Lok Sabha elections updates | Farooq Abdullah to participate in the INDIA bloc’s ‘Loktantra Bachao Rally’ at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi

The BJP is banking on the “equal treatment” of all communities and the “unprecedented” reign of peace to get Muslim votes in Assam in the Lok Sabha election, said Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Elections to the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam are scheduled in three phases. Muslims are not much of a factor in the five eastern Assam seats going to polls in the first phase on April 19, but they account for more than 50% of the voters in Barpeta, Dhubri, Karimganj and Nagaon constituencies that vote in the second and third phases scheduled on April 26 and May 7. Muslims constitute almost 40% of the voters in the Silchar constituency and more than 30% in Darrang-Udalguri.

“We have not discriminated against Muslims. Developmental projects and beneficiary schemes have been distributed equally to all communities, including Muslims, who I do not think want more than what they have received,” Mr. Sarma told journalists after a meeting of the NDA constituents in Udalguri, about 105km northeast of Guwahati.

- Rahul Karmakar

The chief electoral officer said that there were 950 candidates in fray in Tamil Nadu for 39 Lok Sabha seats.

Election officials in Tamil Nadu have taken cognizance of video clips in social media that showed purported distribution of cash to people allegedly by party workers and Erode city police registered an FIR in connection with the allegations.

Responding to a video clip that appeared on social media alleging the distribution of cash, Erode District Collector Raja Gopal Sunkara said on X that the flying squad team of Erode East Assembly Constituency has conducted a preliminary enquiry and an FIR has been registered and that the case is under investigation.

- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the BJP’s booth level ‘karyakartas’ or workers in Kerala through the Namo App and praised them for the hardwork they were putting in for the Lok Sabha polls.

Mr. Modi said that the struggles faced by BJP workers in Kerala and the eagerness shown by them were beyond compare and interacting with such “disciplined, sacrificing and hardworking” karyakartas “inspired and energised” him.

- PTI

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are among the opposition party’s 40 star campaigners for the Lok Sabha polls in Chhattisgarh.

Among the leaders from Chhattisgarh who have been named as star campaigners are state party chief Deepak Baij, Leader of Opposition Dr Charan Das Mahant, former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, former Deputy CM TS Singh Deo and six former state ministers.

Also Read | Congress pins hopes on experienced leaders including former CM Bhupesh Baghel in Chhattisgarh

Elections to the 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7 and votes will be counted on June 4.

The Nationalist Congress Party declared the candidature of Sunetra Pawar, wife of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, from Baramati Lok Sabha seat, pitting her against sister-in-law and Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule from the home turf of Pawars.

In her first reaction, Sunetra Pawar said this was a lucky day for her.

The announcement of her candidature was made by Maharashtra NCP unit president Sunil Tatkare, hours after the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) declared its first list of five candidates for Lok Sabha elections from Maharashtra.

- PTI

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the BJP is wrong if it thought that it can intimidate the Congress Party with “tax terrorism”.

Reacting to the Income Tax Department’s fresh notice to the party asking to pay ₹1823 crore, Mr. Siddaramaiah alleged that the BJP is afraid of losing the Lok Sabha elections and hence “terrorising” the party by misusing central agencies.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party, fearful of impending defeat in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, has been misusing autonomous institutions like the IT Department, ED, and CBI to undermine the Congress Party.

“As part of this tactic, they have unleashed ‘tax terrorism’ on our party. The BJP is under the illusion that by weakening our party, it can win the election,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said in a statement.

Private bus operators of West Bengal are not willing to let their vehicles acquired by the Election Commission (EC) for use in polling, claiming that the payment they receive is poor.

The EC and various state government departments acquire large passenger buses, minibuses and other vehicles along with drivers and helpers for several days during various elections to transport the security and polling personnel to booths and take them back.

Ahead of the seven-phase polling between April 19 and June 1 in the state, the EC recently raised the fee for hiring vehicles but the bus operators dismissed it as “not enough”.

- PTI

Days after resigning as an MLC in Karnataka, the BJP’s Tejaswini Gowda joined the Congress and alleged that the saffron party does not believe in constitutional and democratic values.

Mr. Gowda, who was a Congress MP between 2004 and 2009, and crossed over to the BJP in 2014, called her return to the grand old party her “homecoming”.

