Morning briefing: Gadkari reacts to electoral bonds case, 65,000 paramilitary personnel sent to Bengal; more news

Union minister Nitin Gadkari

Defending the contentious electoral bonds scheme for donating to political parties, which the Supreme Court ruled ‘unconstitutional’ and struck down on February 15, Union minister Nitin Gadkari pointed to what he said was the ‘idea’ behind electoral bonds, asking critics what was wrong with the idea. “The idea was that parties would get money through bonds, helping push the economy to number one. What was wrong with that? It is a fact that parties need money to contest elections. Every party needs that (the money),” Gadkari told NDTV in an interview. Also, while the senior BJP leader declared he would not comment on the apex court’s judgment, he remarked that there was another ‘drawback’ to withdrawing the scheme. Dig Deeper

The Centre will send nearly 65,000 personnel from paramilitary forces to West Bengal for security arrangements during the Lok Sabha elections, making it the largest deployment among all states after Jammu and Kashmir, officials aware of the matter said. As part of the deployment during the first and second phase of polling on April 19 and 26, around 30,000 personnel from three paramilitary forces have already reached the state to prevent violence. Polling in West Bengal for the 42 seats will be held across all seven phases. “The deployment from the third phase will be random and increased because of the areas that are hypersensitive and have a history of violence during the elections,” an official said, requesting anonymity. “Personnel from the BSF (Border Security Force), CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) and SSB (Sashastra Seema Bal) have already reached the state.” Dig Deeper

The Latest News

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Electoral bonds: Election commission releases data. Which party received how much? 10 points. Dig Deeper

India News

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Entertainment Focus

Yodha box office collection day 3: Directed by debutant duo Sagar Ambre and Pushkar Ojha, the film has been minting decent numbers at the domestic box office. According to Sacnilk.com, the action-packed film has earned nearly ₹17 crore in India since its release. The film stars Sidharth Malhotra, Disha Patani and Raashii Khanna in lead roles. The film minted ₹4.1 crore on day one and ₹5.75 crore on day two. It earned ₹7 crore nett in India on its third day, as per early estimates. So far, the film has minted ₹16.85 crore in India.  The high-octane action thriller film follows Arun Katyal, the commanding officer of an elite unit, the Yodha Task Force, on a thrilling rescue operation. The film is produced by Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, and Shashank Khaitan. Dig Deeper

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