What BJP’s candidate from Mumbai North Central Ujjwal Nikam said on his candidature
As BJP fields Special Public Prosecutor during 26/11 Mumbai Terror attack case Ujjwal Nikam as its candidate from Mumbai North Central, he says, “I don’t consider politics a fight. Social service can be done through politics. Service to the nation can also be done through politics. I will adopt this new funda. I have received the opportunity to serve the nation, through politics. So, I consider myself fortunate.”
‘INDI alliance honouring those who speak of destroying Sanatana’: PM Modi
Addressing a public rally in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur, PM Modi said, “DMK party, very special to Congress, is abusing Sanatana. They are saying that the Sanatana is dengue and malaria. And, INDI Alliance invites them to Maharashtra and honours those who speak of destroying Sanatana. What must Bala Saheb feel after seeing this? Fake Shiv Sena is walking shoulder-to-shoulder with these people. Bala Saheb must have been very upset with this. Wherever his soul is, it must be upset seeing these activities.”
Congress, allies seeking separate country in south, says PM Modi
“If their government is formed, they will abrogate the CAA. Those who cannot win Lok Sabha seats in 3-digit numbers, can the INDI alliance even reach the door of forming a government. Their formula is ‘Ek Saal, Ek PM’. And if they stay in power for 5 years, then 5 prime ministers. The Congress and INDI alliance are making speeches in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu demanding a separate country. Can the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ever accept this?”, PM Modi said.
‘Congress wants to change Constitution’: PM Modi
Congress wants to change Constitution and rob Dalits, OBCs of quota benefits for religion-based reservation, PM Modi said in Kolhapur.
Congress, its friends using anti-national agendas and appeasement: PM Modi
Addressing a public rally in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur, PM Modi said, “When the Congress and its friends realised that they cannot compete with NDA’s track record of development, they changed their strategy. They are using anti-national agendas and appeasement. Now, Congress’ agenda is that they will reinstate Article 370 in Kashmir…”
PM Modi addresses a public gathering in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur
“Kolhapur is the football hub of Maharashtra. Football is quite popular here among the youth. If I speak in the language of football, then BJP and NDA are 2-0 ahead after the conclusion of the second phase of (Lok Sabha) polling”, PM Modi said addressing a public gathering in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur.
‘Jailed because he built schools..’: Delhi CM Kejriwal’s wife at a rally
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was jailed because he built schools, provided free electricity, opened Mohalla Clinics, says wife Sunita Kejriwal
What Sunita Kejriwal, wife of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, said while addressing a public gathering in East Delhi
“Your CM and my husband, Arvind Kejriwal, has been kept in jail for the past one month. No court has declared him guilty and investigation is going on. If the investigation goes on for 10 years, then will he be kept in jail for 10 years?”
Delhi CM’s wife Sunita Kejriwal holds her maiden Lok Sabha poll roadshow
Delhi CM’s wife Sunita Kejriwal starts her maiden Lok Sabha poll roadshow
Sunita Kejriwal, wife of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, holds her maiden roadshow in Kondli area in support of AAP’s East Delhi Lok Sabha candidate Kuldeep Kumar.
BJP’s OBC Morcha secretary, Akali Dal’s SC wing leader join AAP
BJP’s OBC Morcha secretary, an Akali Dal leader and NSUI’s Punjab vice-president on Saturday here joined the AAP in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Kuldeep Singh Shanty, secretary of BJP’s other backward classes (OBC) Morcha, and Gurdarshan Lal, general secretary, scheduled castes (SC) wing (Doaba), Shiromani Akali Dal, were welcomed into the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fold by Mann, according to a party statement.
BJP drops sitting MP Poonam Mahajan
BJP on Saturday named lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as its Lok Sabha candidate from Mumbai North Central and dropped sitting MP Poonam Mahajan.
‘Rahul should contest from four to five constituencies, including Amethi and Varanasi’, says Union minister Piyush Goyal
‘Rahul Gandhi is welcome to contest the election from Mumbai-North seat, as he is losing from Wayanad (Kerala). Rahul should contest from four to five constituencies, including Amethi and Varanasi,” said BJP Mumbai-North candidate and Union Minister Piyush Goyal in a lighter mood while addressing a press conference.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah of selling Public Sector Undertakings to industrialists Ambani and Adani adding that the BJP-led government is unfavourable for the development of the country. While addressing a public meeting in Barpeta, the Congress president said that PM Modi looted the money of the poor and gave it to the rich.
