Taking the war of freebies to a new high, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam manifesto for the April 13 assembly elections on Thursday promised 20 kg of free rice for ration card-holders, laptops for students from classes XI, free fans, mixers and grinders to all and mineral water to BPL families. In a bid to woo women voters, Jayalalithaa promised four gm of gold for the 'thali' (mangalsutra) free of cost to the poor, besides cable TV connections at subsidised rate
Singh said India has the strength to take stern action against cross-border terrorism and Pakistan has started realising it.
Trying to strike an emotional chord with the voters, Sonia asked the people to consider Rahul Gandhi too as their own.
Manoj Tiwari is the only sitting MP whom the BJP has retained.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the main opposition Congress will release their respective election manifestos for the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat on Monday.
'2019 was fought on delivery. But in 2024, you can see the before and after effects.'
Union Minister Arun Jaitley while releasing the document said BJP's manifesto is particularly aimed at improving the social infrastructure in Punjab, even as he slammed Congress for its policies which he alleged paved way for militancy in Punjab in 1980s and termed its 2002-2007 tenure in power as "most dishonest and corrupt".
Where do Vijay and his TVK expect to get their votes from? Vijay has a huge fan following among women, but will they automatically become his voters like they had done for MGR's AIADMK, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The Congress is trying to reinvent itself -- the caste census demand, OBC emphasis, the anti-corporate thrust, especially on Adani etc -- all this is not standard Congress strategy.'
Shahu Chhatrapati, scion of the Kolhapur royal family, has said he chose the Congress for his poll debut as he draws inspiration from his great grandfather Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, a hugely revered figure among all segments of society for his bold social reforms.
Targeting Modi over inflation, Priyanka called him a "mehengai" man.
Modi told Times Now that the responsibility to take action in the raging matter lay with the state government as it was a law and order issue, according to the transcript of the interview provided by the broadcaster.
The Army cancelled the event "due to implementation of the Model Code of Conduct".
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal mounted a blazing campaign in the hot summer after he was released from the Tihar jail on interim bail on May 10, drawing huge crowds at rallies and roadshows, but it proved insufficient to propel his Aam Aadmi Party past the Bharartiya Janata Party challenge in the national capital.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Wednesday announced five guarantees for women, including annual direct cash transfers of Rs 1 lakh to one woman from each of the country's poorest families and 50 per cent quota in all new recruitments in central government jobs.
Hailing the Congress manifesto as a visionary document promising to shape a better future for Punjab, Dr Singh said the Parkash Singh Badal-led government mismanaged the state and failed to harness its full potential.
These measures are in addition to other proposals made earlier, including regulation of sale and consumption of liquor, free trips to certain religious places like Sabarimala and distribution of one lakh cows every year.
'There might be some internal tussles that can be expected between any two persons in any party.' 'But I do not see any tussle which might weaken the possibility of dictatorship.'
Reflecting United States President Obama's consistent refrain in recent weeks while on the stump campaigning for his re-election where he has been railing against the outsourcing of American jobs to China, India, and elsewhere, the national Democratic manifesto unveiled at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, has said, "The Democratic Party believes in insourcing so that America can out-build the rest of the world again."
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi accused the prime minister of twisting his words and said he was speaking about the power of which Modi was wearing the mask.
Taking a dig at Pakistan without naming it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said a country which was a supplier of aatank (terror) is struggling for aata (flour) these days.
In its Karnataka assembly poll manifesto, which was released on May 2, the Congress said it is committed to take firm and decisive action against individuals and organisations such as the Bajrang Dal and the PFI "spreading hatred" among communities on the grounds of caste and religion.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj has said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita is the best person to keep the party together in the prevailing circumstances and asserted that her presence has had a 'positive effect' on the cadre.
India is not reaping the benefits of demographic dividends, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said on Tuesday, emphasising that there is a need to focus on improving the human capital and enhancing their skill sets. "I think we are in the midst of it (demographic dividend), but the problem is we are not reaping the benefits," Rajan said at a conference on "Making India an Advanced Economy by 2047: What Will it Take" at the George Washington University in Washington DC. "That's why I said 6 per cent growth.
Despite declining by three percentage points in 2022-23 (FY23) compared to FY19, Odisha's unemployment rate remains higher than the average in India.
'In Amit Shah's words, understand the chronology. The PM comes, the home minister comes and before that, the ED comes and then arrests (accused person) from a hotel. What was the Election Commission doing? How money reached here'
The manifesto said that loans of poor farmers and farm labourers will be waived off and loans of SCs and BCs will also be waived off.
All the issues around which the grand old party wanted to fight the May 10 assembly elections have been put on the backburner as party state president DK Shivakumar in damage control mode took up a temple run.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara has asserted there were no lapses on the part of the government in handling cases relating to the alleged sexual abuse of women by Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna and that the Special Investigation Team was probing them from all angles.
As Election 2024 hurtles towards result day in a medley of mangalsutra, mujra, mutton, machli and other barbs, these may sound like character names from Hindi comics of yore. Instead, these are the mocking, sometimes vicious monikers given by political rivals to each other.
Under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme, close to 1 million apprentices will be trained in FY24.
Modi referred to the Lok Sabha polls as a "Kurukshetra (battle)" in which "there is development on one hand and 'vote jihad' on the other".
The Odisha government told the assembly over 40,000 workers migrated from the state last year, with the highest number -- 26,151 -- from Balangir.
'There is uncertainty regarding job opportunities for our children after they serve for just four years under the Agnipath scheme.'
Out of the 20 candidates announced by the BJD for the 21 Lok Sabha seats, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's party has nominated at least seven leaders who came from either the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Congress.
'I have been battling cancer for the last six months. Now, I feel that the time has come to inform people about it'
The manifesto was unveiled by Jayalalithaa at a public rally, in a departure from usual practice of release at party headquarters in Chennai.
Charging the Bharatiya Janata Party with the violating law by bringing out its manifesto on a day when polling for Lok Sabha polls is underway and seeking votes in the name of religion by mentioning Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Congress on Monday asked the Election Commission to take action against the party.
Contentious issues such as the construction of a RamTemple in Ayodhya, abrogation of Art 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir and enactment of Uniform Civil Code have been included in the Bharatiya Janata Party's election manifesto with the party making promises on them.
While the going for Dushyant Singh in Jhalawar is not tough, winning Jalore is a tough battle for Vaibhav Gehlot.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances