MUMBAI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of inciting people and dividing society through his election speeches. Kharge was addressing a press conference of the INDIA bloc, where NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and other leaders were present. The opposition alliance held an election rally in the city on Friday. No prime minister before Modi has ever indulged in inciting people like he has been doing. He

BHUBANESWAR/CUTTACK: A double-engine government by BJP is crucial for acceleration of development in Odisha, said Bollywood's dream girl and BJP leader Hema Malini on Friday. The star campaigner of BJP in her first election campaign in the state targeted the BJD government accusing it of failing to secure Odisha's progress on many fronts. Hema, who attended BJP's Ashirvad Samabesh at Salia Sahi, the state capital's biggest slum, to canvass for party's Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha candidate Aparajita Sa

CUTTACK: The Railway Board has sanctioned a final location survey for a new line between Angul and Nayagarh Town via Narasinghpur, Kantilo and Khandapada and a chord line between Khurda Town and Kaipadar Road. Addressing a Vijay Sankalp Samabesh at Sri Ram Bazaar in Narasinghpur, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw showed the sanction order and said the new line is poised to bring significant economic and infrastructural benefits to the region, enhancing connectivity and fostering growth. The Rail

CHENNAI: DMK President and Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of picking up a cheap strategy of stoking confrontation between states as his propaganda of communal hatred did not help. Stalin slammed what he called Modi's imaginary tales and bags of lies by alleging that leaders of southern states including Tamil Nadu (INDIA bloc constituents) were speaking in a derogatory manner, against the people of Uttar Pradesh. Days ago, PM Modi had alleged in a poll

BHUBANESWAR: As campaign has reached a peak ahead of the second phase elections in Odisha on May 20, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday came down heavily on the Union ministers, CMs from other states and others leaders for resorting to what he termed derogatory and abusive language in their campaign meetings and rallies. With the Opposition, particularly the BJP pressing all its might in the state to win the polls by bringing in top ministers, its CMs and top leaders, the chief minister sai

SAMBALPUR/ANGUL: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday visited Sambalpur, Angul and Dhenkanal districts urging people to exercise their franchise in favour of BJD candidates from the areas during the polls. In Sambalpur, the chief minister, bolstering his support for BJD organisational secretary and MP candidate from Sambalpur seat Pranab Prakash Das along with MLA candidates from Sambalpur and Rengali, Rohit Pujari and Sudarshan Haripal, appealed to the people to vote for Jodi Sankha. Address

NEW DELHI: Congress leader and partys candidate for the Lok Sabha elections from the Northeast Delhi constituency, Kanhaiya Kumar, was slapped by some unidentified people while he was campaigning in his constituency on Friday. According to the police, apart from Kanhaiya, an AAP councillor named Chhaya Sharma was also assaulted in the incident. Sharing details, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Joy Tirkey said information regarding the incident was received at 6.53 pm, the caller stating

BHUBANESWAR: A day after ordering deployment of 20 companies of CAPF in Ganjam in view of pre-poll violence in Khallikote, chief electoral officer (CEO) Nikunja Bihari Dhal on Friday held talks with political parties seeking their cooperation in ensuring peaceful voting in the next three phases of elections. During the meeting, attended by leaders of major political parties, the CEO reiterated there is no place for violence in democracy and no law and order situation will be tolerated during the

ROURKELA: Union Home Minister Amit Shah once again launched a scathing attack on the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government, dubbing it the Jhola Sarkar over issues related to the Public Distribution System (PDS) rice scheme. Addressing a massive election rally in Rourkela, Shah sought votes for BJPs Sundargarh Lok Sabha candidate Jual Oram and the partys Assembly candidates for Rourkela, RN Pali, and Birmitrapur. Shah questioned the competence of the BJD government, raising concerns about the admini

