Election Financial News

erstwhile royal families in the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency can make the road tough for Bollywood actor turned-politician Kangana Ranaut who is making her electoral debut as the BJP candidate from the high-profile seat. Maheshwar Singh, a former BJP state president, three times MP and scion of the erstwhile royal family of Kullu, has asked the party high command to review its decision to field Ranaut while BJP dissidents who were denied a ticket in 2022 assembly polls and fought as Independents held a meeting to chalk out the strategy. BJP leader and former minister Ram Lal Markanda has resigned from the party along with his supporters after Congress rebel Ravi Thakur who voted in favor of the BJP in Rajya Sabha elections was given a ticket for assembly bypolls from Lahaul and Spiti. «I have left the BJP along with my supporters and would definitely contest the assembly polls,» he had told PTI adding that there is a possibility of him contesting from the Congress party.

Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) today releases its list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections. The party, which is part of the NDA govt, is contesting on Vaishali, Hajipur, Samastipur, Khagaria and Jamui seats. As per the list, party chief Chirag Paswan will contest from Hajipur. Paswan, who is a sitting MP from the Jamui Lok Sabha constituency, has allotted the seat to Arun Bharti this time. Rajesh Verma will contest from Khagaria while Shambhavi Choudhary will be contesting from Samastipur and Veena Devi from Vaishali.

elections, BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan said that former Telangana Governor and South Chennai BJP candidate Tamilisai Soundararajan was the 'Modi ki guarantee' for South Chennai. CR Kesavan also said that Tamilisai was the resounding voice for the people of South Chennai and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sent her in the form of a 'vaccine' to defeat the DMK «virus.» Speaking to on Saturday, BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan said, «Today we have come to meet our winning BJP candidate, Tamilisai Soundararajan and we have brought her prasadam to bless her campaign.»

AAP is expecting more than one lakh people from Punjab to participate in the INDIA bloc's rally in Delhi on Sunday, said a senior party leader on Saturday. The opposition INDIA bloc will hold a 'Maharally' at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on March 31 to «safeguard» the country's interests and democracy, the Aam Aadmi Party had earlier said. The rally was announced after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an excise policy-linked money-laundering case. From Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, cabinet ministers and MLAs will participate in the rally.

Tripura West Lok Sabha seat, Biplab Kumar Deb, claimed that CPI-M leaders like former chief minister Manik Sarkar is not willing to vote for Congress candidate Ashish Kumar Saha, who is also contesting from the same seat as a consensus nominee of the INDIA bloc. Left parties and Congress are fighting one seat each in Tripura. Addressing an election rally in South Tripura, Deb said: “Manik Da is a veteran Communist leader who during his decades-long political career never voted for any non-Left party candidate. Therefore, this time too he is not willing to cast his vote for the Congress nominee.” Manik Sarkar served as the Chief Minister of Tripura for 20 years, from 1998 to 2018.

O Panneerselvams who want to fight for the Ramanathapuram seat. All of them, including the former Tamil Nadu CM and expelled AIADMK leader OPS, have filed nominations as independent candidates. Those having the same name and initial as the former chief minister OPS are Ochappan Panneerselvam, Oyya Thevar Panneerselvam, Ocha Thevar Panneerselvam, Oyyaram Panneerselvam, as per the Election Commission's data.

Enforcement Directorate filed about-8,000-page-long prosecution complaint in the case which is linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). It was filed before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi on March 28, the sources said.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday accused the Centre of «pressuring» the judiciary after the Supreme Court struck down the electoral bonds scheme and wondered whether the Narendra Modi government does not approve of an independent and strong judiciary. The Congress general secretary's remarks come two days after Prime Minister Modi criticised the grand old party in reaction to more than 600 lawyers writing to the Chief Justice of India, alleging that a «vested interest group» is trying to put pressure on the judiciary and defame courts. Modi on Thursday said it was a «vintage Congress culture» to browbeat and bully others. In a post in Hindi on X, Priyanka Gandhi said, «The manner in which the judicial system is being pressured by getting letters written after seeing the layers of scams being exposed by a decision of the Supreme Court on electoral bonds (which the public is calling 'extortion racket'), and then the prime minister himself entering the arena and making negative comments on the judiciary, shows that there is something fishy.»

MP and two ex-MLAs on Saturday resigned from the regional party ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha and Odisha Assembly elections. Cine star and sitting Kendrapara MP Anubhav Mohanty tendered his resignation from the BJD. Mohanty said he was «feeling suffocated» in the party for over four years. Mohanty was the second sitting BJD MP after Bhartruhari Mahtab to quit the regional party ahead of the 2024 general elections. The Kendrapara MP was seen celebrating Holi with Mahtab in Cuttack. Actor-turned-politician and former MLA Akash Das Nayak also resigned from the BJD. In a video statement, the former Korei MLA announced his resignation from the primary membership of BJD.

