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Lok Sabha Election Results 2024 LIVE: BJP-led NDA crosses halfway mark in terms of leads; INDIA bloc still putting up a fight

Check out winner candidate list from Rajasthan Lok Sabha Seats

Rajasthan Lok Sabha Election Result 2019: BJP wins all

Data from nine different elections show that Congress can be on the winning side but not the winner

<ul><li><keyword id="6354374" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="rajyavardhan-singh-rathore">Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore</keyword> from BJP and <keyword id="140858" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Krishna-Poonia">Krishna Poonia</keyword> from INC are contesting for the Lok Sabha seat. </li><li>Rathore is a silver medal winner from the Olympics while Poonia is three-time Olympics participant and gold medallist in the Commonwealth Games. </li><li>While Rathore is the incumbent MP, the crowds seem to swinging in the favour of Poonia because of her caste.</li></ul>As India enters phase five of the general elections, there’s an interesting fight brewing in the land of the Maharajas and Maharanis. In <keyword id="79041" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jaipur-rural">Jaipur rural</keyword>, two Olympians – Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore from the Bharatiya Janata Party and Krishna Poonia from the Indian National Congress – are contesting for the Lok Sabha seat. Rathore an Olympian shooter is the incumbent MP from Jaipur rural and is up against the Commonwealth gold medallist and Olympics participant Poonia. The two sporting icons now have a shot to win the golden ticket to the Lok Sabha. While they might have sports in common, their political affiliations and strides are completely opposite. Rathore, also a retired Colonel from the army, has gained much respect in his constituency for having paved the way for development and is a youth icon in the area. Rathore also holds the position of Minister of State for Information &amp; Broadcasting and Sports. “Youths of this constituency are joining the Army. They were wasting their time. Before 2014, there was no recruitment in Army from Jaipur district for six years. I started recruitment camps, and the results are there. We also arrange pre-recruitment training for youths,” <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/lok-sabha/india/its-youth-vote-vs-caste-math-in-jaipur-rural/articleshow/69106064.cms">Economic Times</a> quoted Rathore from his rallies. Meanwhile, Poonia has gained popularity by being ‘one of the people’. Though Poonia hails from Haryana, her husband Virender Poonia is from the region, which brings her the <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/elections/lok-sabha-elections-2019/rajasthan/news/modi-wave-in-2014-was-visible-now-it-is-undercurrent-rajyavardhan-singh-rathore/articleshow/68962404.cms">favouritism</a>. The Jats from the constituency have spoken to the media about their preference towards Poonia because of her <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/lok-sabha/india/its-youth-vote-vs-caste-math-in-jaipur-rural/articleshow/69106064.cms">caste</a>. But going beyond sports, from bus stops to drinking water facilities, there are a lot of issues that villagers want to be solved in the area. "We are faced with loads of challenges for our day-to-day survival in the village. In the morning, we need to fetch water for our daily needs. But as the groundwater has almost dried up here, we have one tap supplying water to 50 houses. Surprisingly, the water supply from this tap is limited to 60 minutes, which is insufficient to meet the needs of all the families," Bansilal Kumawat, a resident of the Sanodiya village in the constituency, told IANS. It’s not just the elderly, even children from the constituency are standing up for their rights. In early May, children from the Garhi village of the constituency were <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/elections/lok-sabha-elections-2019/rajasthan/news/on-jaipur-poll-pitch-kids-raise-voice-against-child-marriage/articleshow/69153701.cms">seen campaigning</a> and urging the elders to vote for the right candidate who would put a stop on child marriage and child labour in the area. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/lok-sabha-elections-2019-polling-in-phase-5-will-see-battle-for-51-seats/articleshow/69193203.cms">Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Polling in Phase 5 will see battle for 51 seats</a>

In the land of the royals, two Olympic stars fight for votes – but it may boil down to caste

