Election Financial News

Election Commission of India (ECI) will set up special polling stations in relief camps to enable voters displaced by the ethnic violence in Manipur to cast their votes in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Election officials said that the ECI made this decision after consultation with the Central and state governments. “As per past precedent of similar nature, internally displaced electors shall be provided with the facility to vote at special polling stations to be set up in relief camps,” an ECI statement said.

Scindia who lost the Guna seat in Madhya Pradesh back in 2019 has been granted another chance by the BJP as his name was listed in the first list of the party for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. In a significant shift from its historical loyalty, the Guna Lok Sabha seat, which has been traditionally represented by the Scindias since 1957, saw Jyotiraditya Scindia being defeated by BJP's KP Yadav in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. This loss had a profound impact on Scindia, as it marked a departure from the long-standing support of the people of Guna towards the Scindia family. Speaking on being given a chance to contest for BJP from Guna, the Minister said «It is a great privilege for me that the top leadership of @BJP4India has given me the opportunity to serve the sisters and brothers of Guna. For this trust, I heartily thank the Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji, Home Minister Shri @AmitShah ji and National President Shri @JPNadda ji. I hope and believe that my God-like people of Guna will give me their blessings. I will do my best to live up to their expectations in every way. Once again Modi government!»

BJP Candidate List 2024: Stepping into the Lok Sabha elections 2024 with a target to win 370 seats, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday released the first list of its candidates on Saturday. BJP announced its candidates on 195 seats across 16 states. While most of the candidates were along the expected lines, there were some notable exclusions from the first list.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday released the first list of candidates for the upcoming General Elections, hinting at the party's readiness for the big polls. The BJP, as anticipated, unveiled its initial roster of candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, comprising more than 195 names. Notable figures such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and 34 Union Ministers and Minister of States feature prominently in this list. It also includes the name of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla along with two former Chief Ministers. PM Modi will contest from his stronghold, Varanasi, and Union Minister Amit Shah will fight from Gandhinagar, said party's general secretary Vinod Tawde. Ravi Kishan and Smriti Irani have been fielded from Gorakhpur and Amethi respectively, again.

Lok Sabha polls which mentioned top leaders of the saffron party such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and others. Announcing the list, BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde said the party is confident that it would form the government for the third term under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a much bigger mandate. Here are BJP's top contenders and their seats from the first list:

BJP candidate list 2024: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to fight the Lok Sabha elections 2024 from the Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, the seat he currently represents in the Lower House of the Parliament. The announcement came as part of Bhartiya Janata Party's first list of 195 candidates, which was released on Saturday. This is the third time PM Modi is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi.

defamation case against Rahul Gandhi over his alleged objectionable remarks targeting Home Minister Amit Shah was postponed to March 13 after the Congress leader's counsel sought more time saying he was busy with the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Gandhi had appeared in the special MP-MLA court on February 20 and was granted bail. The court had then fixed March 2 for the next hearing. But on Saturday his lawyer Kashi Prasad Shukla sought more time from the court. «I have got information that Rahul Gandhi is busy in Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Hence, I submitted an application in the court, on which the court has fixed the next hearing for March 13,» Shukla said.

liar number one, Congress rebel Rajinder Rana on Saturday said that «neither Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh had told Sukhu that he is meeting the Congress rebels at Panchkula nor he had sent him.» In an exclusive interview with PTI, Rana said the chief minister was trying to twist the facts and Vikramaditya Singh, who met them on his way to Delhi, did not ask them to come back or patch up. He has his own grievances with the government which failed to provide land for installing former chief minister Virbhadra Singh's statue and interfered in his functioning. Sukhu had on Friday said that Singh had told him that some Congress rebels had approached him and they wished to come back, following which he told the PWD minister to talk to the rebels MLAs and the Congress' central leadership. In a setback for the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP on Tuesday won the state's lone Rajya Sabha seat despite being in minority with just 25 MLAs against 40 of the Congress as nine MLAs, including six from the Congress and three independents, voted for BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan.

Trinamool Congress on Saturday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's criticisms on corruption «sound hollow» as he shared the stage with leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari who is an accused in the Narada case. Senior TMC leader Shashi Panja, who is the state's Women and Child Development Minister, also claimed that the PM visits West Bengal only before elections. «Bengal gets to see the PM only when elections are around the corner. He came in 2021 and he is again coming back before the ensuing general elections,» Panja told PTI-Video. Responding to the prime minister's attack on the TMC over allegations of corruption, Panja said, «May we ask why he shared the stage with Narada-tainted BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari?»

requested BJP President JP Nadda to relieve him of his political duties so that he can focus on his upcoming cricket commitments. In a tweet on X, Gautam Gambhir said, “I have requested Hon'ble party president JP Nadda ji to relieve me of my political duties so that I can focus on my upcoming cricket commitments. I sincerely thank Hon'ble PM Narendra Modi ji and Home Minister Amit Shah ji for giving me the opportunity to serve the people.

medical emergencies, but as India gears up for the Lok Sabha polls, health remains conspicuously absent from the election discourse, feel experts. Not only are most parties seemingly uninterested in prioritising commitments on health in their poll agenda, even the voter on the street appears to be unaware of healthcare rights, the public health experts say. The result is that election after election, medical infrastructure and services leave a lot to be desired. «Public health issues have traditionally not been a prominent poll agenda in India due to various factors. The most vocal sections of society 'the educated middle class' often do not access public health services, instead preferring the private sector. Hence, demands to improve government health services are not raised strongly,» Dr Abhay Shukla, national co-convenor of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, told PTI.

