Lok Sabha Elections 2024 updates | Congress is trying fool the nation in the name of constitution: PM Modi at Ramtek rally

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, besides the party’s national president, Mallikarjun Kharge, are likely to campaign in Bihar later this month, a senior leader said on Wednesday.

State Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh said this while replying to queries at a press conference that he addressed here jointly with AICC Bihar in-charge Mohan Prakash

Notably, the Congress, which has an alliance with the RJD and the Left in Bihar, is contesting nine out of the state’s 40 Lok Sabha seats, three of which go to polls in the second phase.

- PTI

“On this Ram Navami, our Ram Lalla (in Ayodhya) will not be under a tent but in his grand temple. This moment arrives after 500 years. Yet, the ‘INDI alliance’ declined the invitation for the pran pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Temple. They are against Sanatan and hold rallies with those who seek to eliminate Sanatan,” Mr. Modi says.

- Abhinay Deshpande

The ‘INDI alliance’ members are spreading falsehoods that democracy and the Constitution will be endangered if Modi returns to power. They previously did the same during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure, indicating a lack of new ideas. Wasn’t democracy in peril when the Emergency was imposed, says PM Narendra Modi in Maharashtra’s Ramtek.

The Congress failed to establish a single constitution nationwide. Those who are now questioning the constitution, I ask them (Congress) why they did not enact one constitution for the entire nation, he adds.

“They (Congress) are trying fool the nation in the name of constitution.”

- Abhinay Deshpande

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Mysuru and Mangaluru in Karnataka to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls on April 14, a state party leader said on Wednesday.

Modi had held mega rallies in Kalaburagi and Shivamogga last month BJP General Secretary V Sunil Kumar said the Prime Minister would address a mega rally in Mysuru and hold a roadshow in Mangaluru.

Speaking about Modi’s itinerary on April 14, the state’s convenor for the party’s Lok Sabha Election Management Committee said that the PM will be addressing a public meeting at 4 pm that day, in which party workers from Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Mandya and Hassan Lok Sabha constituencies will gather at Mysuru’s Maharaja College grounds Speaking to reporters here, Kumar said this would be a mega meeting in which leaders of both the BJP and the JD(S) will take part along with the prime minister.

- PTI

Bhojpuri singer Pawan Singh, who had turned down a BJP ticket for Asansol in West Bengal, on Wednesday said he will contest Lok Sabha polls from Karakat in his home state of Bihar.

Singh made the announcement on X but did not disclose whether he would be contesting as an Independent or as the candidate of a political party.

Notably, the announcement comes on a day the BJP has declared SS Ahluwalia, its sitting MP from Bardhaman-Durgapur, as the candidate from Asansol, where actor turned politician Shatrughan Sinha is seeking re-election on a Trinamool Congress ticket.

Singh, who hails from Bhojpur district in Bihar, and was said to be eyeing the Arrah seat where Union minister RK Singh is seeking re-election for a third consecutive term.

- PTI

BJP president JP Nadda will address an election rally in Port Blair on Thursday in support of BJP candidate Bishnu Pada Ray.

The lone Lok Sabha seat of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will go to the polls in the first phase on April 19.

Ray will take on incumbent Congress MP Kuldeep Rai Sharma, his long-time electoral rival.

Ray was first elected to the Lok Sabha from the constituency in 1999 when he defeated Sharma. He again won in 2009 and 2014.

- PTI

Home voting for people above 85 years and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) started for residents of Tripura West Parliamentary constituency and Ramnagar assembly seat on Wednesday, an official said.

Among the 14.61 lakh eligible voters in Tripura West, 4,581 PWDs and elderly individuals have requested home voting assistance.

Ramnagar assembly seat falls under Tripura West Lok Sabha seat CEO Puneet Agarwal emphasised the Election Commission’s commitment to inclusive elections, highlighting the availability of home voting for those unable to visit polling stations.

Under the facility, a polling party will visit the homes of eligible voters to facilitate their voting rights. It will be available for two days, April 10 and 12.

All about the vote-from-home facility in the Lok Sabha elections | Explained 

The Hindu explores the vote from home facility, how it works and who is eligible to avail of it.

