Lok Sabha polls 2024 updates | Highlights on May 01

While a brother and sister go abroad on vacation, another person celebrates Diwali with soldiers, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Dharwad, Karnataka. 

“While Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned PFI, Congress takes SDPI’s support. Third term to PM Modi means end of terrorism, naxalism and India becoming third major economy,” he said. - PTI

Sixteen more candidates, including BJP’s Manoj Tiwari and Harsh Malhotra, filed their nomination papers for the elections to the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital.

Voting will be held in Delhi on May 25 in the sixth round of the seven-phase parliamentary polls.

Forty-two candidates have filed their nomination papers since the process for it started on Monday, according to details provided by the office of the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). The last date of filing nomination in Delhi is May 6.

While BJP leader Tiwari filed his nomination for contesting the North East Delhi seat, Malhotra submitted his papers for the East Delhi seat as the party’s candidate. - PTI

Three INDIA bloc candidates, Jai Prakash Bhai Patel, Anupama Singh and Vinod Kumar Singh, and BJP nominee Manish Jaiswal filed their nomination papers for three Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand. - PTI

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticised the Election Commission for the “delay” in releasing the final voter turnout figures for the initial two phases of the Lok Sabha polls. 

She also expressed concern over the sudden increase in polling percentages during those phases. 

Addressing two back-to-back rallies in minority-dominated Malda and Murshidabad districts, Ms. Banerjee accused the Centre of neglecting the state as it has a high percentage of minority and backward communities. 

The commission made public the voter turnout of the first two phases of polling, which were held on April 19 and April 26, on April 30 evening. 

According to the EC, a voter turnout of 66.14% was recorded in the first and 66.71% in the second phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. - PTI

People’s Conference president Sajad Gani Lone filed nomination papers from the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency in Jammu and Kashmir. 

Jailed Awami Ittehad Party leader Abdul Rashid Sheikh alias Engineer Rashid has already filed nomination papers from this north Kashmir constituency. National Conference leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah is also contesting from this seat. - PTI

AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge urged voters to unite to save the Constitution and democracy in the country by electing Congress candidates. 

Accusing Mr. Modi of inciting fights, Mr. Kharge said that while Mr. Modi “Hindus and Muslims have been together here and have celebrated each other’s festivals together. Many Hindus here had Muslim names like Nawaz Reddy, among others.” 

The Congress has an intention to do a caste census in the country, Mr. Kharge said, adding, “It is to know how many graduates are there in a family, to know does the family have a land or not? What is their income? -- To know this we want to do a caste census. But, Modi is telling people that Congress wants to do an X-ray.” - PTI

Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee accused West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of being an agent of the BJP and held him responsible for obstructing the formation of the opposition INDIA bloc in the state.

Mr. Banerjee, addressing a rally for party candidate Prasun Banerjee in Samsi, referred to Mr. Chowdhury’s purported speech in Jangipur on April 30, where he was heard saying that voting for BJP is better than voting for the TMC.

The purported video showed Mr. Chowdhury, the sitting MP and candidate from Baharampur, addressing a public meeting and saying “it’s better to vote for the BJP than to vote for the TMC.” Mr. Banerjee expressed disbelief that a Congressman would advocate for the saffron party, stating that Mr. Chowdhury’s actions were aiding the BJP’s cause. - PTI

Hours after Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh shared a stage with a BJP Lok Sabha candidate and praised him, the TMC removed him from the post of state general secretary for making statements not aligning with the party.

“Kunal Ghosh has been expressing views that don’t align with the party… Mr. Ghosh was previously relieved from his role as party spokesperson. Now he has been removed from the position of general secretary of the state organization,” the TMC said in a statement. - PTI

The Election Commission barred Bharat Rashtra Samithi president K. Chandrashekar Rao from campaigning for 48 hours for his “objectionable” remarks against the Congress.

The EC said his remarks at a press conference Sircilla on April 5 were violative of the provisions of the model code of conduct and its advisories.

The 48-hour ban of the Telangana former chief minister comes into force at 8 pm on May 01.

After Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, Rao is the second politician to be banned from campaigning for 48 hours in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. - PTI

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti criticised the ECI for deferring the polls on the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, accusing the Jammu and Kashmir administration of filing a “wrong” report to justify the postponement of the elections. 

