Election Financial News

BJP) has released its first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, and it has brought some surprises. While 34 ministers have been retained, several MPs and even ministers have been dropped to make way for new faces. Let's take a look at some of the factors that may have influenced these decisions.

fake job cards under the national rural job guarantee scheme and that “every scheme has been transformed into a scam” in Trinamool Congress’ “tolabaaz raj”. Speaking at a public rally in Krishnanagar, Modi also set BJP a target of winning all the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the upcoming elections. Countering Trinamool’s claim that the Centre has withheld funds for MGNREGA and other schemes, the Prime Minister alleged: “TMC have put their own sticker on every scheme. People of the country must know, every scheme has been transformed into a scam. They are masters of doing it.”

ANI. The BJP on Saturday announced 20 out of 42 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal. The candidates were announced in wake of PM Modi's mega development push in the TMC bastion.

Lok Sabha polls, the Overseas Friends of BJP in the US has kicked off its 2024 election campaign pledging to volunteer and contribute towards the goal of winning 400 seats in the elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday released its first list of 195 candidates out of which 51 are from Uttar Pradesh, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi.

195 candidates for the upcoming elections. The first list of 195 candidates featured high-profile names such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will again contest from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah who will be contesting from Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

Lok Sabha elections on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to run for the Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi once more, as per the first list. Among the 195 candidates, 34 individuals hold ministerial positions at both the Central and State levels.

high support for the Bharatiya Janata Party, rising partisanship in India’s politics, and a widespread rejection of free welfare benefits. The survey asked respondents to identify the current government’s biggest achievements.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar reviewed the preparations in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. After reviewing the preparedness for the forthcoming polls, Rajiv Kumar, addressed a press conference, where he said, that strict instructions have been given to the election officials to increase the voting percentage in Uttar Pradesh. «We have been reviewing here for three days, UP is the largest state in the state. Our endeavour is to provide the best election experience and be fair. All political parties should be given equal status so that there is no discrimination,» Rajiv Kumar said.

Trump continued his march toward the GOP nomination on Saturday, winning caucuses in Idaho and Missouri and sweeping the delegate haul at a party convention in Michigan. Trump earned every delegate at stake on Saturday, bringing his count to 244 compared to 24 for former U N Ambassador Nikki Haley. A candidate needs to secure 1,215 delegates to clinch the Republican nomination. The next event on the Republican calendar is Sunday in the District of Columbia. Two days later is Super Tuesday, when 16 states will hold primaries on what will be the largest day of voting of the year outside of the November election. Trump is on track to lock up the nomination days later.

Odisha, Arabinda Dhali resigned from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Saturday, ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha. Former state minister Dhali tendered his resignation to BJD Supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. «I tender my resignation on the dated 01.03.2024 from the primary membership of Biju Janata Dal.You're requested to kindly accept my resignation. This is for your information and necessary action,» he wrote in his resignation letter.

BJP) announced his candidature from the Jaunpur constituency, Uttar Pradesh, in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, Kripashankar Singh expressed his confidence in winning the seat. «It is my belief that Jaunpur will be included in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 400-paar slogan» Singh said, referring to PM Modi's clarion call to the BJP cadre to work for the NDA and get 400+ seats in the Lok Sabha elections. Taking a swipe at Congress, he said that while leadership is with the BJP, «dealership» is with Congress.

World Economic Forum says AI-driven misinformation could interfere with electoral processes in various countries, including India. Sam Gregory, executive director of Witness, a global human rights organisation, which uses video and technology to expose human rights abuses and has worked on the threats of AI and deepfakes, spoke to ET about AI related challenges and strategies in elections. Edited excerpts: Can you quantify the risk of deepfakes in elections? We are entering a challenging moment in terms of deepfakes. This year, we have made technical progress that makes it easier and cheaper to make them. We are going to have an election year where synthetic media tools will be used for positive purposes such as voter outreach, and for negative ones.

By James Oliphant and Gram Slattery

Lok Sabha polls on Saturday. In the list, the BJP announced its candidates for 11 Lok Sabha seats in Assam. Of them, six candidates are sitting MPs while the other five are new faces. The party has fielded Parimal Suklabaidhya from Silchar Lok Sabha constituency, won by Rajdeep Roy in the 2019 general elections. From the Autonomous District (ST) seat, currently held by BBJP MP Horen Singh Bey, party nominee Amar Singh Tisso will contest.

Donald Trump has won Missouri's Republican caucuses, one of three events Saturday that will award delegates for the GOP presidential nomination. The former president, who is especially strong in caucuses, was adding to his delegate lead in Republican caucuses in Missouri as well as at a party convention in Michigan. Idaho was scheduled to hold its caucuses later Saturday. Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, meanwhile, is still seeking her first win.

By Costas Pitas

By Nathan Layne

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA, the saffron party on Saturday confirmed. On February 7, ET had reported that the BJP is eyeing another INDIA bloc ally and is believed to have opened a channel with RLD. Taking to social media platform X, Union Minister Amit Shah welcomed RLD supremo Jayant Chaudhary to the NDA.

195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections here in the national capital on March 2. While at least 42 of the candidates who were elected to Parliament in 2019, have been replaced with new names, the party has also fielded at least ministers who are currently Rajya Sabha members. Among the big BJP ministers, who are Rajya Sabha members and will contest elections include Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya who will be contesting from Porbandar in Gujarat and junior IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who will contest from Thiruvananthapuram seat, which is held by the Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday sought to allay fears pertaining to the EVMs and asserted that political parties and candidates are informed about the specific EVM which has gone to a particular polling station. «Information is given in writing to the political parties, candidates and its agents about which EVM has gone to which specific polling centre. They are also informed about which EVM has gone for training,» Kumar told reporters here. He said that no warehouse can open without their permission and added there are no procedures, which can be done without the presence of the political parties.

Ravi Kishan by giving him Lok Sabha ticket from Gorakhpur constituency once again, a seat he has held since 2019 elections. Ravi Kishan won the crucial Gorakhpur seat, the bastion of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in 2019 by a margin of 3 lakh votes over Ram Bhuwal Nishad of Samajwadi Party (SP). BJP had lost that seat to SP in 2018 by-elections. While the Modi wave may have played a role in Hema Malini and Ravi Kishan's victories in the previous General Elections, the saffron party has further pushed this time too, it by fielding them from the same seats.