She was inducted into the Congress in the presence of party general secretary Jairam Ramesh and media and publicity department head Pawan Khera at its headquarters.

“We welcome Tejaswini Gowda, an active leader in Karnataka politics, to the Congress. We have full confidence that Tejaswini ji will remain active in the coming elections. Tejaswini was a Congress MP between 2004 and 2009 and has been vocal on various issues. We are happy that she has returned to the Congress,” Mr. Ramesh said.

- PTI

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said he has received an Income Tax notice though the case against him was a ‘settled matter’.

Accusing the Centre of harassing the Opposition, the Kanakapura MLA and state Congress chief said the BJP was afraid of the Congress and the INDIA bloc.

“I too got a notice last night from the Income Tax, which is already a settled matter. I was shocked, as well as my personal assistant and all,” Mr. Shivakumar said.

The deputy chief minister said, “The I-T officials were going to all the places even though the matter is in the court.” There are many cases involving BJP leaders against whom no action is supposed to be taken, he said, but refused to make the details of the cases public.

- PTI

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray accused the BJP of hatching a plan to forcibly remove slums from Mumbai and relocate those living in them to salt pan lands.

Addressing a news conference, Mr. Thackeray latched on to the remarks of Union Minister Piyush Goyal, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat.

In an interaction with a media house, Mr. Goyal had said if elected, he intends to pursue a project that would entirely clear his constituency, which comprises northern suburbs like Malad, Kandivali and Borivli, of slums.

Mr. Goyal had welcomed the idea of salt pan lands in Mumbai to be redistributed for slum rehabilitation.

- PTI

The Jammu and Kashmir Police reviewed its security plan for the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency which is going to polls in the first phase on April 19.

Also Read | Last-minute entry of Choudhary Lal Singh to set up interesting contest in Udhampur

Deputy Inspector General of Police, Udhampur-Reasi Range, conducted the parliamentary elections preparedness review at a meeting with senior officers at Udhampur district headquarters, a police spokesman said.

He said all relevant and concomitant aspects were discussed in detail, including the security plan for polling booths (as per sensitivity of the location), security of the strong room, collection and distribution centre of electronic voting machines (EVMs), transport and route plan and induction and de-induction of central paramilitary forces.

He said the meeting also chalked out the strategy to keep an eye on social media to avoid its misuse, monitoring of movement of polling parties, accommodation of CAPF and security plan for venues of public meetings and arrangement for procession and rallies.

- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi freed Jammu and Kashmir from the clutches of Article 370, terrorism and separatism which is the biggest achievement of the BJP-led government, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said.

Mr. Thakur made this assertion as he joined BJP candidate Jugal Kishore, who submitted his nomination papers from the Jammu Lok Sabha seat after a massive road show.

He said Prime Minister Modi-led government provided new wings of development to Jammu and Kashmir over the past 10 years besides showing that it cannot stay silent on Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks like the previous regime by conducting surgical strikes across the border.

- PTI

The Telugu Desam Party has named M. Srinivasulu Reddy, father of Raghava Magunta, who is an accused-turned approver in the Delhi excise policy scam case, as candidate for Ongole Lok Sabha seat.

Srinivasulu Reddy was elected from the Ongole Lok Sabha constituency on a YSRCP ticket in 2019. He deserted the ruling party recently citing “self-respect” issues in the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led party.

Magunta Raghava was arrested in connection with the Delhi liquor scam by the Enforecment Directorate last year. He later turned approver.

- PTI

The Sharad Pawar camp said it has filed a complaint with the Election Commission against the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena for violating the Representation of the People Act and poll code by publishing the names of individuals from other parties as their star campaigners.

“We have filed a complaint to the Election Commission of India regarding the gross violations by Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and the Bharatiya Janata Party of the Representation of People Act and the Model Code of Conduct,” the Sharad Pawar-led party posted on its official X handle.

- PTI

After scrutiny of nomination papers, as many as 26 candidates are left in the fray for the Lok Sabha election in Puducherry.

The union territory has a lone Lok Sabha seat and goes to polls on April 19.

District Election Officer A Kulothungan told PTI that 26 candidates are now left in the fray after withdrawal of nomination by M Praveena, an independent candidate today, which was the last day to withdraw candidature.

The officer said that of the 26 candidates, 23 were men and the remaining were women candidates.