Of the 13,500 polling booths in Delhi, police have so far identified around 2,000 as “critical” based on past cases as well as the probability of deterioration of the law-and-order situation and extra security personnel would be deployed there, officials said.

In total, the city has around 13,500 polling booths which will be probably located at around 2,700 locations across Delhi.

Shahdara and northwest districts have prepared a list of 146 critical booths each. The Dwarka district has marked more than 50 booths as critical. There are 38 critical booths in the outer north district.

Sharing details about the deployment of security personnel, another senior police officer said each polling premises marked critical will have two head constables and half a section of central paramilitary forces in addition to the normal deployment plan of a polling station.

- PTI

The BJP announced Sanjay Tandon as its candidate for the lone Lok Sabha seat of Chandigarh, replacing two-time MP Kirron Kher.

Tandon, 60, is the party’s co-incharge for Himachal Pradesh and is the son of former Chhattisgarh governor late Balramji Das Tandon who was one of the founding members of the Jan Sangh and later also served as Punjab BJP chief.

He thanked the party leadership for giving him the ticket from Chandigarh, which will go to polls in the last phase of general elections on June 1, and discounted the electoral challenge posed by the INDIA bloc, saying “Politics works on chemistry, not on mathematics”.

Actor Kirron Kher, who became MP from Chandigarh in 2014 and again won from the constituency in 2019, greeted Tandon on his nomination.

- PTI

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav unveiled the party’s manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections, promising a caste-based census by 2025, a legal guarantee for MSP, and scrapping of the Agnipath scheme. 

The manifesto – ‘Janta Ka Maang Patra – Humara Adhikar’ – was released at the SP headquarters, in Lucknow, in the presence of senior party leaders. The 20-page document has called for a PDA government this time. PDA is an acronym for Pichde (backward classes), Dalit and Alpasankhyak (minorities) that was coined by Mr. Yadav. 

The SP is a constituent of the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc. Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Mr. Yadav said a caste-wise census would be conducted after the formation of the INDIA bloc government at the Centre to fill all the vacant government posts of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes by 2025. 

He said the Agnipath military recruitment scheme would be scrapped and regular recruitment in the armed forces would be introduced. - PTI

The CPI(M) has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India against BJP candidate from Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency Kriti Devi Debbarman for allegedly violating the model code of conduct by branding it as a “party of murderers” during the ongoing election campaign. 

CPI(M) State secretary Jitendra Chaudhury wrote a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on April 9, alleging that Debbarman maligned the Left party during an election rally at Fatikroy in Unakoti district on April 8. 

“Debbarman, while addressing the masses, termed CPI(M), a nationally recognised party as “CPM Manush Khuner Party...By maligning the CPI(M), in such a manner without any substantiation, Kriti Devi Debbarman clearly violated the model code of conduct,” Mr. Chaudhury said. 

The Left party claimed that Debbarman “even dared to defy the mandatory electoral rule by not mentioning pending criminal case against her in the nomination paper”. 

“I request you to take measures against Debbarman for her obnoxious allegation violating model code of conduct”, the CPI(M) leader mentioned in the letter. The Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency will go to polls on April 26. - PTI

“Indian democracy is facing a tremendous challenge and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will prove to be the last elections if the BJP returns to power as it will attempt to abolish the Constitution,” senior Congress leader Mukul Wasnik said. 

“The last ten years of the BJP-led NDA government will be written in history as a period that was “very dark, full of injustice, and anarchy when it made efforts to spread hatred and animosity,” he said. 

Mr. Wasnik was speaking at a function to unveil the Congress’ manifesto, or ‘Nyay Patra’, at its State headquarters ‘Rajiv Bhavan’. 

“There is an atmosphere of change [in government] in the country. When a leader from Gujarat [Prime Minister Narendra Modi] began his journey to the Centre ten years ago, he made tall promises. But ten years later, it appears that he or his government made no genuine effort to fulfil those promises,” he said. Mr. Wasnik accused the government of duping women, youth, traders and farmers. - PTI

BJP president J. P. Nadda claimed that the Northeast, which was earlier known for bandh culture, insurgency and targeted killings, has made rapid progress in the last ten years of the Modi government. 

