BJP releases first list of 184 candidates
The BJP has fielded Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi constituency and its president Amit Shah from Gandhinagar in place of L.K. Advani in its first list of 184 candidates.
Senior party leader J.P. Nadda has told a press conference that the party also decided to field Home Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow and another Union Minister Nitin Gadkari from Nagpur.
Union Minister Smriti Irani has been renominated from Amethi and will take on Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju is to fight from Arunachal East. Union Ministers V.K. Singh and Mahesh Shamra have been renominated from Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida), respectively.
The BJP has announced candidates from States including Uttar Prdesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.
The BJP has finalised names of all 17 party candidates from Bihar and have sent the list to the State unit which will announce it jointly with allies, Mr. Nadda has said.
Former Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan is to contest from Thiruvananthapuram. K. J. Alphonse to fight from Ernakulam.
A. Manju, who joined the party from Congress to fight from Hassan, Pratap Simha from Mysore, Chowkidar Sadananda Gowda from Bengaluru North (possibly against H.D. Deve Gowda).
Jay Panda to contest from Kendrapara and Aprajita Sarangi from Bhubhaneswar.
Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju and Jitendra Singh to fight from Arunachal East and Udhampur, respectively.
Arjun Ram Meghwal to contest from Bikaner. Rajyavardhan Rathore to contest Lok Sabha elections 2019 from Jaipur.
Click here for the for the full list of 184 candidates.
Candidates for five seats in Tamil Nadu:
Coimbatore - C.P. Radhakrishnan
Kanniyakumari – Pon. Radhakrishnan
Ramanathapuram - Nainar Nagendran
Sivaganga – H. Raja
Thoothukudi – Tamilisai Soundararajan
AAP, BJP call each other out on 'unfulfilled promises'
The Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP took to social media to call each other out on ''unfulfilled promises'', including the former’s promise of transparency regarding donations and the latter’s pledge for granting full statehood to Delhi.
AAP Delhi said in a tweet: “Its been 15 days @BJP4India website is still down. Guess who failed to safeguard his own website ?...[sic]”.
Replying to the tweet, BJP Delhi shared a screenshot from the AAP website that showed the party’s promise to publish details of “every single rupee” donated to it on its site. Along with the image, BJP Delhi said in the tweet: “AAP is worried about BJP’s website when their own website doesn’t show any details they had promised! Such frivolous attitude is only expected from AAP. Rather than focusing on BJP they should focus on Delhi and give Ayushmann Bharat and 10% EWS Reservation to Delhiites.”
JD(U) set to contest Arunachal Assembly polls for first time
In its maiden entry into the electoral politics of the Himalayan State of Arunachal Pradesh, the Janata Dal (United) is contesting the April 11 Assembly elections.
Chairman of the North East Executive Council (NEEC) of the party Senchumo Lotha released the first list of candidates.
The party, led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has fielded former MLA Tani Loffa from the Seppa West Assembly constituency in East Kameng district.
It has also fielded four newcomers, Hayeng Mangfi from the Chayan Tajo constituency, Topin Ete (Aalo West), Dana Takio (Bordumsa-Diyun) and Dongru Sionju from the Bomdila constituency.
Two ex-TTD chairmen to battle it out in Tirupati Assembly polls
Two former chairmen of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) will lock horns in the Tirupati Assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh in the April 11 polls. Chadalavada Krishnamurthy, who has been fielded by actor Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party, will be pitted against B. Karunakara Reddy of the YSRCP, headed by Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy.
Sitting Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLA M. Suguna is also in the fray.
Mr. Krishnamurthy, who belongs to the dominant Balija community, quit the TDP led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu last year after levelling corruption charges against Ms. Suguna. He served as the chairman of the TTD Board in 2015.
Mr. Karunakara Reddy held the post in 2006.
Dissent brews in BJD
The headquarters of the Odisha BJP witnessed hectic political activity, as a large number of ruling BJD leaders, including three sitting MLAs, joined the saffron party ahead of the coming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
The BJD MLAs who joined in the BJP are Debraj Mohanty, Purna Chandra Nayak and Sukant Kumar Nayak. The BJD denied them denied ticket.
