The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spent Rs 1,737.68 crore for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, according to the expenditure report submitted to the Election Commission of India. A majority of the funds were allocated to general party propaganda and candidate-related expenses, with media advertisements accounting for a significant portion. The BJP's election outreach also included extensive use of publicity materials and campaign-related travel. The party's expenditure on public meetings, processions, and rallies, including arrangements for stages, audio setups, barricades, and vehicles, stood at Rs 19.84 crore. The travel expenditure of star campaigners authorized by the party's central headquarters amounted to Rs 168.92 crore, while Rs 2.53 crore was spent on the travel of other party leaders.
The BJP will hold a legislature party meeting on Wednesday evening to decide the new chief minister of Delhi. The party won the February 5 assembly elections, ending the Aam Aadmi Party's five-year rule. The meeting will be held at the party's Delhi unit office and is expected to begin around 7 pm. The 48 BJP MLAs will choose the Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly, who will become the chief minister. The meeting will be held in the presence of BJP's central observers, whose names are yet to be declared. The new chief minister, after being chosen by the party MLAs, will meet Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena at the Raj Niwas to stake claim to power. A grand swearing-in ceremony of the new government is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at Ramleela Ground. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries are expected to attend the ceremony. The names doing the rounds for the new chief minister include Parvesh Verma, Vijender Gupta, Satish Upadhyay, Pawan Sharma, Ashish Sood, Rekha Gupta, Shikha Rai, Ravinder Indraj Singh, and Kailash Gangwal. Many within the party believe that the BJP leadership could choose a "dark horse" as Delhi's next chief minister.
Like his father Karunanidhi and AIADMK rivals MGR and Jayalalithaa, Stalin would like to confine his real political work to Tamil Nadu, and not want to take after the late Congress leader K Kamaraj and take up a national role, even if to create greater political space for son Udhayanidhi, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Justice Sameer Jain cancelled the exam 2021 which was the bone of contention for both Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress governments in the state and gave a detailed verdict.
Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav dismissed rumors that Azam Khan might join the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) after his release from jail.
Bharatiya Janata Party's Parvesh Verma emerged as a giant-slayer on Saturday with his victory against Aam Aadmi Party supremo and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a fierce contest from the New Delhi seat by a margin of 4,089 votes.
Former Jharkhand chief minister and BJP leader Champai Soren was placed under house arrest on Sunday to prevent law and order issues in view of a protest by tribal outfits against land acquisition for a multi-crore state-run health institute, police said.
The Karur tragedy has exposed the huge gaps in Vijay's understanding of realpolitik, elections and political administration, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
On November 18, 1962, 114 soldiers of the 13th Kumaon fought till the last man, and last bullet, in sub-zero temperatures, to beat back the huge Chinese army. We salute the Heroes of Rezang La.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticizes Delhi Police for referring to Bengali as 'Bangladeshi national language,' sparking political controversy.
It has now emerged that the BCCI top post could go to Mithun Manhas, who was also involved as director of cricket operations with the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
The death of a 24-year-old nurse at a private nursing home in West Bengal's Hooghly district has triggered political unrest and allegations of a cover-up. Opposition parties are demanding a fair investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death, alleging foul play and potential sexual assault.
A controversy surrounding the gold-clad plates of the Dwarapalaka idols at Sabarimala temple has ignited a political row in Kerala, with opposition parties alleging theft and demanding a comprehensive investigation into temple inventories and the role of a sponsor in the replating process.
A private school in Kerala declared a two-day holiday following a dispute with parents over a student's hijab. The school alleges outside interference, while the parents claim discrimination.
The Leh Apex Body (LAB) is demanding a judicial probe into the recent violence in Leh, which resulted in four deaths and numerous injuries. The LAB co-chairman, Chering Dorjay, denies any foreign involvement and alleges excessive force by police and CRPF personnel.
From a modest start with baithaks of a handful of swayamsevaks in a small town in Nagpur, the RSS, which completes 100 years of its foundation on Thursday, has come a long way to become the world's biggest voluntary organisation with a pan-India presence, shaping the country's political and social discourse.
Thackeray also drew a comparison between the current regime and Hitler.
