News Analysis India

Tag: 2024 Lok Sabha Elections

  • MGNREGA Wage Hike And Congress’ Guarantees: Will It Impact 2024 Lok Sabha Polls? |

    NEW DELHI: As India braces itself for the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a significant development in the realm of rural employment has emerged, potentially altering the electoral calculus. The Ministry of Rural Development has been authorised by the Election Commission of India to announce revised wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for the upcoming financial year, which has sparked discussions and debates across the political spectrum.

    The Significance Of MGNREGA

    MGNREGA, a flagship rural employment scheme of the erstwhile UPA regime guaranteeing 100 days of work each year for every rural household, was enacted in 2005. It holds immense significance in India’s socio-economic landscape. Aimed at providing livelihood security to rural households by guaranteeing 100 days of wage employment in a financial year, MGNREGA plays a pivotal role in alleviating poverty, boosting rural incomes, and enhancing agricultural productivity. The MGNREGA was initiated with the objective of “enhancing livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year, to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work”. Another aim of MGNREGA is to create durable assets (such as roads, canals, ponds and wells). Employment is to be provided within 5 km of an applicant’s residence, and minimum wages are to be paid. If work is not provided within 15 days of applying, applicants are entitled to an unemployment allowance. Thus, employment under MGNREGA is a legal entitlement.

    Implications Of The Wage Hike

    The authorization to announce revised wages under MGNREGA comes at a critical juncture – the Model Code of Conduct is in force across the country and the Lok Sabha elections are just a few days away. The decision to raise minimum wages to Rs 400 per day, if implemented, holds profound implications for millions of rural households dependent on MGNREGA for sustenance.

    Political Ramifications

    From a political standpoint, the timing of the wage hike announcement is noteworthy. As political parties intensify their election campaigns, issues related to rural development, farmer welfare, and employment generation take centre stage. The MGNREGA wage hike could potentially sway voter sentiment in rural constituencies, where agrarian distress and unemployment remain pressing concerns.

    Congress’ Guarantees

    In a bid to bolster its electoral prospects and resonate with diverse segments of society, the Congress party has further unveiled a comprehensive set of guarantees targeting farmers, women, workers, unemployed youths, and backward communities.

    What Are Major Congress’ Guarantees?

    Farmers: The Congress has promised to overhaul existing agricultural policies, including amending the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime to exempt agricultural materials, redesigning the PM Fasal Bima Yojana to ensure timely compensation for crop loss, establishing a Standing Farm Loan Waiver Commission, and enacting legislation to grant Minimum Support Price (MSP) legal status.

    Workers: The party has pledged to review labour codes, raise MGNREGA wages, pass a right-to-health law, and introduce an urban employment guarantee scheme.

    Women: Congress aims to empower women through various initiatives, including social security measures and participatory justice programs.

    Unemployed Youths: The party has proposed measures to address youth unemployment through skill development programs and job creation initiatives.

    Backward Communities: Congress has committed to conducting a comprehensive social, economic, and caste census, removing the 50% cap on reservations, and allocating budgetary resources proportionate to the population share of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).

    The confluence of the MGNREGA wage hike and Congress’ guarantees underscores the pivotal role of socio-economic welfare policies in shaping the electoral discourse. As political parties vie for voter support, issues of rural development, farmer welfare, and inclusive growth take precedence, setting the stage for a fiercely contested electoral battle in 2024.

  • `Hum Gayab Ho Gaye The…`: Nitish Kumar Swears Allegiance To NDA, PM Modi Breaks Into Laughter | Video

    Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar pledged his eternal loyalty to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Saturday during a public meet in Aurangabad.

  • Rajasthan BJP chief CP Joshi announces new state leaders ahead of upcoming Lok Sabha polls

    Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Rajasthan unit president CP Joshi has announced the formation of a new state team, bringing about significant changes.

    Late on Friday night, the list of new state officials of the party was released. It includes 10 state vice-presidents, 5 state secretaries, 13 state ministers, one treasurer, and one assistant treasurer.

    MLA Baba Balak Nath and recently elected Rajya Sabha MP Chunnilal Garasia have been appointed as state vice-presidents of Alwar and Udaipur respectively.Jitendra Gothwal, another legislator, has been assigned the responsibility of state secretary of Sawai Madhopur.

