What do the results of the 2024 Indian general elections portend? I am not referring to who will win but by how many seats. Let us accept, for the time being, that it is Narendra Modis ruling BJP, which has a clear lead after the first three phases of voting. But what is not equally certain is with what margin of victory and with how many seats. More and more, it seems that the dream of Chaarsau Paar or 400-plus will be difficult to manage. Even crossing the earlier watershed of 303 is now, acco

LUCKNOW: With the ensuing Lok Sabha election approaching its halfway mark way with the impending voting for fourth phase on Monday, senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Sunday, launched a frontal attack on Gandhis in their bastion of Rae Bareli by questioning their absence from the constituency despite securing successive electoral victories. Addressing a poll rally in support of BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh in Rae Bareli, Shah raised question on the track record of Gandh

DHULE: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday asked people to vote for his party, claiming that a third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah would mean that the poor, Dalits and tribals would be reated like slaves. Addressing a rally in Maharashtra's Dhule constituency, where the Congress has fielded former MLA Shobha Bachhav, Kharge appealed to voters to choose his party to save democracy and the Constitution. Before Independence, the poor, Dalits an

KOLKATA: Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, TMC's Shatrughan Sinha, Mahua Moitra and Yusuf Pathan, BJP's S S Ahluwalia and Dilip Ghosh will be among the candidates whose fates will be decided in the EVMs as eight Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal will go to the polls in the fourth phase on Monday. Spread over Murshidabad, Nadia, Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman and Birbhum districts, the problems flagged by voters in these constituencies vary from migrant labour, drinking water supply and

Hope PM's 33% women's quota will come to Priyanka's aid in future: Thakur

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of using his arrest to topple his party-led governments in Delhi and Punjab. Addressing his party's MLAs in Delhi on Sunday, Kejriwal asserted that the BJP's plan to break the party had failed and that the AAP became more united after his arrest. BJP people would say before my arrest that they will break the party and topple the governments in Delhi and Punjab, he said. They had a plan that they will

JEYPORE: Modi magic has influenced majority of voters in the state as well as in tribal areas and the candidates will do their best this election, said president of Chhattisgarh BJP Kiran Dev. Addressing a public meeting at Kotpad on Saturday, Dev said the development works undertaken by PM Narendra Modi in the last 10 years have created a positive wave among the masses and it will definitely reflect in the upcoming elections in Odisha. With the blessings of the people, BJP will form the next go

BHUBANESWAR: Campaigning for first phase elections in Odisha ended on Saturday. At least four Lok Sabha constituencies and 28 Assembly segments under them will go to polls in the phase on May 13. Congress MP Saptagiri Ulaka, BJD candidate from Nabarangpur Pradeep Majhi, BJP MP candidate Pradeep Panigrahy and Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati are among the 37 Lok Sabha and 243 Assembly nominees whose fate will be decided in the phase. Dispersal of polling parties has begun and all arrangements a

BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to counter the Modi guarantee narrative of the BJP, the BJD on Saturday said its manifesto has 24 Naveen guarantees. The 24 Naveen guarantees are more than just guarantees. They are commitment of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to the 4.5 crore people of Odisha, national spokespersons Amar Patnaik and Sasmit Patra told mediapersons here. The ruling party said the Naveen guarantees will take Odisha on the path of becoming the number one state of the country and the BJD will ac

BERHAMPUR: District election officer, Boudh J Sonal on Friday placed an ASHA under suspension for allegedly participating in a political rally in violation of the model code of conduct put in place by the Election Commission. The ASHA, Sabita Pradhan works at the Bausuni health centre. The matter came to the fore after photos and videos of Sabita attending an election rally went viral on social media. The district collector-cum-election officer took disciplinary action against Sabita after the c

MALKANGIRI: With elections scheduled in Malkangiri on May 13 (Monday), the district administration and police have put in place tight security arrangements along Odisha-Chhattisgarh border to prevent Maoist influx into the region during this time. As per the directions of collector Sachin Pawar and SP Nitesh Wadhwani, the administration has set up a dispersal centre at the Government Polytechnic College on Malkangiri-Sukma road. Besides, 547 polling booths which includes 30 Sakhi booths for wome

JEYPORE / KORAPUT: Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr PC) has been imposed across Koraput district on Saturday to maintain law and order during the upcoming elections. Addressing a press meet, the district magistrate and collector, V Keerthi Vasan, declared that section 144 was imposed and assured that the district administration is fully prepared to conduct the elections with proper arrangements. Polling personnel have been dispatched to various polling stations across the five A

ROURKELA: Spearheading BJDs election campaign, 5T chairman VK Pandian on Saturday tore into the BJP during his whirlwind tour of Sundargarh district and claimed only Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik can make Odisha the number one state. Countering the PMs assertion of making Odisha number one, Pandian asked ,Sir I humbly ask you, after 25 years of your rule has Gujarat become number one? He went on to cite that against national average of 32 per cent malnutrition, Odisha is at 29 per cent while Guj

