BJP releases first list of 21 candidates for Chhattisgarh polls, 39 for MP elections
MP Vijay Baghel fielded from Patan
New Delhi, Aug 17: The BJP on Thursday released its first list of 21 candidates for Chhattisgarh and 39 for Madhya Pradesh, including five women in each state, for the upcoming assembly polls which are yet to be announced.
The party has fielded Vijay Baghel, its Durg MP, from Patan which is currently represented by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel.
The names were decided at the BJP's Central Election Committee meeting on Wednesday which was chaired by party chief J P Nadda and attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah among other senior leaders.
In Chhattisgarh, the BJP has fielded Baghel from Patan, Bhulan Singh Maravi from Premnagar, Laxmi Rajwade from Bhatgaon, Shakuntala Singh Porthe from Pratappur (ST), Sarla Kosaria from Saraipali (SC), Alka Chandrakar from Khallari, Gita Ghasi Sahu from Khujji and Maniram Kashyap from Bastar (ST), among others.
In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has fielded Sarla Vijendra Rawat from Sabalgarh, Priyanka Meena from Chachaoura, Lalita Yadav from Chhatarpur, Anchal Sonkar from Jabalpur Purba (SC), Nirmala Bhuriya from Petlawad, Bhanu Bhuriya from Jhabua (ST), Alok Sharma from Bhopal Uttar and Dhruv Narayan Singh from Bhopal Madhya, among others.
The party's decision to announce the first list of candidates so early underlines the significance it has attached to five state elections, the last round of assembly contest before the all-important Lok Sabha polls. Besides Chhattisgarh and MP, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram are scheduled to go to polls later this year.
The BJP is in power only in Madhya Pradesh and is running an intense campaign to oust the Congress government in Chhattisgarh.
The BJP in 2018 had won only 15 of the 90 seats in the Chhattisgarh assembly against 68 of the Congress while its tally of seats was 109 against 114 of the Congress in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly.
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Rupee hits record low of 96.14/USD, settles at fresh closing low of 95.86/USD
Mumbai (PTI): The Indian rupee crashed below the 96/USD mark on Friday before closing at an all-time low of 95.86 (provisional) against the US dollar as elevated crude oil prices and inflation concerns added to the downside pressure on the rupee.
Rupee has registered over 6 per cent losses so far this year, and in the past six trading sessions, it has depreciated nearly 2 per cent as Iran war risk escalation pushed crude oil prices higher. The dollar index moved northwards after strong US retail sales and stable labour market data reduced expectations of aggressive Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Forex traders said global uncertainties, relatively high valuations, and the lack of AI-led investment opportunities have weighed on capital flows.
Moreover, weak net FDI inflows are likely to exert pressure on the balance of payments, while rising crude oil prices stoke inflation worries.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 95.86, then slumped to a record low of 96.14 in intraday trade, registering a fall of 50 paise from its previous close.
The USD/INR pair finally settled at 95.86 (provisional) against the US dollar, registering a fall of 22 paise from its previous close, helped by likely RBI intervention.
On Thursday, the rupee weakened to a fresh record low of 95.96 before closing with a marginal gain of 2 paise at 95.64 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 99.15, higher by 0.34 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading up 3.14 per cent at USD 109.04 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex fell 160.73 points to settle at 75,237.99, while Nifty declined 46.10 points to 23,643.50.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers, purchasing equities worth Rs 187.46 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the country's exports in April rose by 13.78 per cent to USD 43.56 billion despite global challenges, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Friday.
Imports grew 10 per cent year-on-year to USD 71.94 billion in April. The trade deficit during the month stood at USD 28.38 billion.
"We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on elevated crude oil prices and inflation concerns. Strong dollar and FII outflows may also weigh on the rupee. However, any intervention by the RBI and hiking of import duty on gold and silver may support the rupee at lower levels. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 95.60 to 96.20," said Anuj Choudhary, Research analyst at Mirae Asset ShareKhan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump on Friday hailed their talks as "historic" and "landmark", as the American leader wrapped up his three-day visit on a high note, but no deals on any contentious issues were announced.
Both Presidents, who held several rounds of talks covering a range of global issues, including the Iran war and bilateral trade frictions, concluded their discussions with a private meeting at Zhongnanhai, the well-guarded compound in Beijing where top leaders reside.