- PTI

Union minister Rajnath Singh to head BJP’s manifesto committee for LS polls, Nirmala Sitharaman its convener, Piyush Goyal co-convener.

Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Bhupender Yadav; Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Assam CMs among 27 members of BJP’s LS poll manifesto committee.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday gave a push to the LDF’s Lok Sabha poll campaign by attacking the BJP-led Centre, accusing it of endangering the secular and democratic nature of India.

The CM also hit out against the Congress-led UDF, which had won 19 of the 20 LS seats from the state in the 2019 polls, saying that its MPs were unable to raise the voice and views of Kerala in the Parliament and acted as mute spectators to the Centre’s allegedly restrictive financial stand towards the southern state.

Vijayan also flayed the economic policies of the Centre, alleging that it has led to India falling from 55 to 107th position in the world with regard to prosperity and claimed “India is a poor nation in the eyes of the world”.

-PTI

Days after resigning as an MLC in Karnataka, the BJP’s Tejaswini Gowda joined the Congress on Saturday and alleged that the saffron party does not believe in constitutional and democratic values.

Gowda, who was a Congress MP between 2004 and 2009, and crossed over to the BJP in 2014, called her return to the grand old party her “homecoming”.

She was inducted into the Congress in the presence of party general secretary Jairam Ramesh and media and publicity department head Pawan Khera at its headquarters here.

“We welcome Tejaswini Gowda, an active leader in Karnataka politics, to the Congress. We have full confidence that Tejaswini ji will remain active in the coming elections. Tejaswini was a Congress MP between 2004 and 2009 and has been vocal on various issues. We are happy that she has returned to the Congress,” Ramesh said.

-PTI

Five video clips showing an unidentified man distributing money to women who reportedly attended the election campaign of DMK candidate K. E. Prakash in Erode Parliamentary constituency on March 29 surfaced on social media platforms following which the District Election Officer and Collector Raja Gopal Sunkara have asked the police to conduct an inquiry.

A flying squad official has been suspended for laxity in duty while checking the vehicle of A Raja, DMK candidate from Nilgiris, sources said on Saturday.

The Election Commission took action against the official as such “soft” approach towards prominent personalities could disturb the level-playing field, they said.

There have been certain media reports regarding laxity in checking of a carcade of Raja at an inter-state check post near Coonoor.

Based on the media reports and subsequent enquiry by the Nilgiris returning officer as also the expenditure observer, head of the flying squad team has been suspended as lapses were found in performance of election duties, the sources said.

The entire flying squad team has been replaced.

-PTI

National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah will participate in the INDIA bloc’s ‘Loktantra Bachao Rally’ at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on Sunday, his son and party .

“There is a programme of the INDIA bloc at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. From the NC, our president Farooq Abdullah will participate in it,” party vice president Omar Abdullah told reporters here.

Asked about reports that he would contest the Lok Sabha polls from north Kashmir’s Baramulla constituency, the junior Abdullah said rumour-mongering happens during the election time.

“Whether I contest the elections or not, or from where do I contest, this is not my personal choice, this will be a decision of the NC. Whether the party wants to give me the mandate or not, and from which seat, I leave it up to the party and I cannot say anything on that,” he said.

-PTI

Davangere South MLA and educationist Shamanur Shivashankarappa has courted controversy by passing a sexist remark on the BJP’s candidate from the constituency Gayathri Siddeshwara, saying she is only “fit to cook”.

The 92-year-old MLA made further adverse remarks, saying that Gayathri “cannot even speak properly and should understand her constituency first before seeking votes”.

He added that “sending the lotus to Modi does not develop Davangere”, and that development works must happen first.

Gayathri expressed anguish over Shivashankarappa’s remark and said it seems that ‘Ajja’ (elderly person) is not aware that women are making a mark in every sector today. “Shamanur Shivashankarappa has insulted women with his remarks. Are we confined only to the kitchen?,” she asked.

-PTI

The DMK is all set to intensify the campaign for its INDIA alliance partner, Congress, for the April 19 Lok Sabha polls in Puducherry from Sunday, March 31, 2024.

While Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K Stalin will campaign for Congress candidate V. Vaithilingam in Puducherry on April 7, the DMK’s youth wing leader and Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports, Udhayanidhi Stalin will hold a roadshow in support of the Congress candidate on March 31.

