India General Elections 2024 updates | Highlights on May 24

Attacking the BJP leadership, Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said that migratory leaders those who come to West Bengal from outside should be given a right answer by the electorate in defeating the saffron party in the last two phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. 

Speaking at a public rally at Joynagar in South 24 Parganas in support of party candidate Pratima Mondal, Mr. Banerjee alleged that the outsiders who come to the state are not aware of the rich tradition and culture of West Bengal. 

“The migratory leaders who come to West Bengal to seek votes should be given the right lesson. They don’t have the slightest idea of the tradition and culture of the state”, Mr. Banerjee, also the nephew of Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, said. - PTI

The Bombay High Court on Friday permitted the sale of liquor in Mumbai after the announcement of Lok Sabha poll results on June 4.

A vacation bench of Justices N R Borkar and Somasekhar Sundaresan said the ban imposed by the city Collector on sale of liquor by hotels, restaurants, bars and permit rooms shall cease to have an effect upon declaration of results of elections in the city of Mumbai.

Additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan informed the bench that the Collector for Mumbai district suburban has already issued a letter modifying the earlier notification declaring June 4 as a dry day.The Bombay High Court on Friday permitted the sale of liquor in Mumbai after the announcement of Lok Sabha poll results on June 4.

A vacation bench of Justices N R Borkar and Somasekhar Sundaresan said the ban imposed by the city Collector on sale of liquor by hotels, restaurants, bars and permit rooms shall cease to have an effect upon declaration of results of elections in the city of Mumbai.

Additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan informed the bench that the Collector for Mumbai district suburban has already issued a letter modifying the earlier notification declaring June 4 as a dry day. - PTI

A rally by monks was organized in Kolkata on Friday condemning Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s recent remarks against certain monks of Ramakrishna Mission and Bharat Sevasharam Sangha.

Christened as “Sant Swabhiman Yatra,” the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) along with members of the Bangiya Sanyasi Samaj, an apex body of saints in the state, held the rally from North Kolkata’s Bagbazar to Shimla Street, the ancestral residence of Swami Vivekananda.

“We condemn the remarks by the honourable chief minister against us. We are pained and feel insulted by the derogatory remarks. She is not following Raj Dharma,” a protesting monk said.

Senior VHP leader Sourish Mukherjee said, “Due to vote bank politics, the chief minister is making such remarks against revered institutions like Ramakrishna Mission and Bharat Sevasharam Sangha.” In a recent election rally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the TMC supremo of threatening monks for vote bank politics.

Ms. Banerjee, defending her stance, had said she only criticized specific individuals of those monastic orders and not the institutions. - PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued his sharp attack on the INDIA bloc, saying the “balloon” of the opposition alliance has burst and no one wants to give their vote to it.

Addressing a Lok Sabha poll rally in Jalandhar, his third in Punjab this election season, Modi pointed out that five phases of polling have been held in the country and the sixth phase is scheduled to be held on Saturday, for which campaigning has ended.

“Their balloon has burst,” Mr. Modi said, adding that no one wants to give their vote to the Congress and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

“If you stand on a chowk in Jalandhar and ask 100 people whose government is going to be formed, 90 will say Modi’s government will return,” he said. - PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh of selectively distributing central aid meant for victims of last year’s floods and promised to find out where the money went once he returns to power.

The state’s Congress government, which said it allocated ₹4,500 crore as part of a special aid for the flood victims from its own coffers, has repeatedly accused the Centre of not announcing a special relief package and declaring the calamity as a “national disaster”.

The BJP earlier said the Centre released ₹1,762 crore for the victims, besides funds for the construction of 2,300 roads and 11,000 houses, and accused the Congress of indulging in “bandarbaant (giving money to select people)“.

Addressing a poll rally in Mandi, the prime minister also called Himachal Pradesh the “sankalp bhumi” for construction of the Ram mandir in Ayodhya, referring to the pledge taken by the BJP in Palampur to build the temple.

The BJP national executive passed a resolution for construction of the Ram temple during its Palampur meeting in June 1989.

Mr. Modi also said Kangana Ranaut, the BJP candidate from the Mandi constituency, represents the aspirations of youngsters and “our daughters”. - PTI

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that her government will approach a higher court, challenging the Calcutta High Court order that cancelled all OBC certificates issued in the state since 2010.