<ul><li><keyword id="19912128" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chandra" source="keywords">Chandra</keyword> hit upon the idea to launch a TV channel after he saw big hotels showing CNN via satellite dishes during the Gulf War.</li><li><keyword id="19976119" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zee" source="keywords">Zee</keyword> was India’s first private TV channel and had pioneered many superhit TV shows, reality shows and kickstarted the careers of many media barons.</li><li>Chandra entered the infrastructure business and planned a hostile takeover of IVRCL which failed.</li><li>By the mid-2010s, his new ventures had piled up a huge debt which pushed him to sell stake in crown jewel, Zee.</li></ul>Remember Hum Paanch? <keyword id="20328693" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zee-antakshari" source="keywords">Zee Antakshari</keyword>? Phillips Top 10? These shows, now shared around social media by nostalgia lovers, were the first taste of Hindi TV programmes for many millennials. The generation saw the country move away from one or two channels with very limited entertainment programming; with the entry of private companies into satellite programming, forcing Indians to buy TVs that needed remotes. The man who made this revolution possible was Subhash Chandra, a bright young man from Hisar. Born into an Agrawal Bania family, Chandra entered into business early in his life, and in the 70s before TV wasn’t around in India. After his family business fell into debt, he had to abruptly leave college, go back to Haryana and work on repaying debts. He started off running a pulse polishing mill with moderate success, but his fortunes improved as he supplied grains to Food Corporation of India (FCI). By late 80s and early 90s, he was exporting rice and soybeans to Russia, and had also started a packaging company. It was all running smoothly, until one election season he saw that politicians were renting out vans with projectors and screens for their roadshows. He later learnt that Five-Star Hotels owned satellite dishes and were telecasting CNN during the Gulf War. That’s when the idea of broadcasting content with ads in between came to him, he told Outlook Business in <a href="https://www.outlookbusiness.com/specials-34/secret-diary-of-an-entrepreneur_2018/live-in-the-present-dont-recount-and-regret-the-past-4353">Secret Diary of Subhash Chandra</a>. <div type="image" title="hum paanch twitter" msid="107136147" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Source: Twitter (Now X) &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The realm of reality TV As he went about it, he was laughed off by DD executives, who coolly told him that they employ hundreds of people and equipment worth thousands of crores. He then intended to lease a transponder in Hong Kong and broadcast from there. STAR’s Li Ka-shing was not so receptive to the idea of broadcasting business in India. After many twists and turns, he rented a transponder; and India’s got its first Hindi channel in the Star bouquet in 1992. Initially there was only three hours of programming, with reruns of old DD serials. But it soon branched<a href="https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/JV7xB6PWkkl5q2Glq8tT8K/The-zee-story-turns-20.html"> out with chat shows </a>like Chakravyuha. Many media barons like Ronnie Screwala who produced the chat show started their careers at Zee. Pritish Nandy also had a show on it called Fiscal Fitness. The hugely popular Aap Ki Adalat, which now airs on India TV, also debuted on Zee. Rajat Sharma, its popular interviewer, also expanded the group’s political vista. The Union Minister Smriti Irani was briefly a stringer for Zee News which was launched later by the group. She, however, also became the star of Star Plus’ super hit TV show Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi in early 2000s. In addition to comedy shows, Zee diversified into drama shows like Neena Gupta starring Parampara in addition to <keyword id="20328692" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zee-horror-show" source="keywords">Zee Horror Show</keyword>. Its hugely popular Antakshari show was hosted by stars like Renuka Shahane, Pallavi Joshi and Annu Kapoor. <div type="image" title="annu kapoor" msid="107136187" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Source: Twitter (Now X)&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Bags of fan mail In spite of growing success, Chandra had to convince advertisers to shift from print and outdoor ads to TV advertising. He did it by lugging along bags of fan mail sent by viewers of his shows. By the time other players saw how valuable reaching all over India with Hindi shows was, he was miles ahead. He added more channels across movies, music in addition to news, across languages to his bouquet. By the time the world entered the new millennium, he had captured a large chunk of India’s eyeballs, not to mention hearts. The deal with Richard Li, son of Li Ka-shing also included an option to buy 25% stake in the venture within a year. By the time he realised it was good business, the option had long expired. Chandra refused to sell him the stake, took his company public, and the issue was subscribed 60 times over. The goatee-sporting man had become one of India’s first media barons and a billionaire. A failed hostile takeover By 2004, his media conglomerate was running steady, but Chandra, true to himself, was already hunting for the next big bet. The sector he chose was infrastructure. Back then, India was building roads, adding power generation as well as distribution assets, and setting-up ports and airports with