Lok Sabha elections updates | TMC lodges complaint against Bengal Governor for interfering in poll process

Independent candidate Hayithung Tungoe Lotha filed the nomination for the elections to the lone Lok Sabha seat in Nagaland.

Lotha is the first candidate to submit the nomination documents for the Lok Sabha seat.

The ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) has announced fielding Dr Chumben Murry, the consensus candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Alliance, while the Congress nominated its state president S Supongmeren Jamir for the contest.

- PTI

The Election Commission of India has appointed senior superintendents of police in five districts of Punjab, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C said.

The announcement comes a day after the Election Commission transferred “non-cadre” district magistrates and superintendents of police in some states.

The Punjab poll officer said Deepak Pareek has been posted as the SSP of Bathinda and Ankur Gupta as the SSP of Jalandhar Rural.

Simrat Kaur has been appointed as the SSP of Malerkotla, Suhail Qasim Mir as the SSP of Pathankot and Pragya Jain as the SSP of Fazilka, he said in an official statement.

- PTI

After Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy case, INDIA bloc leaders met with the Election Commission of India and demanded its intervention in the “targeting of opposition leaders” by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party through the “misuse of central agencies”.

The representation to the ECI was made by Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, Abhishek Singhvi, NCP (SCP) leader Jitendra Awhad, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury, TMC MP Derek O Brien and several other leaders.

After meeting the Election Commission, Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said that a level playing field is needed for elections, but the ruling party is not allowing that, which has had an impact of free and fair elections.

- ANI

The top Congress leadership met to discuss and finalise its candidates for nine Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.

The party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) met under the chairmanship of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, with former party chief Rahul Gandhi in attendance. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi was, however, not present during today’s meeting.

The committee discussed several candidates for the nine Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu that have come in the Congress’ share in its alliance with the DMK.

- PTI

Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and sitting MP Ajay Tamta filed their nominations as the BJP’s candidates from Haridwar and Almora constituencies for the Lok Sabha polls.

Rawat filed his nomination virtually in the presence of sitting MP from Haridwar and former CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, along with party MLAs and scores of his supporters.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami addressed a public meeting in Almora soon after Tamta filed his nomination and appealed to the people to vote for the BJP candidate.

- PTI

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) filed a complaint with the Election Commission (EC) against West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose, accusing him of unlawfully meddling in the upcoming Lok Sabha poll process and trying to run a parallel office similar to the EC.

Hitting out at the Raj Bhavan occupant for launching a new portal ‘Log Sabha’ to listen to the grievances of voters and directly connect with them during the polls, the TMC said it not only undermines the power of the EC, but takes away its authority to address grievances, leading to unnecessary confusion among the masses.

“In such circumstances, we call upon you to restrain CV Ananda Bose from running a parallel electioneering system of so-called reporting of complaints and supervising the elections under the name and style of Log Sabha,” the letter said.

It must be ensured that the governor is not allowed to interfere with the electioneering process and the powers and functions of the ECI, it added.

- PTI

BJP requested the Election Commission to prohibit display of films, advertisements, and billboards of actor Shivarajkumar who it claimed is campaigning for the Congress in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.

His wife, Geetha Shivarajkumar is the Congress candidate in the Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency for the coming polls and the actor was earlier this week seen campaigning for her.

In a letter to the poll body, the Karnataka State President of BJP OBC Morcha Wing and senior BJP leader R Raghu stated that Shivarajkumar, being a prominent figure in the state and currently engaged in a “statewide election campaign for the Congress party”, holds significant influence over the populace through his cinematic work and “public persona.” “While we respect his right to participate in the democratic process, it is imperative to maintain a level playing field and prevent undue advantage or influence during the election period,” Raghu said.

- PTI

Biju Janata Dal leader and Cuttack Member of Parliament Bhartruhari Mahtab on Friday resigned from primary membership of the regional party.

The announcement comes just ahead of general elections, as BJD has recently seen several of its members quitting the party to join the BJP. 

Four incumbent MLAs, all formerly associated with the BJD, and over 10 former MLAs, had joined the BJP, anticipating that the party would mount a serious challenge against BJD. 

In a setback to the Congress ahead of the parliamentary elections, its national spokesperson Rohan Gupta resigned from primary membership and all other posts of the party citing “humiliation” and “character assassination”.

Mr. Gupta, who had been given a Lok Sabha ticket from the Ahmedabad East seat by the Congress, withdrew from the race last Monday citing his father’s ill health.