Lok Sabha elections in the redrawn Anantnag-Rajouri constituency was slated for May 7. However, the ECI rescheduled it for May 25 after receiving representations from several parties. 

“They (ECI) extended the election date, making it difficult for me (to campaign). The poor (party) workers are paying from their pockets and campaigning for us. Now they will have to work for 25 more days,” Ms. Mufti told the people during a roadshow on the outskirts of Rajouri. 

The PDP president, on the campaign trail in the Rajouri-Poonch belt which is a part of the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, questioned the officials, alleging they have not revealed why they delayed the polls. - PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a rally in Gujarat’s Banaskantha, said “If you have two buffaloes, Congress will take away one if it wins the Lok Sabha polls.”

“Congress has not fielded even 272 candidates, minimum seats for majority in LS, and they are talking of forming government. They should give in writing that they would not give reservation based on religion.”

“I have already prepared a list of works to be done in first 100 days of my third term. It is my guarantee that in third term I will make India world’s 3rd largest economy. On Gujarat Foundation Day let us take a pledge to make the state developed and help in realising goal of Viksit Bharat,” he added.

The Congress reiterated its ‘Shramik Nyay’ guarantees on International Labour Day, and said its promise of ₹400 per day national minimum wage is the real ‘400 paar’.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh listed the party’s guarantees for labourers and alleged that the past 10 years have been of ‘anyay kaal’ for them.

On the occasion of International Labour Day it is most appropriate to recall the ‘Shramik Nyay’ guarantees in the Congress Nyay Patra for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he said.

Elaborating on the guarantees, Mr. Ramesh said the Congress has promised ‘Shram ka Samman’ (Dignity for Labour)‘ with ₹400 per day national minimum wage, including for MGNREGA. - PTI

National Conference (NC) president Dr. Farooq Abdullah took a dig at the Election Commission of India (ECI) for postponing polling in the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat to May 25.

Dr. Abdullah maintained that they have the full support of people of the constituency. “See, it was not up to us (to defer the elections). The Election Commission has deferred it. Congratulations to them,” Mr. Abdullah told reporters in reply to a question about the postponement of elections on the Anantnag-Rajouri seat.

In reply to another question about the party’s strength in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat and the prospects of its victory, he said, “I can only say this, I have full faith in the people. We have full faith in Allah.” NC candidate and former minister Mian Altaf Ahmed took also took a potshot at the ECI and claimed he had not seen such an example of the deferring of polls in the history of elections. - PTI

The TMC has removed Kunal Ghosh as its Bengal geneneral secretary for making statements that don’t align with the party. Earlier today, he shared the stage with BJP’s Kolkata North candidate Tapas Ray, and called him a “true mass leader”.

Mr. Ray, a four-term MLA quit the TMC and joined the BJP in March after the TMC re-nominated its Sudip Bandopadhyay in the Kolkata North seat. The BJP then fielded Mr. Ray against Mr. Bandopadhyay.

“Tapas Ray is a true mass leader. His doors are always open for party workers and people. I have known him for several decades. Unfortunately, our paths are now different,” Mr. Ghosh said. “I am hopeful that the elections would be free and fair, and no unscrupulous means would be used to retain the seat. Let the people cast their votes freely,” he added. - PTI

The Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena has nominated ex-mayor Naresh Mhaske and sitting MP Hemant Godse as its candidates from Thane and Nashik Lok Sabha constituencies. CM Shinde’s son and sitting MP Shrikant Shinde will contest from Kalyan constituency. 

Thane, Nashik and Kalyan will go to the polls on May 20. -PTI

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the delay in releasing the final voter turnout figures for the initial two phases of the Lok Sabha polls. She also expressed concern over the sudden increase in polling percentages during those phases.

The ECI made public the voter turnout of the first two phases of polling, which were held on April 19 and April 26, on April 30. According to the ECI, voter turnout of 66.14% was recorded in the first and 66.71% in the second phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

“The sudden jump in final voter turnout by nearly 5.75% from what the Election Commission had released earlier is worrying. There are apprehensions of manipulation of results by the BJP as several EVMs were missing for a long period,” she said while addressing a rally at Farakka in Murshidabad district.The TMC supremo stated that the sudden increase in poll percentage is not just “disturbing” but also raises “serious apprehensions about the credibility of EVMs”. “The details of EVM makers should be made public by the Election Commission as the BJP can stoop to any level to win elections,” she said. - PTI

BJP candidate Maneka Gandhi filed her nomination papers from the Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat. Ms. Gandhi took out a roadshow to reach the collectorate and filed her papers in front of District Election Officer Krittika Jyotsna.

