Election Financial News

Joe Biden's campaign has amassed USD 155 million in cash on hand for the 2024 election, far exceeding the in-hand total for his Republican opponent, Donald Trump. The president raised USD 53 million alone last month, which was the strongest grassroots fundraising month since the campaign launched, according to campaign officials. Among those efforts was a contest for supporters to attend a fundraiser on March 28 in New York with Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton that raised USD 4 million last month. «The enthusiasm we're picking up as we go around the country is real,» Biden said in a radio interview with WNOV 860 in Wisconsin last week. «We've raised a whole lot of money. We have 1.5 million donors, including 500,000 are brand new, they're small donors; 97 per cent of the donations under USD 200.»

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], March 17 (ANI): Former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched a scathing attack on the Congress party on Sunday, stating that the party is neither left with an army nor a leader. Chouhan asserted that the Congress, once a formidable force in Indian politics, now resembles a 'sinking ship without direction and vision.' Addressing a press conference in state capital Bhopal, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, «On one hand, the BJP is a shining star, and on the other hand, the Congress is a sinking ship. Neither does the party have a way nor a vision, that is why their condition is depleting.» Exuding confidence in the BJP's victory in the upcoming elections, Chouhan stated, «Ab ki baar 400 paar» is not a BJP slogan, but rather an announcement of the public."

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday congratulated former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his «strong determination» on the occasion of the conclusion of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, and described him as a «rare person». Rahul Gandhi concluded his 63-day-old Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Mumbai by paying tributes to Dr B R Ambedkar at his memorial Chaityabhoomi in central Mumbai and reading the Preamble of the Constitution. On Sunday, Akhilesh Yadav along with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was scheduled to take part in the event. However, the SP chief did not attend the event. In a letter dated March 17, written to Gandhi by Yadav, the SP chief said, «Today your Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is concluding in Mumbai. Rare are those people, who can take out such 'yatra'. Heartiest congratulations to you for your strong determination.

Left Front on Sunday announced its candidate for the Tripura East Lok Sabha seat (ST) and decided to support the Congress in the other seat– Tripura West parliamentary constituency. Front convener Narayan Kar said that former CPI-M MLA Rajendra Reang would be the Left parties’ nominee in the Tripura East Lok Sabha seat, reserved for the tribal. Kar said that former CPI-M MLA Ratan Das, who is also the Secretary of the CPI-M West District committee, would be fielded in the Ramnagar assembly seat (in West Tripura), where by-elections would be held on April 19.

By Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Osborn

Also Read | CUET UG 2024: No change in exam schedule in view of Lok Sabha elections, says UGC chief “On Sunday morning, 21 people were killed and 38 people were injured due to a collision between a tanker, a motorcycle and a passenger bus," the provincial information department said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). The report said the accident happened after the bus driver lost control following a collision with the motorcycle and crashed with an oil tanker travelling in the opposite direction from Kandahar The tragic incident led to the death of 16 passengers on the bus, 2 on the motorbike, and 3 in the tanker.

BJP leader and the party's Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar on Sunday said its leaders believe that the saffron party is going to make a difference in the state's politics forever in the LS polls, as the LDF and UDF are «parties of the past» and have «nothing new to offer». A day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates for the Lok Sabha polls, according to which Kerala will go to the polls on April 26, Javadekar met the media here and said the «churning in the minds of the voters» in the state is visible, and that it will translate into major gains for the BJP. He commented that the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) have no future in Kerala. «We (BJP) are going to make a difference in Kerala politics forever in this election. A big churning in the minds of Kerala voters is visible. In 2019, they were made to believe that Rahul Gandhi will become Prime Minister. This time, everybody, including the Congress leaders, are sure that he has no chance of becoming the PM,» Javadekar contended.

Congress Working Committee (CWC) will discuss the party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections at its meeting on March 19 and give the final shape to it. The Congress' central election committee (CEC) chaired by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge is also likely to meet on March 19 to 20 to finalise the remaining candidates of the party for the seven-phase polls beginning April 19. AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the CWC, its top decision-making body, would meet on March 19 and give its nod to the draft manifesto which carries the five 'guarantees' for justice. He said the party will fight the elections on the issue of 'five nyay' (justice) — 'Bhagidari Nyay', 'Kisan Nyay', 'Nari Nyay', 'Shramik Nyay' and 'Yuva Nyay' — with 25 guarantees, five for each nyay, which have already been announced by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former president Rahul Gandhi.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was afraid of the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as he started his campaign from Kharge's home district Kalaburagi. He said the party is sure to win 20 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka including Kalaburagi. «He (Modi) is afraid of the Leader of Opposition (in Rajya Sabha) Mallikarjun Kharge. Hence, he started his election campaign from there (Kalaburagi). We will win 20 seats including Kalaburagi,» Shivakumar told reporters here. Modi started his election campaign in Karnataka from Kalaburagi on Saturday. His next campaign in the state will be in Shivamogga.