    Former MP Jyoti Mirdha has been appointed as the party’s state Vice president of Nagaur.

    Some current state officials have been given promotions based on their performance, while others have been retained in their current positions.The party’s ex-state President Omprakash Bhadana has been appointed as the State Secretary of Ajmer. Minister Minister Motilal Meena has been made Vice President in place of the General Secretary.The exclusion of some prominent leaders and the elevation of others by the BJP in Rajasthan suggest a calculated effort to bring in fresh perspectives and dynamics within the party ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections.

    Meanwhile, Rajasthan BJP Scheduled Caste Morcha State President also announced a fresh list of candidates. Seven state vice presidents were inducted in the new team, including Ramkrishna Verma, Omprakash Jediya, Shailendra Chauhan, BL Naval, Lalit Lakhwal, Bhajanlal Rolan and Anju Jatav were added.

    Three general ministers including Mukesh Garg, Lalaram Berwa and Mukesh Kirad, while seven State Ministers include Sitaram Lugaria, Mukesh Sindal, Sube Singh Marodia, Dinesh Verma, Motandas Nayak, Madan Gopal Jhanjhot and Prakash Meghwal. (ANI)

  • Zee News-MATRIZE Opinion Poll: NDA Projected To Win Big In 2024 LS Polls, Vote Share Likely To Increase By Over 5% |

    New Delhi: As the 2024 Lok Sabha elections draw near, the whole country is on the edge of their seats to see the political drama that will ensue. The leading parties are ready to battle it out, and the guessing game has started, with the election dates expected to be announced soon. In this context, Zee News and MATRIZE have conducted an opinion poll, which is the first of its kind after the formation of alliances, including the new partners of the NDA and the rise of the opposition’s INDIA bloc.

    The Zee News-MATRIZE Lok Sabha Opinion Poll took place from February 5th to February 27th. It collected opinions from 1,67,843 people across 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, comprising 87,000 men and 54,000 women. Moreover, the poll included the opinions of 27,000 first-time voters. The poll results have a margin of error of plus or minus 2 per cent. It’s crucial to note that these are not election outcomes but only an opinion poll, and no one should try to sway the elections based on these findings.

    How Many Seats Will NDA-INDIA Get In 2024?

    The Zee News-MATRIZE poll shows that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is likely to win a substantial majority if elections were held today. The NDA is poised to win 377 seats against INDIA bloc’s 93 seats. In 2019 General Elections, the BJP won 351 seats while the UPA secured just 90 Lok Sabha seats.

    What Will Be NDA-INDIA’s Vote Share In 2024 LS Polls?

    NDA’s vote share is likely to hike by over 5 per cent to reach 43.6 per cent in comparison to 2019. In 2019, the alliance got 38.4% of votes. Meanwhile, INDIA bloc may get 27.7 per cent of votes in 2024. The UPA got 26.6% of votes in 2019. A steep decline can be seen in vote percentage of other parties, resulting to their vote share dropping from 35.2 per cent in 2019 to 24.9 per cent in 2024.

    The survey suggests a resounding victory for the NDA in major regions of North, East, and West India. However, the southern states appear to favour the Opposition INDIA bloc, according to the survey results. This difference highlights the regional factors that influence Indian politics.

  • Congress, AAP Join Hands For Lok Sabha Elections, Reveal Seat-Sharing Deal For 3 States, 2 UTs |

    New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress have forged an alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The parties have announced their seat-sharing arrangements for Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana. In Gujarat, the Congress will fight for 24 seats, AAP for 2; in Haryana, the Congress will vie for 9 seats, AAP for one seat; in Delhi, AAP will have the upper hand with four seats, the Congress with 3 seats.

    “Congress will contest on 24 seats out of 26 in Gujarat. AAP will field its candidates on 2 seats – Bharuch and Bhavnagar,” said Mukul Wasnik, Congress general secretary and MP. “In Haryana, which has 10 Lok Sabha seats, Congress will contest on 9. AAP will have its candidates on 1 seat – in Kurukshetra,” he added.

