Election Financial News

New Delhi: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday filed her nomination paper for a Rajya Sabha berth from Rajasthan. Accompanied by her children and top party leaders, Gandhi filed her nomination papers before the officials in Jaipur. With this, 77-year-old Gandhi opted out of contesting yet another election to retain her Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in UP which she represented five times in a row since 2004.

At least six major technology companies are planning to sign an agreement this week that would guide how they try to put a stop to the use of artificial intelligence tools to disrupt democratic elections

Two years after Thailand made pot legal, the country appears set to crack down on its freewheeling drug market with a ban on “recreational” use

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday reached Jaipur to file her nomination papers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls from Rajasthan. It will be the 77-year-old leader's first term in the Upper House after serving five terms as a Lok Sabha MP. Sonia Gandhi was accompanied by her son Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

Indian Express. This came a few days after the Supreme Court declared that Masih, the designated council member, must appear before the top court on February 19 and it would not permit the destruction of democracy. The BJP unveiled the updated list of office-bearers late on Sunday night.

Sonia Gandhi left her residence early on Wednesday morning for Rajasthan from where she set to file her nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections. Sonia Gandhi will file nomination papers from Rajasthan. This will be the 77-year-old leader's first term in the Upper House after serving five terms as a Lok Sabha MP.

PM Modi to inaugurate Swaminarayan sect’s BAPS temple in Abu Dhabi, UAE: Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate UAE's historic BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Abu Dhabi on February 14, marking a significant moment for the city's Hindu community. Public access begins March 1st. PM Modi to visit Doha, bilateral meeting with Emir of Qatar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday after concluding his visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said at a press conference on Monday.

White House has called for ensuring a transparent election process in Pakistan and said there is a need to respect the will of the Pakistani people. US President Joe Biden is aware of the elections in Pakistan, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference on Tuesday. «Obviously, the president is very much aware. Millions of Pakistanis turned out to vote last week, including record numbers of women, members of religious and ethnic minority groups, and young voters,» Jean-Pierre said.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Tuesday nominated its president Shehbaz Sharif as the prime ministerial candidate of Pakistan instead of the party supremo and three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif. Taking to X, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, 74, has nominated his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif, 72, a candidate for the slot of prime minister and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, 50, for chief minister of Punjab province.

Voting started in Indonesia on Wednesday with more than 200 million voters casting their ballots to elect a new president amid concerns regarding the cost of living and human rights, CNN reported. Indonesia aims to enter a new phase in politics after President Joko Widodo has completed his maximum term as president.

Republicans impeached US President Joe Biden's immigration chief on Tuesday, the culmination of months of attacks on the Democratic administration as they seek to make border security a key issue in November's election. Conservatives in the House of Representatives, which is narrowly controlled by Republicans, blame Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for a surge in illegal entries from Mexico that they have called a «humanitarian catastrophe.»

The Ford government is set to introduce automatic renewals for licence plates in Ontario as police report a surge in the number of drivers with expired credentials.

By Makini Brice

Congress leader Ashok Chavan on Tuesday joined BJP here in the presence of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule. While calling him a «coward», the Congress leadership also requested him to reconsider his decision. Chavan's exit on the eve of the Rajya Sabha polls has forced the leadership to burn the midnight oil to prevent a potential split in the party. Chavan is likely to be BJP's Rajya Sabha candidate. However, BJP has not revealed its cards yet, with Fadnavis claiming that the decision would be taken by the leadership in New Delhi. «One of the senior most leaders in the state has joined us and because of his entry, our grand alliance has been strengthened,» said Fadnavis at a press conference.

AAP on Tuesday declared that it is willing to cede only one of seven parliamentary seats in Delhi to Congress and announced candidates for two seats in Gujarat and one in Goa, pushing the opposition INDIA bloc to the brink of collapse. AAP said it wants to contest eight of the 26 seats in Gujarat and one of the two seats in Goa in alliance with its INDIA bloc partner Congress. The decision was taken at a meeting of AAP's political affairs committee, led by party convenor Arvind Kejriwal. Showing its displeasure over the long time being taken to hammer out seat-sharing arrangements in different states, AAP said it would be forced to declare candidates for six parliamentary seats in Delhi, leaving one for Congress. The party, however, did not clarify which seats it would contest in Delhi.

BJD) leaders Debasish Samantray and Subhasish Khuntia on Tuesday filed their nominations for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. The two BJD candidates filed their nominations before the Returning Officer here in the state assembly, in the presence of BJD President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Three Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha are set to be vacant in April following the completion of the terms of Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, and BJD MPs Prashant Nanda, and Amar Patnaik. Debasish Samantray thanked CM Patnaik for choosing him and said the state will always be the priority.

Political parties plan to spend ₹1,500-2,000 crore on ads across traditional and digital media platforms to lure voters during the high-stakes Lok Sabha elections, advertising executives told ET. About 55% of the political ad spending is likely to be allocated to digital media, with TV, print, outdoor and radio accounting for the remaining 45%. The Lok Sabha election is expected to be held between April and May. «We expect political ad spends to be ₹1,500-2,000 crore during the Lok Sabha elections,» GroupM South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar told ET. «We feel that political parties will spend close to 55% of the ad spend on digital and the remaining 45% on other mediums,» he added.

Jaya Bachchan, former chief secretary of UP, Alok Ranjan, and former MP and close aide of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ram ji Lal Suman, are the Samajwadi Party's nominations for UP for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls. The three candidates filed their nomination papers on Tuesday in Lucknow in the presence of Akhilesh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav and others. SP has 108 members in the assembly and can send three members to the RS, with ally Congress also having two MLAs.

GroupM predicts 10.2% growth in Indian advertising revenue to ₹1,55,386 crore in 2024, down from the 11.3% growth in 2023. In 2023, the ad market is projected to have expanded by 11.3% to ₹1,40,963 crore, which was lower than the previous year's predicted 15.5% growth and ad revenue of ₹1,46,450 crore. According to GroupM's 'This Year, Next Year' projections, growth would be driven mostly by Lok Sabha elections and cricket, with auto, real estate, retail, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) expected to fuel the advertising growth in 2024.

BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav on Tuesday filed his nomination for election to the post of Bihar assembly Speaker. Yadav filed his nomination papers in the presence of chief minister Nitish Kumar, deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha and other senior leaders. As per the deal, the Speaker will be from BJP and deputy Speaker from JDU.

Pralhad Joshi attempted to turn the tables on the Karnataka Congress regime on Tuesday, saying that if there was any inequality in funds distribution, CM Siddaramaiah himself was responsible for it. He was the chief minister back in 2016 when the Finance Commission assessed Karnataka, Joshi said, and it was his responsibility to present the state’s demands accurately. Slamming the Congress, Joshi added that the leaders were attacking the Centre with false allegations of inequality in funds devolution merely to cover up their own infighting. “[Chief minister] Siddaramaiah is an expert in lying…they are doing this drama in the background of the Lok Sabha elections to divert attention from the infighting between him and DK Shivakumar,” the MP from Dharwad said. Lok Sabha polls are months away and the Congress has been trying to corner the ruling BJP over fiscal inequality towards the states, with protests in the national capital as well as social media campaigns.