Lok Sabha Election 2024 Highlights: When is India going to vote? All eyes are on the Election Commission of India as the wait gets longer for the full schedule of the Lok Sabha Election 2024. While there were reports that the poll panel may announce the dates on Thursday, no official confirmation came till the late evening. However, it was a hectic day for the poll panel. From appointments of two election commissioners to publishing the electoral bonds data, the EC witnessed flurry of activities on Thursday.
Amid the sharp dissent by the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led panel appointed two former bureaucrats as the election commissioners on Thursday. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar were appointed as Election Commissioners ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls. Initially, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary had spoken about the names while addressing media after key panel meet. However, later, the law ministry issued an official notification regarding the appointments.
Meanwhile, the poll panel also published the SBI’s electoral bond data on its website. The data was published just a day before Supreme Court-mandated deadline of March 15. The data is regarding buying of poll bonds of denominations between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1 crore. These purchases date back to April 12, 2019. The data shows the list of buyers of these poll bonds. The list includes private companies and individuals as well.
There’s a strong buzz that the wait for the full schedule of the General polls is likely to end today. The Election Commission of India is expected announce the dates of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. The poll panel held a review of the preparedness in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. With this, the EC concluded the pan-India survey and there’s strong buzz around Lok Sabha dates announcement anytime now.
While BJP has finalised the names of over 250 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress has announced the names of 82 candidates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is seeking the third term, will contest from Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi. On the other hand, Congress has finalised Rahul Gandhi’s name for poll battle in Kerala’s Wayanad. The suspense remains as to whether Gandhi will contest from UP’s Amethi or not. His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is also tipped to contest from Raebareli.
Here are the highlights on this key political development
Upset TMC leader Arjun Singh has announced his decision to return to the BJP after being overlooked for a Lok Sabha ticket. Singh stated that the TMC broke its promise of nominating him for the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat in Bengal. He further mentioned that another senior TMC leader would be joining the BJP alongside him.
Amritsar – Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal
Khadoor Sahib – laljit Singh Bhullar
Jalandhar – Sushil Kumar Rinku
Fatehgarh Sahib – Gurpreet Singh GP
Faridkot – Karamjeet Anmol
Bathinda – Gurmeet Singh Khudian
Sangrur – Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer
Patiala – Dr Balbir Singh
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary says that the poll panel appointments are rigged in favour of the Modi government. According to Chaudhary, the PM Modi-led panel has appointed Sukhbir Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar as election commissioners. (READ MORE)
Ahead of the Lok Sabha poll schedule announcement, News18 Mega Opinion Poll showed a clear majority for BJP-led NDA in Madhya Pradesh. Out of the total 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, the opinion survey shows that NDA will win 28 seats. The opinion poll predicts INDIA bloc winning just one seat in Madhya Pradesh.
While the wait is on for the Lok Sabha polls announcement, there’s a key meeting underway at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. The meeting of the panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to finalise the names of the two election commissioners. The vacancy arose after Arun Goel’s sudden resignation and Anup Chandra Pandey retirement last month. A PTI report says that Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has shortlisted five names for the consideration of the panel. Apart from the PM, the panel consists of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary and a Union Minister. There are reports say former Enforcement Directorate boss Sanjay Mishra and ex-CBDT chief YC Modi are in the fray.
The apex court will hear the EC case tomorrow on the plea filed by Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Jaya Thakur and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). However, theback then, the top court had rejected to stay the new law brought by the Centre.
Last year in March, a five-judge Constitution Bench had ruled that the CEC as well as ECs should be appointed on the advice of a panel that includes the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
However, later, Parliament brought The Chief Election Commission and other Election Commissions (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023. The Act left out the Chief Justice of India from the panel.
The Supreme Court is set to hear the plea seeking a direction to the Modi govt to fill the two current posts of election commissioners in the poll panel – ECI – only according to the recommendation of a committe which would also include the Chief Justice of India. According to an Indian Express report, the matter was mentioned before a bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna.
As the Hindi heartland has leaned on BJP superiority, it seems difficult for BJP to secure votes in Southern states, as per the Network18 mega Opinion Poll results. According to the opinion poll, the DMK-Congress alliance is projected to secure victory in 30 out of the 39 seats, slightly lower than their performance in 2019. Interestingly, the opinion poll suggests that the BJP, which has yet to finalize an alliance in the state, is anticipated to win 5 seats.
