All posts tagged: General Elections 2024

Former Congress leader Nirupam joins Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena

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Former MP Sanjay Nirupam, along with his wife Geeta and daughter Shivani, joined the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde. File photo | Photo Credit: PRASHANT WAYDANDE Having been expelled from Congress last month for “anti-party activities”, former MP Sanjay Nirupam, along with his wife Geeta and daughter Shivani, joined the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, in Thane on Friday. For the 59-year-old leader, this move symbolises a full-circle return to his political roots, rejoining his ‘alma mater’ Shiv Sena nearly two decades after leaving the party that served as his political launchpad in the country’s financial capital. “After 20 years, rejoining Shiv Sena feels like a ‘ghar wapasi’ (homecoming)… You are well aware of the current situation within the Congress,” Mr. Nirupam said. His political journey began in 2005 when he joined Congress and subsequently served as the general secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. He clinched victory in the Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat during the 2009 elections, narrowly defeating BJP veteran Ram Naik in a …

SC says it is ‘inclined to consider interim bail’ for Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

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A Supreme Court Bench said it is inclined to consider interim bail for Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal citing the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma A Supreme Court Bench on May 3, 2024, said it is inclined to consider interim bail for Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal citing the upcoming Lok Sabha election. The bench was hearing a plea moved by the Delhi Chief Minister challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case stemming from the alleged Delhi Excise policy scam. Arvind Kejriwal arrest LIVE updates A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta earlier said that the ED would have to justify the timing of the Chief Minister’s arrest on March 21, barely a week after the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha election came into force. While hearing the case, Justice Sanjiv Khanna said the apex court will consider of question of interim bail to the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal because of the …

Ghulam Nabi Azad welcomes EC’s decision to postpone polls in Anantnag-Rajouri constituency

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Democratic Progressive Azad Party chairperson Ghulam Nabi Azad welcomed the EC’s decision to postpone polls in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency. File photp | Photo Credit: ANI Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chairperson Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday welcomed the Election Commission’s decision to postpone polls in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency and said this has relieved several political parties. Azad emphasized the importance of the assembly elections over parliamentary elections stating it is very important to have a legislative assembly and legislators put in place through polls. “It is never too late. The decision of the Election Commission of India has relieved us. I thank the ECI for taking this right decision. All political parties will benefit from the decision. Actually, all parties are happy,” he told reporters here. Azad, who is on campaign trial in Rajouri for his party’s candidate Mohammad Saleem pitted in triangular contest with PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti and NC’s Mian Altaf on Anantnag-Rajouri seat, pointed out that the Election Commission should have scheduled polling in this constituency for the sixth or seventh phase. He …

Kula Vyatireka Porata Samithi condemns BJP’s statement on reservation for Muslim minorities

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Members of the Kula Vyatireka Porata Samithi (KVPS) strongly condemned Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) was opposed to providing reservations for Muslim minorities. In a statement released on Wednesday, KVPS State General Secretary A. Malyadri cautioned that once reservations have been lifted for one certain minority community, the government would withdraw reservations for other communities such as Dalits, Adivasis, women and physically challenged persons. Mr. Malyadri demanded that leaders of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Jana Sena Party (JSP), who are part of the NDA alliance, should clear their stand on the issue. Their silence would be considered their agreement with the BJP on the issue, he said, while warning that any attempt to phase out reservations would incur the wrath of the people across the State. Mr. Malyadri further said that to protect and safeguard the interests of minority sections, people should vote for the INDIA bloc, comprising the Congress and the Left Parties in Andhra Pradesh. Source link

Little correlation between higher temperatures and lower turnout: Data

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Unwavered by heat: An elderly woman walks with the aid of a stick as she arrives to cast her vote in Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT So far, 189 out of 543 constituencies have voted in two phases in the Lok Sabha elections. We do not have the overall turnouts in phase 1 and phase 2 as the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not provided updated figures or electors’ information for all the seats that went to the polls in these two phases. But the ECI has provided seat-by-seat voter turnout data. The numbers suggest that turnout has fallen somewhat in both phases compared to the 2019 elections. Overall, voter participation or the turnout rate increased or stayed the same in only 32 of these 189 seats compared to the 2019 elections; the rest have seen a decrease in turnout. In the 2014 elections, 60 seats saw an increased turnout and 129 saw a decreased turnout (Table 1). Table 1 | The table shows the temperatures and turnouts in seats …