KOTIA (KORAPUT): As campaigning came to a close with hardly a day left for the elections, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh left no stone unturned to woo voters of Kotia in their favour. While political parties from Odisha highlighted the ongoing development works and promised more such benefits for people if their candidates from Koraput and Pottangi are voted to power, those of AP especially YSR Congress campaigned in the region urging people to vote for its candidates from Salur and Araku Assembly co

KARIMNAGAR: BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Saturday described the ongoing elections as a referendum on the decade-long K Chandrashekar Rao rule of truth or the 10 years of BJP's lies, deception and divisions. Demanding to know what the BJP has done for the state in the last 10 years, Rama Rao asked BJP MP Bandi Sanjay whether he was seen locally or even in Delhi in the past five years. Bandi Sanjay never brought central funds for the development of Karimnagar. It will be Vinod Kumar who wi

NEW DELHI: The Delhi unit of the BJP slammed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and termed his first press conference after getting released from Tihar jail full of lies and deceit. Arvind Kejriwal has once again begun cultivating lies, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said. Kejriwal had said all opposition leaders, including his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee and RJD leader Tejashvi Yadav, among others, will be in jail if the BJP wins the LS polls. He, however, asserted that the BJP w

BERHAMPUR: The Tibetan refugees who have made Chandragiri in Gajapati district their home since the past several decades are in two minds - to vote or not, in the ensuing elections. As per sources, these Tibetans here had registered their names in the voters list and also received voter ID cards. This will be the first time they are eligible to cast their votes. However, the fear of losing their refugee status after voting compels them to give it a second thought. As many as 2,700 Tibetans are c

CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday claimed that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had entered into an understanding with Home Minister Amit Shah and was set to form a separate AAP (Punjab) unit post-election to part ways with Arvind Kejriwal, similar to what Eknath Shinde did in Maharashtra. Addressing gatherings at Sunam and Dhuri, Badal said, Mann has compromised with the BJP as he feels that he would also be arrested like his boss Kejriwal, as he has al

BHUBANESWAR: Unrelenting in his attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said as it is staring at its worst defeat in the ongoing general elections, the grand old party has begun to scare the people of the country on the nuclear capabilities of Pakistan. Addressing three back-to-back election rallies in the second leg of his poll campaign in the state, Modi at his Phulbani meeting said The party will not be even able to claim Opposition status this time. Its strength will

PATNA: A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modis road show in the state capital, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday claimed that it would be extremely difficult for PM Modi to form the next government at the centre. Kharge told media persons that all constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc were fighting together to stop BJP from coming to power. He claimed that the Prime Minister would not retain his position. Kharge mentioned that while Modi was in adjoining Telangana, he was

NEW DELHI: The BJP has begun aggressive campaigning for its candidates in seven Delhi LS seats. The party bigwigs were seen conducting roadshows in different areas on Friday. Union Minister Arjun Meghwal addressed public gatherings in support of BJP candidates Yogendra Chandolia from the Northwest region and Kamaljeet Sahrawat from West Delhi. Meghwal said that the entire nation wants to see Narendra Modi once again as the Prime Minister. He said that PM Modi has directly benefited the people wi

BHUBANESWAR: Returning Prime Minister Narendra Modis barbs, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday said the BJP cannot win the hearts of people of Odisha even in the next 10 years, let alone this time. Not on June 10, the BJP cannot win the hearts of the people of Odisha in the next 10 years, the chief minister said in a video message to the people, hours after Modi mounted a scathing attack on him during his election meetings in the state. With the blessings of Lord Jagannath and the people

BHUBANESWAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday lit into Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik saying the latter is so disconnected from the state that he cannot even name 10 district headquarters without reading from a piece of paper. Addressing three back-to-back election rallies at Kandhamal, Balangir and Bargarh during his second leg of electioneering in the state which goes into its first phase of polls on May 13, Modi said a chief minister who does not know his state and problems of the peop

SRINAGAR: The BJP is not contesting any of the three valley seatsSrinagar, Baramulla and Anantnagin the Lok Sabha polls, the first major electoral exercise in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, but is engaged in a door-to-door campaign against the National Conference (NC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and in favour of candidates of like-minded parties. The BJP held a roadshow in uptown Srinagar on Friday from Jawahar Nagar area to Rawathpora area of Barzulla. The roadshow was

MUMBAI: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi addressing the Lok Sabha election campaign rally on Saturday in Nandurbar said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi rather than crying in election, should learn lessons from the life of her grandmother and former PM Indira Gandhi, who divided Pakistan in two. Priyanka Gandhi was in Nandurbar for Congress candidate Gowaal Padvi. This was her second rally in Maharashtra after the one in Latur. Congress party earlier used to start its campaign rally f

