Lok Sabha elections | Highlights on May 08, 2024

Rahul Gandhi, in a video message on X, responds to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to get the ED and the CBI to probe if Adani, Ambani “sent money in tempos”. He also asked if it was PM Modi’s “personal experience”. - PTI

Congress leader Sam Pitroda resigned as the Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress after his controversial remarks spurred the BJP to label the party “racist”.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X that party chief Mallikarjun Kharge has accepted Pitroda’s decision. - PTI

X (formerly Twitter) has taken down an animated video shared by the Karnataka unit of the BJP related to the row over reservation for the Muslim community after an Election Commission direction.

In a letter to the nodal officer of X, the EC took exception to the non-compliance of the directive of the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer to the social media platform for taking down the video.

EC officials on May 8 said after the fresh directive to X, it has taken down the controversial video from its site.

- PTI

National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to create divisions between Hindus and Muslims for the sake of votes and urged the public to send him out of power.

Addressing a public meeting in the Eidgah locality here in support of party candidate Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, Abdullah said, “They are spreading hatred among Muslims and Hindus. It does not behove the prime minister of India to do such things. When he goes outside the country, he is the Prime Minister of all Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists. But, when he seeks votes here, he tries to divide us.” He said the BJP talks about Lord Ram as if Ram did not exist before and cited a scholar from Pakistan who wrote and Ram and Buddha both.

- PTI

Union minister Smriti Irani attacked the Congress on its leader Sam Pitroda’s alleged racist remarks and alleged that the party tries to divide the countrymen on the basis of who is of which colour and who belongs to which region.

Pitroda, who is the chairperson of the Indian Overseas Congress, is reported to have said the “people of the east look like the Chinese and those of the south look like Africa”.

“Another disgusting truth has come to light today that this party (Congress) tries to divide the countrymen on the basis of who is of which colour and who belongs to which region and dares to insult them,” Irani said.

She also accused the Congress of always dividing the country in the name of religion and caste.

- PTI

Alleging that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre is trying to “change” the Constitution of the country and “snatch reservation quota” from SC, ST and OBC categories, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav asserted that such an attempt will be thwarted by his party.

He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of meting out “step-motherly treatment to Jharkhand”.

“PM Modi and the BJP-led NDA want to change the Constitution of India but I promise no one can change our Constitution and snatch your reservation. We will thwart such an attempt,” the former Bihar deputy chief minister said at a rally at Chhatarpurin in Jharkhand’s Palamu in favour of INDIA bloc candidate Mamta Bhuiyan.

- PTI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lashed out at Congress leader Sam Pitroda for his ‘racist’ remark, saying it reveals the mindset and attitude of Rahul Gandhi’s mentor.

Mr. Pitroda, the head of the Indian Overseas Congress, had triggered a controversy on Wednesday with his “people of the east look like the Chinese and those of the south look like Africans” remarks.

In a post on X, Ms. Sitharaman retorted saying, “I am from South India. I look Indian! My team has enthusiastic members from north east India. They look Indian! My colleagues from west India look Indian! “But, for the racist who is the mentor of @RahulGandhi we all look African, Chinese, Arab and the White! Thanks for revealing your mindset and your attitude. I.N.D.I alliance’s shame!”.

- PTI

The biennial election to four seats of the Maharashtra Legislative Council will be held on June 10, the Election Commission of India announced.

Counting of votes will take place on June 13, an official release said here.

The six-year tenure of the incumbent Members of Legislative Council (MLCs) will end on July 7.

Of the seats going to polls, Mumbai teachers’ and Mumbai graduates’ constituencies are currently represented by Kapil Patil (Lok Bharati) and Vilas Potnis (Shiv Sena (UBT).

- PTI

A total of 695 candidates are in the fray across 49 constituencies spread over eight states and Union territories in the upcoming fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission (EC) said on Wednesday.

The figure emerged after the scrutiny of 1,586 nomination forms filed for the fifth phase of the ongoing polls. Of the nominations, 749 were found to be valid after the deadline for filing papers closed on May 3, according to a statement issued by the EC.

The statement said 695 candidates will contest the polls from eight states and Union territories in the fifth phase on May 20.

