Month: April 2024

The Congress party released its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in Delhi on Friday.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other leaders were seen unveiling the party manifesto titled Nyay Patra.

The party’s election manifesto focuses on ‘Paanch Nyay’ or five pillars of justice, including ‘Yuva Nyay’, ‘Naari Nyay’, ‘Kisaan Nyay’, ‘Shramik Nyay’ and ‘Hissedari Nyay’ as well as the guarantees made by it to the people as part of its poll promises for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The party in its manifesto also says that the party will conduct a nationwide Socio-Economic and Caste Census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions and it will pass a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC.

The Congress manifesto was compiled after carrying out nationwide consultations and after receiving thousands of suggestions via email and our ‘Awaaz Bharat Ki’ website, as per the party.

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) met in March and ‘deliberated’ thoroughly on the party’s manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and other Congress leaders were present at the meeting.

“The Committee successfully ensured public participation in this exercise, rather than merely confining it to an academic one. It held extensive consultations in different parts of the country and submitted a draft to me on March 6, 2024,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said.

He said that suggestions and comments were also solicited through an online website which was rightly called “Awaaz Bharat Ki”.

“Whatever has been promised in Manifesto will be strictly implemented. Before making promises in the Manifesto, in-depth deliberation has been made to ensure that these promises are implementable,” Kharge said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on March 30, announced a 27-member committee, which included several Union ministers and chief ministers, headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to prepare its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls.

Lok Sabha Elections 2024 would be held in seven phases starting on April 19 and ending on June 1. The results will be declared on June 4. (ANI)

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/

Actor Shanaya Kapoor has shared some pictures with her pet dog ‘Pabloooo’.

On Thursday, she took to Instagram and dropped a bunch of pictures where she can be seen enjoying the sunset with Pabloooo.

Along with the post, she wrote, “sunsets with my pabloooo” with a heart emoticon.

Fans bombarded the comment section with sweet and cute comments.

A user wrote, “Awesome”

Another fan commented, “Wonderful view”

Shanaya is all set to make her acting debut with Mohanlal’s pan-India ‘Vrushabha’, directed by Nanda Kishore. It will be released simultaneously in Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi in 2024.

Earlier, Dharma Productions announced a film titled ‘Bedhadak’ with Shanaya, Lakshya and Gurfateh.

Sharing the update, Shanaya took to Instagram and unveiled her first look from the film.

“I am extremely grateful and humbled to join the Dharma Family with #Bedhadak – directed by the brilliant Shashank Khaitan. I can’t wait to kickstart this journey, I need all your blessings and love,” she captioned the post.

The film is directed by Shashank Khaitan. However, no update about the film has been given since then. (ANI)

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/

Actor Madhuri Dixit’s husband Shriram Nene on Thursday treated fans with a glimpse of his wife singing British singer Ed Sheeran’s song ‘Perfect’ on social media.

He dropped a video on Instagram and wrote, “So much fun doing a cover of #Perfect – Always one of our favourites @teddysphotos #EdSheeran @jonathanpaul_piano”

In the video, the couple sing in their soulful voice. Madhuri wore a shimmery co-ord set while her husband chose to wear a black formal suit.

As soon as Shriram Nene posted the video, netizens chimed in the comment section.

A user wrote, “Wow beautifully sung it, didn’t know that Madhuri ji can also sing beautifully. big fan of her.”

Another fan commented, “My favorite song of Ed Sheeran! Lovely singing you both!!!”

Earlier, Ed performed in Mumbai for the final leg of his +-=/x Tour (Mathematics) on Saturday evening, as part of his Asia and Europe Tour, 2024.

Madhuri married Shriram, a doctor, on October 17, 1999. She relocated to the US and lived there for over a decade. The couple’s first son Arin was born in 2003, and their second child Ryan was born in 2005.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Madhuri was last seen in the Marathi film ‘Panchak’. Addinath Kothare, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Bharti Achrekar, and others star in ‘Panchak’. The film’s core subject is around Addinath’s character’s quest to seek a common platform amidst turmoil, challenging old ideas, and offering a novel viewpoint to the plot.