ECI orders Repolling in Indiganatha hamlet of Chamarajnagar that witnessed violence yesterday
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday attacked the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that it is “deliberately” trying to leak question papers of government recruitment examinations to deny youngsters the benefit of reservation in government jobs.
Re-poll to be conducted for one polling station in Hanur Assembly Constituency in Karnataka on Monday
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday claimed that the ruling BJP’s top leadership may be pretending to be in denial mode now, but the party will change the Constitution if it returns to power. Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over inflation, she called him a “mehengai” man. “BJP leaders and candidates are saying that they will change the Constitution. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi is denying it. This is their tactic,” she said at a public rally at Dharampur village of tribal-dominated Valsad district held in support of Congress candidate for ST-reserved Valsad Lok Sabha seat, Anant Patel.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday said if Narendra Modi continues to be the prime minister for the third consecutive term, he would end terrorism and Naxalism from the country and also make India the world’s third largest economy. He was addressing an election rally at Porbandar in Gujarat in support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Mansukh Mandaviya. Shah said that when Article 370 was scrapped, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opposed the move, saying it would lead to a river of blood flowing in Kashmir.
Lok Sabha Elections: AAP ‘war room’ for Lok Sabha polls in Delhi inaugurated
The Aam Aadmi Party’s “war room” for the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi was inaugurated by senior party leader Gopal Rai on Saturday. The party has fielded candidates on four of the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital while its INDIA bloc partner Congress is contesting three. The constituencies will go to polls on May 25, the sixth round of the seven-phase elections.
Lok Sabha Elections: YSRCP releases manifesto
- I consider the YSRCP manifesto to be like – the Bible, Quran, and Bhagavad Gita. I take an oath that I will implement it to the fullest. These past 58 months will be etched forever in our country’s history as over 99% of the manifesto promises have been successfully implemented by YSRCP
- The issues I witnessed during my padayatra were embedded in our manifesto. Over the last 5 years, our Navaratnalu schemes have seen over 99% implementation. We’ve deposited Rs 2.68 lakh crore directly into beneficiaries’ accounts through DBT (direct benefit transfer) and Rs 1.78 lakh crore through non-DBT methods.
- We’ve allocated Rs 26,067 crore for the AmmaVodi scheme, Rs 4275 crore to the Jagananna Vasati Devena, Rs 12,609 crore to the Jagananna Vidya Deevena, and Rs 34,378 crore to YSR Rythu BharosaDespite the challenges posed by the COVID pandemic and revenue losses that happened thereafter, we never made any excuses and meticulously executed our manifesto with a smileWe’ve fulfilled over 99% of the promises made in 2019 and we’ve presented our actions to the people like a progress report*We can’t compete with Chandrababu’s fraudulent promises, but we can show our commitment to the people.
- This government is different from the previous one – we don’t make empty promises. We deliver, and that’s our legacy: YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
Lok Sabha Elections: Congress like ‘flowing river’, few persons leaving does not affect it, says Kharge in Guwahati
Wait for few more days, he said on party nominees for Amethi, Rae Bareli seats in UP
Lok Sabha Elections: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressing a press conference in Assam’s Guwahati.
“He (PM Modi) didn’t implement even a single thing that he promised. Despite that they (BJP) claim that PM Modi has done a lot for the country. People of the Congress were part of country’s freedom struggle, BJP didn’t fight for country’s independence,” he said.
Lok Sabha Elections: Priyanka Gandhi addresses gathering in Valsad
“Prime Minister of the country is arrogant; and if a leader is not wise, has too much ego and considers himself supreme, then he gradually goes astray. The farmers of the country came to Delhi to protest, but the Prime Minister didn’t even care to ask about their problems. He only cares about elections and power. He cares about his billionaire friends, and has given the nation’s assets to them,” she said.
Lok Sabha Elections: We have implemented 2019 promises with fullest commitment, says YS Jagan
“Manifesto got prominence only after YSRCP came into power”, he said, adding that “we have pasted manifesto in all govt offices to ensure its implementation”.”99.9 percent promises implemented during 2019-2024″, he added.
In the Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha constituency, a region known for altering political allegiance in every election, BJP candidate Dilip Ghosh faces a pivotal challenge to overturn this pattern and secure his political future. Since its establishment in 2009, Bardhaman-Durgapur has sent CPI(M), TMC and BJP representatives once each to the Lok Sabha in the three previous polls.