HYDERABAD: Though there is still over a fortnight left for the votes cast for the Lok Sabha elections to be counted, supporters of some candidates in Telangana are expressing confidence that their leaders would not only win, but also bag a berth in the Union Cabinet. With votes in four of the seven phases of elections now cast, both the NDA and INDIA blocs are claiming that they are ahead and would form the government at the Centre. In the state, candidates fielded by the Congress and BJP are co

A distance of 335 km between two places can change many things. Two different geographies could mean different lives, livelihood, dialects, climate, cultural practices, food and a lot more. But, between Hinjili and Kantabanji, there are dissimilarities and equally, a common ground. Hinjili, for all the attention it garnered over the last two decades and a half, is like a reluctant celebrity. A quaint little semi-urban place, it has grown over the years into a municipal area with modern amenities

HYDERABAD: With the Telangana phase of the Lok Sabha elections ending, a swarm of Congress leaders from the state have landed in Uttar Pradeshs Rae Bareli to campaign for former AICC president Rahul Gandhi. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is also planning to campaign for Rahul in Rae Bareli. Minister for Panchayat Raj, Women and Child Welfare Danasari Anasuya, alias Seethakka, confirmed that she was in Rae Bareli campaigning. She said that the Congress leaders are campaigning with the slogan Ab K

RANCHI: For the first time in Hazaribagh Lok Sabha seat, two candidates of backward caste (OBC) have locked horns against each other making the contest interesting besides making it unpredictable also. Hazaribagh LS seat, a BJP stronghold with former Union Ministers Yashwant Sinha and his son Jayant Sinha winning the seat on BJP ticket for the last three terms, has become difficult for the party this time as the contest is primarily between the two backward (OBC) candidates Hazaribagh (Sadar) M

PATNA: The five Bihar seats going to polls in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls on May 20 will witness new candidates on four seats, and a turncoat trying his luck from the remaining one. In Hajipur (SC) and Saran, RJD chief Lalu Prasads daughter Rohini Acharya and Ram Vilas Paswans son Chirag Paswan face the challenges of protecting their fathers pocket boroughs, respectively. Altogether 80 candidates, including 35 Independents, are in the fray, with three contestants being doctors. In high-pr

SRINAGAR: After Srinagar recorded highest voter turnout of 37.99% in three decades, all eyes are now on the poll percentage on two other Valley seats and it remains to be seen whether the voter turnout crosses the 50% mark in any of the two or both parliamentary seats. The poll enthusiasm has returned to the Valley after over three decades of militancy. The political parties and candidates are holding poll rallies, roadshows and corner meetings in Baramulla parliamentary seat in north Kashmir, w

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally of the opposition INDIA bloc in Mumbai which was also addressed by NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Thackeray said on June 4, when Lok Sabha election results will be declared, Modi will be out as PM. On June 4 there will be de-Modiisation of India. This is the first election where PM Narendra Modi is not finding direction

LUCKNOW: The political heartland of India will witness voting on 14 seats, including a couple of high-profile constituencies and fate of five Union ministers, in the fifth phase on May 20. The 14 seats comprise not only Congress citadels Rae Bareli and Amethi but also Ayodhya, the nerve centre of BJPs Hindutva plank. In fact, this phase will decide the tone and tenor of the sixth and seventh rounds, which will be concentrated across 27 seats of Purvanchal. Moreover, four constituencies of Bund

AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal claims that the INDIA bloc will win 300 seats and form the government after June 4. He tells Preetha Nair that all the constitutional bodies have been compromised under the BJP government and also accuses the Election Commission of being biased against Opposition parties. Excerpts: After the four phases, the INDIA alliance has been exuding confidence that the tide is in your favour. What is your assessment? We are confident that the INDIA allia

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh, the political heartland of India, will witness voting in 14 seats in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20, with the fate of five Union ministers at stake. The 14 seats which will vote in the upcoming phase comprise not only the Congress citadels of Rae Bareli and Amethi but also Ayodhya, the nerve centre of the BJPs Hindutva plank. In fact, the fifth phase will decide the tone and tenor of the remaining sixth and seventh phases of the ensuing election whic

