India General Elections 2024 | Highlights from May 23, 2024

BJP leader Varun Gandhi addressed his first rally in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls in support of Maneka Gandhi, and said his mother has a close connection with the people of her Sultanpur constituency.

“Elections are going on everywhere in the country...but there is only one region in the country where people don’t call their MP, Sansad ji, Mantri ji, or by her name, but call her mata ji,” the Pilibhit MP said here amid applause from the public.

“I am confident that this time you people are going to break all the records. I have no enmity with anyone. When I came to Sultanpur for the first time, I felt the ‘Khusbhu’ (fragrance) of my father here, but today I feel proud to say that I have come to my motherland,” he said.

The high-pitch electioneering for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls ended in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday as the campaigning for the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency came to a close in the evening.

The newly-carved out Lok Sabha seat in the south Kashmir-Pir Panjal region is scheduled to go to polls on Saturday, marking the conclusion of voting in Jammu and Kashmir as polling has already been held in the four other constituencies of the Union Territory.

The Anantnag-Rajouri constituency has 20 candidates in the fray, including People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who is hoping to return to Parliament following her defeat in the 2019 Lok sabha polls.

- PTI

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday claimed to have been taken for a ride, by his helicopter, while campaigning in adjoining Bihar.

The BJP strongman addressed two back-to-back rallies in two constituencies of Bihar on the final day of campaign for sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls.

He winded up his tour of the state with a rally in Purbi Champaran, with just a few minutes to go before the campaign came to a close at 6 in the evening.

- PTI

Barely two days ahead of the sixth phase of parliamentary polls, a woman BJP worker from the Scheduled Caste community was killed in Nandigram in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district, triggering large-scale protests by saffron party activists there on Thursday, police said.

The region, which falls under Tamluk Lok Sabha seat and is considered to be the backyard of Bengal’s leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari, is scheduled to vote on May 25.

As part of the protest, BJP workers burned tyres, blocked roads, and closed shops in Nandigram, alleging that TMC-backed criminals were responsible for the killing of Rathibala Arhi, a saffron party worker in Sonachura village. Police said Rathibala’s son Sanjay and seven others were injured after unidentified assailants attacked them on Wednesday night.

- PTI

BJP chief JP Nadda claimed on May 23 that the Calcutta High Court order to strike down the OBC status given to several classes in West Bengal has shown that the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led government had been unconditionally promoting appeasement politics.

In a statement, Mr. Nadda alleged, “It can be said that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) had been advancing the agenda of (the) Muslim League.” People will teach the TMC a lesson in the polls, he asserted and added that the party is sure to lose massively.

The high court on Wednesday struck down as illegal the OBC status of several classes in West Bengal granted since 2010, sparking a political debate in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections.

- PTI

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said he won’t resign because it will set a precedent and give the BJP-led Central government a free hand to target opposition chief ministers, including Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin. And this, he said, is very dangerous for democracy.

In an interview to PTI Videos on Wednesday, Mr. Kejriwal, who will have to go back to Tihar Jail after his interim bail ends on June 1, said he will approach the court to allow him to fulfil his duties as chief minister of Delhi from prison.

The AAP national convener was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 in connection with a money laundering case related to his government’s liquor excise policy. The BJP has been demanding his resignation since he has been arrested by the probe agency.

- PTI

PM Modi attacks Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, says he is “kagzi CM” who is always busy marking his presence in ‘Delhi darbar’.

- PTI

The Lahaul & Spiti Assembly segment in Himachal Pradesh, where a bypoll will be held on June 1, will witness a woman contesting for the first time in 52 years.

If she wins, the Congress’ Anuradha Rana will become the second woman legislator to represent the seat in the assembly after Lata Thakur won the constituency for the grand old party in 1972.

Located in the Himalayas, the Lahaul & Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh is something of an anomaly.

A barren and difficult-to-cross terrain, surrounded by lofty ranges, it makes up 25% of Himachal Pradesh’s land area but the assembly segment, which covers the entire district, only has 25,967 voters.