    Delhi | Congress and AAP announce seat-sharing in Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Chandigarh and Goa

    In Delhi (7 seats), Congress to contest on 3 and AAP on 4
    In Gujarat (26 seats), Congress to contest on 24 and AAP on 2 (in Bharuch and Bhavnagar)
    In Haryana (10 seats), Congress to… pic.twitter.com/vCauAdvkUm
    — ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2024

    In Delhi, AAP will compete in New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi and East Delhi; the Congress will challenge in Chandni Chowk, North East and North West seats. Wasnik said that after a long discussion, it was agreed that the Congress will contest in the Chandigarh seat. In Goa, the Congress will contest both the Lok Sabha seats.

    The two parties did not comment on Punjab, where AAP had formed a government in 2022 after ousting the Congress. Earlier this month, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal declared that his party will contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. AAP and Congress, former adversaries in Punjab and Delhi, had contested the Chandigarh mayoral elections in alliance last month and won with the Supreme Court’s intervention.

    “The country is facing a grave situation – the BJP Government is destroying all institutions one by one, the elections are being ‘rigged’ and Opposition leaders are being jailed to win elections, the farmers are being treated unjustly, the people of the country are suffering from unemployment and inflation…the country needs an honest and strong alternative,” said AAP MP Sandeep Pathak after announcing the alliance.

    “With that in mind, we set aside our own political interests and kept the interest of the nation in mind. We came together in this alliance. The country is more important than the party. This election will not be fought as Congress versus AAP, but as INDIA versus BJP,” he added.

  • AAP-Congress Alliance In Delhi Uncertain: ‘Let’s See,’ Says Kejriwal After Blaming Delays |

    New Delhi: The AAP and the Congress were “too late” in their talks over seat sharing in Delhi for Lok Sabha polls, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday, amid reports by sources in both sides that the prospects of an alliance have faced a setback. On Tuesday, Kejriwal had said that talks for seat sharing in the national capital were in “final stages” and a partnership between the two parties would be declared soon. There are seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi currently held by the BJP.

    News agency PTI citing sources in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) reported that if the alliance did not materialize with the Congress, the party could announce its candidates in the next few days. When questioned by reporters on the likelihood of alliance with the Congress in Delhi, Kejriwal said, “It is too late, it should have occurred much earlier. Let us see what happens in the next one-two days.”

    Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely said that the party is ready for elections on all the seven constituencies in Delhi. “The committee headed by Mukul Vasnik is constantly talking to the members of the INDIA bloc. It would not be proper for me to comment about that,” he told reporters.

    Sources said despite several rounds of talks between the leaders of two parties, a consensus over number of seats to be fought by them was yet to be reached. Congress sources claimed that the party wanted to fight four of the seven Lok Sabha seats and leave the rest for the AAP.

    “This is justified as in the 2019 polls, the Congress candidates were second on six of the seven seats in Delhi while AAP candidates were on third place except for South Delhi constituency,” said a senior Delhi Congress leader.

    Although AAP leaders remained silent on seat sharing, sources in the party said, “The Aam Aadmi Party wants to fight four seats – North East Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi and North West Delhi.” The AAP earlier said it was holding talks with the INDIA bloc partners for a pact in Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, and Goa. The party has already decided to go alone in Punjab.

    AAP national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak recently said that the party has demanded eight out of 26 Lok Sabha seats from the Congress in Gujarat. He said that the AAP won five seats by polling a total 13 per cent votes in the last Assembly polls in Gujarat and claimed eight Lok Sabha seats in the state for the upcoming polls, while offering remaining 18 to the Congress.

    He had also offered one Lok Sabha seat in Delhi to the Congress saying it did not merit even that based on its previous election track record. The Congress currently does not have any Lok Sabha MP or MLA from Delhi. The AAP has so far unilaterally declared its candidates in two seats each in Gujarat and Assam and one in Goa.

    Pathak had said that if a decision was not soon taken on seat-sharing in Delhi, his party would declare its candidates. The BJP won all the seven seats in Delhi consecutively in 2014 and 2019 elections. Interestingly, the BJP candidates in 2019 polled more votes than the combined tally of Congress and AAP candidates.

