Election Financial News

Election Commission held a briefing here in the national capital on Monday for all its observers for the General Election to Lok Sabha and General Election to Legislative Assemblies 2024. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar will address the meeting, according to sources. The aim of the meeting for over 2000 observers is to streamline strategy to ensure that the model code is implemented during the elections. The observers will monitor polls to ensure the process is «free and fair.»

The upcoming Lok Sabha Elections in Kerala hold significant importance for both INC and NDA. Rahul Gandhi, the possible face of Congress for the Prime Minister's position, represents the Wayanad constituency of Kerala, emphasizing the state's significance for the party. On the other hand, NDA aims to alter its positioning in Kerala, aspiring to establish a stronger presence in the state during the 2024 General Elections. Kerala boasts the highest voter turnout in comparison to any other state, underscoring the necessity for political parties to connect effectively with its people.

(Reuters) -Bitcoin is back in the headlines, having roared to a new record high, just as many of the world's major central banks are starting to pave the way towards cutting interest rates, but only if inflation behaves.

Ashish Gupta, CIO, Axis Mutual Fund, says “we have seen a big deleveraging of the corporate balance sheet and the expectation is that the next five-seven years will again be a deleveraging cycle for corporate India. We are still in the early part of the capex upcycle. So while multiples of some of these companies have gone up, the confidence stems from the fact that it is a multi-year cycle. Typically, these cycles last for seven-eight years. We are probably in the first couple of years of the upturn. Notwithstanding the elections, just the capex cycle has turned around and should benefit these companies.”

Delhi High Court challenging the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal's order of dismissing its plea seeking stay on the recovery of outstanding tax for the assessment year 2018-19, Live Law reported. The matter was mentioned before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela. The Court allowed the listing of the matter on Monday only.

Bar & Bench reported on March 11. The plea cites Section 7 and 8 of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment Conditions of Service and terms of office Act 2023, with the plea, the report said. The plea also seeks direction to appoint member of election commission as per Arup Baranwal judgment.

invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s economy has repeatedly defied the doomsayers. A financial collapse, widely predicted in the spring of 2022, never came to pass. The economy fell into recession, but it was less severe than expected and did not last long.

Modi, is expected to discuss names of the remaining candidates for the Lok Sabha election. The party released the first list comprising 195 candidates from 16 states for the Lok Sabha elections March 2. In the meeting on March 11, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners from Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, and Bihar are likely to discuss seat sharing with the BJP's top leadership, according to a report in news agency ANI.

Read here. Bengaluru is currently in the grip of a severe water crisis, with residents experiencing daily water cuts and certain areas receiving water only on alternate days. In response to this pressing issue, the BJP has declared a protest at Freedom Park on Monday, aimed at shedding light on the water woes plaguing the city.

general elections shall impact the sales of laptops, desktops and other IT hardware in the first half of 2024 as the government will slow down IT procurement spending, industry experts told ET. In the commercial segment, IT hardware sales in the first half of the calendar year are expected to remain flattish at the year-earlier levels of about 2.9 million units which was already comparatively weak, according to data from market tracker firm International Data Corporation (IDC). When compared to the first half of calendar year 2022, the segment might see a decline of 24%, IDC said. Consumer sales might also follow a similar pattern as sales might drop by 17% to 3.4 million units when compared to the first half of 2022, IDC predictions showed.

President Joe Biden is all-in on calling out “shrinkflation.”

consumer affairs ministry is unlikely to lift the ban on onion exports despite a fall in prices as the government does not want to take any decision that will make onions expensive before the general elections, an official privy to the development said. «There are instructions from the top to not touch onions before the elections,» the official told ET. This comes amid requests from traders to open up onion exports now that prices have moderated. Following India's ban on export of onions imposed on December 8, wholesale onion prices had crashed to ₹5-10/kg, leading to widespread protests of the farmers in the growing regions. The export ban also increased the global shortage of the kitchen staple at a time when the demand is at its peak, due to the upcoming Ramadan festival, industry insiders said.

