Delhi

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) The BJP's Central Election Committee met here on Saturday to finalise the party's candidates in several states for the Lok Sabha polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president J P Nadda were joined by other CEC members as they went over the list of probables to take a final call.

The states for which candidates were discussed include Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan.

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) The Congress on Saturday released its fourth list of 45 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, fielding its Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ajay Rai from Varanasi to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While the Congress fielded its veteran leader Digvijaya Singh from Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh, it nominated newly-inducted leader Lal Singh from Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur to take on Union minister Jitendra Singh.

Vikas Thakare will take on Union minister Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur, according to the list.

New Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed applications seeking a stay on the appointment of two new election commissioners, saying it would lead to "chaos" and "uncertainty" as the elections are round the corner.

Observing that the Election Commission is not under the "thumb of executive", the apex court also refused to grant any interim stay on the operation of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Terms of Office) Act, 2023.

Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI) The Election Commission on Thursday transferred district police chiefs in Assam and Punjab, including the brother of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and shunted out "non-cadre" district magistrates and superintendents of police in some states.

New Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI) A systematic effort is underway by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cripple the Congress financially, Sonia Gandhi alleged on Thursday as her party stepped up its demand for access to its bank accounts to ensure a level playing field in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls.

New Delhi, Mar 20 (PTI) The Congress on Wednesday attacked the government over a report on income and wealth inequalities in India over a century, alleging that "Narendra Modi's Billionaire Raj" is now more unequal than even the British Raj.

Party general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that on March 18, leading global economists, including Thomas Piketty, published the report titled "Income and Wealth Inequality in India, 1922-2023: The Rise of the Billionaire Raj." with some extremely concerning findings.

New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) Asserting that the country is seeking a change, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said the 'guarantees' touted by the present government would meet the same fate as the 'India Shining' slogan of 2004.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), party leaders K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh said the CWC has authorised Kharge to give final approval to the party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls and decide a date for its release.

Chandigarh, Mar 5 (PTI) Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday presented the state's budget for the financial year 2024-25 envisaging total outlay of over Rs 2 lakh crore, providing special focus on health and education.

While presenting the budget in the state assembly, he also announced several new initiatives, while earmarking Rs 575 crore for various crop diversification schemes for farmers.

New Delhi, Mar 5 (PTI) Google has agreed to reinstate all the delisted apps of Indian companies on its Play Store after a government intervention got the two sides talking to resolve a dispute over service fee payments.

Telecom and Information & Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who got Google and the startups to the negotiating table, said the US tech giant has been supporting India's technology development journey.

New Delhi, Mar 5 (PTI) The Congress on Tuesday attacked the Centre over the State Bank of India moving the Supreme Court to seek more time to disclose electoral bond details, alleging that the Modi government is using the country's largest bank as a shield to hide its "dubious dealings".