  • Rajya Sabha Polls: Sonia, Nadda Among 41 Elected Unopposed, Voting For 15 Seats On Feb 27 |

    New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha elections saw 41 candidates getting elected without any opposition on Tuesday, including former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, BJP president J P Nadda, Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan, and BJP’s new entrant Ashok Chavan. The remaining 15 seats in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will go to polls on February 27. The BJP emerged as the biggest winner, securing 20 seats, followed by the Congress (6), Trinamool Congress (4), YSR Congress (3), RJD (2), BJD (2) and NCP, Shiv Sena, BRS and JD(U) one each. The returning officers declared these 41 candidates as winners on the last date of withdrawal of nominations, as there were no other contenders for these seats.

    The biennial elections were scheduled for February 27 in 56 seats. Out of these, 50 members will retire on April 2 and six on April 3. The voting for 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, four in Karnataka and one in Himachal Pradesh will take place from 9 am to 4 pm and the counting will start from 5 pm on the same day.

    Nadda and his party colleagues Jasvantsinh Parmar, Mayank Nayak and diamond tycoon Govindbhai Dholakia won from Gujarat. The Congress, which has only 15 MLAs, and other opposition parties did not field any candidates against the BJP, which has 156 legislators in the 182-member Gujarat assembly.

    Sonia Gandhi was among the three candidates who won from Rajasthan, along with BJP’s Chunnilal Garasiya and Madan Rathore.

    Maharashtra also saw six candidates getting elected unopposed – BJP’s Chavan, who switched from the Congress last Tuesday, Medha Kulkarni and Ajit Gopchhade; Shiv Sena’s Milind Deora, who quit the Congress last month, Praful Patel (NCP) and Chandrakant Handore (Cong).

    In Bihar, JD(U)’s Sanjay Kumar Jha, BJP’s Dharmshila Gupta and Bhim Singh, Manoj Kumar Jha and Sanjay Yadav (both RJD) and Akhilesh Prasad Singh (Congress) were the winners.

    Uttar Pradesh will have a contest for 10 seats among 11 candidates. The BJP has nominated eight candidates – former Union minister R P N Singh, former MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, state party general secretary Amarpal Maurya, former state minister Sangeeta Balwant, party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, former MLA Sadhna Singh, former Agra mayor Naveen Jain and local industrialist and ex-SP leader Sanjay Seth who joined the BJP in 2019.

    The Samajwadi Party (SP) has renominated Jaya Bachchan and also named former MP Ramjilal Suman and retired IAS officer Alok Ranjan as its candidates.

    In Karnataka, four seats will see a fight among five candidates. The Congress has put up Ajay Maken, Syed Naseer Hussain and GC Chandrasekhar, while Narayansa Bandage is the BJP candidate. JD(S) leader and ex-Rajya Sabha member D Kupendra Reddy is also in the fray.

    In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP has forced a contest by fielding Harsh Mahajan against Congress’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi for the lone seat despite lacking enough MLAs to win.

    In the evening, TMC’s Sushmita Dev, Sagarika Ghose, Mamata Thakur and Md Nadimul Haque and Samik Bhattacharya (BJP) were the winners from West Bengal.

    Union minister Murugan, Valmiki Dham Ashram head Umesh Nath Maharaj, Kisan Morcha’s national vice president Banshilal Gurjar, and Madhya Pradesh BJP’s women wing president Maya Naroliya secured four seats for the BJP in Madhya Pradesh while Ashok Singh of the Congress also won without any opposition.

    From Odisha, Union minister Vaishnaw (BJP) and BJD’s Debashish Samantray and Subhashish Khuntia were the winners.

    The YSR Congress bagged all the three seats in Andhra Pradesh – G Babu Rao, Y V Subba Reddy and M Raghunath Reddy while in neighbouring Telangana, the ruling Congress won two seats – Renuka Chowdhury and Anil Kumar Yadav – and BRS one seat – V Ravichandra.

    BJP nominees in Uttarakhand (Mahendra Bhatt), Subhash Barala (Haryana), Devendra Pratap Singh (Chhattisgarh) won without any contest.