- PTI

In a setback to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), its candidate from Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat in Punjab Rakesh Soman joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann welcomed Soman into the party fold.

Soman said that he was impressed by the policies of the Mann government.

“Today I am joining the AAP. I am impressed by the works like providing good education and health facilities to the poor done by the Mann government,” he said.

- PTI

Separatist-turned-mainstream politician and People’s Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone has disclosed assets worth around ₹12 crore and also mentioned a dispute spanning 30 years with the Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation in his election affidavit.

Sajad Lone, who joined mainstream politics and revived his father Abdul Gani Lone’s People’s Conference, has liability to the tune of ₹6.9 crore, showed the affidavit, filed by the 57-year-old as part of his nomination papers to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla constituency on May 20.

He is contesting against National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah.

- PTI

Karnataka JD(S) MLA and former Minister H D Revanna, who is facing kidnapping charges, was remanded to judicial custody till May 14 by a Magisterial court here.

Also, his bail petition before a sessions court has been posted for Thursday.

After the completion of four days of police custody, the 66-year-old Revanna, son of JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, was produced before an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. .

- PTI

Repolling is underway at the Dudhwa Khurd polling station in Rajasthan’s Barmer Lok Sabha constituency.

Repolling is being done after complaints of breach of confidentiality of votes were made after some videos showing bogus voting and the voters being denied their right to franchise went viral on social media.

The Barmer District Election Officer has suspended four members of the polling team which had conducted the voting at the booth.

Voting was held in this Lok Sabha constituency in the second phase on April 26.

- PTI

Launching a frontal attack on the Congress party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has alleged that the Congress party stopped ​its bitter criticism of Ambani and Adani​ ever since the ​Lok Sabha election​ notification was announced. They (Congress leaders) resorted to non-stop rhetoric against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) citing the names of “five industrialists” spreading false narratives in the last five years, he charged.

“Why did they stop criticising these big industrialists all of a sudden? What transpired behind the abrupt halt to the rhetoric? Is it because of black money transactions or any secret deal to fund the Congress party?” Mr. Modi asked.

The Congress leaders owe an explanation to people of the nation in this regard, he said while addressing an election meeting in ​Telangana​’s famous temple town of Vemulawada.

​Read the full story here.​

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the Congress manifesto is like a “new version of the Muslim League”.

Addressing the media at the Gorakhnath temple premises, Mr. Adityanath said, “This is not a ‘Nyay Patra’, but ‘Anyay Patra’ towards the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Castes and Sanatana Dharma.” 

“A new version of the Muslim League has come. Nothing can be more shameful than the manifesto of the country’s oldest political party, Congress, representing the Muslim League,” he said, according to a statement issued in Lucknow.

When asked about Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s accusation that the BJP promotes hatred politics, the chief minister said that instead of telling white lies, she should at least develop a habit of speaking the truth.

- PTI

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s chair is “shaking” after three phases of elections as he has started attacking his own “friends”, and asserted this shows the “real trend” of the results.

“The times are changing. Friends are no longer friends…! After completion of three phases of elections, today the prime minister has started attacking his own friends. It is becoming clear that Modiji’s chair is shaking. This is the real trend of the results,” Mr. Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.

His remarks came after the prime minister during an election rally in Telangana said the Congress should explain to people why it has stopped raising the ‘Ambani-Adani’ issue as its ‘Shehzada’ used to do for the past five years and asked if it has struck a ‘deal’.

- PTI

BJP trying to buy votes by paying money to voters, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said at a rally in Arambagh.

- PTI

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Following Congress leader Sam Pitroda’s “racist remarks” that stoked a massive row, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the people of the country will not tolerate insults on the basis of the colour of the skin.

Addressing a rally in Warangal, PM Modi demanded an answer from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

‘Shehzade aapko jawaab dena padega’. My country will not tolerate the disrespect of my countrymen on the basis of their skin colour and Modi will never tolerate this...” he said.

PM Modi said, “I was thinking a lot that (President) Droupadi Murmu who has a very good reputation and is the daughter of Adivasi family, then why is Congress trying so hard to defeat her but today I got to know the reason. I got to know that there is an uncle in America who is the philosophical guide of ‘Shehzada’ and just like the third umpire in cricket this ‘Shehzada’ takes advice from the third umpire.

