durg district was founded in 1906 after being carved out from Raipur. In 1973, the district was divided and a separate Rajnandgaon district came into existence.

‘Kharge exposed Modi-Shah game plan’, Congress hits back at BJP Varnerkar's respect for Prime Minister Modi is to such an extent that he even built a temple dedicated to the PM Modi in his home. He regularly performs prayers in Modi's honour in that temple. Prime Minister Modi has expressed confidence in winning the national election for the third time on the trot.

LS polls: PM praises Madhavi Latha- the BJP candidate contesting against Owaisi Lok Sabha polls: PM Modi to lead roadshow in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur today Rahul Gandhi says Congress manifesto 'can change India' On Sunday, it was PM Modi's second rally in Bihar for Lok Sabha election 2024. On April 4, PM Modi campaigned for the saffron party in Jamui constituency.

Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari on Sunday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking what happened with the promise of providing two crore jobs to the youth in the country. «He must answer that what happened to your (PM Modi) promise of two crore jobs. One crore and thirty lakh youths are unemployed. Who is responsible for it? Support price of Rs 2700 for wheat and Rs 3100 for paddy. But it has not been fulfilled so far,» Patwari said, targeting PM Modi. «People in Madhya Pradesh voted in the name of former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and the 'Ladli Behna' scheme but you have made a CM who is not eligible...,» the Congress leader added.

Prashant Kishor said the ruling party will add significantly to its seats and vote share in south and east India, the two regions where its hold is weak-to-non-existent, barring Karnataka. In an interaction with PTI editors, Kishor also said despite the BJP's apparent dominance, neither the party nor Prime Minister Narendra Modi is invincible, pointing out that the opposition had three distinct and realistic chances of stopping the BJP juggernaut but frittered away the opportunities because of laziness and misplaced strategies. «They (BJP) will either be first or second party in Telangana which is a big thing. They will be number one in Odisha for sure. You would be surprised as, in all likelihood, to my mind, the BJP is going to be the number one party in West Bengal,» he said. In Tamil he said, BJP's vote share may hit double-digit percentage. Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Kerala together account for 204 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha but the BJP couldn't cross 50 seats in all these states put together either in 2014 or 2019 when it won 29 and 47 constituencies respectively.

The net outflow came after a staggering investment of Rs 35,000 crore in March and Rs 1,539 crore in February, data with the depositories showed.

Rajnath Singh on Sunday asserted that the track record of the BJP government at the Centre has been «fabulous» as it considers people supreme whereas the Congress treats a family supreme. The BJP, he said, is also committed to fulfilling all the promises made to the people. «The track record of Modi ji's politics has been fabulous. And it was fabulous because we treat people as supreme whereas the Congress treats a family supreme,» the senior BJP leader said addressing a public meeting in support of BJP candidate Arjun Ram Meghwal in Kolayat in Bikaner. The defence minister said he is pained when the Congress questions the power and valour of the country's defence forces.

Varun Gandhi will not be in the fray from the Pilibhit constituency for which the BJP is going full throttle with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to address a mega election rally here on Tuesday. The party has denied a ticket to sitting MP Varun Gandhi from the constituency that has been represented either by him or his mother since 1996. Instead, it has fielded Uttar Pradesh Minister Jitin Prasada from the seat. Pilibhit goes to polls on April 19 in the first of the seven-phase Parliamentary elections. Prasada, who won the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha polls from Shahjahanpur and Dharura constituencies, respectively, on Congress ticket, crossed over to the BJP in 2021. So far, he is the only Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister to be fielded in this Lok Sabha polls.

relief camps. «A total of 2,955 polling stations will be set up in the state for the Lok Sabha elections, out of which around 50 per cent have been identified as sensitive, vulnerable or critical. We are also setting up 94 special polling stations to facilitate voting by internally displaced persons (IDPs),» Jha told PTI. As per Election Commission of India (ECI) norms, a vulnerability mapping of hamlets, villages and electoral segments vulnerable for threat and intimidation, is conducted ahead of polls.