EPS has had its way on most things, alliance-wise. A week earlier, he reiterated that he would not re-admit OPS and Sasikala Natarajan back in the party. It was a message not just to detractors in the AIADMK. It was even more so for the BJP leadership in Delhi. Even more important for the AIADMK was their demand for accepting EPS as the chief ministerial candidate of any alliance that the party would form, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
A loud sound was heard at around 1 am outside Kalia's residence near Shastri Market in Jalandhar, police said, adding that no one was hurt in the incident.
'I wanted to go for the heart, and at the same time, open the audience's mind.'
Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the 15th Vice President of India, succeeding Jagdeep Dhankhar.
The opposition on Saturday termed the absence of female journalists from a press conference of visiting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi "unacceptable" and an "insult to women", and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence in the face of such discrimination exposes the "emptiness" of his slogans on Nari Shakti.
Opposition parties are expected to announce their joint vice-presidential candidate, potentially leading to a 'south versus south' contest. Meetings and discussions have been held to finalize the candidate, with names from Tamil Nadu being considered. The opposition aims to field a non-political figure with national standing.
The Congress party has accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of incompetence and partisanship following the Chief Election Commissioner's (CEC) defense of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. The party alleges the CEC failed to address concerns about voter list irregularities and is acting in favor of the ruling BJP.
'The current Election Commission functions more like a government department than an autonomous body.'
They said a 'mock poll' would be conducted in the Central Hall of the Samvidhan Sadan at around 2:30 PM on Monday after the briefing on the procedure to vote in the vice presidential polls.
Ladakh's Lieutenant Governor Kavinder Gupta blamed 'vested interests' for violence that led to four deaths, announcing a curfew and vowing action against those responsible. He cited incitement and conspiracy behind the clashes during a shutdown sponsored by the Leh Apex Body (LAB), which is demanding statehood for Ladakh.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has set an ambitious goal of winning over 215 seats in the 2026 state assembly elections, aiming to secure a fourth consecutive term for the Trinamool Congress (TMC). She declared that the party will work to significantly reduce the BJP's tally and ensure that their candidates struggle to retain their deposits. The TMC's national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, echoed this sentiment, urging party workers to ensure a decisive victory and achieve a two-thirds majority in the upcoming polls. The BJP, however, dismissed the TMC's claims, stating that Banerjee is merely trying to boost morale among party workers.
In the last 11 years, India and the world witnessed what he stood for, what he promised and did not deliver, and what he actually stood for and practised without fearing how history would judge him. Modi's tenure has been punctuated with headline-grabbing decisions, symbolic gestures, and stage-managed moments that continue to define his leadership and India's politics, points out Ramesh Menon.
A ministerial berth for Kerala BJP general secretary George Kurian in the third Narendra Modi government is indeed a reward for a loyal party worker who has been active in the saffron party movement post-Emergency in the late 1970s.
'Non-BJP state governments and their leaders, navigating today's political landscape, know well they have no clue what awaits around the corner.' 'The chances of charges pressed and oneself getting parked in custody play out on an uneven playing field,' points out Shyam G Menon.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the BJP-led NDA parliamentary party meeting, focusing on current issues, the upcoming vice president's election, and likely addressing opposition concerns.
'If the Mahagathbandhan ignores Mukesh Sahni's demands as it did in 2020, he will be left with no option but to join hands with the BJP.'
Ladakh Director General of Police S D Singh Jamwal on Saturday said forces were compelled to open fire on protesters, else the entire Leh would have been burned to the ground.
'Your last visit to Manipur? January 2022 for elections! Your 'Double Engine' has bulldozed the innocent lives of Manipur. You and Home Minister Amit Shah's gross incompetence and complicity in betraying all communities was shielded from scrutiny, by imposing President's Rule in the state. Violence still continues'
'The nuns were subjected to abusive language and all types of mental torture.'
Banking on the Budget's tax relief, the BJP seeks to energise Delhi's middle class; the AAP is doing its bit too. But will their outreach mobilise this politically crucial yet disengaged electorate?
Celebrations broke out in Mithun Manhas' ancestral village in Jammu on Sunday after the former Delhi captain's ascension to BCCI presidency, with the people terming it a moment of pride for the region.
The GAD order issued to various department heads and in-charges said that no files, documents, computer hardware etc. can be taken outside the Delhi Secretariat complex without the department's prior permission.
'Mr Modi has the power and pre-eminence in the BJP-RSS to choose how long he wants to serve, and he is definitely going to want to contest in 2029.' 'He will only be 79, as old as Donald Trump now, and fitter,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