a renewed fervour. Many small regional players like GMR and GVK became national companies after they won large-scale airport projects. It seemed like a good business. However, by the time Chandra entered it in 2008, the sector was showing signs of fatigue, due to credit crunch and more. Players were seeing the effects of adding heavy debt onto books. One such company was Hyderabad-based IVRCL which had a good set of projects, sizeable orderbook but was crushing under debt, in 2012. It was borrowing money for working capital purposes, and projects were moving ahead slower. Chandra believed that a hostile takeover of the company would catalyse its infra business which was executing a few highway projects. He went in and acquired a tad over 12% stake in the company when IVRCL too changed track. It stopped bidding for new projects, started monetising its projects and paring down its debt. Eventually Chandra had to sell off his stock at a loss. Takeovers are a high stakes game. Though the financials were never disclosed, the assumption, based on the company’s market cap at that time, he might have spent ₹200 crore on it. On the other hand, its own infrastructure business never scaled up later on, and continued to report deep losses for the next few years. It was a strategy gone wrong, as he later admitted in his open letter. Politics to pledging In 2016, Chandra made his political debut to become a Rajya Sabha MP representing BJP in Haryana. The close contest between him and the Congress candidate R K Anand was also interesting in other ways too. Chandra was declared winner after 14 votes were made invalid as they used the wrong pens. In 2022, Chandra changed his ‘native home <a href="https://www.newslaundry.com/2022/06/08/why-subhash-chandras-rajya-sabha-dreams-are-now-congresss-nightmares">town’ to Rajasthan</a> and filed his nomination as an independent candidate backed by BJP. He however accepted defeat after he fell short of over 40 votes. On the other end, his business was branching out into many businesses, with varying successes, soaking in capital. It entered financial services, acquired Peerless Mutual Fund, investment banking, private equity and much more. It went into education with a chain of K-12 schools, gold refineries in addition to related media businesses like Fun Cinemas and Dish TV. He also had plans for a wellness company. These expansions came at a cost, and a huge debt. The group soon had 87 operating companies which had straddled debt to the tune of ₹17,000 crore, as per estimates. How was so much money raised? The promoters had to pledge their shares in listed entities like Zee Entertainment, Dish TV, Zee Media Corporation, SITI Networks, <keyword id="19960022" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zee-learn" source="keywords">Zee Learn</keyword> and Shirpur Gold refinery. Reports suggest that <a href="https://www.thequint.com/amp/story/news%2Fbusiness%2Fdoes-zee-news-need-a-commercial-bank-subhash-chandra#read-more">anywhere between 60-90% of their </a>shares in these companies were pledged with lenders in the mid-2010s. The chickens however came to roost in 2018 when the<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/ilfs-crisis-spilling-beyond-finance-chandras-zee-feeling-the-heat/articleshow/67734787.cms?from=mdr"> NBFC IL&amp;FS bankruptcy spooke</a>d the markets, making it tough for him to rollover debt. The loss of crown jewel Soon, the promoters were forced to sell the stake that they had pledged. Zee’s promoter shareholding fell from 42% to a dismal 4% in its crown jewel, Zee Entertainment. In the meanwhile, its flagship Zee’s earnings also started dwindling, worrying analysts and investors; that led the market regulator to look into it. Between 2021 and 2023, its profits slid by 48%. In 2021, for the second time in two years, Chandra admitted to his mistakes that led to default. He announced <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/media/subhash-chandra-claims-91-debt-with-43-lenders-settled/articleshow/85007881.cms?from=mdr">that he had settled</a> 91% of his debts with 43 lenders. “I have no regrets for parting with a substantial ownership in the business and specially in the jewels of the crown,” he said in an open letter. Apart from the promoter crisis, the businesses were moving at a slow pace too. Satellite pay TV has become less attractive to viewers now used to streaming. Dish TV, owned by his brother, has been losing steam as well. Edtech is facing its own existential crisis. His digital ventures of Zee5 progressed but at a slow rate due to heavy competition. There are no updates on his plans for its metaverse venture, oddly named Maayaverse. On top of it, Zee’s plans to merge with Sony fell through, after two years of negotiations. Sony is also seeking a $90 million termination fee, which Zee intends to contest. That means more legal troubles, barely a year after it settled a dispute with J C Flowers, an asset reconstruction company. Chandra and his son Puneet Goenka are now part of a <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/sebi-subhash-chandra-punit-goenka-sebis-flowcharts-explain-how-zee-bosses-allegedly-faked-loan-recovery-4119857">probe by market regulator SEBI</a>, to see if money was siphoned off from the listed entities. That would be a tough spot to any businessman, let alone one who is devoid of crown jewels and without a seat in the parliament. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/webstories/subrata-roys-journey-from-lucknows-sahara-shahar-to-londons-grosvenor-house-to-tihar-jail/slidelist/105234003.cms">Subrata Roy’s journey from Lucknow’s Sahara Shahar to London’s Grosvenor House to Tihar Jail</a>