Narendra Modi will address his second campaign rally in Karnataka on Monday. The BJP leaders are trying their best to buy peace with the veteran leader from the region, KS Eshwarappa, as he has decided to stay off the Modi rally in a show of rebellion against parliamentary board member BS Yediyurappa. Eshwarappa, a senior Kuruba leader and a former state president, has not budged an inch from his decision to contest as an independent against BY Raghavendra (50), the son of BSY. BJP leader N Ravikumar, however, claimed they had invited Eshwarappa, and he would be there at the rally. The party said it would expect about 2.5 lakh people to attend the event, and JDS leaders would share the dais with the PM. The BJP is holding its campaign rally at the assembly constituency Eshwarappa previously represented.

Hyderabad: Electoral bonds are nothing but 'quid pro quo', Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said on Sunday. Addressing a «meet the press» programme, Reddy slammed former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, alleging that his regime resembled "Nizam's rule." «They (electoral bonds) are nothing but 'quid pro quo' between those in power and contractors. Those in power are giving some contracts and they are giving back electoral bonds,» he said replying to a query. The Election Commission of India on Sunday uploaded the data received in digitised form from the registry of the Supreme Court on electoral bonds, on its website.

Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday said that the result of the state in the much anticipated upcoming Lok Sabha elections will «surprise» everyone. Speaking to the reporters here, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader said that his party is 'confident' about a good result and is very well prepared for the «mahaprav» of democracy. «The 'mahaparv' of democracy has begun; we are very confident and have made our preparations. We have said this before and will say it again — the results in Bihar will surprise everyone,» Yadav said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday told ministers to draft a roadmap for the first 100 days and next five years for new government, sources said. Chairing a Cabinet meeting here this morning, the PM also asked them to meet secretaries and other officials of their respective ministries to discuss how the agenda for the first 100 days and the next five years can be better implemented. The meeting took place a day after the Election Commission announced schedule for the Lok Sabha polls 2024. The Cabinet also initiated the process of notifying the dates of the seven-phase parliamentary elections by sending the Election Commission's recommendation to President Droupadi Murmu.

Electoral bonds data 2nd list: In a fresh set of details around the political donations through electoral bonds, the Election Commission of India on Sunday uploaded the sealed covers received by the Supreme Court's registry carrying party-wise details of electoral bond donations at least till 12 April 2019. The second set of data sheds more light on donations through ‘now-scrapped’ electoral bonds.

₹6,986.5 crore donations made to the saffron party, through electoral bonds, ₹2,555 crore was made during the financial year 2019-20, the data shared by the election commission revealed. Sealed cover’ data of electoral bonds for the period March 2018-April 2019 made public by the election commission doesn’t include the names of the donors (barring few parties who disclosed the names voluntarily).

Arvind Kejriwal for skipping probe agency summons in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned for tomorrow under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in the Delhi Jal Board case, ANI reported. According to details, the ED is investigating illegal tendering in Delhi Jal Board and laundering of alleged proceeds of crime.

Electoral bonds fresh data: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday published fresh data on the use of electoral bonds to fund political parties in India. The information is making some new revelations like out of the total ₹6,986.5 crore donations made to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through electoral bonds, ₹2,555 crore was made during the financial year 2019-20, the EC data has revealed.

₹1397 crore donations, whereas K Chandrashekar Rao's BRS is the fourth largest recipient after BJP, Trinamool and Congress.Electoral Bonds data 2nd list LIVE: K. Chandrashekar Rao’s BRS has emerged as the fourth largest recipient through electoral bonds.

Russian Elections 2024: President Vladimir Putin is all set to win a fifth term in office and tighten his grip on power with no real challengers in the Russian Elections 2024. The voting, which started on Friday witnessed occasional signs of protests as some voters vandalized the ballot box or filled them with ink in their solidarity with Alexei Navalny, the most vociferous critic of Vladimir Putin, who died in an Arctic prison last month. The Russian Elections 2024 are coming just two years after Vladimir Putin started the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II when he invaded Ukraine.

Electoral bonds data: Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday uploaded fresh data related to funding of political parties in India through electoral bonds. The fresh data pertains to the information provided by political parties to the Supreme Court of India in a sealed cover after interim order in April 12, 2019 and is believed to be for the period before the date of the interim order.

Election Commission on Sunday advanced the date of the counting of votes for the Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim assembly polls to June 2 from June 4. The EC had announced earlier that the votes polled in the two assembly elections were to be counted on June 4 along with Lok Sabha poll votes. But as the term of the two assemblies are ending on June 2, the date has been advanced, the EC said. «There shall be no change in respect of schedule for Parliamentary constituencies of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim,» it noted.