NDA ally NISHAD Party president Dr Sanjay Nishad and Apna Dal leader and cabinet minister Ashish Patel were with her at the time of the nomination filing. 

After filing her nomination, Ms. Gandhi said she would do more work in the next five years than was done in the last five. ”We have to take this region ahead. The people living in the area must get all facilities – this has always been my effort and will be in future as well,” she said.

She will take on SP candidate Ram Bhuwal Nishad and BSP’s Udraj Verma. Polling in Sultanpur will be held in the sixth phase on May 25. - PTI

Congress Spokesperson Supriya Shrinate has alleged that Prime Minister Modi knew about alliance partner JD(S)‘s Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna’s alleged crime of sexually abusing several women and yet campaigned for him. 

Launching a scathing attack on Mr. Modi, she showed photos of the prime minister with Mr. Revanna and said, “He (Modi) not only appreciated him but also sought votes for him (Prajwal) on April 14.”

Ms. Shrinate alleged, “The extent of what he (Prajwal) has done is absolutely shocking. Shocking to the extent that it makes me think that is this part of a fiction film or is it for real? Not one, not two but nearly 3,000 videos and several women have been sexually assaulted and raped. This is not a sex scandal. This is the biggest rape crime in the history of this country.”

She further said, “He is not just a candidate but he is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘favourite’. Modi appealed for votes for him in Mysuru on April 14.”

“Within hours of the SIT being constituted, he [Mr. Prajwal] fled the country,” she added. 

“Was Prime Minister Modi ignorant about it...absolutely not. He [Mr. Modi] knew exactly who this man [Mr. Revanna] is, he knew exactly what he had done, he knew exactly what crimes that he had committed. Because BJP’s own leader Devaraje Gowda in December 2023 wrote mails and sent letters to Amit Shah, J.P Nadda [BJP President], Narendra Modi telling them about this guy [Mr. Revanna] and telling them not to make him a candidate,” she said. - PTI

Former Congress MLA from Punjab Dalvir Singh Goldy has joined the AAP. He quit the party over denial of ticket from the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat 

While welcoming Mr. Goldy into the party fold, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann referred to him as his “younger brother” and a “hardworking youth”. “We welcome him along with his supporters,” he said. 

Mr. Goldy, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2022 assembly polls from Dhuri seat against Mann, said he will perform whatever task is assigned to him.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the sexual abuse allegations against JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna, asking whether being part of “Modi’s political family” a “guarantee of protection for criminals”. 

In a post in Hindi, Mr. Gandhi said, “As always, Narendra Modi has maintained shameful silence on the gruesome crimes committed against women in Karnataka.”

“The Prime Minister will have to answer: Despite knowing everything, why did he campaign for the devil who exploited hundreds of daughters, just for votes? After all, how did such a big criminal escape from the country with such ease?” he asked. From Kaiserganj to Karnataka and from Unnao to Uttarakhand, the prime minister’s “silent support” to the criminals of daughters is emboldening the criminals across the country, he said. “Is being part of Modi’s ‘political family’ a ‘guarantee of protection’ for criminals?” he said. - PTI

Television actor Rupali Ganguly, who became a household name by playing the titular role in the popular sitcom ‘Anupamaa’, joined the BJP on May 1. 

“Seeing the ‘Mahayagya’ of development [development push] around me [under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi], I felt that I should also be a part of it. I need your blessings and support as I embark on this new journey. Whatever I do, I always make it a point to do it right...to do it well. I wish to follow in the footsteps of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-ji and serve fellow citizens in whichever role I am entrusted with. I intend to work under the guidance of Amit Shah-ji and make all of my leaders and cadres proud of me,” she said. - ANI

Alleging that a “mafia raj” was going on in Assam, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra claimed Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was involved in multiple scams. 

Addressing an election rally in Assam’s Dhubri, she said, “Rising unemployment is a major issue in Assam, and the CM and his ministers are concerned only about their own interests.” 