He released the party manifesto for the April 19 simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the northeastern State. 

“The Northeast, which was neglected for decades, has witnessed a sea change after the BJP-led NDA government came to power at the Centre in 2014. The region is now known for progress, development and prosperity,” Mr. Nadda said. 

He said the BJP government at the Centre is working for the development of the northeastern States in various sectors, including power, tourism, internet connectivity, agriculture and sports. 

The manifesto promises the creation of robust infrastructure, women empowerment, employment and accountable governance. - PTI

The Election Commission ‘adjourned’ the Lok Sabha poll in Betul seat of Madhya Pradesh, which was to be held on April 26 in phase two, following the death of a BSP candidate. The electoral exercise in the seat will be now held in the third phase on May 7. 

According to the Commission, the BSP candidate died on April 9 and the election was adjourned under Section 52 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 by the returning officer. 

If a candidate of a recognised national or State party dies before poll, the election is adjourned to allow the party identify and field a fresh candidate. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is a recognised national party. 

“The Commission has decided to hold the adjourned poll in 29-Betul (ST) PC of Madhya Pradesh in 3rd Phase (May 7) of General Election to Lok Sabha, 2024,” it said. Voting for the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls will be held from April 19 to June 1. Votes will be counted on June 4. - PTI

The BJP stands for a united Manipur and there can be no separate administration in the State for any particular community, says Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh, the Law Minister of the strife-torn State and the saffron party’s candidate from Inner Manipur in the Lok Sabha polls. 

Stating that the Congress is nowhere in the picture in the State, Mr. Singh said the BJP will win “hands down” in Manipur and asserted that the public knows his party is the only pathway towards peace. He also asserted that the BJP has saved Manipur for future generations. 

“We as a party and government stand for a united Manipur … there should be no separatism of any kind, we have been like this for centuries and will remain like this. During the Second World War, France and Germany went to war and today they are the best of allies and neighbours,” Mr. Singh told PTI, responding to a question about the demands of the Kuki-zo community for a separate administration. 

“We should give hope to the people and talk about the unity of the state. Now is not the time to be divisive, now is the time to be united,” he added. - PTI

Rajasthan Congress treasurer Sitaram Agarwal joined the BJP on Wednesday. Mr. Agarwal was the Congress candidate from Jaipur’s Vidhyadhar Nagar seat in the last assembly elections but lost to the BJP’s Diya Kumari.

Along with several of his supporters, Mr. Agarwal joined the party in the presence of Kumari and other leaders of the party, including Narayan Panchariya and Onkar Singh Lakhawat. -PTI

Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday said he wanted to contest the Shirdi Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra but it did work out due to certain alliance compulsions.

However, his Republican Party of India (A) workers have asked him to stay with the ruling NDA and demand a cabinet berth at the Centre, Mr. Athawale, a prominent Dalit leader from Maharashtra, said addressing a press conference in Nagpur. -PTI

Read the story here.

It has fielded Sanjay Tandon from Chandigarh and S.S. Ahluwalia from West Bengal’s Asansol. 

Seven candidates announced in Uttar Pradesh are: Jaiveer Singh Thakur in Mainpuri; Vinod Sonkar in Kaushambi (SC); Praveen Patel in Phulpur; Neeraj Tripathi in Allahabad; Neeraj Shekha in Ballia; B. P. Saroj in Machhlishahr (SC) and Paras Nath Rai in Ghazipur.

Congress MP and Lok Sabha poll candidate from Nagaon constituency in Assam, Pradyut Bordoloi, has filed a complaint against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, alleging that he violated the model code of conduct by offering money to all ration cardholders during the ongoing election campaign. 

Mr. Bordoloi filed the complaint to the Chief Election Commissioner on April 9, alleging that Mr. Sarma, in a public meeting in Lakhimpur during the day, made a promise to transfer Rs.10,000 to the bank accounts of every ration cardholder after the election. 

Stating that such assurances are a “clear violation” of MCC, the Congress leader said, “Such promises are not only unethical but also an attempt to influence voters through financial inducements, thereby compromising the integrity of the electoral process”. 