  • ‘This Time They Will Be Wiped Out Of Parliament’: Mallikarjun Kharge On BJP’s ‘400 Seats’ Claim |

    NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday claimed that the Narendra Modi-powered BJP won’t be able to cross 400 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and it will be wiped out of Parliament. Speaking to reporters in Amethi, Kharge said, “I said – they (BJP) keep saying that they will cross 400 (LS seats), but this time they will be out of Parliament.” The Congress president hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his guarantee is not for the farmers, labourers, Dalits, tribal and backward people of the country.

    Denying any rift with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party, Kharge said, ‘”Everything will be alright. He has agreed and our people have agreed too. There is no problem.”  Kharge on Saturday criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and described it as a ‘curse’ for the country’s farmers. 

     

    #WATCH | In UP’s Amethi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge says, “I said – they (BJP) are saying that they will cross 400 (LS seats), but this time they will be out of Parliament.” https://t.co/mr3cU5wfmC
    — ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2024

     

    Interestingly, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav today made his participation in the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra conditional to a decision on seat sharing, saying that he will be joining it the moment the seats for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections are distributed between the two parties. “Right now talks are going on, lists have come from their side and from ours as well, the moment the seats are distributed and decided, the Samajwadi Party will join Congress’s Nyaya Yatra,” Yadav said speaking to reporters on Monday.

    The Congress president accused the Modi government of treating farmers like enemies. Kharge asserted that only the Congress party can provide farmers with the legal right to a Minimum Support Price (MSP).

    “The Modi government is a curse for the country’s food-providing farmers. Due to the continuous false ‘Modi’s Guarantee’, first 750 farmers lost their lives, and now, yesterday, one farmer lost his life and 3 have lost their eyesight due to rubber bullets. The Modi government has treated farmers like enemies, Only Congress will give them the legal right of MSP!” he said in a post on ‘X’.

    Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his poll promises, Kharge said the former is the chief of all liars as he failed to even fulfil what he had promised during his 2014 poll campaign.

    “I want to ask him what happened to the promises he made during 2014–he never fulfilled those. Modiji jhuton ka sardar hai (PM Modi is the chief of liars),” Kharge said addressing party workers at an event hosted by Maharashtra Congress in Pune.

    The Congress national president said people keep praising PM Modi despite the latter not doing much work in the last 10 years.
    Kharge cautioned that if such a scenario continues, the Constitution will “vanish”.

    “PM Modi keeps lying…you all know what he did in the last ten years. Still, people praise him…if this continues, then there will soon come a day when the Constitution will vanish. We are waging a fight to protect the Constitution and have to keep fighting,” he said.

    Describing Prime Minister Modi as “individualistic,” Kharge alleged that the former does not even take his party’s name while announcing his “guarantees.” “PM Modi keeps on saying that this is Modi ki Guarantee…he never uses his party name. He is very individualistic and full of himself,” the Congress president said.

    Claiming further that the BJP had no role in the country’s freedom struggle, Kharge added, “We are fighting for the country and its founding ideals all over again. The BJP had no role or contribution to our freedom struggle. We fought for the country.”

    Taking a dig at the Congress, PM Modi earlier this month said that even Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge has predicted the return of the NDA government with over 400 seats. 

    PM Modi made this remark during his response to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in Lok Sabha.

    During a session in the Rajya Sabha on February 2, Kharge inadvertently coined what would become a rallying cry for the BJP, stating “Abki Baar, 400 Paar,” which translates to “This time, over 400 seats.”

    “Our third tenure is not far away, a maximum of 100-125 days are left. The entire nation is saying ‘abki baar, 400 paar’. Even Kharge ji said that,” PM Modi said while replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in Lok Sabha.

    He expressed confidence that the BJP would not only secure a third term but also achieve an impressive victory by winning over 370 seats individually and crossing the 400 mark with the support of the NDA bloc. Modi’s remarks were met with laughter, including his own, as he acknowledged Kharge’s statement, suggesting that even the opposition leader seemed to predict the ruling party’s electoral success.

    Modi further criticised the Congress party, implying that they had become comfortable in their role as the opposition and were preparing to occupy the spectators’ gallery in Parliament. He also took a veiled swipe at Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party’s alleged nepotism, criticizing the repeated promotion of the same leadership without success.

    PM Modi indirectly referenced Rahul Gandhi by stating that the Congress is on the brink of shutting down its shop, emphasizing that they keep trying to relaunch the same product repeatedly.