Election Financial News

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, and Bihar are likely to discuss seat sharing with the BJP's top leadership tomorrow. Meanwhile, four leaders from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and one from Congress joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday in the presence of party's General Secretary Tarun Chugh in New Delhi.

Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Tuesday a plea by six rebel Congress MLAs, who had cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh, against their disqualification. The Speaker of Himachal Pradesh Assembly, Kuldeep Singh Pathania, had disqualified the six on the Congress' plea for «defying» the party whip that required them to be present in the House and vote for the budget. A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta and Prashant Kumar Mishra will hear on March 12 the plea against the February 29 decision of the Speaker. The rebel lawmakers in their plea before the top court have made Pathania as well as state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harsh Vardhan Chauhan a party.

coalition of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party is set to finalise the federal cabinet soon with the PML-N deciding to request its prime supporter PPP to join the Cabinet, according to a media report on Sunday. A meeting chaired by the PML-N supremo and three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif and attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif besides other leaders decided that the PPP should be approached again with the request to join the federal cabinet. «Shehbaz Sharif told the meeting, which was held prior to the presidential election on Saturday, he would talk to Asif Ali Zardari after his election as the president,» The News International said on Sunday.

Himachal Pradesh news: Amid an ongoing rebellion within the Himachal Pradesh unit of Congress, the party's high command has formed a six-member committee for better coordination between the government and Congress organisation in the hill state. The committee formation came two days after 11 MLAs from Himachal Pradesh including six from Congress and three independents reached BJP-ruled Uttarakhand and vowed to remain in the neighbouring state until Supreme Court hears their disqualification plea.

ANI. Chautala, commenting on Singh's move to the Congress said, "For one year he was not able to take any decision and finally, he took it. This is his thinking.

Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday took oath as Pakistan's 14th President, a day after the veteran politician staged a remarkable comeback when he was overwhelmingly elected as the only civilian president of the coup-prone country for a second time. Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa administered the oath to the 68-year-old Zardari in a small yet formal ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the Presidential Palace. Zardari replaces Dr Arif Alvi, who stayed in office for five months after completing his five-year term in September 2023.

Arun Goel resigned as election commissioner, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday asked whether the Election Commission is working under pressure. «Just before the elections, whose pressure there is on the Election Commission which is a constitutional body,» Yadav told reporters here when asked about Goel's resignation. He also said that such a thing has happened several times in the BJP rule, when officials have had to leave their job due to pressure. «The resignation (of Arun Goel) raises questions that whose pressure is there on the Election Commission,» the former chief minister said.

Yusuf Pathan, the former Indian cricketer who played 57 ODIs and 22 T20Is for India between September 2007 and March 2012, has ventured into politics. He has been named as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate from West Bengal's Berhampore seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Pathan, 42, is expected to face Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a vocal critic of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, who has held the seat since 1999. Cricket to Politics: Pathan's Political Journey Hailing from Gujarat's Vadodara, Pathan is renowned for his cricketing career, particularly with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He joins a list of Indian cricketers who have transitioned into politics, including Gautam Gambhir, Kirti Azad, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Manoj Tiwary, Mohammed Azharuddin, and Chetan Chauhan, among others.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after Trinamool Congress announced his candidature from the Berhampore Lok Sabha seat for the upcoming polls. Yusuf Pathan said that it is the duty of the representatives of the people to uplift the deprived sections of society. «I'm eternally grateful to Mamata Banerjee for welcoming me into the TMC family and trusting me with the responsibility to become people's voice in the Parliament. As representatives of the people, it is our duty to uplift the poor and deprived, and that is what I hope to achieve,» Yusuf Pathan posted on X.