He urged the ECI to investigate the matter thoroughly and take appropriate action against the chief minister for his “misconduct”. - PTI

Patna: The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has formally announced its candidates for all but one of the 23 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, where the party is contesting as a constituent of the opposition ‘Mahagathbandhan’. 

Party president Lalu Prasad’s daughters - Rohini Acharya and Misa Bharti - are among the RJD nominees. According to a release issued by RJD State president Jagdanand Singh late on Tuesday, Ms. Acharya will contest from Saran, a seat her father had won many times. 

Mr. Prasad represented the seat until his disqualification in 2013 when he was convicted in a fodder scam. Ms. Bharti, his eldest daughter who is enjoying her second term in the Rajya Sabha, will try her luck in the Patliputra Lok Sabha constituency. 

A party functionary said a candidate is yet to be announced for Siwan, where the RJD had for years been fielding the late Mohd Shahubuddin. 

As per the seat-sharing arrangement among partners of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’, the RJD has kept 26 of Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats, leaving nine for Congress and five for the Left parties. - PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, said that family politics, corruption and an anti-Tamil culture were the three major features of the ruling DMK party. The Dravidian party, he claimed, seemed to have a got “copyright’’ to indulge in corruption in Tamil Nadu. 

Addressing a public meeting at the 16th century granite Fort complex in Vellore town in support of NDA candidates A.C. Shanmugam (Vellore), A. Ashwathaman (Tiruvannamalai), K. Balu (Arakkonam), Ganesh Kumar (Arani), Sowmiya Anbumani (Dharmapuri) and C. Narasimhan (Krishnagiri) for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Modi said that these three features had formed the basis of the governance of the Dravidian party all these years. Such an attitude, he said has deprived educated youth in the State of the right opportunities for their upliftment. 

Rahul Gandhi has hit out at the BJP, saying that history is witness as to who joined hands with the forces that wanted to divide the country. “This election is a fight between two ideologies! On one side there is the Congress, which has always united India, and on the other side there are those who have always tried to divide people,” he said in a post on X. “Who stood with the British during the ‘Quit India Movement’? When India’s jails were filled with Congress leaders, then who was running the government in the States with the forces that divided the country?” he asked.

Mr. Gandhi’s remarks come amid repeated attacks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that the Congress manifesto bears a ‘Muslim League imprint’.The party has moved the Election Commission against these remarks and Mallikarjun Kharge has said that “there is a stink of RSS” in Modi’s speeches. - PTI

Several Congress party workers from Ujjain joined the BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on April 10. “I am immensely happy that through the working style of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our family [the BJP] is expanding every day. Today, Congress Rural District President of Ratlam, Kailash Patidar along with his workers joined the BJP. Some congress workers from Ujjain also took the membership on the occasion,” said CM Mohan Yadav while speaking to ANI. “They have decided to move on the path of development. I assure them that they will be respected in the BJP family; the party will also work on the suggestions given by them,” he added.- ANI

The Kerala High Court has asked the ED not to summon former Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, the LDF’s candidate in Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency, for questioning in connection with a case of FEMA violations during the floating of masala bond by KIIFB till the Lok Sabha elections are over. 

When his petition came up for hearing, Justice T.R. Ravi observed that since the petitioner is contesting the elections, he should not be troubled with summons for questioning during the election period.

The court, after going through the files submitted by the ED, observed that Mr. Isaac needs to provide an explanation for some of the end-use transactions of funds received by way of the masala bond. It observed that if the ED wanted to investigate these transactions, it should be done after the elections. Read the story here.

The Communist Party of India (CPI), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK) are all contesting in Tiruppur. Here’s a look at voters’ demands and the issues plaguing the constituency.

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Constituency watch | An articulate parliamentarian is all voters in Tiruppur Lok Sabha seat look for

Tiruppur knitwear industry crisis dominates election issues, with joblessness, pollution, and industrial development concerns in focus.

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) has released its third list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra. Shashikant Shinde (Satara), Shriram Patil (Raver) will contest on the behalf of the party.

PM Modi, while campaigning in Vellore, said that the BJP and NDA are getting great support in Tamil Nadu. He also added that the NDA has prepared the foundation for developed Bharat in the decade. He also Tamil Nadu’s contribution in furthering country’s space and manufacturing sectors. 