She was also seen in ‘Maja Ma’. Helmed by Anand Tiwari and written by Sumit Batheja, the film was a family entertainer, set against the celebratory backdrop of a traditional festival and a quintessential, colourful Indian wedding. (ANI)

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/

Actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra, famous for her cheerful personality, recently posted a dance video with her sister Shamita Shetty and friend Akanksha Malhotra.

Shilpa, on Thursday, took to her Instagram to share the lively video.

In the clip, the actress is seen dancing with her sister Shamita Shetty and friend Akanksha Malhotra. They dance together to the song ‘Nainon Mein Sapna’ from the film Himmatwala, creating a delightful scene.

Captioning the post, Shilpa wrote, “Ek Himmatwala tohfa aapke liye (A power-packed gift for you)” followed by laughter, red heart and winking face with tongue out emojis.

“We had so much fun adding our own zing to @isha_r_surti’s magic”, she added while giving credit to the choreographer of the dance.

As soon as the video was shared, fans flooded the comment section.

One user wrote, “Shamita is so pretty & classy.”

Another user commented, “Beautiful dance preety girls.”

A third user added, “Shilpa your gorgeous stunning beautiful And Pretty.”

Shilpa never misses a chance to inspire her fans with a fitness regime. She often posts videos on Instagram to inspire people to take up this form of exercise seriously in life.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Shilpa was recently seen in Rohit Shetty’s OTT debut ‘Indian Police Force’, which also stars Sidharth Malhotra and Vivek Oberoi. The series is streaming on the OTT platform Amazon Prime.

She will also act in ‘KD-The Devil’ as Satyavati alongside V Ravichandran, and Sanjay Dutt. The pan-India multilingual will be released in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi. (ANI)

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/

Malaika Arora never misses a chance to dish out fashion goals. Her latest workout outfit showed the diva knows best how to mix style with fitness.

On Thursday, Malaika was papped outside her yoga studio wearing black yoga pants that she paired with a super cool white T-shirt. Interestingly, the T-shirt had a coloured doodle of herself imprinted on it.

The doodle is of Malaika with her dog Casper.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Malaika was recently seen judging reality show ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’ with actor Arshad Warsi and choreographer Farah Khan.

Malaika and her former husband Arbaaz Khan’s son Arhaan is also all set to enter the showbiz business.

The young boy is coming up with his podcast called ‘Dumb Biryani’. Arhaan has collaborated with his two other friends, Arush Verma and Dev Raiyani, for the six-part series.

Recently, Arhaan dropped the trailer of the podcast in which young boys were seen indulging in a free-wheeling chat with Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Malaika and Orry.

Arhaan wrote in the caption of the post, “3 best friends. 1 last summer before they grow up forever. Meet this summer’s smallest blockbuster, Dumb Biryani. A 6-part limited podcast series with @iamarhaankhan @devraiyanii and @4rushverma coming soon to YouTube. A @revoliomedia original…”

Malaika cheered for her son in the comment section, as she wrote, “Yayyyyyyy so proud of you @iamarhaankhan n the entire team.”

Filmmaker Karan Johar commented, “This is going to storm the waves.”

‘Fabulous Lives Of Bollywood Wives’ cast Maheep Kapoor, Neelam Kothari Soni, Seema Sajdeh and Bhavana Pandey also marked their presence in the trailer.

Salman Khan appeared at the very end of the podcast in a red shirt that says ‘Robin Hood’ at the back.

Malaika and Arbaaz had Arhaan in 2002. They parted ways after almost 18 years of marriage. ( ANI)

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to ensure that more prominent disclaimers are published in its election advertisements notifying that the allocation of the ‘clock’ symbol to it is sub-judice.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan also cautioned the Sharad Pawar NCP faction to not use the NCP ‘clock’ symbol anywhere and to use the ‘man blowing turha’ symbol (allocated to it) for the upcoming polls.

It said the Sharad Pawar faction, its party office bearers, workers and supporters shall only use the name ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Chandra Pawar’ for upcoming elections and the “man blowing turha” symbol.