“This philosophical uncle said that those who have black skin are from Africa. This means that you are abusing several people of the country on the basis of their skin colour...” the Prime Minister said.

- ANI

The Odisha government has restricted the use of drones during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Odisha and asked concerned district collectors to declare the venues as ‘no drone zone’ and ‘no flying zone’.

The Director Intelligence of Odisha Police has written a letter to the Director of Information and Public Relations to disseminate the information to media organisations.

During the visit of the PM to Odisha on May 6, security personnel had observed that some media persons used drones to take visuals of Modi during public meetings, rallies, and roadshows inviting threat to the VVIP.

- PTI

This time INDI Alliance came out with a formula “Five years- five PMs”, Mr. Modi attacks opposition bloc in Telangana.

Mr. Modi further alleged that whether Congress or INDI Alliance, wherever they came to power, those states became their ATMs.

By enacting a law, Congress wants to abolish reservations for SC, ST and OBC and give it to Muslims, he said.

- PTI

After the third phase of polls, Congress leaders searching for seats using magnifying glass, Mr. Modi said. 

In the fourth phase, Congress leaders will have to use a microscope to search for their seats, he added. 

PTI

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday charged that the entire BJP machinery is engaged in spreading lies against Rahul Gandhi.

Slamming the BJP, she also said that it talks about religion, caste and temple-mosque but not about real issues concerning the people.

“When they did not like some policy of Indiraji (Indira Gandhi) they defeated her also. Indira did not get angry but did introspection. You elected her again. It is a speciality of the people of Rae Bareli that they understand leaders,” she said while addressing a street meeting at Thulwasa in the constituency She said the BJP wanted to change the Constitution but when it realised they would have to suffer losses in the election, the Prime Minister said they had no such plans.

PTI

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said her party’s 100-year-old relationship with the people of Rae Bareli has entered a new era and the people of the constituency are once again ready for its leadership. 

“The Congress relationship of 100 years of service’ with the people of Rae Bareli has entered a new phase and the Rae Bareli family is once again ready for its leadership. Today, I will meet my family members through street meetings in various areas of Bachhrawan, Raebareli,” she said in a post in Hindi on X. 

As part of the poll campaign, Priyanka Gandhi is scheduled to attend meetings at Thulwasa, Maharajganj, Halor, Bhawanigarh, Goodha, Tilenda, Inchauli and Sudauli --all in Bachhrawan Assembly constituency of Rae Bareli. 

PTI

81.71% voting was recorded in the third and final phase across four constituencies in Assam. 

Dhubri recorded the highest of 86.6% while the turnout in Guwahati was 75.67%. 

In a major setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, former Amritsar Deputy Mayor, Avinash Jolly resigned from the party and joined the BJP in Amritsar on Tuesday amid ongoing Lok Sabha elections. 

In a post on X, BJP National Secretary Narinder Singh wrote, “Avinash Jolly, former Deputy Mayor (Amritsar) along with hundreds of supporters joined BJP at Amritsar, Punjab.

Repolling is underway at the Dudhwa Khurd polling station in Rajasthan’s Barmer Lok Sabha constituency on Wednesday. 

Repolling is being done after complaints of breach of confidentiality of votes were made after some videos showing bogus voting and the voters being denied their right to franchise went viral on social media. 

Voting was held in this Lok Sabha constituency in the second phase on April 26. 

PTI

Speaking at a rally in Telangana on Wednesday, PM Modi on Tuesday said after the third phase of polls, the third fuse of Congress and INDI Alliance was off. “The BJP runs on ‘nation first’ principle. But, for Congress and BRS it is ‘family first’,” he said. 

He said that corruption is the common factor between the BRS and the Congress.

Mr. Modi said four phases of polling are left and with the blessings of the people, the BJP and NDA marching towards victory. 

“After the third phase of polls, the third fuse of Congress and INDI Alliance was off (blown up),” Mr. Modi mocked at the opposition bloc. 

Alleging that the Congress has been chanting the name of “Adani and Ambani” for five years and stopped it following the announcement of the LS polls, Mr. Modi said the grand old party should answer to the country.

Taking a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, he said there is a lot of discussion up to Delhi on “double R (RR) tax in the State.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday offered prayers at Sri Rajarajeshwara Swamy temple at Vemulawada, about 150 km from here.

