No alliance with Congress in Delhi: AAP
A day after declaring its candidate for the seventh Lok Sabha seat, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday makes it clear that there will be neither any alliance with the Congress nor a rollback of any of its candidates in Delhi.
Asserting that “enough is enough”, senior AAP leader Gopal Rai says these are the final seven candidates of the party and there is no question of “any rollback“.
On March 2, the AAP announced the names of its candidates for the six Lok Sabha seats. On Sunday, the party declares its last candidate, with a senior leader saying the announcement is made seeing the Congress’s “irresponsible and indecisive” attitude towards an alliance.
“Despite facing stiff opposition from its workers, the AAP was open to an alliance with the Congress in Delhi but after waiting for so long and constantly hearing conflicting statements from the party, we have decided that enough is enough and now even if Congress approaches us with a proposal there would be no alliance in Delhi,” he says.
There has been no communication from the Congress and it clearly shows that the grand old party is “not serious” about elections in Delhi, he says.
'Bhim Army won't support Congress'
Days after Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar Azad 'Ravan', the party's national president Vinay Ratan Singh says the Congress has done nothing for Dalits in its 60-year rule and there is no reason for it to support the party in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha election.
“The Congress fought B.R. Ambedkar. The party ruled the country for so long, but did nothing for us. Atrocities were inflicted on Dalits under its rule. It gave rise to the RSS and the BJP,” Mr. Singh alleges. “There’s not a single reason for us to support it,” he adds.
“Whose chowkidari has he done?”, Mr. Gandhi asks at a public rally in Kalaburagi
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi mocks Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “main bhai chowkidar” (I too am watchman) campaign, saying Mr. Modi has turned the whole country into “chowkidars” after getting caught.
Mr. Gandhi, who had been repeatedly taking the “chowkidar chor hai“(watchman is the thief) jibe at Mr. Modi to claim irregularities and favouritism in the Rafale fighter jet deal, says the Prime Minister never said he would make the whole country “chowkidars“.
“Whose chowkidari has he done?” Mr. Gandhi asks at a public rally in Kalaburagi, north Karnataka. He alleges that Mr. Modi had only helped Anil Ambani, Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi.
In West Bengal, Cong.-Left Front alliance fails to take off
Efforts to form a Congress-Left Front alliance in West Bengal have collapsed the seat-sharing talks had been called off.
''We will fight alone in Bengal,'' State Congress chief Somen Mitra announces on Sunday evening.
On Monday, CPI general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy says the Left Front cannot accept the Congress’s “unjustified” demands.
“They [Congress] were asking 17 seats. The Left Front offered them 12 seats. They are asking for five more seats which are Left front seats... [it is] unjustified. In some of these seats, they got two to three per cent votes [in the previous elections],” he tells PTI .
The Trinamool Congress has already released the list of candidates for the 42 constituencies. The BJP is also in the fray.
Notification for first phase issued
Notification for the first phase of Lok Sabha election has been issued, setting in motion the high-voltage electoral battle where the BJP seeks to return to power amid the Opposition making efforts to unseat it. The notification is signed by President Ram Nath Kovind.
Polling would be held in 91 parliamentary constituencies spread across 20 States on April 11 under the first of the seven-phase general election.
With the issuance of the notification, the nomination process has begun and it will continue till March 25. Scrutiny of the nomination papers will be held on March 26 and the last day of withdrawal of nominations is March 28.
By the evening of March 28, a clear picture on the number of candidates in each of the 91 constituencies will emerge.
All the constituencies in 10 States and Union Territories will go to the polls in the first phase. These include, Andhra Pradesh (25 seats), Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya (two each), Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep (one each), Telangana (17) and Uttarakhand (five).
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal will see polling in all the seven phases.
DMDK names candidates
National Democratic Alliance constituent DMDK announces its candidates for the four Lok Sabha seats allotted to it in the AIADMK-led alliance, fielding among others, party founder Vijayakanth's brother-in-law LK Sutheesh.
Mr. Sutheesh is the party's deputy secretary.
In a statement, DMDK founder Vijayakanth announced the candidature of R Azhagarsamy from Virudhunagar and Alagapuram R Mohanraj from Chennai North, while Dr. V Ilangovan will fight from Tiruchirappally.
Mr. Sutheesh has been nominated from the Kallakuruchi constituency.
Mr. Azhagarsamy is a senior party leader while Mohanraj is a former MLA who represented Salem North in the 2011-16 Assembly. He was DMDK's deputy leader in the Assembly then.
Mr. Ilangovan is the party's presidium chairman.
Manish Khanduri joins Congress
Manish Khanduri, son of senior BJP leader B.C. Khanduri, on Sunday joined the Congress at a rally in Dehradun in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi.