BJP threatening Paharis to vote for J&K Apni Party, says PDP

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PDP filed a complaint alleging that BJP leaders were threatening Paharis to vote for Altaf Bukhari’s J&K Apni Party. File photo | Photo Credit: NISSAR AHMAD The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday filed a written complaint with the Returning Officer (RO), Anantnag, and alleged that BJP leaders were “threatening Paharis in the Rajouri-Poonch belt to vote for Altaf Bukhari’s J&K Apni Party”. “Our party has lodged a written complaint with the RO, Anantnag, against criminal intimidation by BJP leaders in Rajouri and Poonch, asking them to vote for Apni Party or face consequences like that of 1947,” a PDP spokesman said. Hundreds of tribals faced migration and hundreds of them died in rioting in 1947 in Rajouri-Poonch belt.  Earlier, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who is contesting from the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat, shared a video, purportedly of a BJP leader addressing a group of Paharis in Rajouri-Poonch belt. The unknown BJP leader warns of consequences if Paharis vote for the National Conference (NC) or PDP in the upcoming polls. “Is this why BJP wants to defer the …

Anurag Thakur’s comments reflect arrogant mentality: Asaduddin Owaisi

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AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. File | Photo Credit: PTI MP from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi criticised Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Sports and Youth Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur for his Aurangzeb remark and termed it as “upper caste arrogance”. While speaking at a public meeting at Jhirra in Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency on Saturday, Mr. Owaisi described upper castes as Aryans, and descendants of Iranians who trace their origin to the steppes of present-day Russia. Also read | Congress accuses Anurag Thakur of violating Model Code of Conduct, seeks EC action The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president said that the country belongs to Dalits and Adivasis. “The first who came to this country were Adivasis, then Dravidians. Upper castes are Aryans who came from Iran and the steppes of today’s Russia. Where have you come from?” he said, adding that the BJP candidate would lose his deposit. Source link

LS Poll Phase 2: Another dip, 64% | Turnout sluggish in Maharashtra, Bihar, UP; voting ends in Kerala & Rajasthan | Elections News

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THE SECOND phase of the Lok Sabha elections concluded Friday, with the voter turnout data for 88 constituencies until 10 pm showing a dip — just like in the first phase — as compared to the 2019 elections. According to the Election Commission, provisional turnout was recorded at 64.2%, which was expected to rise, albeit marginally, as electors were still lined up to cast their votes in parts of Rajasthan, West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra close to 6 pm. Those who queue up until the last minute before the official polling hours are over are allowed to cast their votes even beyond the polling hours. In 2019, the turnout in 85 of the 88 seats that went to polls on Friday was 69.64%. Voting comparison for five seats of Assam has rendered difficult since seat boundaries have changed after delimitation last year. During the first phase of voting for 102 seats on April 19, the provisional turnout stood at roughly 63% by the end of day and the final figure, the day after, was …

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Voting Live Updates: Polling kicks off soon for 89 seats across 13 states | India News

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Officials carry EVMs ahead of Friday’s voting for the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections. In the battleground state of Bihar, the second phase of polling on Friday will see five constituencies go to the polls, including three from the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal region. Of the constituencies of Purnia, Kishanganj, and Katihar in Seemanchal and the nearby ones of Banka and Bhagalpur, the Janata Dal (United) currently holds four. Only Kishanganj is represented by the Congress. The fourth constituency in Seemanchal, Araria, will go to polls in the third phase on May 7. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to address a rally in Araria’s Forbesganj on Friday, there is a likelihood of its impact in the remaining constituencies. As three constituencies of West Bengal vote on Friday in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections, the school jobs “scam” is back in the spotlight following the Calcutta High Court’s order on Monday cancelling the appointment of over 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff of government schools in the state. Among the three seats — Darjeeling, …