Arun Goel's resignation as election commissioner, although a surprise, was preceded by simmering differences with chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar. The issues appeared to have escalated over the last few weeks following Anup Pandey's retirement on February 15. ET has learnt that most disagreements were not about major policy issues. However, differences continued and involved issues such as the composition and size of EC teams heading to states for poll preparation reviews and the formats of press briefings in states, among others. Insiders said that despite such disagreements, there was no recorded case of 'dissent' between the duo at Nirvachan Sadan. The differences were rather «expressed verbally».

Indian farmers gaze at passing clouds to predict rains. Spin bowlers toss up blades of grass to detect whether they’re bowling into or against the wind. Conversations at autumn-end usually veer towards the approaching winter.

Congress leaders of Rajasthan, including former ministers Rajendra Yadav and Lal Chand Kataria, joined BJP on Sunday ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Former Congress MLAs Ricchpal Mirdha, Vijaypal Mirdha and Khiladi Bairwa, former independent MLA Alok Beniwal, former state Congress chief Seva Dal Suresh Chaudhary, Rampal Sharma and Riju Jhunjhunwala, among other leaders, also joined BJP, which recently came to power in Rajasthan. Alok Beniwal is the son of the former governor of Gujarat Kamla Beniwal. Rajasthan CM Bhajanlal Sharma, state BJP president CP Joshi and Union minister Bhupendra Yadav welcomed them into the party at their state headquarters in Jaipur. Addressing a gathering, Kataria said he joined BJP because the party understands the pain and suffering of farmers, the poor and the common man. It was CM Shama who worked to resolve the issue of the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project, he said.

Supreme Court is set to hear the SBI plea seeking an extension on providing details about electoral bonds on March 11. The largest commercial bank in India has requested the court to extend the deadline till June 30, which is after the Lok Sabha elections 2024. A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud is also expected to hear the contempt petitions with the case on Monday.

YSRCP's poll campaign from Andhra Pradesh's Bapatla district on Sunday, chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy asserted that the upcoming elections were «one versus all». At his fourth 'siddham (ready)' rally in Addanki, which is dominated by Kammas, YSRCP chief Reddy set a target for his party to win all 175 assembly seats. He asked: «Why not 175?» Incidentally, Reddy's main rival, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, hails from the Kamma community. The rally was organised a day after TDP stitched an alliance with BJP and Jan Sena for the Lok Sabha and assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was never part of any movement or struggle nor had it created anything of its own but only knows how to snatch from others, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray said on Sunday. He was addressing party workers in suburban Mumbai. «The BJP was not part of the freedom movement, the Sanyukta Maharashtra struggle or the Marathwada Mukti Sangram. It only knows to snatch. We will destroy BJP's 'chor bazar' in the elections. It has seen our friendship. Now BJP will see the heat of our 'mashaal' (poll symbol lighted torch),» he said. Thackeray asked Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation officials to not be part of the BJP's «corrupt activities». Thackeray reiterated that Amol Kirtikar will be his party's candidate for the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat.

Congress leaders including former ministers Rajendra Yadav and Lal Chand Kataria joined the BJP Sunday, days before the expected announcement of the Lok Sabha elections. Former Congress MLAs Ricchpal Mirdha, his son Vijaypal Mirdha and Khiladi Bairwa; former independent MLA Alok Beniwal, former state chief of Congress Seva Dal Suresh Chaudhary, Rampal Sharma and Riju Jhunjhunwala among other leaders also joined the state's ruling party. Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot hit out these leaders, saying «people are saying they have pressure from central agencies therefore they are leaving the Congress and joining the BJP». It is a second major jolt to the Congress within a few days as former minister Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya recently joined the BJP which fielded him from Basnwara in the LS elections.

Arvind Kejriwal urged the voters in Kurukshetra not to get trapped by promises and vote just to elect the Prime Minister but to elect an MP who would work for the people during difficult times. Arvind Kejriwal said, «Don't make a mistake this time. Don't get trapped to elect the Prime Minister; vote to elect your MPs. Elect an MP who works for you during tough times.» Referring to the farmers' agitation, he said that the farmers wanted to go to Delhi but they were stopped at the border.