Mr. Khanduri, a former journalist, was officially inducted into the party on Monday. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad introduces Mr. Khanduri to mediapersons at the party headquarters in New Delhi.
Mr. Khanduri says he chose to join the Congress as he felt the party is "closer" to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution in terms of approach and thinking. He also says there is greater freedom of speech in the party.
B.C. Khanduri has served as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand twice. He was a BJP member in the 16th Lok Sabha. The senior Khanduri had announced that he will not be contesting elections.
Owaisi seeks re-election from Hyderabad
AIMIM chief Adaduddin Owaisi files his nomination for contesting polls from Hyderabad on Monday.
AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen) chief Asaduddin Owaisi files his nomination papers to contest from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha segment as election process kicks off in Telangana.
Mr. Owaisi has been representing Hyderabad since 2004.
Elections will be held in Telangana on April 11.
Sumalatha announces decision to contest from Mandya
Sumalata, actor and wife of the late actor-politician Ambareesh, formally announces her decision to contest from the Mandya Lok Sabha constitency as an independent candidate.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, accompanied by some prominent Kannada film stars, she formally announces her decision.
She will be contesting against Nikhil from the JD(S), son of Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, in what promises to be a high-profile battle.
Priyanka begins campaign from boat
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, atop steamer, starting her election campaign from Allahabad on Monday.
In her first election campaign as a Congress leader, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, is embarking on a three-day boat ride from Prayagraj (Allahabad) to Varanasi on the Ganga.
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Raj Babbar tweeted in Hindi that Ms. Vadra would interact with people along her journey and make pitstops in between.
She will be holding interactions with students in the boat called "Sanchi baat".
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra worships at Bade Hanuman Mandir, popular as ‘Lete huye Hanuman Mandir’ near Prayagraj Sangam on Monday.
Ms. Gandhi left Swaraj Bhawan, her ancestral home, and arrived at the Bade Hanuman Mandir, popular as ‘Lete huye Hanuman Mandir’ near Prayagraj Sangam.
She then embarked on the boat ride from the Manaiya Ghat in Kachnar tehsil of Prayagraj district, according to party leaders.
On the first day of her three—day river ride from Prayagraj to the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she will cover the distance up to Sitamarhi ghat in Bhadohi district.
Dilip Ray's meeting with Naveen Patnaik fuels speculations
Former Union Minister Dilip Ray, who resigned from the BJP last year, meets ruling BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, sparking speculation that he may rejoin the regional party.
The meeting is said to have happened on Saturday.
Mr. Ray, one of the founder-members of the BJD, was ousted from the party following differences of opinion with Mr. Patnaik in early 2000. He had subsequently joined the BJP.
JD(S) releases first list of candidates in Arunachal
Former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Gegong Apang.
The Janata Dal (Secular) has announced the names of 11 candidates for the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly elections and one for the Lok Sabha.
The JD(S) is for the first time contesting in the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly election and in the two Lok Sabha seats in the State.
Former Chief Minister Gegong Apang, who is also the JD(S) convener for the Northeast, will contest from the Tuting-Yingkiong constituency in Upper Siang district, JD(S) state president Rokom Apang announces while releasing the first list of candidates.
The JD(S) has fielded Lama Lobsang Gyatso, a 39-year-old monk at the forefront of a movement against mega dams in Tawang district, from the Mukto Assembly seat against Chief Minister Pema Khandu.
This will be the first time since 2004 that the Mukto Assembly seat would witness a contest.
The other candidates fielded by the party are — Tsering Dorjee (Tawang), Wangshu Wangsu (Longding-Pumao), Wangmaan Lowangcha (Khonsa East), Dr Rima Taipodia (Likabali), Nyadar Loya (Aalo West), Tapang Taloh (Pasighat West), Takam Paleng (Lekang), Shotike Hopak (Namsai) and Pike Pulu from the Bordumsa-Diyun assembly constituency.
Bandey Mili would be the JD(S) candidate for the Arunachal East Parliamentary seat.
Elections to the 60-member Arunachal Pradesh Assembly and the two Lok Sabha seats in the State would be held simultaneously on April 11
Denied ticket, Arunachal Minister slams Khandu
Pema Khandu
Arunachal Pradesh Home Minister Kumar Waii on Sunday said Chief Minister Pema Khandu played a part in the BJP denying him a ticket in the coming Assembly elections.
This, he alleged, was done because Mr. Khandu saw him as a contender for the Chief Minister’s job.
Mr. Waii was one of the six BJP legislators, including Minister Jarkar Gamlin, dropped from the list of 54 candidates announced by the party on Sunday. Among those on the list are 16, including Mr. Khandu, who had been elected as Congress candidates in 2014. The BJP retained nine of its 11 MLAs.