She also claimed Mr. Sarma has a “secret understanding” with Badruddin Ajmal of the AIUDF to defeat the Congress. She claimed that PM Modi was far away from the reality of the common people and had no understanding of their miseries as he had become egoistic. - PTI

The Delhi High Court dismissed a petition seeking to allow arrested political leaders to campaign virtually for the Lok Sabha polls. 

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet P.S. Arora said courts do not take policy decisions and that it is for Parliament to decide on such issues.

“We can’t allow someone who is in custody to run a campaign. Otherwise, all rapists, and murderers will start floating political parties just prior to the elections,” the Bench said. The court was hearing a petition by Amarjeet Gupta, a law student, who was aggrieved by the timing of the arrest of politicians, particularly Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, after the announcement of the model code of conduct by the ECI. - PTI

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday targeted the BJP’s central leadership, saying that in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, the “plunderers of Maharashtra” will be shown the pride and courage of the State.

Mr. Thackeray was talking to reporters at the Hutatma Chowk in south Mumbai, where he paid tributes to 105 people who laid down their lives for the ‘Samyukta Maharashtra’ movement. May 1 is celebrated as Maharashtra Day to mark the formation of the state.

“We will not allow Maharashtra to be anyone’s slave. We will not allow plundering of Maharashtra and trampling of its pride. In the Lok Sabha elections, we will show the looters of Maharashtra what its pride and courage is,” Mr. Thackeray said. - PTI

Union minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday said the Congress was using all types of tricks -- fear, confusion, rumour and now deepfake -- for its propaganda.

He refuted the Congress’ charge that democracy was under threat or that reservations will be taken away by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

“It was during the Congress regime that democracy was finished by imposing Emergency,” Thakur told PTI Videos at Lucknow airport.

The Minister is in Uttar Pradesh to attend several programmes, including filing of nominations by party leaders.

“Congress is using fear, confusion, rumour, deepfake and all kinds of tricks. The way foreign powers try to destabilise any country, the Congress is using all kinds of tricks for its propaganda,” he said. - PTI

Former Congress MLAs Neeraj Basoya and Naseeb Singh have resigned from the party’s primary membership days after party leader Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned from his post as Delhi Congress chief.

In separate letters to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, the two leaders blamed the Congress and AAP alliance for their resignation.

In his letter, Basoya stated, “I humbly submit, that the said alliance is bringing great disrepute and embarrassment to Delhi Congress workers on a daily basis and I believe, that as a self-respecting party leader, I cannot continue to be associated with the party any more.” This came days after Congress’ Delhi unit chief Lovely resigned from the post citing the alliance with AAP as one of the reasons.

The Congress on Tuesday appointed former MLA Devender Yadav as the interim president of its Delhi unit. Yadav, who won from the Badli assembly constituency in Delhi in 2008 and 2013 and lost to Ajesh Yadav of AAP in 2015, is currently the AICC in-charge of Punjab. - PTI

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Jana Sena Party (JSP) on Tuesday released a common manifesto for the forthcoming 2024 general elections in Andhra Pradesh.

Addressing a press conference at Undavalli in Guntur on Tuesday, TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu, JSP chief K. Pawan Kalyan and Andhra Pradesh BJP in-charge Siddharth Nath Singh released the joint manifesto of the TDP and JSP.

The BJP said that while it does not have any specific inputs in the common manifesto released for A.P., it fully endorses the manifesto that has been drawn up by the TDP and JSP after thorough deliberations. 

Representatives of 18 political parties from 10 countries will interact with a host of BJP leaders, including party president J.P .Nadda and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, during their visit to India on the ruling party’s invitation to get a first-hand experience of the Lok Sabha polls. 

The BJP said the foreign leaders will also be given insights into the party’s election campaign and will be briefed about its strategies and the overall electoral process. They will meet Nadda on Wednesday and also interact with Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. 

BJP’s foreign affairs department in-charge Vijay Chauthaiwale said the visit is part of the party’s global outreach programme ‘Know BJP’, which was launched by Nadda on its 43rd foundation day last year.- PTI

For the second time in two days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government eliminated terrorists by entering their home turf, in stark contrast to the previous Congress-led UPA regime, which had merely compiled and sent dossiers on the terror attacks to neighbouring Pakistan. 