- PTI

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on May 23 claimed that the condition of poor people belonging to the upper castes was not good and Brahmins in particular were being harassed under the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing an election rally in Mirzapur in support of BSP candidate Manish Tiwari, Mayawati said atrocities being committed against minorities under the guise of Hindutva have peaked in the state.

Mayawati said the BJP was following wrong policies just like the Congress and expressed confidence that due to the casteist, capitalist, and communal policies of the BJP and its allies, the NDA won’t be able to retain power at the Centre, provided the election is fair and the voting machines are not tampered with.

- PTI

BJP chief J.P. Nadda on Sunday attacked the Aam Aadmi Party, saying their deeds are “dirty” and asked people to teach the party a “lesson” in the elections.

Mr. Nadda’s attack came shortly after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday claimed the BJP has launched a campaign ‘Operation Jhaadu’ to crush AAP as the BJP sees it as a challenge.

Addressing a poll rally in Kaithal under the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency, Mr. Nadda said, “The Congress has become a ‘parivarvadi party’. The Congress and ‘ ghamandiya gathbandhan’ (INDIA bloc) have become a congregation of the corrupt.

“Some are in jail, while some are on bail,” said Mr. Nadda while campaigning for BJP’s Naveen Jindal.

- PTI

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale on Thursday accused the Election Commission of “shamelessly” hiding the total voter turnout data.

The remarks came a day after the EC told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the “indiscriminate disclosure” of station-wise voter turnout data and posting it on its website will cause “chaos” in the election machinery which is already in motion for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

Quoting a report which said the poll panel told the apex court that disclosing voter turnout numbers as per Form 17C will take time, the TMC MP, in a post on X, said the ‘Handbook for Returning Officers’ published by the ECI says all that the Returning Officer has to do is “press the close button”, and this immediately displays the total number of votes polled to be recorded in Form 17.

- PTI

The voter turnout in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls held on May 20 has now climbed to 62.2%, the Election Commission said on Thursday with women outnumbering men.

According to an EC statement, 61.48% of the registered male voters turned up at the polling stations as compared to 63% of female electors.

In phase 5, 49 seats across six States and two Union Territories went for polling where over 8.95 crore people, including 4.69 crore men, 4.26 crore women and 5,409 third gender were eligible to vote.

- PTI

Senior BJP leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday attacked opposition INDIA bloc partners Congress and AAP, alleging that they are responsible for the crisis of credibility in Indian politics.

Mr. Singh made the remarks while addressing an election meeting in favour of BJP’s West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency candidate Kamaljeet Sehrawat, hours before campaigning for the May 25 round of polling ended.

Targeting Congress and AAP, which are contesting the general elections in the national capital under a seat-sharing arrangement, he said, “The leaders of the Congress and the AAP have contributed the most to the crisis of credibility in the politics of India.” 

- PTI

The BJP Thursday launched a fresh attack on the INDIA bloc on the issue of reservation, accusing the opposition grouping of indulging in appeasement politics, and said the people of the country will give them a fitting reply in the Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP’s charge came a day after West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee said she will not accept a Calcutta High Court order that scrapped the OBC status of several classes granted in the state since 2010, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed the system is heavily aligned against lower castes and his party aims to fix this.

Latching on to their comments, senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “Appeasement is the dose and diet of parties like the Congress and the TMC. Without this, they cannot survive even a day.” The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister alleged after coming at the helm in West Bengal, Ms. Banerjee pursued vote bank politics and gave OBC certificates to a number of castes and the beneficiaries included Muslims, Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.

- PTI

Highlighting the dire situation in drought-affected regions, the Maharashtra Government has written a letter to the Election Commission requesting a relaxation in the code of conduct applied in the state during the Lok Sabha elections.

Notably, this request for drought mitigation comes after the Lok Sabha elections have concluded in the state, to provide immediate relief and relief plans, including relaxation in the code of conduct imposed in the state due to the Lok Sabha elections.

Marathwada faces a severe water crisis, with many villages experiencing water shortages and residents having to travel to find drinking water.

The situation in Maharashtra is so dire, that people of the region are not getting enough water, even after waiting for more than 10 days.