The temple priests applied tilak on Modi’s forehead and gave Vedic blessings.

Mr. Modi is scheduled to address two separate election rallies today at Vemulawada and Warangal.

The nine seats in Madhya Pradesh — Morena, Bhind, Gwalior, Guna, Rajgarh, Sagar, Vidisha, Bhopal and Betul — that voted in the third phase of the Lok Sabha election on Tuesday recorded an approximate turnout of 66.5%.

Rajgarh reported the highest turnout with 76.19% electors voting, while Bhind in the Chambal division recorded the lowest polling in the State at 55.44%, according to data shared the by State’s Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan. 

While voter turnout was less than 60% in Chambal region’s Bhind and Morena, Rajgarh, Guna, Vidisha and Betul reported more than 70% voting. Mr. Rajan said the average voter turnout in the nine seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election was 66.63%. 

Despite a high-octane campaign for 11 keenly contested seats, Maharashtra witnessed a voter turnout of 61.44% in the third phase of the Lok Sabha election on May 7, show provisional data from the Election Commission.

With the prestige of some of the most powerful political families in the State at stake, the tensions between the ruling Mahayuti and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) were reflected on polling day when a man was allegedly stabbed to death while another was injured in a brawl at a polling station in Dharashiv (formerly Osmanabad). 

Tensions rule high in Maharashtra; man stabbed to death

2024 Lok Sabha polls: 11 keenly contested seats in Maharashtra witnessed a voter turnout of 61.44% in the third phase

Four seats in West Bengal that went to the polls in the third phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections recorded about 73.33% polling till 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The figures are expected to rise since polling is likely to continue till 6 p.m. on the seats in Malda Uttar, Malda Dakshin, Jangipur, and Murshidabad.

The Murshidabad Lok Sabha seat recorded 76.49% polling till 5 p.m., whereas at Jangipur the polling was about 72.13%. In Malda district, the Malda Uttar Lok Sabha constituency recorded 73.30% polling while the Malda Dakshin Lok Sabha constituency recorded 73.68% polling till 5 p.m. 

Along with the Lok Sabha election, byelection to the Bhagwangola Assembly segment was also held, where 73.93% polling was registered.

Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s niti (policy) and niyat (intentions) have led to unemployment, crimes against women and discrimination against Dalits, Adivasis and minorities.

In a video appeal to voters on the day of the third phase of polling, Ms. Gandhi, the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson, asked people to reject the “proponents of lies and hatred” and vote for her party for a “brighter and more equal future”.

She said the Congress and the INDIA bloc members were committed to defending the Constitution and democracy. “Press the ‘hand’ button and together let us build a stronger, more united India with peace and harmony for all,” Ms. Gandhi said in a video message. 

Reject proponents of lies, hatred for a brighter future, Sonia Gandhi urges voters

Sonia Gandhi criticizes PM Modi's policies, urges voters to reject lies and hatred, and vote for Congress for a brighter future.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 7 said he needed 400 seats in the Lok Sabha election to prevent the Congress from “bringing back Article 370 [in Kashmir] and putting a lock on Ayodhya Ram Temple”, drawing parallels to the Rajiv Gandhi government overturning the Supreme Court ruling in 1985 in the Shah Bano case, which he characterised as appeasement politics.

Speaking at campaign rallies in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidates, Mr. Modi accused the Congress of disrespecting the security personnel killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. He was referring to recent comments by Maharashtra Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar that the then Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare was not killed by Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, but by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated policeman.

“The sole agenda of the INDI alliance is to revive Article 370, scrap CAA [Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019] and do away with free ration supply. A senior Congress leader, who quit the party recently, has revealed that shehzada [referring to Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi] called a meeting of select people after the 2019 SC verdict in the Ram temple case and said if his party comes back to power, the apex court decision will be overturned just like his father [Rajiv Gandhi] did in the Shah Bano matter,” Mr. Modi said. 

Want 400 seats to prevent Congress from bringing back Article 370 and locking Ram Temple: PM Modi

Narendra Modi warns against Congress' plans for Article 370 and Ayodhya Ram Temple, urging 400 Lok Sabha seats.