Election Financial News

Read more The Tata Group will set up a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Assam's Jagiroad with an investment of ₹27,000 crore. The facility will put the northeastern state on the global map, renowned industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Tata said on March 20.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by Enforcement Directorate on March 21 Delhi Liquor Policy case. Kejriwal is under ED remand until March 28. A delegation of leaders from the Opposition bloc had on March 22 met Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election over the issue in the run up to Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Comparing PM Modi to Aurangzeb insult to nation: Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde Separately, CM Shinde on Thursday conducted a Lok Sabha review meeting with the Shiv Sena party cadre in Mumbai's Worli. He urged MLAs to exert maximum effort in their respective constituencies to secure victories. Shinde advised the party members to reach out to the people, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Nitin Gadkari has said it was not possible to run a political party without funds, and added that the Centre had introduced the electoral bonds scheme, now struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, in 2017 with a «good intention». The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said all political parties need to sit together and deliberate if the Supreme Court gives any further direction on the matter. He made the comments at an event organised by a media house in GIFT City near Gandhinagar on Friday. «When Arun Jaitely was (Union finance) minister, I was part of that discussion (regarding electoral bonds). No party can survive without resources. In some countries, governments fund political parties. There is no such system in India. Thus, we chose this system of financing political parties,» said Gadkari on a question about electoral bonds.

Jairam Ramesh on Saturday took a jibe at the BJP over the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying it was 'afraid' of the INDIA bloc going into the Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to ANI, Ramesh said, «The arrest of Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren and Delhi Chief Minister is an attack on democracy and our constitution.» «This is politics of revenge at play. The BJP is afraid of the INDIA alliance. This is an attack on democracy and our constitution,» the Congress leader further said.

Delhi minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Gopal Rai announced on Monday that the party would organize a protest at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence on March 26th. This protest is in response to the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Rai also stated that a 'mega protest' would be held across the country. Rai unveiled a four-day protest plan, starting with a protest on Saturday (March 23) at ITO's Shaheedi Park, where Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann will also participate. He mentioned, «Tomorrow, the Shaheedi diwas of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru… they sacrificed their life for the country… marking the day, on March 23, we will hold a protest outside at Shaheedi park, ITO.» On March 24, Rai said effigies of PM Modi would be burned across the city. He further added that on March 25, the party leaders would not celebrate Holi and «will go door to door and meet people, tell them about the BJP's action.»

electoral bonds scheme was struck down as “unconstitutional" by the Supreme Court. However, it was started by the central government with a “good intention", the BJP leader said. Gadkari said all political parties need to sit together and deliberate if the Supreme Court gives any further direction on the matter, PTI reported.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for having "double standards" and said in Delhi, Wayand MP shows solidarity with Kejriwal's family while in Telangana he claimed that Delhi CM is «corrupt». Union Minister Smriti Irani said, «I would like to give a proof of how Rahul Gandhi rolls the dice on the same subject in diverse ways. On July 2, 2023 in Telangana, he said that KCR is also corrupt, there has been a liquor scam and all the agencies know about it… Ajay Maken had said that AAP used corruption money to defeat the Congress party in the Goa elections. So who was telling the truth? Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was on Friday remanded to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate for seven days i.e., till March 28, a day after he was arrested by the probe agency in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case linked to a money laundering case.

BJP) on Friday announced its support for the Lok Sabha candidates of the Naga People's Front (NPF) in the Outer Manipur Constituency, the National People's Party (NPP) in both the seats of Meghalaya (Shillong and Tura), and the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) in Nagaland for the forthcoming parliamentary elections in 2024. The announcement was made by Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and BJP Co-ordinator of North East, Sambit Patra, in separate posts on X. «Following the decision by BJP under the guidance of JP Nadda, and upholding our alliance principles, I am delighted to share that BJP will lend its support to Lok Sabha Candidates of NPF in the Outer Manipur Constituency for the forthcoming Parliamentary elections in 2024,» Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said in a post on X.

Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti termed the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal as authoritarianism and feared that BJP government might use it to impose President’s rule in Delhi. “An important person in the opposition alliance has been arrested. Clearly this is linked to the elections…Some weeks ago Jharkhand CM was in a similar position,” Abdullah told reporters here. He further said that there is no party in the country which opposes BJP and hasn’t faced similar attacks. “This is unfortunately part of a process whereby democratic institutions in this country have gradually been eroded to the point where they almost now cease to exist,” he said. “During the emergency years of the 1970's people still had hope in the courts, but that hope seems to be non-existent now,” he said.