In a bid to pacify the resentment over denial of ticket to some leaders, BJD chief Naveen Patnaik urged partymen to work together.
Mr. Patnaik said Berhampur MLA Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik, who was denied ticket, will be contesting the Rajya Sabha election.
Gunupur MLA Trinath Gomango has also resigned from the BJD over denial of ticket.
MDMK not to contest in 'Rising Sun' symbol
A statement released by MDMK said the party's Erode candidate, A. Ganesamurthy, will contest in a symbol alloted by the Election Commission of India.
The party had announced that it would contest under the DMK's 'Rising Sun' symbol.
AMMK's Kalairajan joins DMK
DMK president M.K. Stalin said in Tiruchi that dislodging the BJP rule at the Centre and the AIADMK government in the State is the only challenge before his party now.
"I do not consider anyone a challenge," he observed when asked whether he viewed the AMMK to be a bigger challenge than the AIADMK.
In a brief interaction with mediapersons after expelled AMMK South Chennai district secretary V. P. Kalairajan joined the DMK in his presence, Mr. Stalin said he could see from the rousing reception to his campaign that people were more keen than the Opposition on dislodging the BJP and the AIADMK governments.
I turn abuses into ornaments: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has turned the Opposition’s slogan “Chowkidar hi chor hai” (the guard is the thief) into a campaign opportunity by reaching out to almost 25 lakh security guards across the country via an audio bridge. Taking umbrage to what he termed the Opposition’s insult to all those who serve by protecting property or values in public life, Mr. Modi said on Wednesday that every Indian should keep the spirit of a guard alive within him.
“If the Opposition had named and abused me I would not have minded so much, but it is unfortunate that you and your work has attracted this slur,” Mr. Modi said during the audio interaction, which lasted about 23 minutes. “I have a habit and I urge you too to cultivate it, of turning abuses thrown at you into ornaments and go forward [gaali ko gehna banakar aagey badhein],” he said.
Mayawati not to contest Lok Sabha elections
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has said she would not contest the Lok Sabha election as a “sacrifice” for the larger goal of uprooting the “arrogant, despotic, communal and casteist” BJP government.
At a press conference, she said if she were in the fray, the BSP workers would lose their focus. She claimed that if she were in the fray, the campaign in other constituencies would be affected as her supporters would flock to ensure her victory.
Taking to mediapersons in Lucknow on Wednesday, Ms. Mayawati said, "Therefore, more important than me winning is to win each and every seat in the state, which will provide force to our party's mission of social justice and economic liberation."
Campaigning without a charismatic leader
In the absence of its iconic leader Jayalalithaa who, like her mentor and party founder M.G. Ramachandran, was an instant crowd-puller, the ruling AIADMK is preparing to launch its campaign for the Lok Sabha election on Friday.
For a party spearheaded by towering personalities since its inception in 1972, the coming election will test the evolving dual leadership of its coordinator O. Panneerselvam and co-coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
Senior party functionaries acknowledged that the absence of Jayalalithaa presented a challenge, adding, “We have to manage with our plus points.”
Tamil Nadu
Manifestos: a gateway to power or mere poll ritual?
With election manifestos being launched by political parties one after the other, the focus is now on their salient features. At the same time, a question arises whether such manifestos make any meaningful difference in terms of strengthening the electoral process.
In Tamil Nadu, in the last 15 years at least, manifestos were not only the subject of intense discussion among political players but also of litigation.
In the 2006 Assembly election, the DMK offered a host of freebies, including colour television sets for all ration cardholders, cooking gas stoves and connections, 20 kg rice at ₹2 a kg and a waiver of cooperative loans of farmers. Then Union Minister, P. Chidambaram, even described the DMK’s manifesto as the ‘hero’ of the polls. No wonder the DMK captured power.
Karnataka
Sumalatha: on her own starlight
All through her actor-husband Ambareesh’s political career, Sumalatha, a star in her own right, kept a low profile politically. But now, after his death, she has boldly entered the electoral battle. As the Congress could not give her ticket to contest in Mandya, her husband’s constituency, she has decided to fight as an Independent.
Now, all eyes are on Mandya, where the multilingual star is facing Nikhil, son of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.
(With inputs from news agencies)