Addressing an election rally in Sagar in South 24 Parganas district, she said the state government would appeal to the higher court against the order after summer vacation.

“We do not accept the order that scrapped OBC certificates. We will contest at a higher court after summer vacation,” Ms. Banerjee said.

The Calcutta High Court on May 22 struck down as illegal the OBC status of several classes in the state granted since 2010, sparking a political debate in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections.

The court observed that the inclusion of 77 classes of Muslims in the list of backward categories was to “treat them as a vote bank”. - PTI

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday said he was in good health and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders were spreading lies about him.

Mr. Patnaik’s statement came in wake of no-holds-barred attack by BJP leaders who raised concerns about his health, age, and ability to make independent decisions, especially questioning his over-dependence on his former private secretary V.K. Pandian.

The Calcutta High Court on Friday in an interim order restrained the West Bengal Police from proceeding further in its suo motu FIR in connection to which a raid was conducted by it in a house where Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari claimed to have his office and residence.

The police had gone to raid a house in Purba Medinipur district’s Kolaghat on May 22, which Mr. Adhikari’s lawyer stated was his office and residence.

Holding that the matter is at a very preliminary stage and the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha election is due to be held on Saturday, the court restrained the police from proceeding further with the FIR till June 17.

The matter will appear on the list for hearing again on June 10, the court directed.

The bench granted liberty to the state to move the court, if there is any urgency, for taking any step for the purpose of conducting the elections in a peaceful manner.

Mr. Adhikari moved the high court alleging that the police raid was illegal, claiming that his fundamental right had been infringed. He maintained that a notice ought to have been given by the police prior to conducting the raid. - PTI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a scathing attack on Congress, alleging that the grand old party sees Jharkhand as an “ATM of corruption”.

He also alleged that Congress and Hemant Soren’s JMM are competing with each other on corruption in the state, he said.

“For Congress, Jharkhand is its vote bank, property, land bank and ATM of corruption...corrupt JMM leaders, including Hemant Soren, are sitting on Congress lap,” Mr. Shah said addressing a rally in Jamtara, Jharkhand.

He claimed that PM Modi not only freed the country from Naxals, including red rebels in Budha Pahad in Jharkhand, but did “justice to tribals”. - PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress over the 1984-anti Sikh riots, saying while its government “saved” the rioters, he ensured the guilty were punished.

He also alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann cannot take any decisions on his own and had to go to the Tihar Jail in Delhi to take orders.

“’Delhi ke darbari’ are running Punjab. The Punjab CM’s ‘maalik’ went to jail and the Punjab government started shutting down,” the prime minister said at a poll rally in Gurdaspur, referring to the arrest and incarceration of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejrwal.

“To take new orders and run the government, the CM (Mann) had to go to the Tihar jail” and “he had to present his report card to him (Kejriwal)“, Mr. Modi said while canvassing for BJP Lok Sabha polls candidates Dinesh Babbu (Gurdaspur), Taranjit Singh Sandhu (Amritsar) and Anita Som Parkash (Hoshiarpur). - PTI

The Congress hit back at the BJP over its “five PMs in five years” remark against the INDIA bloc, saying the alliance which is set to get a “clear and decisive” mandate in the Lok Sabha polls will have one person as prime minister for five years.

The name of the prime minister will be announced by the INDIA bloc within three days after the result of the elections is declared on June 4, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh told a press conference in Chandigarh ahead of the sixth round of polling on Saturday. - PTI

Hitting out at the INDIA bloc, BJP president J.P. Nadda on May 24 alleged that the “ghamandia” (arrogant) alliance is against the Dalits, tribals and backwards because they want to rob the reservation of these sections and appease Muslims.

The BJP chief also alleged that the “arrogant alliance” is “anti-Sanatan” and “anti-national”.

He appealed to the people to vote in favour of the BJP and claimed that if Narendra Modi becomes the prime minister for the third time, India will become the third largest economy.

“This alliance wants to rob the reservation of Dalits, Advasis and backward communities for Muslim appeasement,” he said. - PTI

The statements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the Opposition in this poll season are a cause for concern, claimed NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on May 24.

Talking to reporters in Mumbai, he also welcomed the BJP-led Mahayuti government’s appeal to the Election Commission (EC) to relax the model code of conduct to expedite relief work in areas reeling under water scarcity in Maharashtra. 