Archana Patil, daughter-in-law of senior Congress leader and former Union home minister Shivraj Patil, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday.

She joined the ruling party in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and BJP’s state president Chandrakant Bawankule.

Fadnavis said Patil joining the BJP will boost the party’s prospects in Latur and Marathwada region.

-PTI

The Chennai District Election Office has launched a campaign ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to increase voter turnout in the city, Chennai Corporation Commissioner J. Radhakrishnan said.

Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday March 20, 2024, Mr. Radhakrishnan said 4.1 lakh residents in North Chennai have taken a pledge of voting in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission has convened a meeting of senior officials of all cities such as Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Delhi to increase turnout during the polls, he said.

Shiv Sena leader Vijay Shivtare, who had declared that he would contest the Lok Sabha polls as an independent candidate from Maharashtra’s Baramati constituency, changed his stand on Saturday.

The leader of the Eknath Shinde-led party said he won’t contest the polls from Baramati in Pune district, which is the political stronghold of NCP founder Sharad Pawar’s family, and instead campaign for the ruling Mahayuti alliance.

Shivtare’s announcement comes amid speculation that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar could be fielded from there as a candidate of the ruling NCP faction.

Sharad Pawar, who now heads the NCP (SP), has already announced the candidature of his daughter and three-term Baramati MP Supriya Sule from the constituency.

-PTI

A large number of Congress leaders and workers carried out a sit-in protest on Saturday in Kerala’s capital over the Income Tax notices issued to the party, and alleged that the ruling BJP is trying to “choke” it financially ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The protest was organised in front of the Income Tax Department office here by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

Inaugurating the sit-in protest, KPCC acting President M M Hassan launched a scathing attack against the BJP government at the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The objective of the BJP is to choke the Congress party financially and keep it completely out of election-related activities,” he alleged.

Besides the Congress, several other opposition political parties had also been served with the I-T notices by the BJP government, he pointed out.

-PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart his Lok Sabha election campaign in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday with a rally in Meerut where the BJP has fielded actor Arun Govil of TV serial ‘Ramayan’ fame as its candidate.

According to sources, apart from Govil, Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary, who recently joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, will share the dais with the prime minister.

Prime Minister Modi’s Meerut rally will prove to be a milestone in western Uttar Pradesh, senior BJP leader and MLC Govind Narayan Shukla said and asserted that the party and its allies would win all 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

A BJP leader said, “This is the first rally of the 2024 elections (in Uttar Pradesh). The party workers are fortunate that the prime minister is going to start the election campaign from Meerut.” According to RLD spokesperson Atir Rizvi, party chief Jayant Chaudhary will share the stage with BJP leaders at the rally.

-PTI

The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) has asked candidates aspiring for party tickets in the Lok Sabha and Odisha Assembly elections to deposit Rs 50,000 each for supply of campaign materials.

OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak has written letter to the prospective candidates in this regard.

Pattnayak said the OPCC is open to accept cheques of Rs 50,000 from shortlisted candidates on behalf of the party to supply branding and campaign materials of an equivalent value to them.

“The cheque will be in favour of OPCC and not in the name of any individual leader...,” he said.

-PTI

Former Bihar chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) founder Jitan Ram Manjhi, who is the NDA nominee from the Gaya seat, owns movable assets worth Rs 11.32 lakh and has Rs 49,000 cash in hand, according to the affidavit filed by him.

As per the affidavit, he owns immovable assets worth Rs 13.50 lakh, while his wife Shanti Devi has immovable assets to the tune of Rs 5.38 lakh.

In the 2019 polls, the former CM had declared movable assets worth Rs 10.2 lakh and Rs 40,000 cash in hand.

Manjhi’s movable assets include four bank accounts, two four-wheelers, a double-barrel breech loading (DBBL) gun and two cows. His wife has one bank account, gold jewellery worth Rs 3.78 lakh and silver jewellery valued at Rs 76,500.

-PTI

Mayor of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation(GHMC), Gadwal Vijayalaxmi, the daughter of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) general secretary K. Keshava Rao, joined Congress on Saturday in the presence of Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for the State Deepa Das Munshi and other leaders. 