“In other words, the applicant-petitioner (Sharad Pawar) or supporters shall not use the symbol clock,” said the bench while saying that its March 19 order shall be abide by both the factions.

“It is suffice to clarify and reiterate that the petitioner (Sharad Pawar) and party office bearers and workers supporters shall abide by directions in para 3 in terms thereof. The respondents (Ajit Pawar faction), the office bearers of the political party, and the workers are obligated to meticulously follow directions contained in the order,” the bench recorded in its order.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Ajit Pawar group assured the Supreme Court that office-bearers, candidates, and supporters shall be sensitised to ensure that there is no defiance of the court’s order and to issue public notices with more prominent space in the newspapers.

During the hearing today, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for the Sharad Pawar group presented certain advertisements and posters published by the Ajit Pawar group, in print, electronic and social media, and claimed that none of them carried the disclaimer that the use ‘clock’ symbol was sub-judice.

Rohatgi representing the Ajit Pawar group alleged that the Sharad Pawar group was still using the ‘clock’ symbol.

The apex court on March 19 directed the Ajit Pawar faction to issue a public notice in English, Hindi, Marathi media and mention in all its campaign ads that the ‘clock’ symbol allotted to it is subject to the outcome of the case pending before it on challenge to the ECI order of recognising Ajit Pawar’s group as ‘real NCP’.

It had also directed that the undertaking made by the Ajit Pawar faction to not use the name and pictures of Sharad Pawar in election posters will apply not just to the State of Maharashtra but also to other States.

The top court had also asked the Sharad Pawar faction to use the ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Chandra Pawar’s name for upcoming elections and the “man blowing turha” symbol.

Earlier, the apex court had directed that the Election Commission’s order of February 7 allotting ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Chandra Pawar’ as the party name for the Sharad Pawar faction will continue till further orders. (ANI)

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/

After the picture of jailed chief minister Arvind Kejriwal placed between Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar went viral during a video briefing of Sunita Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi has said that Kejriwal is the symbol of the struggle going on today against the dictatorship of BJP and his picture is proof of this.

“Arvind Kejriwal has been arrested by the central government of Bharatiya Janata Party on false charges. Arvind Kejriwal is the symbol of the struggle going on today against the dictatorship of the BJP, and his picture is proof of this. This is to remind us that the struggle that is going on today against the BJP is no less than a freedom struggle. There was a time when the people of the country used to fight against the British. Today is a time when we have to struggle against the dictatorship of BJP and Arvind Kejriwal is doing the same,” Atishi said.

AAP also faced backlash on the social media platforms for equating Arvind Kejriwal with Bhagat Singh and BR Ambedkar.

The BJP too slammed AAP and said that the public will not be misled by Kejriwal’s party.

Delhi BJP president, Virendra Sachdeva said on X, “It is very regrettable to put the photo of a staunch corrupt Arvind Kejriwal between Bhagat Singh ji and Babasaheb Ambedkar ji. Earlier the husband used to lie in front of the camera. Now that he is in jail, he is making his wife lie. The public is not going to be misled by AAP,” he said.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal, read out a message from her husband asking his MLAs to visit their areas every day and discuss people’s problems and sort them out.

“Just because I am in jail, the people of Delhi should not suffer in any way. Every MLA should visit their area every day and discuss people’s problems and sort them out,” Kejriwal said in his letter read out by his wife in a video statement.

“I am not just talking about solving their government problems. We should solve other problems too. Delhi’s two crore people are my family. No one should be unhappy because of me. God bless all of them. Jai Hind,” Kejriwal added. (ANI)

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/

Union Minister and BJP candidate from Thiruvananthapuram, Rajeev Chandrasekhar filed his nomination for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on Thursday.

He was accompanied by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

Earlier, Chandrasekhar also held a roadshow in Thiruvananthapuram before filing his nomination for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The Union Minister was seated on an open-roofed vehicle and greeted the people.

A huge number of BJP supporters and party members gathered on both sides throughout the roadshow.