Lok Sabha Elections: A mess was made of polling held in Kerala despite enough time for preparation, says KC Venugopal
Voters were harassed by polling officials in Lok Sabha elections held in Kerala, he said.
Senior state Congress leader Muhammed Arif ‘Naseem’ Khan stepped down from the party’s campaign committee, amid the Lok Sabha elections, citing the decision by the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) bloc not to field any minority candidate in the polls. He said the people and organisations associated with the minority community were upset over the bloc’s decision not to put a Muslim face or leader on the ticket.
Lok Sabha Elections: 2nd phase has been spectacular for BJP in Assam, says Himanta Biswa Sarma
“My feedback from yesterday – excellent turnout in our strongholds, 2nd phase has been spectacular for BJP in Assam. Of the 5 seats that went to polls, we are winning 4 with a huge lead and in one seat for obvious reasons, it is a very very close contest,” he said.
Lok Sabha Elections: Union minister and BJP candidate from Amethi Smriti Irani attended a public rally in Amethi.
She said, “It has been said to us that after Wayanad’s voting today, the Congress candidate will arrive here, but first he will visit Ram temple. They rejected the invitation to the Ram temple consecration ceremony, now they will go to the temple as they think that this might get them votes, which means now they will go to betray god as well…”
A senior TDP leader has said the priority of the party is to “rebuild” Andhra Pradesh and take the state out of the debt trap by getting rid of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government. Telugu Desam Party (TDP) National Coordinator (Election) and ex-Rajya Sabha MP Kanakamedal Ravindra Kumar said Andhra Pradesh has suffered more losses during the Jagan Mohan Reddy government than during the creation of the two Telugu states in 2014 when resources were shared with Telangana.
Lok Sabha Elections: Sunita Kejriwal to campaign for AAP, will hold roadshow in East Delhi today
Atishi, who is also a minister in the Delhi government, told a press conference that Sunita Kejriwal will seek votes and blessings for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) from Delhi residents. “She will campaign for the party in Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat and Haryana. She will hold her first roadshow in East Delhi on Saturday and then another roadshow in West Delhi on Sunday,” Atishi said.
At 80%, Tripura’s turnout highest; UP lowest with 55%
As per EC’s voter turnout app, Tripura accounted for maximum turnout at 79.6% while UP recorded the lowest at 54.8%. Manipur recorded the second highest turnout at 77.3%.The turnout was lower than 2019 in most of the states, with MP (six seats) recording the maximum drop by over nine percentage points this time. The turnout in MP was 58.3% compared to 67.6% last time. Similarly, it was 8.9 and 7.4 percentage points lower than 2019 in West Bengal (three seats) and UP (eight seats), respectively. Kerala recorded a drop of 7.5 percentage points. The 20 seats that went to polls on Friday recorded 70.3 % turnout compared to 77.8% in last polls. The five seats of Bihar recorded the second lowest turnout among the states at 55.7%, over 7 percentage points lower than 62.9% recorded in these seats.The drop was the lowest – just 0.6 percentage points – in Karnataka (14 of the total 28 seats), which recorded 68.4% polling compared to 69% in previous general elections. That gap is more than likely to be made up once updated figures come in.
Can NOTA be a fictional candidate? SC to study
Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine a tricky, yet interesting, issue raised by motivational speaker and author Shiv Khera – EC must treat the ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) option on EVMs as a fictional candidate, publicise its candidacy, and if NOTA gets the highest votes, then the candidates in the fray should be barred from contesting elections for five years.A bench of CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was initially reluctant to entertain Khera’s PIL saying it was squarely in the policy domain. However, it agreed to entertain the petition after senior advocate Gopal Shankaranarayanan said BJP candidate in Surat got elected unopposed as others in the fray withdrew. Had BJP nominee contested with NOTA as a fictional candidate, then people’s mandate would have been known, the counsel said.
Cong distances itself fromVVPAT pleas, but says will fight on
As SC rejected all the petitions seeking 100% cross verification of EVM votes with their voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips, Congress distanced itself saying that it was “not a party, directly or indirectly” to the pleas in SC.
Bengal BJP pick’s nomination nixed
The nomination of former IPS officer Debasish Dhar, the BJP candidate from Bengal’s Birbhum was cancelled on Friday. He claimed this was because he had not submitted “no dues certificate”, and also said the reason was “baseless”.Dhar moved Calcutta HC soon after but could not get immediate relief. His lawyers indicated they may move SC. Dhar, a 2010-batch IPS officer, had resigned from service to contest on a BJP ticket.