“The Prime Minister’s post is an institution. Modi occupies an important position. But there is no need to take cognisance of what he is speaking in election rallies,” Mr. Pawar said. - PTI

More than 26,000 displaced Kashmiri Pandit voters from across the country are eligible to vote at 34 polling stations in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag constituency on May 24.

This marks the conclusion of voting in the Union Territory, with polling already completed in the other four constituencies. 

The newly created Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat, covering the south Kashmir-Pir Panjal region, will cover the districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, Rajouri and Poonch.

- PTI

The BJP on May 24 slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the Swati Maliwal assault case and claimed that his AAP will suffer such a defeat in the Lok Sabha polls here that deposits of its candidates will be forfeited.

The Aam Aadmi Party will lose at the hustings as people are angry over the incident, the BJP claimed, referring to the alleged assault on Ms. Maliwal by Mr. Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar at the CM’s residence on May 13.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters a day before polling in Delhi, party national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia alleged that the chief minister is trying his best to save Kumar. It was at the Kejriwal’s behest that his aide assaulted Maliwal, Mr. Bhatia claimed.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on May 24 launched a blistering attack on Lalu Prasad, alleging that the RJD chief neither worked for the welfare of backward classes nor the people belonging to his caste ‘Yadav’.

While addressing an election rally in favour of senior BJP leader and Union Minister R.K. Singh in Arrah, Mr. Shah said if Prasad, as part of the “arrogant” INDIA bloc, comes to power, “jungle raj, abduction, and gang war will return to Bihar”.

“People don’t want the return of ‘jungle raj’, gang war and abduction industry in Bihar. Lalu neither worked for the welfare of backward classes nor the people belonging to his own caste ‘Yadav’. They are under the wrong impression that Lalu works for them,” Mr. Shah said. - PTI

“Hope you don’t disappoint me and give me an opportunity to be your advocate in Parliament,” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said on May 24 in her appeal to voters on the eve of polling in the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat.

The PDP chief, working to revive her party’s fortunes following its alliance with the BJP in 2015, is up against National Conference’s Mian Altaf and 18 others in the controversially redrawn constituency that votes on Saturday in the penultimate round of the seven-phase elections. - PTI

The Medinpur region, recognised as Bengal’s tribal belt and a BJP stronghold consisting of five districts that send eight representatives to the Lok Sabha, is a hotspot for identity politics and will go to polls in the sixth phase on May 25.

Voting for the Tamluk, Kanthi, Ghatal, Jhargram, Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura, and Bishnupur Lok Sabha seats will take place on Saturday.

Out of the eight seats, the BJP won five and TMC bagged three in the 2019 polls.

- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 24 accused the Congress of not fulfilling its promise of providing 1 lakh jobs to the youth of Himachal Pradesh and said the party’s “talabaaz sarkar” put a lock on the state staff selection commission.

Addressing a ‘Vijay Sankalp’ rally in Sirmaur district’s Nahan to garner support for BJP’s Shimla Lok Sabha seat candidate Suresh Kashyap, the prime minister also said that communalism, casteism and dynastic politics are common in the Congress and its allies.

In February last year, the Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led State government disbanded the HPSSC whose functioning was suspended after a paper leak was detected in December 2022. - PTI

Addressing a poll rally in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur on May 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the Congress saying that communalism, casteism and dynastic politics are common in the grand old party.

“Congress snatched reservation from OBCs and gave it to Muslims in Karnataka,” he said.

The Aam Aadmi Party has lodged a complaint to the Election Commission, alleging that BJP’s Ghatal Lok Sabha nominee Hiranmoy Chattopadhyaya has provided “wrong” information about his educational qualification in the affidavit and sought cancellation of his candidature.

The AAP also accused the actor-turned-politician of making a false claim that he is a research fellow at IIT Kharagpur. 

“We have observed a discrepancy in the election affidavit declaration of Hiranmoy Chattopadhyaya regarding his educational qualification/accomplishment. He has claimed to be a research fellow at IIT Kharagpur since May 2023. However, a recent RTI reply from IIT Kharagpur has revealed that he is neither a research associate, nor scientist, nor staff, nor in any other category, as per the institute rules and regulations,” the AAP wrote in the letter on Thursday.

It is evident that Chattopadhyaya has given “falsified personal information in his election affidavit which is a violation of rules and regulations in respect of the Representation of the People Act”, the party said. 

PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address two election rallies in Himachal Pradesh today ahead of the sixth and seventh phases of the Lok Sabha elections on May 25 and June 1. 

In Himachal Pradesh, election campaigning is intensifying as the Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be held on June 1, coinciding with six Assembly by-elections in the seventh and final phase. 

Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to speak at the BJP’s Vijay Sankalp rally at Chaugan Ground in Nahan, the district headquarters of Sirmaur, in the morning in support of BJP candidate Suresh Kashyap. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will campaign in two election rallies in Punjab this afternoon in Gurdaspur and Jalandhar. 

ANI

Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday addressing an election rally in Eastern U.P.’s Siddharthnagar claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has crossed 310 seats in the five phases of the Lok Sabha election, adding the principal Opposition party the Congress is not even getting 40 Parliamentary seats.

“The INDIA bloc 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, we [the BJP] have crossed 310 seats,” Mr. Shah said addressing the rally in support of Domariyaganj Lok Sabha candidate Jagdambika Pal. The Lok Sabha seat comes under Siddharthnagar district. In 2019, Jagdambika Pal won the seat by a margin of over 1,05,000 votes defeating the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Aftab Alam. 

The Home Minister asserted that the PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) is a part of India and the ruling dispensation will take it back. “Leaders of Pakistan claim that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is theirs. Congress leaders also say that they [Pakistan] have an atom bomb. But we are not scared of atom bombs. PoK is and will remain part of India and we will take it back,” Mr. Shah asserted. 

Pitched the issue of removing Article 370 from the Indian Constitution, the Home Minister targeted Congress for praising Pakistan. “Congress said that removal of Article 370 was wrong. You all tell me whether the removal of Article 370 was wrong,” he asked the crowd. adding, “Kashmir belongs to us [India]. When Modi ji become Prime Minister for the 2nd time, he removed Article 370 and made Kashmir an integral part of India. Terrorism ended in Kashmir. The nation is now fully secure and prosperous,” the Home Minister claimed.

Praising the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh under the BJP regime, Mr. Shah claimed that the mafia and anti-social elements migrated away from the State. “Before 2017, U.P. used to witness continuous activities of mafias and anti-social elements with the State being synonymous with lawlessness. But since the BJP government assumed power, anti-social elements started migrating away from U.P.,” the Home Minister said. 

The Congress on Friday said the people of Himachal Pradesh have repeatedly voiced their opposition to the Agnipath scheme and asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi will commit to scrapping the “ill-conceived” military recruitment programme.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posed several questions to the Prime Minister ahead of his rallies in Himachal Pradesh. 

“How much did the attempt to topple the state government cost the BJP? Will the outgoing prime minister commit to scrapping the Agnipath scheme? Why has the Modi sarkar not delivered on railway projects? Why did the outgoing prime minister not declare the July 2023 floods a national calamity?” the Congress general secretary asked.

He also alleged that the BJP’s blatant disregard for democratic values has been on full display in Himachal Pradesh. 

PTI

Two days ahead of the sixth phase polling in the Lok Sabha elections, a woman supporter of the BJP was killed in Nandigram, resulting in large-scale protests on May 23 in the region that will be voting on May 25.

Rathibala Arhi was killed by unidentified miscreants late on May 22 and her son — a local leader of the Scheduled Caste morcha of the BJP — sustained grievous injuries.

Violence erupted on May 23 morning at Sonachura village in Nandigram in protest against the incident. BJP workers set several houses on fire and attacked houses belonging to Trinamool Congress supporters. The villagers blocked road by felling trees and prevented the police from entering the violence-affected areas.

The police used force and resorted to baton charge and disbursed the protesters.

While the Trinamool leadership claimed that the death was result of a faction feud between the old BJP and new BJP, family members of the deceased claimed that it was a political murder. “Our brother-in-law was in Trinamool but later shifted to BJP. The Trinamool people were angry as to why he was working for BJP,” the daughter-in-law of the deceased said.

Trinamool spokesperson Santanu Sen called the incident a “reflection of the BJP’s internal feud between the party’s old-timers and its new recruits in Nandigram”. 

Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal, a key strategist of the party, said that after five phases of polling, feedback from the ground indicates that the INDIA bloc would form the government. Edited excerpts: 

Modi’s low level attack on Congress is a sign that he knows he is losing the polls, says K.C. Venugopal

The PM is banking on the weapon of polarising and dividing the people of the country, says Congress general secretary (organisation)