LUCKNOW: Claiming that the opposition alliance, especially the Congress, had the intention of reversing the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram temple, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that if they come to power they would get the temple bulldozed. Addressing a poll rally in Zaidpur in Barabanki on Friday, PM Modi advised the INDIA bloc to learn from CM Yogi Adityanath where to run bulldozers. A senior SP leader had said on Ram Navami that the Ram temple is useless. At the same time, the Congress

ANANTAPUR: Videos of police personnel destroying CCTV cameras and furniture at the residence of YSRC party's Tadipatri MLA Ketireddy Pedda Reddy has surfaced on Friday, creating a fresh row as a sequel to the election-related violence in Andhra Pradesh. As soon as the videos emerged, the YSRC held the police responsible for the post-poll violence that erupted in the politically sensitive Tadipatri. The videos were dated May 15, two days after the state went to polls on May 13. According to polic

India's fiscal policy seems to have the virtues of both a Swabian housewife and the Japanese Mrs Watanabe. If the government's fiscal prudence, even in the face of a once-in-a-century pandemic, is symptomatic of Southern Germany's Swabian housewives known for their pragmatic ways of handling money, the decisive increase in capital expenditure over the past five years illustrates the financial acuity of Mrs Watanabe -- an archetypal housewife, who raked in substantial profits from currency tradin

RAEBARELI: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said on Friday that she is giving her son to the people of Rae Bareli and Rahul will not disappoint you. She also thanked the people for giving her an opportunity to serve them as an MP for 20 years. My everything is all given by you. So, brothers and sisters, I am giving you my son. You consider me yours, she said. Striking an emotional chord with the voters, Sonia asked the people to consider Rahul Gandhi too as their own. Rahul for Rae Bareli in Gandhi

HAMIRPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the SP and the Congress will use people's votes to come to power and then gift a part of their property to those who carry out vote jihad for them. Addressing a rally here, Modi cautioned people against the intentions of the two opposition allies in Uttar Pradesh. Today I have come to caution you against the SP and the Congress. They take your vote, but after coming to power, they will distribute these gifts to those who do vote jihad fo

LS polls: Lord Ram on my side, says SP candidate in Ayodhya fight

'Dictatorship' going on in country is unacceptable: Kejriwal

PM must explain why his govt scrapped Backward Region Grant Fund: Cong

LUCKNOW: Addressing the media ahead of a press meet in Lucknow on Thursday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reiterated that if the BJP won the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Yogi Adityanath would be removed from the post of UP CM within two months. He claimed this would be done to pave the way for Amit Shahs coronation to replace PM Narendra Modi once he turned 75 on September 17, 2025, bidding adieu to active politics as per a norm in the BJP that he himself had set in 2014. They (BJP and Modi) hav

PATNA: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad is leaving nothing to chance to brighten the prospects of his daughter Rohini Acharya contesting Lok Sabha polls from the high-profile Saran constituency. Saran will go to the polls in the fifth phase on May 20. Lalu, who is arguably one of the countrys best political survivors battling fodder scam cases and lately his kidney ailment, is truly once again in his element as he is camping in Chhapra, the district headquarters, despite hot and humi

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India on Thursday put the cumulative turnout in the four phases of Lok Sabha elections at 66.95%. The poll panel in a statement said that the updated voter turnout in the fourth phase on May 13 was 69.16%, which was 3.65% higher than the corresponding phase in the 2019 general elections. This is the only phase where the turnout graph went up. In the third phase, the updated turnout was 65.68%, about 3% lower than 2019s data of 68.40%. Likewise, the second ph

VIJAYAWADA: The rise in participation of women in the polling process is driven by the YSRC prioritising their welfare across social and economic domains, said party Vijayawada president and Central MLA Malladi Vishnu. Appreciating women for participating in the polling process in large numbers, he noted that the significant role played by women will bring the party back to power. He asserted that women waiting in queues till late hours to exercise their franchise underscored their strong suppor