Surya booked for religion remark
A criminal case was registered against BJP’s Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya on Friday for allegedly seeking votes on the basis of religion. Karnataka’s chief electoral officer said in a post on X that the case was filed at Jayanagar police station under Section 123(3) of the IPC “for posting a video on his X handle and soliciting votes on grounds of religion”. Senior BJP neta CT Ravi, too, was named in a case for allegedly promoting hatred and enmity, EC said.
Pak migrants cast first vote in India
Barely 40 days after receiving their citizenship certificates from Jaisalmer district collector, five members of a Bheel family, who migrated to India from Sanghar district in Sindh province of Pakistan, cast their votes as Indian nationals for the first time in the parliamentary elections on Friday. A total 11 members of the extended Bheel family relocated to India in three batches between 2009 and 2011, fleeing persecution by local landlords in Sindh.
1 official, 4 others die during polls
F our people, including a polling officer, died in Karnataka, while one person passed away in Rajasthan during Lok Sabha elections on Friday. Yashodamma, 55, a govt school teacher deputed for election duty at Megala Gollarahatti polling booth in Chitradurga district, collapsed inside the booth. She was rushed to a govt hospital where doctors declared her dead due to cardiac arrest.Meanwhile, three voters in Karnataka and one in Rajasthan also lost their lives during voting.
Owaisi calls Ansari a ‘martyr’
Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi kicked up a row when he said on Thursday that gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who died in judicial custody on March 28, was poisoned. At public meeting in Varanasi late Thursday, Owaisi referred to Mukhtar as a “martyr”. Interestingly, AIMIM is part of PDM Nyay Morcha, a front floated by former Samajwadi Party ally Apna Dal (K) which is now contesting against SP-Congress alliance.
Telangana CM: Modi will come back to bite farmers
Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy on Friday likened PM Narendra Modi to a “cobra who will come back to bite” farmers for forcing his BJP-led govt to scrap the three farm laws in Dec 2021.Modi will not forget the “defeat”, Reddy warned at a rally for governing Congress candidate Suresh Shetkar in Zahirabad LS constituency.”Thousands of farmers fought against Modi and made him not only to retract the three laws but also compelled him to apologise to them. But he is like a ‘Kala Nagu’ (black cobra). He will hold a grudge and make farmers pay for their protests,” Revanth said.The CM claimed Modi was seeking 400 seats with the intention of attaining a two-thirds majority and getting back at the farmers by making them slaves to corporate giants.
Kerala CPM neta cosying up to BJP? ‘Friendly chat’ triggers buzz
Speculation about CPM central committee member and LDF convenor EP Jayarajan preparing to join BJP flared up on polling day in Kerala after the politician admitted to meeting the saffron party’s state in-charge Prakash Javadekar.Jayarajan said in Kannur on Friday that he didn’t discuss politics with Javadekar when they met at his son’s apartment on his grandchild’s birthday recently. “He (Javadekar) was passing through when he dropped by for a friendly chat. TG Nandakumar (the alleged middleman) was with him. Could I have asked him to get out of our house?”
You will get my vote, Uddhav tells Congress candidate
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray will, perhaps for the first time, vote for Congress, his political foe-turned-friend, a reflection of the churning Maharashtra’s polity has undergone since 2019.A day after her nomination was announced for the Mumbai North Central seat, city Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad met Thackeray on Friday in his home. Extending support to Gaikwad, Thackeray said, “Shiv Sena (UBT) is with you in this election, you will also get my vote… We are going to vote on the hand of Congress this time. In that hand is our torch. Shiv Sena’s mashaal is in the ‘hands’ of Congress. We are going to vote for it and you all will see it in the election results. Then we will blow the trumpet (the NCP-SP’s poll symbol),” Thackeray said.
NRIs fly in, line up for love of vote
Anwar Naha, 53, an expatriate working in the UAE, cast his vote at a polling booth under Ponnani Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala’s Malappuram on Friday.He had arrived in a chartered ‘vote flight’ from Dubai on Wednesday just to cast his vote. Naha said that as many as five chartered flights had been arranged from UAE alone for this election, facilitated by Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) affiliated to the IUML. Apart from that, many expats had come home through mass bookings in normal flights.