The government in the letter urged the EC to relax the code of conduct and initiate immediate relief measures, including the provision of drinking water and fodder to citizens and animals in affected regions.

- ANI

Two days before polling in Delhi, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi Thursday said these are very important elections to save democracy and the Constitution, and urged the people here to play their part in this fight and make INDIA bloc candidates victorious on all seven seats.

Read more here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday claimed that the INDIA bloc is talking about having five PMs over the next five years and said the fight over ‘ghee’ has broken out in the alliance, even before the cow has given milk.

Hours before campaigning for the sixth round of the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls came to an end, Mr. Modi at a rally in Haryana’s Mahendragarh asserted that till he is alive, no one can snatch the reservation for Dalits and tribals.

In this election, “you will not only choose the country’s PM but also decide the country’s future”, the Prime Minister told the gathering.

“On one hand is your tried and tested ‘sewak’ Modi. Who is on the other side, one does not know,” he said, targeting the INDIA bloc that has as its constituents opposition parties, including the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Trinamool Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

- PTI

Alleging that the Odisha government has been “outsourced”, BJP president J.P. Nadda on Thursday claimed the people’s representatives like MLAs and MPs are unable to meet Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The government in the state needs to be changed to get rid of this practice, Mr. Nadda said while addressing election rallies at Karanjia and Dhamra.

“The Odisha administration has been outsourced. There is no son or daughter of Odisha left who can run the administration here. Who is stopping the MPs and MLAs of Odisha from reaching the seat of Chief Minister?” he said at a public meeting in Karanjia.

- PTI

The Trinamool Congress on Thursday filed a complaint with the Election Commission against West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose, alleging that he canvassed for the BJP by wearing their party symbol at an event in Kolkata. In a complaint to the Chief Election Commissioner, the TMC claimed that the Governor was “seen to be wearing a BJP logo” on his chest while attending the event at Ram Temple in Kolkata.

“It is to bring to your kind knowledge and attention that C V Ananda Bose, the Hon’ble Governor of the State of West Bengal has been using his good office for canvassing for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the ensuing general elections to the Lok Sabha,” the TMC said in its complaint.

“In particular, on 23.01.2024, the Hon’ble Governor while attending a public function at Ram Temple, Central Avenue, Kolkata was seen to be wearing a BJP logo on his chest, for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections to solicit votes for BJP,” the party alleged.

- PTI

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Thursday said the Election Commission not putting out the polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website has given rise to doubts among political parties that there is “something fishy” and wondered what the problem is in uploading the data.

Mr. Sibal, a senior advocate, asked what the problem is in putting out polling station-wise turnout data when all the details in Form 17C are given to the polling agent at the end of voting.

His remarks came a day after the Election Commission told the Supreme Court that “indiscriminate disclosure” of polling station-wise turnout data and posting it on its website would cause chaos in the election machinery, which is already in motion for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

- PTI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah questioned the INDIA bloc’s choice for Prime Minister if they succeed in getting a majority in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing a public meeting in Domariaganj Lok Sabha constituency today, Mr. Shah said, “This opposition has moved ahead by forming a ‘Ghamandiya’ alliance. Today I want to ask Rahul Gandhi, if you get the majority then who will be your Prime Minister? Can Sharad Pawar, Lalu Yadav, or Uddhav Thackeray become the PM? Can Rahul Gandhi become the PM?”

“When a journalist asked them who would be their Prime Minister, one of their leaders said that they would become Prime Minister in turns for five years. Rahul baba, this is not a grocery store, it is a great country of 140 crore people,” the Home Minister said.

-ANI

Barely two days ahead of the parliamentary polls, a woman BJP worker was killed in Nandigram in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district, triggering large-scale protests by the saffron party activists there on Thursday, police said.

The region, which falls under the Tamluk Lok Sabha seat and is considered to be the backyard of Bengal’s Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, is scheduled to vote on May 25 in the sixth phase of the elections.

BJP workers burnt tyres, blocked roads and pulled down shutters of shops in Nandigram, alleging that the TMC-backed criminals were involved in the killing of Rathibala Arhi (38), a saffron party worker in Sonachura village.