Before filing his nomination, the Union Minister expressed confidence that the people of Thiruvananthapuram would support him.

“It’s a big step forward in serving my city Thiruvananthapuram and I look forward to people supporting me and their best wishes. The people of Thiruvananthapuram will decide and I’m confident that they want a change, and they want an MP who can deliver,” Chandrashekhar said.

Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram parliamentary seat is going to be a ‘three-cornered fight’ with candidates of the BJP, Congress and left parties in the fray for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

BJP has fielded Rajeev Chandrashekhar while CPM-led LDF has fielded CPI leader Pannyan Raveendran, who had won the seat in 2005 and Congress has fielded its sitting MP Shashi Tharoor from the constituency.

Kerala, one of the few states where the Congress still has a strong presence, sends 20 parliamentarians to the Lok Sabha.

Senior Congress leader and ex-Union minister Shashi Tharoor has been winning the Thiruvananthapuram seat since 2009. He filed his nomination from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala on Wednesday.

The BJP has never been able to win a Lok Sabha seat in Kerala. In the Assembly polls, the party won only once from Nemam in Thiruvananthapuram district, where O Rajagopal had won in 2016.

However, Chandrasekhar’s plunge into the capital fray has turned it into a triangular affair, which will be one of the most watched battles in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Voting for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the South Indian state across all 20 seats is scheduled for April 26, while the counting of votes will take place on June 4.

In the 2019 polls, the BJP’s Kummanam Rajasekharan won 31.3 per cent votes, the highest among what the BJP got in the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won 19 out of 20 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. While the Congress won 15 seats, its allies, the Indian Union Muslim League, won two seats, the Revolutionary Socialist Party won one, and the Kerala Congress (M) won one seat. (ANI)

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/

The state police will keep watch on polling stations and their immediate surroundings in the remote areas during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“In the Lok Sabha General Elections 2024, Uttarakhand Police will monitor polling stations and surrounding areas located in inaccessible parts of extremely remote areas through drones,” the State Election Commission (SEC) informed through an official release on Wednesday.

“There are many places where it is not possible to install CCTV cameras and where surveillance, photo, and videography are very difficult tasks due to the difficult geographical conditions in Uttarakhand,” it noted.

It added that considering the logistical and topographical challenges, a process has been put in motion to monitor polling stations located in extremely remote areas as well as nearby polling stations where CCTV cameras cannot be installed, including roads, lanes or residential colonies.

A temporary control room has also been opened by the state police to scan live visuals sent by drones.

“While inspecting and testing the pictures and videos sent by the drone, information about suspicious persons, objects and activities will be immediately sent to the Election Operations Centre located at the police headquarters,” the state poll panel added in its release.

Further, the state poll panel informed that the Election Operations Centre will send information about the suspicious person, object, place or incident to the police officer concerned, immediately after which, an initial detailed investigation will be conducted by searching the said person, object or place.

Any future problems related to law and order will be resolved at the earliest, it informed further.

Earlier, on Wednesday, the state’s Additional Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Kumar Jogdande took stock of poll preparedness ahead of the seven-phased general elections.

Speaking to ANI, Jogande said as many as 65,160 elderly persons in the state, who are aged 85 or above, are registered to get their fingers inked this time. The state poll panel has arranged for them to vote from home through the postal ballot.

All five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand will poll in a single phase on April 19, the Election Commission (EC) informed while announcing the full schedule of the general elections.

Earlier, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer BVRC Purushottam instructed Excise Commissioner Prashant Arya to step up monitoring of the sale and seizure of liquor across the state ahead of the general elections.

While giving instructions to install CCTVs at the check posts for monitoring purposes, the CEC also instructed them to provide daily reports to his office, according to an official statement.

The BJP has fielded Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, Anil Baluni, Ajay Tamta, Ajay Bhatt, and Trivendra Singh Rawat for these seats.

Former chief minister Trivendra Rawat and former Rajya Sabha MP Baluni are in the fray from Haridwar and Pauri.

The BJP won all the Lok Sabha seats in the state in the 2014 and 2019 elections. (ANI)

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/