Modi brackets TMC with Congress for its silence on inheritance tax controversy
PM Narendra Modi blamed Trinamool Congress on Friday for leaving nearly 26,000 families in Bengal without a livelihood by orchestrating an alleged hiring scam that forced Calcutta HC to scrap appointments made by the School Service Commission in 2016 and order some recruits to return their salaries with interest.”Trinamool has played with the future of Bengal’s youth. Not only have they lost their source of income because of the school recruitment scam, these youth have been saddled with loans they had taken to pay Trinamool functionaries,” Modi said at a poll rally in Malda.
Temperature hovering at 40C, Phase 2 turnout touches 64.7%, against 69.4% in 2019
A turnout of 64.7% was recorded in 88 Lok Sabha constituencies across 12 states and the Union territory of J&K in the second phase of elections on Friday which was largely peaceful even as several states saw punishing heat conditions with temperature crossing 40 degrees Celsius at many places.The turnout was lower than 69.4% in 2019 in 81 of these 88 seats. The 2019 figure does not include the delimited five seats in Assam and the lone J&K seat that went to polls on Friday as well as the Outer Manipur seat where voting occurred in 15 assembly segments in the first phase.
LS polls : CM Shinde reviews preparations ongoing at Tapovan maidan for PM Modi’s rally scheduled on Saturday evening
CM Eknath Shinde on Friday late night arrived in Kolhapur city to take review ahead of the PM Narendra Modi’s public rally scheduled to take place at 5pm on Tapovan maidan in Kolhapur city on Saturday. After his arrival at Kolhapur airport at 10:30pm, CM Shinde went directly to the Tapovan maidan and took an overview of the ongoing works of erecting a massive pandal.Speaking to media, CM Shinde said, “Kolhapur is a historical city and there is enthusiasm among the people here for PM Modi’s rally. Preparations are ongoing in full swing and this will be a record breaking rally. Voters from Kolhapur and Hatkanangle Lok Sabha constituencies and supporters of PM Modi will arrive in large numbers. We are sure that due to PM Modi’s rally, both Sanjay Mandlik from Kolhapur and Dhairyasheel Mane will be victorious.
LS polls: UP records over 54 pc voting in 8 constituencies
A voter turnout of 54.83 per cent was recorded in the eight parliamentary constituencies of Uttar Pradesh where voting was held in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday, according to the latest Election Commission figures. The constituencies that went to polls in this phase are Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh and Mathura.
Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh Navdeep Rinwa told reporters, “Polling was held peacefully… no reports of any untoward incident.”
He added that in order to ensure free and fair polls, webcasting was done at 8,852 polling places and videography at 967.
The official also said that after the start of voting, a total of 48 ballot units, 48 control units and 208 VVPATs were changed by 5 pm.
According to the Voter Turnout app of the Election Commission of India (ECI), 64.02 per cent polling was recorded in Amroha, followed by 58.70 per cent in Meerut, 55.97 per cent in Baghpat, 49.65 per cent in Ghaziabad, 53.06 in Gautam Buddh Nagar, 55.79 in Bulandshahr, 56.62 per cent in Aligarh and 49.29 in Mathura.
LS polls: Man returns from Germany to cast vote in Noida
Among the lakhs of voters in Gautam Buddh Nagar, Abhik Arya, who works in Germany, made it to Noida in time to cast his vote for the Lok Sabha election on Friday. Arya, who has been living in Munich for the last seven years and works in the hospitality sector there, said he has returned home after almost 18 months and deliberately planned the trip to coincide with the election date.
A voter of Noida’s Sector 31, Arya and his sisters Abhisha (33) and Ankita (35) cast their votes at the Saraswati Balika Vidya Mandir on Friday afternoon.
“I have been living in Germany for work for the last seven years. I landed in Delhi around 7 am. When I was planning my vacation and travel home in India, I knew the elections were also around the corner so I had planned my schedule accordingly,” Arya told PTI.
“I came home today and coordinated with my sisters so that we do not miss out on voting as a responsible citizen and to keep up the positive trend and to do our bit,” Arya said.
‘Voting ended peacefully in Manipur,’ says poll official
The voting for the remaining part of the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency ended peacefully for the second phase on Friday, officials said.
Voting was held for the remaining part of the Outer Manipur parliamentary constituency on Friday.
Police used drones for surveillance in the Ukhrul district prior to the second phase. Ukhrul comes under the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha Constituency.
“Our polling station has ended the polling around 5:47 pm. Right now we are packing the VVPAT. We are getting ready to dispatch at our office,” Presiding Officer Leiyami Kasar told ANI.
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