-PTI

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi predicted a historic win for the BJP in the upcoming election and forecasted record highs for the stock markets on June 4, the benchmark Nifty index crossed the 22,800 mark for the first time during Thursday’s session.

The Nifty index reached a new high of 22,852, while the Sensex surged to 74,917, slightly below its all-time high of 75,124.

PM Modi said in an interview, “Wait and watch on June 4; the programmers behind the stock market will get tired of the action.”

-ANI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday claimed that in the first five rounds of polling, “BJP has crossed 310” and that Congress Party is “not even getting 40 seats” this time.

“INDI alliance has been wiped out in the first five phases. I am telling you, this time Congress is not even getting 40 seats and Akhilesh Yadav will not even get four seats,” said Mr. Shah addressing a poll meeting in Siddharthnagar in support of Domariyaganj BJP candidate Jagdambika Pal.

- PTI

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said if the ‘double engine’ government is formed in Odisha, bulldozers will be used against all kinds of mafia.

Addressing an election rally in the Chilika Assembly Constituency under the Puri Lok Sabha seat, Mr. Adityanath said, “Give us strength to form a double engine government in Odisha so that we can clear the path by running bulldozers on ‘land, sand, forest and cattle’ mafia in the State, as we did in Uttar Pradesh.” 

The term “double engine” is used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a State.

- PTI

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday slammed the BJP government for “unemployment, corruption and inflation” in the Haryana.

“There is a huge wave of Congress in Haryana. Haryana has the highest unemployment in the entire country, the price of which is being paid by the youth here.

“The public is fed up with the rampant inflation, corruption and instability of the BJP and is going to bring about a big change),” she said in a post in Hindi on X.

The Congress will win all seats in the State with a huge margin, she said.

- PTI

In Sultanpur, near high-profile Amethi, BJP’s Maneka Gandhi appears to be fighting a lone battle to retain her parliamentary seat with few top leaders of her party canvassing for her and no opposition biggies campaigning against her either.

Sultanpur goes to polls on May 25 and Thursday is the last day of campaigning.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed a public meeting in support of Maneka Gandhi in Qazipur on Wednesday.

Her son Varun Gandhi, who has been benched by the BJP in this Lok Sabha election, is expected to join her for campaigning on Thursday.

Her nephew Rahul Gandhi and niece Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have visited Uttar Pradesh multiple times to canvass for INDIA bloc candidates but have not campaigned against her.

- PTI

The Congress on Thursday alleged that despite repeated promises, the BJP government has “failed” to provide permanent employment opportunities in Haryana and instead, it is promoting temporary contractual jobs through the skill employment corporation.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his rally in Haryana’s Mahendragarh.

“Outgoing PM. Now that we have his attention, here are today’s questions for him in Mahendragarh: Who made Haryana Number 1 in unemployment? Why has BJP slowed down private investment in Haryana? Why are Bhiwani residents being forced to protest for clean drinking water and proper sewerage?” Mr. Ramesh said in a post on X.

- PTI

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working on a special project of ‘one nation, one leader’ and claimed that what was happening with the AAP is an experiment that will be replicated with other opposition parties.

Addressing the Adhivakta Sammelan organised by the Aam Aadmi party (AAP) legal cell, Mr. Kejriwal, who is out on interim bail till June 1, appealed to the lawyers to “save the country”.

“I have no personal grudge against Prime Minister Modi. Ensure that PM Modi should not form government again. Lawyers contributed in a big way to freedom struggle. Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Moti Lal Nehru — all of them were lawyers.

“There is little time left. Whatever you can do for campaigning in Delhi and across the country, please participate,” he said.

- PTI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi charged that the BJP always wanted to “tear and throw away” the Constitution, and asserted that the Lok Sabha elections this time is a fight to safeguard it.

At an election meeting in northeast Delhi’s Dilshad Garden in support of party candidate Kanhaiya Kumar, he claimed that the BJP always wanted to change the Constitution.

“These people (BJP) have always wanted to tear and throw it (Constitution) away. They never accepted neither the Indian Constitution nor the Indian flag. In this election finally they have accepted that they want to change it,” he charged.