NEW DELHI: Social media ads, posts on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly Twitter), videos and podcasts on YouTube, and messages and memes on WhatsAppits a digital age, and so is election campaigning. But what remains unchanged is the tradition of releasing manifestos and debates, and the politics around it. However, according to experts, a close look at recent manifestoes suggests a shift towards more leader-centric campaigns over party-centric ones. Animesh Mishra, a doctorate candidate studyi

VIJAYAWADA: Exuding confidence that the YSRC will win more seats than it did in 2019, party president and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday said the entire country will look at Andhra Pradesh because of YSRCs landslide victory. During his meeting with the representatives of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), he dismissed Prashant Kishors prediction that the YSRC will lose big this time and quipped, The numbers would be far greater than what Prashant could have ever dreamt o

CUTTACK (PANCHAPADA): Deprived of government benefits, over 850 tribal voters of Panchapada-Dholakatha, Nuakua, Behenta Sahi, Dahani Gadi and Pitha Khia under Banki Assembly segment have threatened to boycott the elections. At least 340 tribal families, including 85 in Dholakatha, 18 in Nuakua, 55 in Behenta Sahi, 90 in Dahani Gadi and 92 in Pitha Khia reside in the five villages which is collectively called Panchapada situated in a 7-km radius within the jurisdiction of the Chandaka-Dampara wil

BHUBANESWAR: Fourty-four percent of the candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls in the third phase in Odisha are crorepatis and 28 percent of them have criminal records. The average assets per candidate in the round is Rs 11.8 crore. Simultaneous Assembly and General Elections will be held in six Parliamentary constituencies and 42 Assembly segments in the third phase on May 25. A total of 64 candidates, including nine women, are in the fray from Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Puri

NEW DELHI: Once considered a bastion of the affluent, represented by popular leaders like Madan Lal Khurana and Sushma Swaraj, South Delhi transformed the 2008 delimitation exercise. Affluent colonies such as Greater Kailash, Hauz Khas, and RK Puram were redefined, leaving behind a constituency marked by urban villages and slums. Today, the constituencys voting segments predominantly comprise urban villages, slums and resettlement colonies, setting the stage for intense caste politics in the nat

NEW DELHI: In 2011, Ramlila ground saw a watershed moment in Indias polity which led to the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party and the decline of Congress. A decade later, in a turn of events, the same spot will witness a poll solidarity between two top leaders of both parties. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be sharing a stage with foe-turned-friend AAPs supremo, Arvind Kejriwal, at Ramlila Maidan in an election campaign to seek votes for its candidates. The event is scheduled for Saturday at 5 pm.

LUCKNOW: In a whirlwind election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a blistering attack on the Opposition bloc on multiple issues, ranging from appeasement politics, pseudo-secularism, dynastic politics, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and vote jihad, while addressing four poll rallies in Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Bhadohi, and Pratapgarh in UP on Thursday. Unleashing a blistering attack on the opposition alliance in Bhadohi, the carpet hub of UP, the PM accused the INDI Alliance partn

RAE BARELI: It is 12:45 pm and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadras nukkad sabha at Rae Barelis Chaudah roundabout is already running behind schedule. However, the swelling crowd is unmindful of the harsh sun and patiently waits for the leader. As Priyanka Gandhis car makes its way through the crowd, posters with Rahul for Rae Bareli written on them go up in the air amid slogans. On the stage, Priyanka speaks about how the Nehru-Gandhi family nurtured Rae Bareli for decades and the failure of

SRINAGAR: Amid the ongoing agitation over statehood and 6th Schedule status, there is a triangular contest between BJP, Congress and an independent candidate for the Lok Sabha seat in the cold desert of Ladakh that votes in the 5th phase on May 20. Only three candidates BJPs Tashi Gyalson, Congress Tsering Namgyal and an independent candidate Haji Hanifa Jan, who belongs to the National Conference are in the fray for the Ladakh seat, the largest in the country with a total area of 173.266 sq k