By David Randall

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Sunday said «we are not afraid of political challenges» and lashed out at the BJP for adopting unfair and undemocratic means to weaken the democratic process of the state. Addressing a public gathering in Solan after dedicating Rs 186 crore developmental projects to the people in the constituency, Sukhu said, «We are not afraid of political challenges. We will face every challenge with determination and will realise the vision of self-reliant Himachal by 2032.» He said that some well-known elements were using hard-earned money of the taxpayers and evil force to topple a democratically elected government, a statement issued here said. While the Himachal Pradesh government's focus was entirely on taking the state forward on the path of sustainable growth, the BJP centered itself in adopting unfair and undemocratic means to weaken the government, he added.

airport projects, entailing a total capital expenditure of Rs 9,800 crore and includes new terminal buildings at 12 airports such as Delhi, Lucknow Airport and Pune. «Earlier, during the election season, people made announcements. No one asked them about the status of these projects...Before elections, they would come and lay the foundation stone. Foundation stones used to get lost, so would the politicians,» Modi said. «You must not look at this matter from the lens of general elections...This is a journey for development, and by 2047, I aim to make India a developed country,» he added.

Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam on Sunday hit out at Rahul Gandhi and called him a «mad person,» claiming as long as he is in the party, Congress cannot be saved. «A mad person can say anything. A boy who has gone mad can say anything. No one should take seriously what a mad person or a child says,» Krishnam told reporters. Krishnam was ousted from the Congress for indiscipline in February. «In view of the complaints of indiscipline and repeated statements against the party, the Congress President has approved the proposal of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee to expel Pramod Krishnam from the party for six years with immediate effect,» the party had then said in a statement.

election commissioners are likely to be appointed by March 15 to fill the vacancies created by the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey and the surprise resignation of Arun Goel, sources said on Sunday. Days before the poll panel is expected to announce the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls, Goel resigned on Friday morning. His resignation was accepted by President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday and the Law Ministry issued a notification to announce it. This leaves Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar as the sole member of the poll authority. Pandey had demitted office on February 14 on attaining the age of 65 years.

Election Commissioner Arun Goel as «very surprising and shocking», days before the expected announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday demanded the Narendra Modi government to tell the reasons for his resignation. Goel resigned on Saturday, days before the expected announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) has announced its candidates for all 42 seats in West Bengal, with former Team India cricketer Yusuf Pathan set to contest from the Baharampur constituency, a Congress stronghold currently held by its Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. While the Congress is yet to announce its candidates, Chowdhury is expected to seek re-election from Baharampur, a seat he has won five times in the Lok Sabha. The TMC's announcement comes amidst the confirmation that there will be no formal alliance with non-BJP parties in the state.

By James Oliphant and Nandita Bose

ALSO READ: TMC candidate list for Lok Sabha polls 2024: Check full list The TMC on Sunday announced 42 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Former Indian cricketer Yusuf Pathan has been fielded from Behrampore. He will be pitted against Congress heavyweight Adhir Chowdhury.

Trinamool Congress has dropped MP Nussrat Jahan from contesting the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat amid the Sandeshkhali row. The party has fielded Nurul Islam in place of Nusrat Jahan. Mamata Banerjee-led TMC today announced a total of 42 candidates from West Bengal for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Lok Sabha polls and whether what he stands for is for the good of the people of the country would be the subject matter of the elections, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said on Sunday. In a video interview with PTI, Sibal also said the opposition INDIA bloc needs to come out with a joint vision document which entails what key issues are there before the country which need to be addressed. Asserting that no election is a done deal, Sibal quipped, «I don't know whether picture baki hai ki nahi lekin jo picture chal rahi hai woh desh ke liye theek nahi hai (I don't know whether or not there is more to the film but the one that is playing is not good for the country).» Asked about the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) losing its way with JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar crossing over to the NDA and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee saying her party will go solo in the polls, Sibal said negotiations with Banerjee were still on and that was not an issue.

Akhilesh Yadav's statement regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming the party is going to win again and the "hooliganism" of the Samajwadi Party is going to lose again. Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya warned the Samajwadi Party (SP) chief in a post on social media platform 'X' «SP chief Shri Akhilesh Yadav ji should keep in mind that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji is the most popular leader not only in India but in the world,» Maurya said in his post. «The BJP won the 2014/2017/2019 and 2022 elections (Lok Sabha-Vidhan Sabha) and is going to win 2024 also. The SP's hooliganism is going to lose again. India will not tolerate Modi ji's insult,» he said.