Latest reports suggest that the Election Commission is likely to announce the full schedule of 2024 Lok Sabha Polls sometime in the evening today. However, it should be noted that there has been no official announcement so far.
In Karnataka, 20 seats have been declared, with 10 current MPs being replaced in their constituencies. Notably, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje has been moved from Udupi Chikkamagaluru to Bengaluru North. The status of former Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde from the Uttara Kannada seat remains uncertain as no announcement has been made yet.
In the 2019 general elections, the BJP emerged victorious with 62 seats, while Mayawati’s BSP secured 10 seats. The Samajwadi Party (SP), led by Akhilesh Yadav, won 5 seats, and Apna Dal (Sonelal) managed to secure 2 seats. The Congress, however, only won one seat in the election.
The News18 Opinion survey shows that out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, the NDA is likely to win 38 seats. Whereas INDIA Bloc will be able to manage victory on just two seats, the opinion survey said.
The Aam Aadmi Party has formed an alliance with the Congress to contest the seats in Delhi. AAP has revealed its candidates for four seats: East Delhi, South Delhi, New Delhi, and West Delhi. Meanwhile, the Congress, set to contest the remaining three seats — North East, Chandni Chowk, and North West — is yet to announce its candidates.
The Selection Committee, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is scheduled to meet today (March 14) to finalize the names of two new Election Commissioners. With the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey in February and the unexpected resignation of Arun Goel last Saturday, the Election Commission now has two vacant seats.
In the mega Opinion Poll by Network18, many people nationwide were asked an important question. Out of over 118,000 respondents from various social and religious groups, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was chosen as the most trustworthy politician in the country.
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules were announced by the Union Home Ministry on March 11. This happened before the Model Code of Conduct came into effect for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The CAA law was passed by Parliament four years ago. In February this year, Union Minister Amit Shah said the CAA would be put into action before the Lok Sabha elections.
The ruling party’s first list revealed Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s candidacy for Varanasi for the third consecutive time. However, the BJP has not yet disclosed any Lok Sabha candidates from two significant states in North India: Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The electoral commission has issued a statement warning against a fake message circulating on WhatsApp regarding the schedule for #loksabhaelections2024. The commission emphasized that no dates have been announced yet and reiterated that the election schedule will be revealed through a formal press conference. They urged individuals to verify information before sharing it further.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2023, the Congress unveiled five guarantees for women as part of its “Naari Nyay” initiative. These commitments comprise an annual cash transfer of ₹1 lakh and a 50 per cent quota for women in government positions.
Rajiv Kumar, who has been serving as an Election Commissioner in the ECI since September 1, 2020, assumed the role of the 25th Chief Election Commissioner on May 15, 2022. He belongs to the 1984 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) from the Bihar/Jharkhand cadre and retired in February 2020.
On Wednesday, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar stated that the Election Commission will determine whether to conduct Lok Sabha Elections and Assembly Elections concurrently or individually in Jammu and Kashmir following a thorough assessment of the security conditions.
The BJP unveiled its second list of 72 Lok Sabha candidates on March 13, which includes three former chief ministers and four Union Ministers. This follows the party’s initial release of 195 candidates earlier this month, with names such as PM Modi contesting from Varanasi, Home Minister Amit Shah from Gandhinagar, and Mansukh Mandaviya from Porbandar.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and accompanying poll panel officials, were on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir starting from Monday, engaged in discussions with delegations from various political parties including the National Conference, PDP, BJP, CPI(M), Congress, and the Aam Admi Party.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage on Lok Sabha Elections. The Election Commission of India has completed all the state surveys regarding the preparedness of this mega exercise. Buzz is that the EC is likely to announce the full schedule of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections today. Amid all the poll frenzy, stay with us to know latest on General Polls, party-wise breakups, top alliance trends, opinion surveys and more
In 2019, PM Narendra Modi and his ruling BJP achieved a resounding victory, securing a sweeping return to power. With 303 seats won in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, BJP surpassed its 2014 tally of 282 seats — a remarkable feat that few anticipated. Securing a majority in Parliament requires 272 seats, and the BJP’s success in 2014 marked the first instance in thirty years where a party independently attained such a substantial seat count.