Shiv Sena leader Vijay Shivtare, who had declared that he would contest the Lok Sabha polls as an independent candidate from Maharashtra's Baramati constituency, changed his stand on Saturday. The leader of the Eknath Shinde-led party said he won't contest the polls from Baramati in Pune district, which is the political stronghold of NCP founder Sharad Pawar's family, and instead campaign for the ruling Mahayuti alliance. Shivtare's announcement comes amid speculation that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar could be fielded from there as a candidate of the ruling NCP faction. Sharad Pawar, who now heads the NCP (SP), has already announced the candidature of his daughter and three-term Baramati MP Supriya Sule from the constituency.

Bharatiya Janata Party has formed an election manifesto committee with Rajnath Singh as its chairperson, as the ruling party seeks to return to power in India for a third straight term. BJP has appointed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as the convener of the election manifesto panel, while her cabinet colleague and Trade Minister Piyush Goyal will be the co-convener. Nearly 97 crore eligible Indian voters will over six weeks and seven phases starting April 19 decide which political party will form the next government in the world’s largest democracy.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) has asked candidates aspiring for party tickets in the Lok Sabha and Odisha Assembly elections to deposit Rs 50,000 each for supply of campaign materials. OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak has written letter to the prospective candidates in this regard. Pattnayak said the OPCC is open to accept cheques of Rs 50,000 from shortlisted candidates on behalf of the party to supply branding and campaign materials of an equivalent value to them. «The cheque will be in favour of OPCC and not in the name of any individual leader...,» he said.

Lok Sabha elections, former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil's daughter-in-law, Archana Patil Chakurkar, joined BJP on Saturday in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis. State BJP Chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule was also present at Chakurkar's induction into the party. Archana Patil is the chairperson of the Lifecare Hospital and Research Centre in Udgir, and her husband, Shailesh Patil Chandurkar, is the Congress' state secretary.

Central Excise divisions in Kerala are carrying out patrolling on the roads to check for black money and election freebies in connection with the coming Lok Sabha polls in the state on April 26, a customs official said. Central Excise and Customs officers from the Cochin Headquarters Anti-Evasion Flying Squad and all divisions in the state will be carrying out the checking till election day, the official said.

Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is the NDA nominee from the Gaya seat, owns movable assets worth Rs 11.32 lakh and has Rs 49,000 cash in hand, according to the affidavit filed by him. Manjhi filed his nomination for the Gaya constituency on Thursday. 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, he owns immovable assets worth Rs 13.50 lakh, while his wife Shanti Devi has immovable assets to the tune of Rs 5.38 lakh. In the 2019 polls, the former CM had declared movable assets worth Rs 10.2 lakh and Rs 40,000 cash in hand.

lauded PV Narasimha Rao Garu in a post on X. He said, “Every Indian cherishes what PV Narasimha Rao Garu has done for our nation and feels proud that he has been conferred the Bharat Ratna." ALSO READ: Bharat Ratna 2024: India's top civilian award conferred on 5 eminent personalities: Check details “He worked extensively to further our country's progress and modernization. He is also known as a respected scholar and thinker.

electoral bonds each worth ₹1 crore by the SPMCIL (the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India), three days before the Supreme Court declared the bonds “unconstitutional". The Finance Ministry instructed the State Bank of India to "immediately put a hold" on bond printing on February 28, two weeks after the top court's order, Indian Express reported. On February 15, the Supreme Court invalidated the 2018 electoral bond program.

Mint analysis of the data released by the Election Commission of India showed. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led with over 40 repeat corporate donors demonstrating loyalty, followed by the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) with 16. This analysis defines loyal donors as companies that donated more than once—and each time to the same party.

Fresh plea filed in high court to remove Arvind Kejriwal as Delhi CM The ED alleged that Kejriwal was one of the key conspirators in the liquor scam. According to the federal agency, the Delhi CM received several crores of rupees as a kickback from 'South Group' for formulating the Delhi excise policy and using that capital in the Goa and Punjab elections.

Pawan Kalyan on Saturday announced Vallabhaneni Balashowry as the party's Lok Sabha candidate from Machilipatnam constituency. Balashowry recently quit the ruling YSRCP to join Janasena, an NDA constituent from the southern state along with TDP and BJP.

Telangana IT Minister, Sridhar Babu Duddilla, has in a fervent plea appealed to people of the state to support the Congress and the INDIA bloc if they want to safeguard democracy. «All the people of Telangana, if they want to safeguard this democracy, please join and support us, the Congress, and the India bloc. This is the appeal we are putting before the people of Telangana. We are hopeful that it will be a huge gathering, which no one can even expect,» Babu Duddilla said. On being asked about the leaders joining the gathering, he said, " I am not the correct person to talk about this until and unless AICC conveys."