Congress and ZPM forge alliance in Mizoram
The opposition Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) in Mizoram and the Congress have forged an alliance to contest the Lok Sabha election and an Assembly bypoll, Congress sources said on Tuesday.
According to the understanding, which will be announced later, the Congress will field candidate in the lone Lok Sabha seat in the State and the ZPM will contest the Aizawl West-I assembly seat. Both the elections would be held together on April 11.
Trinamool announces candidate list
With 41% women candidates, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared the Trinamool Congress’ candidate list for 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Ms. Banerjee named candidates in all 42 seats, replacing about 50% of the incumbents. Altogether, 19 out of 42 candidates have been replaced in the list announced by Ms. Banerjee on Tuesday afternoon.
In the 2014 election, Ms Banerjee nominated 35% women candidates. “Everyone talking about 33% reservation for women, we nominated 41% women candidates,” she said.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's first public speech as Congress General Secretary
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's maiden address to the party workers happened at a rally in Adalaj, Gandhinagar.
Her brief speech, the first one as the General Secretary, targetted the BJP and its policies. "Where are 2 crore jobs that were promised? Where is Rs 15lakh that was promised to be deposited in everyone’s bank account?" she asked amid cheers from the party workers.
Likening the upcoming elections to "second freedom movement," Ms. Vadra said,"It is sad to see what’s happening in the country. Institutions are being demolished; Hatred is being spread."
She urged people to use their votes as a weapon and not to heed to frivolous issues.
BJD to contest Lok Sabha, Assembly elections on its own
Biju Janata Dal president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has ruled out a pre-poll alliance.
“We will fight the elections on our own,” he told reporters in Bhubaneswar when asked if there was any likelihood of the BJD entering into a tie-up with other political parties for the parliamentary and assembly elections in the State.
In the 2014 elections, the BJD had grabbed a lion’s share of 20 Lok Sabha and 117 assembly seats as the party formed government for the fourth successive term in the state.
The state is all set to witness staggered polling this time with balloting slated to be held in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29 for the 21 Lok Sabha and 147 assembly seats.
Differences in ruling Meghalaya alliance over Lok Sabha candidates
Sharp differences emerged in the ruling alliance in Meghalaya with the regional parties deciding to support UDP and NPP candidates in Shillong and Tura respectively, but the BJP deciding to fight elections on its own.
“We will go ahead and field our candidates for the two seats. As a national party, our focus is to field candidates. Our interests are for the nation,” BJP state president Shibun Lyngdoh said.
UDP general secretary Jemino Mawthoh is likely to contest from Shillong while former Union minister Agatha Sangma might fight elections from Tura.
Six parties form Punjab Democratic Alliance
The Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA), which comprises six parties including the BSP and the CPI, have announced candidates for 12 of the state’s 13 Lok Sabha seats.
Besides the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), the PDA includes the Punjab Ekta Party (PEP), the Lok Insaaf Party (LIP), the newly—launched Punjab Manch, and the Revolutionary Marxist Party of India (RMPI).
The Punjab Manch is led by Patiala MP Dharam Vira Gandhi, who is under suspension from the Aam Aadmi Party since May 2015.
Under the consensus reached by the alliance, the BSP, the PEP, and the LIP will contest in three seats each. The Punjab Manch will contest the Patiala seat, the CPI will contest Ferozepur and the RMPI will contest the Gurdaspur seat.
Polling in Punjab will be held on a single day on May 19.
Prakash Ambedkar’s front to contest in all seats in Maharashtra
Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar said his political front will contest all the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, a development which comes as a jolt to efforts of the Congress and NCP to forge a ‘grand alliance’ against the BJP.
“Several proposals were made for forging an alliance with the Congress but there hit a roadblock. We cannot negotiate further with the Congress leadership,” Mr. Ambedkar told reporters.
Maharashtra Congress leader’s son joins BJP
Sujay Vikhe-Patil, son of senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, joined BJP.
Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil is also the Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly.
Mr. Sujay joined the BJP in presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP chief Raosaheb Danve at an event held in south Mumbai.
The development follows the Sharad Pawar-led NCP spurning a request by Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil to leave aside the Ahmedanagar Lok Sabha seat for his son.
BJP to finalise candidates in Telangana on March 15
The BJP would finalise its candidates for Lok Sabha elections in Telangana on March 15, official spokesperson of party's State unit Krishna Saagar Rao told PTI .
The Lok Sabha elections would be held in single phase in Telangana on April 11.
102-year-old Shyam Saran Negi has never missed an election since 1951.
This election, vote for full statehood to Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal
The Aam Aadmi Party's agenda for this Lok Sabha election is to fight for the statehood to Delhi. A long-pending demand of the party, it was reiterated by the party's convenor Arvind Kejriwal at a press meet in New Delhi.
Be ready to face questions over 2014 poll promises, Shiv Sena tells BJP
The BJP secured a big win in 2014, riding on the promises of peace in the Kashmir Valley and construction of Ram temple. “However, both the issues have remained unresolved in 2019 as well," Tuesday's editorial in Shiv Sena's mouthpiece Saamna reads.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, which is a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance, has said the BJP should now be prepared to face questions from people over its 2014 poll promises.
“History says people cannot be fooled for long. Even people have questions, the answers to which they seek through ballot boxes,” the editorial reads.
Congress Working Committee meets in Gujarat
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh attend a prayer meeting at Gandhi Ashram, Sabarmati in Ahmedabad on Tuesday March 12, 2019.
For the first time in over fifty years, the Congress Working Committee meeting is being held in Gujarat. This is also the first meet Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be participating after made her political debut recently.
Besides being the home turf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress chose Gujarat as its launch pad to kick start its campaign as it is the land of Mahatma Gandhi.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, while addressing Congress booth workers in Delhi on Monday, had said the upcoming general elections will be a battle between Mahatma Gandhi’s India and Nathuram Godse’s India with love on one side and hate on the other.
Incidentally, today also marks the anniversary of the famous ‘Dandi March’ started by Mahatma Gandhi from Sabarmati Ashram.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