In a letter to party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Gupta said, “I hereby, resign from all posts and primary membership of the Congress party with immediate effect.” He also posted a copy of the resignation letter on X.

- PTI

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will fight all 21 Lok Sabha seats and all 147 Assembly seats, said Manmohan Samal, State BJP President, putting speculations about forging alliance with Biju Janata Dal to rest on March 22. 

The BJD and the BJP were in alliance for 11 years between 1998 and 2009 and fought three Lok Sabha and two Assembly elections together.

For over two months, there had been speculation about the BJP and the BJD returning to alliance. In the first week of February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made two visits to Odisha, addressing public gatherings each time. Notably, he has chosen to refrain from attacking the State government during these visits. Mr. Patnaik had shared the stage with the PM on two separate official functions during the visits. It added fuel to the speculations.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on March 22 questioned the Congress party’s stand on the contentious Mekedatu balancing reservoir project after the ruling DMK government in Tamil Nadu said in its Lok Sabha manifesto that it will stall it.

“The DMK has said in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha election that it will stall the Mekedatu balancing reservoir project if voted. It is not just a DMK manifesto, but they have made this declaration as a member of the INDI Alliance. I want to ask the Congress what its stand is on this,” the former Karnataka president of the BJP told reporters.

Karnataka has been pushing for the balancing reservoir across the river Cauvery at Mekedatu in Kanakapura while Tamil Nadu has opposed it saying the project will block its share of Cauvery water. - PTI

Late actor-turned-politician Vijayakant’s son Vijay Prabhakar is entering political fray by contesting from Virudhunagar. The list of candidates contesting from DMDK figures his name along with four others. 

The DMDK is contesting polls in alliance with the AIADMK, and will be fighting from five seats.

Incidentally, Mr. Vijay Prabhakar filed his nomination on March 20, the day when the party sealed its alliance with AIADMK.

The BJP on Friday named its Lok Sabha poll candidates for 14 seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat of Puducherry. It has fielded A. Namassivayam, a minister in the Puducherry government, from the union territory.

The party had names its candidates for nine Lok Sabha seats on Thursday.

Former IAS officer Venkatram Reddy will contest from Medak while ex-IPS officer R.S. Praveen Kumar who recently quit BSP and joined BRS is being fielded from Nagarkurnool. 

With this, the former chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao-led party has announced candidates for 13 Lok Sabha seats out of the total 17 in Telangana. - PTI

The Bharatiya Janata Party released the 4th list of candidates for Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha polls on March 22. The list includes 15 names.

They have also released their list of candidates for the Bye Elections in Tamil Nadu and Tripura.

The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) released its first list of candidates for two of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh, a party functionary said.

As per the list, the party’s Janjgir-Champa district unit president Dr. Rohit Kumar Dahariya has been fielded in Janjgir-Champa (Scheduled Caste reserved), while former sarpanch Aaytu Ram Mandavi has been given the ticket from Bastar (Scheduled Tribe reserved) seat, he said.

The Lok Sabha polls will be held in three phases in the state on April 19, April 26 and May 7. - PTI

“Congress president has approved the proposal of appointment of Bhakta Charan Das as chairman of Campaign Committee of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) with immediate effect,” the All India Congress Committee (AICC) said in a statement. 

Mr. Das was also the campaign committee chairman during the 2019 elections but resigned after the party’s debacle in the polls.

The post was earlier held by Bijay Patnaik, who has now been appointed the chairman of the Congress’s election coordination committee in the State. - PTI

The Assam unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Raijor Dal (RD) staged demonstrations in Guwahati on March 22 in protest against the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal with opposition parties coming together to condemn ED action against the AAP leader.

In Guwahati, AAP members took out a procession from the party’s state headquarters, located about two km from the state secretariat, but were prevented by security forces. Similar protest was staged by AAP members in Dibrugarh. 

Raijor Dal members also staged a separate protest in front of their office in the city. 

- PTI

1. Insistence on consultation and approval of Chief Ministers for the appointment of Governors.

2. To establish a branch of Supreme Court in Chennai.

3. To make Tamil an official language at the Madras High Court.

West Bengal could also witness a scene similar to the National Capital, State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said on March 22, referring to the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Hitting back, the TMC said that such a statement reflected the “BJP’s fear of losing” the Lok Sabha elections.