RANCHI: For the first time, two women candidates are contesting against each other in Jharkhands Singhbhum Lok Sabha seat. While Member of Parliament Geeta Koda is fighting as an NDA candidate, JMMs MLA from Manoharpur, Joba Manjhi, has been fielded by the INDIA bloc from the seat. Even as people on the roadside favour the BJP, the JMM is stronger in the remote villages. Geeta Koda is banking on the development work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the other hand, Joba Manjhi is mobilisi

CHANDIGARH: Of the 52 candidates declared by the four major political partiesthe AAP, BJP, Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)in Punjab, 15 are defectors. Topping the list is the BJP with seven such candidates, followed by Congress and AAP with three each and SAD with one. Most of the leaders have switched over from Congress. A leading political analyst, Professor Kuldip Singh, told this newspaper, Since there was a shortage of candidates in both the BJP and AAP, they ventured out, giving the

LUCKNOW: The 13 seats of Uttar Pradesh set to vote in the fourth phase on Monday, May 13, are considered the virtual spinal column of the state as they fall in the central region. These seats are Shahjahanpur (SC), Lakhimpur Kheri, Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Hardoi (SC), Misrikh (SC), Unnao, Farrukhabad, Etawah (SC), Kannauj, Kanpur, Akbarpur and Bahraich (SC). These were more evenly contested than the 26 constituencies of the first three phases, but in the previous Lok Sabha elections, the saffron sur

Elections in India are often dubbed the festival of democracy. They has always been charged, colourful and fun. The ongoing Lok Sabha election is the dullest I have encountered in my three decades as a registered voter. As the heat rises in May, the election discourse was expected to become frenzied. Instead, we are getting a tepid, emotionless, dull election with the same old tired speeches. The colourful promises and policies that used to energize our democracy have now become monotonous and l

The speculations market is on fire as punts are threatened by raging rhetoric and a rash of rumours, theories and reveries. The cognoscenti are harbouring doubts and making acquaintance with nervousness. On Thursday, the benchmark Sensex slid over 1,000 points and the India VIX volatility indexthe stock markets Fear Indexattained a 19-month high this week. Data-dependent denizens, corporate tsars and investment bankers, who devour Peter Drucker and Peter Lynch, are speed-dialling and googling fo

NEW DELHI: AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday asserted that the BJP will not form the government on June 4 and said if the INDIA bloc comes to power, the direction and fate of the country will change. He held his first roadshow for Lok Sabha election campaign along with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann in the South Delhi constituency, a day after his release from Tihar jail. It is a historic moment. The history is taking a turn. If the INDIA bloc forms governme

It's unusual, but the two leading national parties are giving their full-throated attention to a very important aspect -- economy. While each accuse the other's 10-year regime as the benighted decade citing the poor economic scorecard, they, however, agree on one thing: That the Indian economy is riding the seven-horse chariot, and is moving up the world rankings. Currently ranked fifth, it's edging tantalizingly close to the third spot, a number spiritually associated as the energy chakra, or t

It's unusual, but the two leading national parties are giving their full-throated attention to a very important aspect -- economy. While each accuse the other's 10-year regime as the benighted decade citing the poor economic scorecard, they, however, agree on one thing: That the Indian economy is riding the seven-horse chariot, and is moving up the world rankings. Currently ranked fifth, it's edging tantalizingly close to the third spot, a number spiritually associated as the energy chakra, or t

LUCKNOW: The 13 seats of Uttar Pradesh set to witness polling in fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections on Monday, May 13, are considered to be the spine of the state as they fall in the central region. In the past, these seats including Shahjahanpur (SC), Lakhimpur Kheri, Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Hardoi (SC), Misrikh (SC), Unnao, Farrukhabad, Etawah (SC), Kannauj, Kanpur, Akbarpur and Bahraich (SC), had remained more evenly contested than the 26 constituencies that went to polls in the first three phas

VIJAYAWADA: East Godavari district police have seized Rs 7 crore unaccounted cash which was being illegally transported in a van on Saturday. Ironically, the incident came into light when the van was hit by a lorry and the locals noticed that seven carton boxes in the van contained cash. Immediately the locals informed the police who rushed to the spot and seized the cash. According to the East Godavari SP Jagadish, the vehicle was going from Vijayawada towards Visakhapatnam and met with a road

NANDURBAR: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election speeches as hollow talk and accused him of using politics only with the aim of gaining power and not to serve people. She was speaking at a rally here to drum up support for Congress candidate Gowaal Padvi from the Nandurbar Lok Sabha seat, a day after PM Modi addressed a public meeting in this tribal-dominated constituency. All that Modi ji speaks is 'khokhli baatein' (hollow talk) that d