Hitting out at the DMK, he said that the party is a family company, which is impeding growth of State’s youth with its old mindset. “The DMK has the first copyright on corruption, entire family looting Tamil Nadu,” he said, adding that DMK divides people over language, region, faith. “DMK knows the day people see through this, it will not get one vote,” Mr. Modi said. He said that INDIA bloc insulted ‘Shakti’. “Everyone knows how the DMK treated late Jayalalithaa,” he said. -PTI

After holding an election rally in Chandrapur in Maharashtra on April 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Nagpur for an election rally in the Ramtek constituency in support of the Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena candidate Raju Parwe on April 10. Mr. Parwe was a senior state Congress leader and joined the Shiv Sena recently. Maharashtra has 48 Lok Sabha seats and polling will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20. - ANI

Krishnagiri braces for a head-to-head electoral clash between the AIADMK and the DMK-allied Congress. Both parties are leveraging narratives of anti-incumbency, targeting the BJP-led central government and the DMK administration at the state level. The BJP and the NTK are also vying for attention.

The Congress has fielded K. Gopinath, who had been elected a three-time MLA of Hosur, and the AIADMK has nominated V. Jayaprakash, a member of the Hosur Corporation Council, as its candidate. The NTK has fielded Vidya Rani, daughter of slain forest brigand Veerappan, and the BJP has fielded C. Narasimhan, a state-level party functionary and one-time Member of Parliament.

Constituency Watch | AIADMK to lock horns with Congress in Krishnagiri

Krishnagiri gears up for a fierce electoral battle between AIADMK and DMK, with BJP and NTK also in the mix.

The Congress has accused the BJP of repeatedly trying to impose its will on the people of Tamil Nadu and flagged issues such as “devastating impacts” of NEET in the State and insufficient devolution of taxes from the Centre. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh attacked PM Narendra Modi ahead of his rally in Coimbatore and posed questions to him on key issues affecting the State.

“Today, PM Modi will be in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. In a State which has a long history of advocating for cooperative federalism, the BJP has repeatedly tried to impose its will on the people,” Mr. Ramesh said.

He said, “The Modi Sarkar’s track record in TN begs the question — does PM Modi want to represent the people, or does he want to rule over them?” Mr. Ramesh said the NEET exam was introduced by the BJP government in 2017, and it faced widespread public backlash due to fears that it would unfairly disadvantage students from poor and marginalised communities. Read the article here.

The 2014 elections were the prelude to the Narendra Modi era — a decade-long reign the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party vies to extend in this year’s national elections. To understand India in 2024, we go back to the time when a politician’s popularity lodged BJP into the corridors of Raisina Hills, transforming the nation’s political landscape.

2014: The year Narendra Modi rose to power

2014 marked a historic election with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landslide victory, setting the stage for a new era in Indian politics.

The ECI has decided to engage ASHA workers in every booth in Odisha to ensure adequate care is provided to those who may have suffered heatstroke due to hot weather conditions on polling days.

Voting in the State will be held in four phases between May 13 and June 1.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Odisha Nikunja Bihari Dhal has asked health department officials to engage ASHA workers in each polling booth along with medicines required to tackle heatstroke cases, an official said. Besides, every section officer will have a paramedical staff to deal with emergencies, he added.

Mr. Dhal also instructed officials to ensure the availability of ambulances, drinking water, ORS powder, toilets, sheds, waiting areas and seating arrangements for voters in each booth.

He emphasised making proper arrangements for polling and security personnel as they could be exposed to the heatwave. - PTI

A month ago, when the formation of an alliance in the State was still fluid, it was unclear whether VCK president Thol. Thirumavalavan could contest from the Chidambaram Lok Sabha constituency seat again. In 2019, he only scraped through with a margin of 3,219 votes. But now, with the PMK exiting the AIADMK alliance and joining the NDA, he is eyeing a comfortable win with the backing of the DMK-led INDIA. “Last time, the victory margin came down because we faced a mega alliance, comprising the AIADMK, the BJP and the PMK. This time, the arithmetic of alliance favours us,” said Mr. Thirumavalavan.