Reddy came out all guns blazing at the BJP-led Centre saying that the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will pit two families against each other--the NDA and central agencies at its disposal and the Congress family, many of whose members sacrificed their lives for the country. Addressing people at the release of the Congress's 'Nyay Patra' or manifesto in the state during the 'Jana Jatara Sabha', Reddy said on Saturday, «Congress is a family. I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that the upcoming elections are not just electoral contests but a war that pits two families against each other. This is an all-out war between the Congress family and the one headed by PM Modi.» «Modi's family features EVMs, ED, CBI and the Income Tax Department. Our family has martyrs--Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and a leader who sacrificed the PM's chair, Sonia Gandhi. This is a family whose members, including Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, have selflessly dedicated their lives to the country,» the Congress leader added.

Addressing a public rally in Bihar's Nawada, the Prime Minister said that the government at the Centre is taking bold steps for the country. «I am here to eradicate poverty from the country. I cannot forget the situation of the country before 2014. Most of the countrymen were compelled to live in kutcha houses or were homeless. There was no gas connection available for poor. Middlemen used to benefit from the ration provided to poor...I have survived poverty. This son of a poor, is 'sevak' of poor,» the PM said, adding, «What we have achieved in 10 years could not be done in 60 years after Independence.»

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The Election Commission of India's Suvidha platform has seen a surge of activity since the announcement of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections and enforcement of the model code of conduct (MCC), the body has said in a press release on April 7. Suvidha has got more than 73,000 applications from political parties and candidates, of which 44,600 requests have already been approved, the ECI added.

₹4 crore cash in Chennai on Saturday night, the officials said as quoted by AajTak. The three men who had around eight bags boarded the train in Egmore. After getting the information, the police and flying squad on duty in Tambaram hurried to the Tambaram railway station at around 9 pm yesterday.

Lok Sabha polls: PM Modi to lead roadshow in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur today "There will be permanent as well as temporary sheds for the polling parties and voters in all booths this time," Kumar added. He said to stave off heat impact, two employees would be deployed to provide drinking water at all booths. Also, the plan is to keep earthen pots for drinking water wherever possible, he added.

Lok Sabha elections, poll graffiti and wall paintings are becoming common across West Bengal, demonstrating its unmatched power to grab the attention of voters. In Siliguri, a mural by Trinamool Congress portrays a figure resembling Prime Minister Narendra Modi being cautioned by Lord Ram to maintain a safe distance and win the elections on his own merit. Hundreds of miles away in Kolkata's Jadavpur, a graffiti by CPI(M)'s student wing SFI compares TMC to the «demon» of Sandeshkhali and BJP to a «dacoit», urging voters to reject both. Another graffiti by CPI(M), with images of LPG cylinder, reads 'tel theklo satake, gas gelo hazare, bhaktagan mookh kholena bazare' (the price of oil has breached the Rs 100 mark, price of LPG has reached Rs 1,000 but supporters of BJP are silent).

Lok Sabha polls 2024 is a litmus test for AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami as the party's electoral performance will have a considerable bearing in improving the fortunes of the outfit two years later when the state will go for Assembly polls. When Palaniswami, who expelled his former colleague and ex-Chief Minister O Panneerselvam from the party in 2022, it was the beginning of several other steps that followed to cement his position as the undisputed party chief and partly to prepare the AIADMK for the 2026 Assembly election. By snapping ties with the BJP in September last year, the AIADMK expected at least a couple of DMK's allies including the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi to join the alliance led by it. However, that did not materialise and Palaniswami who often spoke of a «mega alliance» for the LS polls could only cobble up an alliance with Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam founded by the late actor-politician 'Captain' Vijayakanth and a couple of smaller outfits.

(This story originally appeared in on Apr 07, 2024)