RAE BARELI: BJP's Smriti Irani has carved her identity by opposing Rahul Gandhi but cannot do so in Amethi this time and will face defeat, Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel has said, exuding confidence that his party will win both the Amethi and Rae Bareli seats in Uttar Pradesh by ig margin in the Lok Sabha polls. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who lost Amethi to Irani in the 2019 elections, has this time been fielded by the Congress from Rae Bareli and is contesting against BJP's Dinesh Pra

JAGATSINGHPUR: Sitting MP and BJDs Lok Sabha candidate from Jagatsinghpur Rajashree Mallick is facing an uphill task to retain her seat. Unlike the 2019 election, Mallick now faces opposition from her own constituents, particularly in her native Tirtol where residents are protesting her lack of engagement with voters. Besides, she is also fighting anti-incumbency and internal conflicts in the party amid criticism over her failure to utilise the MP Local Area Development (LAD) funds. Recently, re

BHUBANESWAR/SAMBALPUR: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday said the poll manifesto released by BJD had nothing new and was full of promises which will be never fulfilled. Participating in Akshaya Tritiya festival organised by farmers at Sapalahara village in Sambalpur district, Pradhan said BJD has made an attempt to copy the BJP manifesto. Referring to the promise of creating two lakh government jobs, he questioned what the BJD government had been doing for the last 24 years.

BHUBANESWAR: As the BJD-BJP fight in the ensuing elections has turned into an intense face-off between senior ruling party leader VK Pandian and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the bureaucrat-turned-politician on Friday announced he would quit politics if Naveen Patnaik failed to take oath as the chief minister on June 9 and challenged the latter to do so if the saffron party is defeated again. Addressing an election meeting at Brajarajnagar, the BJD leader came down heavily on Prad

KENDRAPARA/BHADRAK: BJP heavyweights Baijayant Panda and Manmohan Samal and Congress veteran Niranjan Patnaik filed their nomination papers in Kendrapara and Bhadrak districts on Friday. Baijayant, the BJPs national vice-president and candidate from Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat, reached the district collectors office in a mega roadshow and submitted his papers before the returning officer. He was accompanied by a large number of BJP supporters. After filing his nomination papers, Baijayant said, Th

BALANGIR: The BJD in Titlagarh has been hit by large-scale desertion in the last one week, putting Water Resources Minister and the ruling partys candidate from the Assembly seat Tukuni Sahu in a spot of bother. Tukunis go-to-guy Pramod Pradhan along with president of Western Odisha Sarpanch Mahasangha Birabara Sahu, BJDs women wing general secretary Ranju Raiman, local leaders Panchanan Sahu and Ranjan Kwash quit the BJD last week. They formally joined the BJP in presence of Union Minister Dhar

BHUBANESWAR: With just three days to go for the four phase polls in Odisha to kick off, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a massive roadshow in the state capital of Bhubaneswar, calling upon the people to vote for the BJP. The two-and-half kilometre stretch from BJP state headquarters to Vani Vihar Square turned into a sea of saffron as thousands thronged the entire throroughfare on both sides to catch a glimpse of the prime minister. The roar of welcome reverberated with chants of Mod

NUAPADA: As the countdown to the polling day begins, Nuapada Assembly segment presents an intriguing contest where sitting MLA Rajendra Dholakia will surely be tested. Dholakia, a seasoned leader rooted in the grassroot politics of Nuapada, has formidable opponents this time. But thats not the only challenge. In a region where the saffron wave is growing with the BJP deploying its towering leaders, the minister has his task cut out. Besides, he had faced dissidence from within the party too. Dho

BHUBANESWAR: Congress has ceased to exist as a political force in Odisha and it is now the turn of BJD, which will be shown the exit door by the people in this election, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday. Addressing a Vijay Sankalp Samavesh at Panchudola ground in Ranpur which comes under Puri Parliamentary constituency, Singh said the political atmosphere has changed in Odisha that is bubbling for a change. People have seen the work done during 40 years of Congress rule and th

NIZAMABAD: As the polling date approaches, political parties and their candidates have stepped up their campaign in the Nizamabad constituency, raising the political heat. However, political pundits are unable to predict the outcome of the elections. The candidates of the main parties, namely, the Congress, BRS and BJP, are depending on their internal survey reports to plan their campaign strategy. With internal survey reports changing every week, top leaders of these three parties are working h

NALGONDA: AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said that the outcome of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections will help in protecting the Constitution of India. Addressing a Jana Jatara election meeting in Nakrekal under the Bhongir Lok Sabha constituency, he said that the Congress is the only party that will protect the spirit of the Constitution as well as rights of all sections of the society. Accusing Modi of handing over the countrys wealth and public sector organisations to his industrialist