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Lok Sabha elections | Parties bank on an alliance arithmetic in a triangular contest in Chidambaram

VCK president Thol. Thirumavalavan aims for a comfortable win in Chidambaram Lok Sabha constituency with DMK-led alliance support.

The Delhi High Court will hear a PIL seeking to restrain the Opposition alliance from using the acronym I.N.D.I.A. (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) on April 10.On April 2, the High Court told the Centre and several political parties to submit their response within a week to the public interest litigation which alleged that by using the I.N.D.I.A. acronym, the parties were taking “undue advantage in the name of our country”.

​Here are the details.​

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, on April 9, announced “unconditional” support to the Mahayuti coalition — Bharatiya Janata Party, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — in the Lok Sabha election.

Addressing a Gudi Padwa rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai, he also announced that his party will not contest the Lok Sabha poll, but asked his supporters and party workers to buckle up for the State Assembly election due later this year. Read the report here.

Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale has dismissed allegations that the Narendra Modi-led NDA government is planning to change the Constitution. 

On April 9, Mr. Athawale, a prominent Dalit leader from Maharashtra and the head of the Republican Party of India (Athawale), said he would resign if there is any attempt to change the Constitution.

“With no issues against the present Modi-led NDA government, the Congress along with other opposition parties is trying to mislead people alleging that if this government wins 400 plus seats, it would change the Constitution. Their accusation is completely baseless.... if Government makes any such attempt, I will resign from the Cabinet and withdraw support to the BJP,” he said. PM Modi is a “man with vision” and working for the progress of the country, he added. - PTI

The ECI issued a notice to Congress leader Randeep Surjewala for his “undignified” comments against BJP MP Hema Malini on April 9. 

In the notice to Mr. Surjewala, the poll body said: “The comments have been found to be highly undignified, vulgar and uncivilized and to be prima-facie violative of the provisions of the model code of conduct and the EC’s advisory dated March 1”. He has to respond by the evening of April 11. Read the report here.

A United Democratic Front (UDF) stronghold for long, Pathanamthitta has witnessed a shift towards the Left since the 2016 Assembly elections. Despite this trend, the UDF is confident that its candidate, Anto Antony, the current MP, will win. However, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) believes it has a chance to win this seat as its vote share increased significantly during the 2019 election. BJP activists are fervently campaigning for Anil K. Antony, son of veteran Congress leader A.K. Antony, demonstrating unity despite initial differences.

All fronts remain hopeful in Pathanamthitta, a traditional UDF stronghold

Pathanamthitta election campaign: LDF candidate T.M. Thomas Isaac faces UDF's Anto Antony and NDA's Anil K. Antony.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said his party is committed to “unity” while the BJP wants “artificial uniformity”. 

While addressing the media in Dimapur, Nagaland, on April 9, he said the 2024 elections will be the most important one for the people as it will be a “battle between unity and uniformity”. “The Congress wants to strengthen unity by celebrating the country’s diversity while the BJP and its allies want to impose artificial uniformity,” he said.

“The only party keeping democracy in Nagaland and in the country is the Indian National Congress and we will never compromise with BJP. The election is for the future of the democracy,” he said.

Maintaining that the party believes that all regions of Nagaland must see development and the political aspirations of the people of the State must be fulfilled, he said that “imbalance in development must be addressed”. “Regions in every State feel left out of the government, which is a reflection of bad governance. We must balance regional development between states and balance regional development within the state,” he said.

Expressing that the “election in India is not a beauty contest for selecting the prime minister”, he said the election is between political parties, party ideologies, and programmes. “Ours is not an individual-centric democracy but party-centric. When we get the mandate, all parties will sit together and select the prime minister,” he said. Mr. Ramesh expressed confidence that the Congress and its allies INDIA will get a clear majority in the Lok Sabha polls. -PTI

Although there is a direct fight between the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar’s Nawada, the contest may be triangular. The BJP has named Vivek Thakur as its candidate, while the RJD has fielded Shravan Kushwaha. However, things took an unusual turn after two sitting RJD MLAs extended their support to Vinod Yadav, an Independent candidate, instead Mr. Kushwaha.