MUMBAI: The biggest test in the fifth and final phase in Maharashtra on May 20 is of Uddhav Thackeray. The results would tell which Sena is real Uddhavs or CM Eknath Shindes. Voting is due in 13 constituencies Dhule, Dindori, Nashik, Kalyan, Palghar, Bhiwandi, Thane, Mumbai North, Mumbai North-West, Mumbai North-East, Mumbai North-Central, Mumbai South-Central, Mumbai South. As many as 264 candidates from different parties are in the fray. There are 2,46,69,544 voters (male: 31,38,526, female: 1

The post-poll violence in Andhra Pradesh appears to have caught the police off-guard. Though security arrangements were made keeping in view the highly inflammable political environment, the fact that violence erupted in several places not only on polling day but also continued the next day points at a clear failure. Thus far, at least 300 people have been detained and dozens arrested in connection with the ugly incidents that unfolded in the Palnadu region, Tirupati, Tadipatri and other places.

SRINAGAR: Heads turned when former Jammu and Kashmir CM chief and National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah chose Baramulla over his comfort zone Srinagar. Omar, 53, is pitted against Peoples Conference (PC) chairman Sajad Gani Lone, who has the backing of the BJP. Baramulla is a stronghold of the National Conference but Omar or his father Farooq Abdullah has never contested from here. The Abdullahs have always preferred Srinagar, given their partys hold in central Kashmir. Since 197

If there is one striking difference between the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, its the lack of a wave - be it a Modi wave, NDA wave, INDIA wave or even a Mandir wave. With the hyper-nationalist fervour in 2019 after the Pulwama blasts and Balakot air strikes, several voters clearly stated that the BJP candidate didn't matter and that their vote for the party was essentially one for Modi. This time, in the absence of a national narrative, local candidates and local issues are playing a role i

VIJAYAWADA: Asserting that the YSRC will win more seats than in the 2019 elections, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday said the entire country would stand up and take note of Andhra Pradesh because of the landslide victory that the party would achieve. Jagan Mohan Reddy met with representatives of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) where he also countered the claims of political strategist Prashant Kishor that the YSRC is going to lose big. Mincing no words that the manda

NEW DELHI: The release of the Kangana Ranaut-starrer Emergency has been postponed amid the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections, the makers have announced. Ranaut, the lead actor, writer, director, and producer on Emergency, has been fielded by the BJP for the Mandi constituency in Himachal Pradesh in the polls. The state will vote in the last phase on June 1. Manikarnika Films Production, the studio behind the upcoming political drama, shared the update on its official X page on Wednesday evening. Our h

PM 'failed' India's daughters: Cong jabs Modi ahead of UP rallies

BHUBANESWAR: Voting from home for the elderly and persons with disabilities started in all the Assembly constituencies of Khurda district on Wednesday. The seats will go to polls in the third phase on May 25. As per officials, 1,704 PwDs and senior citizens aged 85 and above (categorised as very senior citizens) across eight Assembly constituencies have opted for voting from home. While 1,218 are aged above 85, 482 are PwDs. The constituencies under Khurda district are Jayadev, Bhubaneswar Centr

BALASORE: A massive change is awaiting Odisha as people are in favour of the BJP to form a government, asserted Speaker of Lok Sabha Om Birla here on Wednesday. Addressing a meeting on Viksit Odisha and Viksit Bharat in Balasore, Birla said once a double-engine government is formed, there would be no obstruction on the way of development. He said people of Odisha will no more put up with the Biju Janata Dal governments misrule and are ready to bring a change. The senior BJP leader said people ha

CUTTACK/BERHAMPUR: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday made two big promises to the people if the BJP government is elected in the state. The first would be opening all the four doors of Shree Jagannath temple at Puri for devotees within six hours of the party chief minister taking oath and the second ensuring that all the people who fell victim to the chit fund scam get back their lost deposits within one-and-a-half years. Speaking to mediapersons during his massive roadshow in Cuttack i