Addressing a poll rally in Latur district in the Marathwada region, Mr. Modi mocked the alleged ineffectiveness of previous Congress-led governments. “During the Congress regime, news headlines used to be about India handing over another dossier to Pakistan about terror activities and terrorists. It used to be big news. Some of our friends in the media used to clap after any such dossier was sent,” he remarked, commenting on the situation post the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

Claiming that it was his government that had made the country safe and secure, the PM said: “Today, India does not dispatch dossiers, but we eliminate terrorists on their home turf. The headlines in the ‘NewBharat’ read: ‘Mission LOC, India punishes Pakistan through surgical strikes.’” 

BJP eliminates terrorists on their home turf, says PM Modi

PM Modi highlights BJP's strong stance on terrorism, mocks Congress' dossier approach, and targets Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra.

TMC candidate and former India cricketer Kirti Azad sought to poke holes in the BJP’s Hindu nationalism plank, saying if the saffron party persists in using the “Hindu Khatre mein” (Hindus in danger) narrative despite being in power for ten years, it raises doubts about the party’s necessity to return to power.

The former BJP MP-turned-TMC nominee from West Bengal’s Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha seat, also said the issue of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) was a “ploy to communalise the polls” since the saffron camp “lacks an impressive report card to present before the masses”. - PTI

If voted to office for a third term, ​Prime Minister Narendra Modi​ will completely eliminate Naxalism from the country within two years, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted on Tuesday.

Shah claimed the BJP and its NDA allies are winning at least 100 seats in the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections (covering 190 constituencies) which have concluded and added “BJP’s chariot is moving towards achieving the target of 400-plus seats”.

Addressing a poll rally in Ahmedabad city’s Naroda area, Shah said before the BJP came to power at the Centre, Naxalites were “dreaming about creating a red corridor from Pashupatinath in Nepal till Tirupati” in Andhra Pradesh, but their activities are now confined to just parts of Chhattisgarh.

During the last five years, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have become free from the Naxal menace, noted the senior BJP leader.

“Naxalites still exist in some parts of Chhattisgarh. The BJP has formed a government in that state recently. Just today (Tuesday), the Chhattisgarh police eliminated nine Naxalites. Give a third term to PM Modi and I assure you that Modiji will eliminate Naxalism completely from the country in two years,” declared Shah.

Referring to the BJP’s manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, Shah said the Modi government will provide free healthcare to every individual above 70 years of age under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana.

“Those above 70 years of age, whether crorepati or roadpati (rich or poor), won’t have to spend a rupee on medical treatment if PM Modi wins a third term,” the Union minister told the gathering.

He underscored that though former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was an economist, he could not improve India’s ranking in the world economy despite being in power for 10 years (2004-14).

“The country’s economy remained on the 11th spot during Singh’s ten-year tenure. It was PM Modi who turned our country into the fifth largest economy. Just give him a third term and he will take our economy to the third spot,” said Shah.

He alleged that instead of functioning as a constructive opposition, the Congress always opposed pro-people projects in Gujarat, be it BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit System), metro rail or Sabarmati Riverfront.

Shah addressed the rally in support of BJP candidate from the Ahmedabad-East Lok Sabha seat, Hasmukh Patel.

Voting on 25 Lok Sabha seats (BJP candidate from Surat has been elected unopposed) in Gujarat will take place on May 7 in a single phase.

Shah is the BJP candidate from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat, from where he is seeking a second term.

In 2019, the BJP had won all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, the home state of Modi.

More than 10 days after ​Phase 1​ and four days after ​Phase 2​ of polling for the ​ongoing general elections​, the Election Commission of India (EC) released the final voter turnout figures for the two rounds on April 30. While Phase 1 saw a turnout of 66.14%, for Phase 2, it was 66.7%.

However, the poll body did not release the total number of voters in each constituency. The Opposition parties, which had earlier in the day raised this issue majorly on social media platforms, pointed this out after the EC released the data.

Polling was held in 102 constituencies on April 19 under Phase 1, while 88 seats went to the polls on April 26 in Phase 2. 

​Read the full story here.​

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made up his mind that if the BJP wins the Lok Sabha elections, they will “tear up and throw away” the Constitution, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday. 