Their induction has triggered an intense response from BRS leaders who have demanded their resignation from the posts they hold. However, Mr. Rao’s son K. Viplav Kumar remains with BRS and has announced that he would work under the party president K. Chandrashekhar Rao. At a press conference held on Friday, Mr. Kumar faulted the decision taken by his father and sister to shift to Congress. He too suggested them to resign from the posts they have now as BRS members before joining Congress.

The BJP’s SC Morcha State president, ‘Tada’ D. Periyasamy on Saturday, March 30, 2024, joined the AIADMK in the presence of the party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami. 

Mr. Periyasamy had contested unsuccessfully on a BJP ticket from the Chidambaram constituency in the Lok Sabha elections in 2004, and from the Tittakudi Assembly constituency in the State elections of 2021. 

Congress nominee for the lone Lok Sabha constituency in Nagaland S Supongmeren Jamir said the party will work to protect the tradition, culture of the state and find a solution to the Naga political issue and Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO) demand for separate statehood.

The party high command has told the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee to send the message to the people that Nagaland needs peace and development and equal rights for citizens, youngsters, the business sector and even entrepreneurs.

He claimed that the PDA government in the state is the alliance of BJP-led NDA in Centre and both are directly controlled by the RSS because of which there is “rampant corruption and lack of development in the state.” “People in the grassroots are not getting their facilities… the government comes up with various welfare schemes but it never reaches the grassroots people here,” he said.

-PTI

Amid the exodus of Congress leaders to the BJP in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, terms like ‘garbage’ and ‘trash bins’ have become part of the political discourse as the opposition party is using them to target the turncoats while the ruling party is seen hitting back in the same style.

After a Congress leader termed his party turncoats as garbage, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders also hit back at the opposition party with the “trash bin” remark.

Senior Congress leader K.K. Mishra, media advisor to state party chief Jitu Patwari, recently said the BJP has become a dustbin, into which the trash of the Congress is being thrown.

Another senior Congress leader and party’s national secretary Satyanarayan Patel last week equated the turncoats with the garbage thrown into dumping grounds.

- PTI

Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan announced Vallabhaneni Balashowry as the party’s Lok Sabha candidate from Machilipatnam constituency.

Balashowry recently quit the ruling YSRCP to join Janasena, an NDA constituent from the southern state along with TDP and BJP.

“Kalyan confirmed the candidature of Vallabhaneni Balashowry on behalf of Janasena from Machilipatnam Lok Sabha constituency,” said Janasena in a press release, adding that candidates for Avanigadda and Palakonda Assembly constituencies are yet to be confirmed.

- PTI

The Election Commission has issued a notice to the State government on the Chief Minister’s public announcement to withdraw the cases booked in connection with the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests in Kerala.

The anti-CAA protests and the booking of criminal cases against those involved in them had emerged as a socially and communally sensitive issue. Various Muslim organisations had repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of cases, which saw a large number of Muslims being arraigned as accused.

Union Minister V Muraleedharan and senior CPI (M) leader T M Thomas Isaac filed their nominations for the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls which will be held in Kerala on April 26.

While Muraleedharan is contesting as the BJP candidate from nearby Attingal constituency, former state minister Isaac is the nominee of the ruling CPI (M)-LDF for the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha seat.

Muraleedharan was accorded a grand reception at the constituency by the party workers before he proceeded to file the nomination papers at the district collectorate.

- PTI

The Indian National Congress released a list of 27 star campaigners for Jammu and Kashmir, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, among others.

These leaders will campaign for the party candidates in Jammu and Kashmir during the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held in five phases.

The list of star campaigners for the parliamentary elections in J&K was submitted by INC general secretary KC Venugopal to the Secretary Election Commission of India.The list of star campaigners included Mallikargjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Ambika Soni, KC Venugopal, Sachin Pilot, Bharatsingh Solanki, Vikar Rasool Wani, GA Mir, Tariq Hameed Karra, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Revanth Reddy and Harish Rawat.

- ANI

In an interview with The Hindu, the AIADMK general secretary talked about a range of issues such as the reasons behind his party’s break with the BJP, the decision to contest without the support of any national party, the possibility of adverse impact of the coming together of The Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhaga Cadres Right Retrieval Organisation’s coordinator O. Panneerselvam and the AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran on his party’s prospects, and the findings of certain opinion polls, forecasting that the AIADMK would be pushed to the third position.

The Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat in Western Odisha will witness a high-profile contest as ruling Biju Janata Dal has put up party general secretary (Organisation) Pranab Prakash Das, against Union Education Minister and BJP’s Odisha face Dharmendra Pradhan.

The Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat is significant this time as Mr. Das, who is considered as the number two in the BJD after Naveen Patnaik has been pitted against Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the BJP’s face in Odisha. Both the contestants are equally important for their parties and therefore a high-profile election is on the card, said political analyst Sandeep Mishra. The Sambalpur seat will go to polls in the sixth phase on May 25.

The Kolar (SC) seat has seen intense faction fight over the last few days. 

The Congress fielded Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi from the Bhilwara parliamentary constituency replacing its candidate Damodar Gurjar.

The party declared its ninth list of three candidates and two replacements for the Lok Sabha polls.

Trinamool Congress on Friday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls are conspiring with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to have certain leaders of the State’s ruling party arrested ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that two BJP candidates have held a meeting with the NIA officer in Kolkata regarding summon and arrest of Trinamool Congress leaders in the State’s Purba Medinipur district.

Read here

Maharashtra Congress leader Naseem Khan has said the unilateral announcement of candidates by the Shiv Sena (UBT) had angered his party workers and the State unit was keen on “friendly fights” in six Lok Sabha constituencies in the State.

The Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) comprise the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

PTI

A district in western Assam has gone pink to make its women vote as much as or more than their male counterparts. Nalbari is among very few districts where almost all officers are women. Apart from District Commissioner and District Election Officer (DEO) Varnali Deka and Superintendent of Police Supriya Das, they include the Deputy DEO, Finance and Accounts Officer, Treasury Officer, District Information and Public Relations Officer, and District Social Welfare Officer.

Read here

The ED issued a fresh summons to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Amol G. Kirtikar to investigate his alleged involvement in the ‘khichdi scam’. The agency has asked him to appear before it on April 8. This is the second summons issued to the party’s candidate who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai North-West seat. 

Hours after his candidature was announced, the ED had summoned Mr. Kirtikar, but his lawyer sought more time. His father Gajanan Kirtikar is the sitting MP from Mumbai North-West and had joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena after the party split in 2022.

Read here

With a formal stamp on the seat division in Bihar and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) keeping Purnia for itself, the Congress is left with a Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav-size headache and also has to contend with enraged State leaders who find the principal opposition party settling for too little. 

Read here

The Communist Party of India (CPI) reportedly has been served a notice by the Income-Tax department for violation of its procedures after two of its State units were found using old Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards for filing income-tax returns.

​​Read here​​

The Election Commission has issued a notification banning the conduct, publication or publicising of exit polls between 7.00 a.m. of April 19 and 6.30 p.m. of June 1 when votes will be cast for the Lok Sabha and four State Assembly polls.

The notification issued also made it clear that under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, displaying any election matter including results of any opinion poll or any other poll survey, in any electronic media, would be prohibited during the 48-hour period ending with the time fixed for the conclusion of the poll.

PTI

The daughter-in-law of former Lok Sabha speaker and Congress stalwart Shivraj Patil will join the Bharatiya Janata Party on March 30, party functionaries said. Dr. Archana Patil Chakurkar met Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at his official residence ‘Sagar ‘ in south Mumbai on Friday.

Archana Patil Chakurkar said she had planned to join the BJP along with former State Minister Baswaraj Murumkar, a close aide of Shivraj Patil, on Monday but postponed the plan due to her daughter’s wedding.

PTI

Rajasthan Congress will hold protests at all district headquarters of the State on March 30 against the fresh notices issued to it by the Income Tax Department and the freezing of the party’s bank accounts.

General Secretary and spokesperson of Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee Swarnim Chaturvedi said the BJP-led Central Government is continuously attacking democracy and democratic systems in the country.

Public demonstrations will be organised by the district Congress committees at all the district headquarters of Rajasthan on Saturday, he said.

PTI

The Lok Sabha elections this year is a two-pronged contest in Coimbatore. It is between the DMK on one side and the BJP with its B team the AIADMK on the other, said Tamil Nadu Industries Minister T.R.B. Rajaa.

​Read here​

The Congress is likely to release its manifesto for the ​Lok Sabha elections​ on April 5 and followed by rallies and public meetings across the country, sources said.

​Read here​