BJP MP Jayant Sinha has asked the party to relieve him of electoral duties, signalling that he does not want an active role or a ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Mr Sinha’s announcement came just hours after another party leader, Gautam Gambhir, hinted at his exit from electoral politics.

Both the MPs have requested BJP president JP Nadda to relieve them so that they can focus on their other commitments. 

In a post on X, the MP from Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh wrote, “I have requested Honourable Party President JP Nadda to relieve me of my direct electoral duties so that I can focus my efforts on combating global climate change in Bharat and around the world. Of course, I will continue to work with the party on economic and governance issues.”

I have requested Hon’ble Party President Shri @JPNadda ji to relieve me of my direct electoral duties so that I can focus my efforts on combating global climate change in Bharat and around the world. Of course, I will continue to work with the party on economic and governance…

— Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) March 2, 2024

The announcements come amid reports that the two leaders may not get a ticket for the upcoming 2024 polls. The BJP is said to be contemplating giving tickets to several new leaders and some other sitting MPs also are understood to have told the party that they would like to focus on other organisational work.

The party has conducted extensive surveys to find out which leaders are popular among the masses. Sources told NDTV that both Gautam Gambhir and Jayan Sinha didn’t fare well in the surveys and were not likely to get a ticket to contest in the 2024 elections.

The BJP is expected to release a first list of candidates – over 100 names, which will include heavyweights like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah – for the 2024 Lok Sabha election soon. The party held marathon overnight meetings in Delhi, including one led by the Prime Minister at his Delhi residence that began 11 pm Thursday and finished at 4 am Friday.

Earlier today, BJP’s East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir also said he said asked the party to relieve him from political duties so that he can focus on his upcoming cricket commitments.

“I have requested Hon’ble Party President JP Nadda ji to relieve me of my political duties so that I can focus on my upcoming cricket commitments. I sincerely thank Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi for giving me the opportunity to serve the people. Jai Hind,” Mr Gambhir wrote.

Google has initiated the process to restore Indian mobile apps which had been dropped from the Play Store over a dispute over service fees. The decision was taken after the company’s officials held a meeting with IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, sources said.

On Friday, Google had removed apps belonging to 10 Indian companies, sparking controversy in one of its fastest-growing markets. Google dominates the Indian market as 94% of phones are based on its Android platform. The list included well-known names such as Bharatmatrimony and Naukri.

The dispute primarily revolves around Google’s imposition of fees ranging from 11% to 26% on in-app payments. Indian startups have long protested against what they deem as unfair practices by the US tech giant.

Matrimony.com, the founder of Bharat Matrimony, Christian Matrimony, Muslim Matrimony, and Jodii, expressed dismay as its matchmaking apps were taken down from Google’s Play Store. Founder Murugavel Janakiraman referred to it as a dark day for India’s internet, emphasizing the potential widespread impact on matrimony services.

“Our apps are getting deleted one by one. It literally means all the top matrimony services will be deleted,” Mr Janakiraman said as quoted by news agency Reuters.

Earlier today, Mr Vaishnaw said there is a need to protect Indian startup ecosytem and the government is trying to convey the same to Google.

“We have a very big and vibrant startup ecosystem. We should take all steps to see that this ecosystem is protected. Google has been a good adopter of Indian technologies. I am quite hopeful that Google will be reasonable with its approach,” the minister told NDTV before he met Google representatives.

In 2020, Google briefly removed popular Indian payments app Paytm from its Play Store citing some policy violations. The move led to the company’s founder and the wider startup industry joining together to challenge Google by launching their own app stores and filing legal cases.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he would remain with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) forever.

Speaking on the occasion of the unveiling function of the projects worth Rs 21,400 crore in Aurangabad district by Prime Minister Modi, Mr Kumar also said that he is confident that the NDA will win more than 400 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

“You (Modi) had come to Bihar earlier as well but I disappeared (from NDA) for some time. Now I am again with you and assure you that I will remain with the NDA forever,” Mr Kumar, also the JD(U) president, said.

Nitish Kumar dumped the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan and returned to his old ally BJP last month.

“We welcome you (the PM) in Bihar. Lots of developments are taking place in Bihar. I am confident that now things will move faster and Bihar will reach new heights of development. People of Bihar will now feel economically more empowered,” Kumar said.

Deputy Chief Minister and state BJP president Samrat Chaudhary claimed that the Narendra Modi government is the first administration at the Centre which fulfilled all promises it made to the people between 2014 and 2019.

“No other government at the Centre achieved this in the last 75 years. This is the guarantee of PM Modi,” Chaudhary said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)