Election Commission of India on Saturday directed all the district magistrates and superintendents of police to take strong action against officials, who are indulging in favouritism. The poll body's move comes in a bid to ensure «temptation free (prahlohan-mukt)» Lok Sabha elections and provide a level-playing field to all the political parties. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that directions have been issued to all the DMs and SPs to ensure level playing field for all the political parties, and to take strong action against those officials indulging in favouritism.

AAP on Saturday accused the BJP of fielding candidates without considering their eligibility or commitment to work for the people, citing the saffron party's East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir's request to relieve him of political duties. Gambhir, the BJP's Lok Sabha MP from East Delhi, has requested party chief JP Nadda to relieve him of his political duties so that he can focus on his upcoming cricket commitments. Addressing a press conference with Kuldeep Kumar — the AAP's candidate from East Delhi for the Lok Sabha polls — senior party leader Atishi claimed that Gambhir's request «revealed» that the BJP was not fielding him in this year's elections. Atishi, a Delhi minister, alleged that Gambhir did nothing in his East Delhi constituency during his five-year term.

visa rules and immigration policy and more measures are to be proposed and introduced throughout 2024 - being an election year. “Last year, net migration reached a record total of 745,000 which many British people feel is too high," Yash Dubal, director and a senior immigration associate of A Y &J Solicitors, said and further pointed out that the immigration issue is likely to be an ‘election pitch’.

Imran Khan's party on Saturday named the Pashtun-khwa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai as their presidential candidate against Asif Ali Zardari, the joint nominee of the PML-N and the PPP. Achakzai, 75, was nominated for the post against the Pakistan Peoples Party's senior leader and former president Asif Ali Zardari, Geo News reported. Zardari, 68, is a joint candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other political parties part of the coalition set to form a government in the Centre.

Nifty 50 vs GDP of India: The key benchmark indices of the Indian stock market surged to a new high after India's Q3 GDP growth saw an impressive growth rate of 8.4% driven by robust manufacturing, highlighting the inherent strength and potential of our economy. However, the domestic equities got some support from the US Fed rate cut buzz as well after the easing of US inflation data that triggered profit booking in the currency market and the US dollar index came below the 104 level. According to stock market experts, Nifty 50 or Sensex or any other index of the Indian stock market grows two to two and a half times the GDP growth registered by the national economy.

Senators across party lines are engaged in a heated exchange regarding Imran Khan’s correspondence with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) tying the release of the next bailout package tranche to an ‘audit’ of the February 8 elections, as per Dawn’s report.

2024 Lok Sabha elections Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Rajasthan unit president CP Joshi has announced the formation of a new state team, bringing about significant changes. Late on Friday night, the list of new state officials of the party was released. It includes 10 state vice-presidents, 5 state secretaries, 13 state ministers, one treasurer, and one assistant treasurer. MLA Baba Balak Nath and recently elected Rajya Sabha MP Chunnilal Garasia have been appointed as state vice-presidents of Alwar and Udaipur respectively.

Paytm, announced on Monday that founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma has resigned from the board of Paytm Payments Bank. “The Company has been separately informed that Vijay Shekhar Sharma has also resigned from the Board of Paytm Payments Bank to enable this transition. PPBL has informed us that they will commence the process of appointing a new Chairman," the company said in an exchange filing.

Fitch, a credit rating agency, expects the US government deficit to improve slightly in 2024, narrowing to 8 per cent of GDP from 8.8 per cent in 2023. This forecast is based on anticipated factors including rising government revenue, reduced spending compared to 2023, and the absence of a repeat of the large one-off spending on deposit insurance seen in 2023. "The interest burden, however, will continue to grow given the higher debt burden and impact of higher rates," Fitch added.

Yuvraj Singh has refuted media reports of him contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Punjab's Gurdaspur constituency and said that he would continue helping people through his 'You We Can' foundation. Taking to his social media handle, the former India all-rounder posted on X, «Contrary to media reports, I'm not contesting elections from Gurdaspur. My passion lies in supporting and helping people in various capacities, and I will continue to do so through my foundation, 'YouWeCan'. Let's continue making a difference together to the best of our abilities.» This comes after Yuvraj's name emerged in the media as a potential contender for a BJP ticket from Punjab's Gurdaspur constituency. The two-time World Cup winner, however, denied such claims and said that he would continue to make a difference through his foundation.