“The Prime Minister, [Union Home Minister] Amit Shah and various of their MPs have made up their mind that if they win the elections, they will tear up and throw away this book,” Mr. Gandhi said, holding a copy of the Constitution, as he addressed an election rally in the Bhind Lok Sabha constituency in the Gwalior-Chambal region.

“This is the fight. Whatever growth has happened in the nation, whatever the poor have gotten whether it is MGNREGA, Land Acquisition Bill, white revolution, will all vanish. The BJP wants this book to be thrown away and the nation is run by 20-25 billionaires,” he said. 

He is the senior-most in the fray. At 81 years, Nandyala Varadarajulu Reddy is being hailed as a man of grit, having contested several elections and witnessing key political developments in the State over the past few decades.

Fondly referred to as the ‘Peddayana of Proddatur’, he is known for his unrelenting fighting spirit in every election, whose chequered political experience spanning 43 years is marked by successes and defeats. Read more

The Congress will “become extinct like the dinosaurs” in the coming years, Union Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh said in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday.

“Just as dinosaurs became extinct from all over the world, I think the Congress will also become extinct. After years, if their names are mentioned in front of children, then the children will also ask what is Congress,” Mr. Singh said at a rally in Badwani of the Khargone Lok Sabha constituency.

The Minister’s remarks came a day after Congress candidate from Indore, Akshay Kanti Bam, withdrew his nomination and joined the BJP. Mr. Singh rubbished the Congress’ allegations that democracy in the country was “under threat” and said Congress candidates had been elected unopposed about 20 times in the past. 

As the Union Territory of Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, goes to poll on June 1, Congress candidate Manish Tewari, a former Union Minister and currently a Member of Parliament from Punjab’s Anandpur Sahib constituency, is toiling to wrest the seat from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In an interview with The Hindu, Mr. Tewari, a two-time MP, says that the 2024 Lok Sabha poll is an existential election for India. Edited excerpts: 

‘Sole objective of fighting this election is to save and redeem the soul of the nation’

Chandigarh goes to poll with Congress candidate Manish Tewari aiming to win against BJP on June 1.

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday booked Congress leader Salman Khurshid and his niece Maria Alam after she called for a “vote jehad” in favour of the INDIA bloc candidate Naval Kishore Shakya from the Farrukhabad Lok Sabha seat.

Seeking votes for Mr. Shakya on Monday, Ms. Alam, a Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, made an appeal for “vote jehad”, terming it as necessary in the current situation for the minority community to drive away the BJP government.

Taking cognisance of her remarks, a case was registered against Ms. Alam for violating the provisions of the IPC and Representation of People Act, following a complaint made by the Flying Squad and Surveillance Team, police said, and added that a case was also registered against Mr. Khurshid, who was the chief guest at the election meeting in Kaimganj. 

As campaigning picked up for Baharampur Lok Sabha seat in the heart of West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders refrained from making any direct attack on the sitting Congress MP and West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

Over the past three days, two key leaders of BJP — party president J.P. Nadda and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath — held rallies in the constituency but did not speak of the Congress MP.

Addressing an election rally at Baharampur, Mr. Adityanath raised the issue of violence during the Ram Navami procession on April 17. “Had such incidents taken place in Uttar Pradesh, I would have taught the perpetrators such a lesson that their next seven generations would not have dared to even think of doing any such thing,” he said. 

Calling the Lok Sabha elections a fight between ‘Telangana atma gauravam’ (self-respect) and ‘Gujarat pettanam’ (bossism), Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy called upon people to teach a fitting lesson to the BJP in the May 13 Parliamentary elections in Telangana.

The BJP is conspiring to remove reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs and its slogan of “400 paar” is indicative of its intention, he charged, alleging that the Delhi police have turned up after he criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the reservations issue. He was speaking at a huge public meeting held in Jammikunta town in the poll-bound Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency on Tuesday.

“You have made the BRS bite the dust in the semi-finals (Assembly elections-2023) and brought Indiramma (Congress) Rajyam and now it is time to show Telangana paurusham (vigour) to defeat the BJP in the finals (Lok Sabha elections),” he said. Reiterating his charge that the BJP will remove the reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs if re-elected, Mr Reddy alleged that the BJP dispensation at the Centre passed several bills unilaterally with its “brute majority” in the house. He alleged that BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s prediction of a “hung Parliament” and a role for the BRS in a possible coalition government at the Centre exposed the secret pact between the BRS and the BJP. KCR will not be allowed to join INDIA bloc coalition at any cost, Mr Reddy said.