PTI

Union Minister Smriti Irani held a road show in support of Praveen Khandelwal, the BJP candidate from Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat.

The roadshow, marked by a decent turnout, saw enthusiastic party supporters moving alongside Ms. Irani’s procession, waving BJP flags and dancing to dhols.

Amethi MP Ms. Irani, along with Mr. Khandelwal, greeted the crowd from a specially designed vehicle and showered flower petals on her supporters. All seven Lok Sabha seats of Delhi will go to polls on Saturday.

PTI

BJP leader and Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi reached Sultanpur on May 23 to campaign for his mother Maneka Gandhi who is in the fray from the seat on a BJP ticket.

Addressing a poll meeting, Varun Gandhi highlighted the close connection of her mother with the public.

“Elections are going on everywhere in the country... but there is only one region in the country where people don’t call their MP, Sansad ji, Mantri ji, or by her name, but call her mata ji,” Varun Gandhi said amid applause from the people gathered to hear him.

PTI

After the Bharatiya Janata Party issued a show-cause notice to former Union Minister and MP Jayant Sinha asking him why he did not vote in the ongoing elections or participate in the campaigning, the latter responded said that he was “surprised” to receive the notice and was being “unjustly targeted”. 

Mr. Sinha in his letter also clarified that he voted through the postal ballot process as he was overseas due to personal commitments. 

Read the full story here

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra led a roadshow to garner support for party nominee Kumari Selja for the May 25 Lok Sabha poll in Haryana.

Standing in an open vehicle along with Ms. Selja and former Haryana minister Kiran Choudhary, Ms. Priyanka waved towards people during her roadshow, which lasted for about an hour.

It was her first such election outing in Haryana. Holding party flags, Congress workers raised slogans ‘Congress party Zindabad’ and showered flower petals on her.

PTI

The Election Commission of India (ECI) asking the BJP and the Congress to desist from raising divisive issues in campaigning in the general election is a case of better late than never. 

Click the here to read the editorial

The Uttarakhand BJP has lodged a police complaint against the Aam Aadmi Party, accusing it of tarnishing the image of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the party by posting an edited video of him on social media.

On the complaint of Pradesh BJP IT cell co-convenor Praveen Lekhwar, an FIR was filed at the Dalanwala Police Station in Dehradun in the matter on Wednesday, State BJP media in-charge Manveer Chauhan said.

A video of Mr. Dhami was tampered with and circulated on Instagram by AAP’s social media cell as part of a conspiracy to tarnish the image of Dhami and the BJP, Lekhwar alleged in his complaint. The video alleged to have been edited is of a statement given by Mr. Dhami during an election campaign in Delhi.

PTI

The Congress hit out at the BJP for not fulfilling the promises made to farmers’ organisations and asserted that an INDIA bloc government will implement all its guarantees to the tillers, including the legal guarantee of MSP.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh noted that elections have been held in 428 constituencies and now polling on 115 seats, including those in Punjab and Haryana, are left.

PTI

In Sultanpur, next door to Amethi, another Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi of the BJP, is locked in a keen contest with her Samajwadi Party rival.

Mayawati-led BSP’s party nominee Udraj Verma, who hails from OBC Kurmi caste, is causing trouble to the BJP as well as the SP candidates but Akhilesh Yadav-headed SP candidate Ram Bhual Nishad is at a greater loss. Verma threatens to divide the OBC votes of the SP.

Contesting from the Sultanpur seat in Uttar Pradesh for the second consecutive time, Maneka Gandhi had won the previous poll by a margin of around 14,000 votes. She is working hard to register a victory with a comfortable margin this time.

Maneka Gandhi told PTI in an interview that her focus is on the local issues and asserted that her victory margin will be bigger this time.

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said the Election Commission was “egregiously wrong” in directing his party not to ‘politicise’ the Agnipath scheme, asserting that it is the right of an Opposition party to criticise a policy of the government.

The Election Commission came down heavily on the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress, asking them to desist from campaigning along caste, community, language, and religious lines.

The EC also asked the Congress not to politicise defence forces and make potentially divisive statements regarding the socio-economic composition of the armed forces. The Commission was referring to remarks made by top Congress leaders on the Agnipath scheme.