(Reuters) — Slovaks vote in a presidential election on Saturday that could strengthen Prime Minister Robert Fico's grip on power as he seeks more control over public media, softer anti-corruption laws and a dissenting voice to EU support for Ukraine.

Arvind Kejriwal has prompted many to demand his resignation from the post. Kejriwal is also the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) national convenor. His arrest in connection with the money laundering case linked to the excise policy has already raised questions about the party's next leadership.

advertisers as broadcasting and streaming rights holders Disney Star and Viacom18 face difficulties in closing ad deals despite starting the sales process in January. The two companies have so far collectively roped in 33 sponsors, with streaming partner Viacom18 signing 18 and Disney Star onboarding 15 sponsors. Last year, they had 39 sponsors with Viacom18 getting 26 sponsors and Disney Star, 13. Some media buyers attributed the lukewarm response to lack of budgets with most companies having exhausted their ad budgets for FY24 while others pointed to multiple marquee events including the upcoming general elections and T20 World Cup that increase advertisers' options.

BJP on Friday decided to go alone in the upcoming Lok Sabha as well as assembly polls in Odisha after holding several rounds of discussion for a possible alliance with the BJD. As per sources, the BJP leadership, after getting a grassroots-level feedback on the prospects of the alliance in Odisha, felt that an alliance would benefit the BJD more than the BJP. Serious deliberations have been going on in the BJP for quite some time to explore the possibility of an alliance between the two parties. Sources in the BJP told ET that efforts were made by the top leadership of both the parties over an alliance in the state. Ever since VK Pandian, former IAS officer and the close aide of Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik joined politics, there was a murmur over an outsider taking control of the BJD as well as the state.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to custodial interrogation of the Enforcement Directorate till March 28. Terming Kejriwal as «kingpin and key conspirator» in the Delhi excise policy case, ED had sought 10 days' custody. Significantly, the remand paper filed by ED alleged that «Aam Aadmi Party has committed the offence of money laundering» through Kejriwal. This is the first time that the federal agency has accused AAP of money laundering in a court of law. As reported by ET on January 7, ED was contemplating invoking Section 70 (1) of PMLA to make AAP an accused in the case. As per the section: «Where a person committing a contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or of any rule, direction or order made thereunder is a company, every person who, at the time the contravention was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to the company, for the conduct of the business of the company as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the contravention and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.»

electoral bond data offers several insights, but there are at least five key takeaways on the current state of corporate funding of political parties. First, the electoral bond scheme has brought in new entrants into the corporate funding space with the emergence of Future Gaming, Megha Engineering, and Quik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd as top donors to major national and regional political parties. The corporate funding field — as seen largely from reports of electoral trusts submitted to the Election Commission — has so far been dominated by the likes of Bharti Airtel, DLF, Vedanta, ArcelorMittal, Torrent and real estate groups like Navayuga Constructions, besides occasionally the Tata group.

When Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for new elections aimed at ending the current government in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took umbrage. On CNN last Sunday, Netanyahu called Schumer’s comments about elections “totally inappropriate," adding, “That’s something the Israeli public does on its own. We are not a banana republic." Netanyahu found a receptive ear among Senate Republicans, whom he addressed in a virtual closed-door speech on Wednesday.

Arvind Kejriwal arrest news: A Delhi court on Friday remanded Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to six days custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till March 28 in connection with the Delhi Liquor Policy case. The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) arrested Delhi CM Kejriwal on Thursday in connection with the alleged Delhi Liquor scam case. The AAP Chief was produced before the court of Special Judge Kaveri Baweja.

Arvind Kejriwal arrest news: Delhi's Rouse Avenue court on Friday remanded Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to 6-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. Special CBI judge Kaveri Baweja passed the order and asked the federal agency to produce Arvind Kejriwal on March 28 at 2:00 PM. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was produced in the Rouse Avenue court amid high security.

By Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth

French President Emmanuel Macron says he “regrets” the Senate’s vote to reject legislation to ratify a trade deal between the European Union and Canada