“Last month, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemmant Soren was arrested. Now, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been arrested. It only shows that being a chief minister doesn’t grant you any sort of impunity if you are involved in corruption. Similar allegations of corruption have emerged in West Bengal in recent years. So, the State could also witness similar scenes like New Delhi,” Mr. Majumdar said. - PTI

The opposition AIADMK on Friday in its manifesto for the April 19 Lok Sabha elections promised among other things to ensure ₹3,000 monthly financial aid to women heads of economically backward families across the country.

The party would urge the Central government to provide monthly financial assistance to the women heads of economically backward families in India, the manifesto released by party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami here said.

PTI

Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu will contest from Srikakulam LS, while Mathkumilli Bharath will contest from Visakhapatnam LS. Similarly, Ganti Harish Madhur will be fielded from Amalapuram, while Putta Mahesh Yadav will be in fray from Eluru LS. 

Kesineni Sivanath, brother of sitting MP Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) will contest from Vijayawada LS. Pemmasani Chandrasekhar and Lavu Sri Krishnadevaraya will contest from Guntur and Narasaraopet LS respectively. 

T. Krishna Prasad will be in the fray from Bapatla, while Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy will contest from Nellore. Daggumalla Prasad Rao and Balusupati Nagaraju (Panchalingala Nagaraju) will contest from Chittoor and Kurnool respectively. Byreddy Shabari will contest from Nandyal, and B.K Parthasarathi from Hindupur. 

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The Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi (KMDK), part of the DMK alliance in Tamil Nadu for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, changed its candidate for the Namakkal Parliamentary constituency on March 22.

On March 18, KMDK general secretary E.R. Eswaran had announced that S. Suriamoorthi would be the Namakkal candidate. After this announcement however, a controversy erupted after a video went viral on social media platforms showing Mr. Suriyamoorthi making casteist remarks. Subsequently, many of KMDK’s alliance partners, including the DMK, CPI, VCK, and CPI (M) urged the party to change its candidate.

The Congress party on March 21 announced the first list of 34 candidates for the Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh on April 19.

The names announced by the central election committee of the All India Congress Committee include three women and three former ministers. The rest are mostly newcomers. Read more

Incumbent MP Shashi Tharoor, who is gunning for a fourth victory on the trot from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency at the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, has contested claims made by his rival and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar, over the measures adopted to ameliorate the woes of coastal communities in the district.

Mr. Tharoor took to X to pick holes in a letter that was apparently used by Mr. Chandrasekhar to highlight the assistance that has been purportedly offered by the Centre’s Department of Fisheries to the State government to resolve issues related to harbour development projects in coastal areas. Read more

Having finalised the seat-sharing arrangements with their allies, the two major Dravidian parties of the State — the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) — are all set to kick off their respective election campaign from Tiruchi.

For long, Tiruchi has been a favourite destination for almost all major political parties for conducting conferences and election rallies. Invariably, one party or the other chooses the city as the venue for a major conclave ahead of every election. Events held here are often projected to be potential “turning points” for political parties and the electoral success that followed some of them had helped nurture and sustain the sentiment. And leaders are flocking the city this elections too. Read more

Over 5.7 lakh senior citizens aged 85 and above and 6.13 lakh people with disabilities (PwD) in the State can opt to vote from home (VfH) during the Lok Sabha election.

Officials from the Election Commission have started the process of distributing Form 12D through which eligible vote-from-home electors can inform the Assistant Returning Officer that he or she is not in a position to go to the polling station to vote. Interested electors can give their consent in the form within five days after the poll notification is issued (March 28 for the first phase) in Karnataka. People can also download the form from the EC’s website (https://www.eci,gov,in), fill it up and submit it to their jurisdictional Returning Officer’s office within the prescribed window, officials said. Read more

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)‘s Kerala unit has attracted a motley crew of disaffected Congress leaders and workers to its fold. However, the elusive political holy grail for the BJP is a defection from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] to its side.

The BJP has left no stone unturned to break the jinx and gain a propaganda advantage over the CPI(M) at the 2024 Lok Sabha election hustings. Read more

The Samajwadi Party does not have any alliance with the Krishna Patel-led Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) for the 2024 parliamentary election, SP president Akhilesh Yadav said on Thursday.

His declaration comes a day after the Apna Dal (K) unilaterally announced that it would contest three Lok Sabha seats as part of the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in Uttar Pradesh. The SP is the largest member of the Opposition’s INDIA bloc in U.P. ​Read more​

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday fielded some of its prominent leaders, including State president K. Annamalai, Union Minister of State L. Murugan and former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu. The party released its first list of nine candidates. Overall, the BJP, which is heading an alliance, will enter the fray in 20 seats in the State. ​Read more​