PTI

Life doesn’t always go as planned, stresses Congress’s North East Delhi candidate Kanhaiya Kumar while dwelling on how he ended up in jail when pursuing his PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) for a crime that he says he never committed.

Read the full story here

Polling in four of the five parliamentary seats in Jammu and Kashmir having ended peacefully, the focus has now shifted to the reshaped Anantnag-Rajouri constituency which witnessed four terror attacks in the last 30 days.

The constituency spread on either side of the mighty Pir Panjal was originally scheduled to go to polls on May 7 but it was deferred to May 25 due to adverse weather conditions on the request of several parties, including the BJP, Apni party and the DPAP.

The parties also cited the closure of the Mughal road – an alternative link connecting Jammu with Kashmir.

PTI

The BJP is supporting a party which received Hawala money pumped in from Pakistan to fund militancy in Kashmir, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said on May 22, in a veiled attack on Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari.

Read the full story here

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami claimed the opposition INDIA bloc wants to push the country into the “abyss of corruption” but the people have decided to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister for the third time in a row.

Campaigning for Krishan Pal Gurjar, the BJP’s candidate in the Faridabad Lok Sabha seat, Mr. Dhami said that since 2014 a lot of work has been done for the welfare of the people in the country. “The army now responds to bullets with shells,” the Uttarakhand Chief Minister said.

“The INDIA alliance, including the Congress, wants to push the country into the abyss of corruption like before 2014. The policy and intentions of these people are not right nor do they have any ideology, he said.

PTI

A war of words broke out between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP on Wednesday after AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed, in a post on X, that the Delhi police were going to interrogate his “old and ailing” parents on Thursday in connection with the alleged assault on AAP’s Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal.

Read the full story here

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said people are eager to vote for Bharatiya Janata Party candidates to escape the TMC misrule. 

“People desire to live in a peaceful environment. Therefore, they are eagerly waiting to vote for Bharatiya Janata Party candidates to escape the misrule of the Trinamool Congress. BJP has set a target of winning 32 seats in West Bengal in this Lok Sabha election. The Trinamool Congress government is presiding over misrule here, prompting people to seek an escape,” he said. 

The CM made the remark on the sidelines of a roadshow organised in support of Dr. Anirban Ganguly, the BJP’s nominated candidate for Bengal’s Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency and chairman of the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Foundation.

ANI

Addressing a rally in West Delhi’s Dwarka on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an onslaught on the Congress and the INDIA bloc. He said, “Everyone from the INDIA bloc have three things in common – they are all communal, casteist and nepotistic.”

Read the full story here

The Congress-led government will unleash a new economic boom in India after June 4 with its guarantees and schemes, kicking off the country’s next consumption growth, the party said.

Lok Sabha election results will be declared on June 4.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that in May 2004, when Dr. Manmohan Singh was announced as prime minister, the markets regained their losses of the previous days and then grew at a record pace for 10 years.

PTI

BJP president J.P. Nadda and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge have “stoutly” defended before the Election Commission their respective party’s campaigning method and utterances of their star campaigners. They have also sought action by the poll panel on the complaints lodged by their parties against each other during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Responding to the show-cause notices issued by Election Commission (EC) to them over complaints of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violations by their top leaders, Mr. Nadda and Mr. Kharge have made no “explicit denial of facts”, the panel noted.

In separate letters to Mr. Nadda and Mr. Kharge, the commission issued directions to the two national parties asking them not to make utterances on communal lines, not to make statements which give a false impression such as that the Constitution of India may be abolished or sold, and also not to politicise the armed forces. The EC also referred to the responses of the two leaders in its communication to them.

Read the story here

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will start his poll campaign in Punjab with his first rally in Patiala on May 23, according to State BJP secretary. Punjab BJP general secretary Rakesh Rathour said the Prime Minister will address three public rallies in the State on May 23 and May 24. Mr. Modi will hold his first rally in Patiala on May 23, followed by rallies in Gurdaspur and Jalandhar the next day, Mr. Rathour said.

PTI