Mr Reddy accused the Modi-led BJP government at the Centre of meting out severe injustice to Telangana in the last 10 years. The BJP government has utterly failed to fulfil the promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act and deprived Telangana of the promised steel factory at Bayyaram, ITIR among other projects, he said. In a symbolic protest against the Centre’s alleged apathy towards Telangana, he showed a replica of ‘gadida guddu’ (donkey’s egg) alleging that it implied the BJP’s “zero contribution” to Telangana’s development. He lashed out at the BJP candidates in Karimnagar, Nizamabad and other constituencies for allegedly using Lord Ram for ‘electoral gains’.

Mr Reddy reiterated that the farm loans will be waived off before August 15 this year. Minister for Backward Classes Welfare and Transport Ponnam Prabhakar and others spoke. 

The BJP’s regional allies have more at stake in the third and final phase of the Lok Sabha election in Assam with the focus on reclaiming the ‘parliamentary space’ for representatives of indigenous or majority communities, believed to have been made easier by the 2023 delimitation.

Covering four constituencies – Barpeta, Dhubri, Guwahati, and Kokrajhar – in central and western Assam, this phase will also see the Congress pitted against more than one of its 15 partners in the United Opposition Forum, Assam (UOFA) apart from rivals in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). 

Delimitation, indigenous identity, and minority votes may influence Assam’s last phase of voting

Assam's Lok Sabha election phase 3 focuses on reclaiming parliamentary space for indigenous communities with key battlegrounds in Guwahati.

The ​alleged sex scandal involving Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna​ could cause a swing of Janata Dal (Secular) voters towards the ruling Congress in Karnataka and may play a spoilsport in the BJP’s hopes of cashing in on the “Modi wave” in constituencies that are going to the polls in North Karnataka on May 7. 

The sex scandal that rocked the JD(S) has become a major issue of public debate in the State. Though the JD(S) has no significant presence across North Karnataka, it has a sizable vote bank in pockets of parliamentary constituencies such as Vijayapura, Ballari, Kalaburagi, and Raichur.

Though elections have already been held in the three constituencies where the JD(S) contested, the scandal seems to have severely dented the public image of the party, which has entered into alliance with the BJP. 

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The police in Delhi, Assam, and Maharashtra filed three separate cases and arrested at least one person - a Congress functionary from Assam - in connection with a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s April 23 speech in Telangana regarding reservation. 

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, and four other Congress office-bearers in the State too found themselves embroiled in the controversy on Monday, as the Delhi Police issued notice to them under Section 91 (summons to produce documents) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). 

A government source told The Hindu that the notice to to appear before the Delhi Police on Wednesday has been sent to Mr. Reddy as he is the president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) and not because he is the Chief Minister of the State. 

The BJP appeared to have absorbed some collateral damage in the aftermath of Sobha Surendran’s “give the game away disclosure“ about her party’s “entrenched efforts to woo“ LDF convener E. P. Jayarajan to the NDA fold. 

A section of the BJP’s State leadership appeared miffed that Ms Surendran had cast the party’s attempt to enhance its bipartisan appeal, bolster its top ranks and erase the “Hindutva slur” in a poor light by accentuating the outsize role of an alleged political fixer. Read more

The electoral battle in the Raichur Lok Sabha constituency this time is interesting with a new entrant — G. Kumar Naik, who is a former civil servant — being pitted as the Congress candidate against incumbent MP and scion of the erstwhile Guntagol royal family Raja Amareshwar Naik for the second term. Mr. Kumar Naik, a 1990-batch IAS officer, had served as the Deputy Commissioner of Raichur between 1999 and 2002, before assuming higher offices in bureaucracy. 

It is a battle between a ‘raja’ and a former public servant in Raichur

Raichur Lok Sabha constituency sees interesting battle between Congress and BJP candidates, with rebellion and promises shaping the race.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be conducting a roadshow in support of Hyderabad BJP candidate K. Madhavi Latha from Mahankali Temple, Laldarwaza to Sudha Talkies, Shalibanda, Hyderabad on Wednesday, 4.30 p.m. Telangana BJP president G. Kishan Reddy, Rajya Sabha MP K. Laxman and others will be part of the show.