From A to Zee: Subhash Chandra’s spectacular rise and fall

Lucknow, <keyword id="3244221" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Femina-Miss-India-Finalist">Femina Miss India finalist</keyword>, <keyword id="1913952" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Diksha-Singh">Diksha Singh</keyword>, will add a dash of glamour to the <keyword id="6403028" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zila-Panchayat">Zila Panchayat</keyword> elections in Uttar Pradesh. Diksha, a finalist in 2015, is contesting the <keyword id="6359957" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Polls">polls</keyword> from Jaunpur. She told reporters that she would contest from the Baksha ward of the district and would be filing her nomination papers on Sunday. Jaunpur goes to polls on April 15 and the result would be announced on May 2 after four phases of polling. Diksha has already started campaigning in her ward. "I belong to the Chittori village in Jaunpur and I studied here till Class 3 after which my parents moved to Mumbai and then to Goa. I went to the MES College of Arts and Commerce, Zuarinagar, Goa, for my graduation, she said. In her second year in college, Diksha participated in the Femina Miss <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> pageant in 2015. She was one of the 21 finalists and also the winner of a sub-contest 'Miss Body Beautiful'. Thereafter, she signed several modelling assignments and recently appeared in some music videos, including one in February 2021. In 2020, Diksha appeared in the music video of Darshan Raval and Neha Kakkar's song "Teri Aakhon Mein". Apart from this, she also starred in the music video of Darshan Raval's song "Rabba Mehar Kari", which released this February. Diksha has over two lakh followers on Instagram. Diksha's apparently decided to contest the seat after it was declared reserved for women. Her father, Jitendra Singh, was keen to contest the <keyword id="49290" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="panchayat">Panchayat</keyword> polls. However, her family denies it. "It is her independent decision and is driven by her desire to serve her native place," said her father, who runs his business in Goa and Rajasthan. Diksha, meanwhile, said, "The lives of people has not improved over the years. My native place is still underdeveloped. Whenever I came here, I felt that the place was stuck somewhere in the 1990s. I intend to work for the people here and change the situation." Diksha, who has studied political science college, further said, "I have grown in this place which is like a scene from old classics such as 'Mother India' and 'Purab aur Paschim' where misery and poverty drive the way. Women lead a restricted life and children are forced to give up their dreams. Many cannot relate with the situation here but I can." Diksha will be contesting as an independent candidate. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/nasa-estimates-pandemic-could-cost-it-around-3-billion-quick-look-at-projects-to-take-the-biggest-hit/slidelist/81869940.cms">NASA estimates the pandemic ballooned costs by $3 billion — here are the projects to take the biggest hit</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/a-5-5-billion-british-fintech-start-up-may-have-200-jobs-to-offer-in-india/articleshow/81867620.cms">A $5.5 billion British fintech start up may have 200 jobs to offer in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/for-revolut-india-is-just-the-first-in-a-series-of-countries-it-plans-to-enter-in-the-next-18-months/articleshow/81883114.cms">For Revolut, India is just the first in a series of countries it plans to enter in the next 18 months</a>

Miss India finalist Diksha Singh to contest Uttar Pradesh Panchayat elections

The entire list and a brief profile of 'Delhi ke nirmata'⁠— the makers of Delhi felicitated at Kejriwal's oath taking ceremony

You Searched For "rajasthan winner candidate" and got 8 results

Lok Sabha Election Results 2024 LIVE: BJP-led NDA crosses halfway mark in terms of leads; INDIA bloc still putting up a fight

BI India Bureau

Check out winner candidate list from Rajasthan Lok Sabha Seats

BI India Bureau

Rajasthan Lok Sabha Election Result 2019: BJP wins all

BI India Bureau

Data from nine different elections show that Congress can be on the winning side but not the winner

BI India Bureau

In the land of the royals, two Olympic stars fight for votes – but it may boil down to caste

Sanchita Dash

From A to Zee: Subhash Chandra’s spectacular rise and fall

Katya Naidu

Miss India finalist Diksha Singh to contest Uttar Pradesh Panchayat elections

IANS

The entire list and a brief profile of 'Delhi ke nirmata'⁠— the makers of Delhi felicitated at Kejriwal's oath taking ceremony

BI India Bureau

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