Lok Sabha Election 2024 highlights: BJP fields Annamalai, Murugan, Soundararajan from Tamil Nadu

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: Former Bihar chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi on Thursday claimed that people are thinking that due to "his proximity" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he will "definitely" be given a chance to work at the Centre, if he wins from the Gaya Lok Sabha seat.

He said that people in Gaya have expectations, as "no Lok Sabha MP from Gaya has ever become a union minister."

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: Congress releases third list of 57 candidates for Lok Sabha polls.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhupen Kumar Borah has urged the Chief Election Commissioner to take 'strict action' against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

The chief minister on March 18 had claimed that all Congress candidates will join BJP if he wishes and even if they win the elections, Borah said in a letter to the CEC, made available to the media on Thursday.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: The Congress on Thursday announced the first list of 34 candidates for the upcoming assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh, scheduled for April 19. Among the candidates are three former ministers and three women nominees, with the majority being first-time contenders.

Notably, the names of Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president and former chief minister Nabam Tuki and APCC vice-president Bosiram Siram were absent from the list.

Party insiders claimed both Tuki and Siram would contest as Lok Sabha nominees from the Arunachal West and East parliamentary constituencies, respectively.

Tuki is the sitting MLA from Sagalee constituency in Papumpare district. He had represented the seat since the last six terms.

The party is yet to unveil candidates for the two Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The third list of the ruling BJP has names for 9 seats in Tamil Nadu.

1. Chennai South - Tamilisai Soundararajan

2. Chennai Central - Vinoj P. Selvam

3. Vellore - A. C. Shanmugam

4. Krishnagiri - C. Narasimhan

5. Nilgiris (SC) - L. Murugan

6. Coimbatore - K. Annamalai

7. Perambalur - T.R.Parivendhar

8. Tirunelveli - Nainar Nagendran

9. Kanniyakumari - Pon. Radhakrishnan

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: Delhi's voter turnout in 2019 was lower than in 2014, hoping it will rise this Lok Sabha polls with outreach activities, says Chief Electoral Officer Delhi P Krishnamurthy.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: On Thursday, union minister Jitendra Singh submitted his nomination papers for the Udhampur-Kathua Lok Sabha constituency, slated for the first phase of general elections in Jammu and Kashmir on April 19.

The notification for the Udhampur-Kathua constituency was issued on Wednesday, alongside 102 seats in 17 states and four Union Territories where polls are scheduled for the first phase.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: The Congress is set to unveil its candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand post the Holi festival, according to a senior party official on Thursday.

Alamgir Alam, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, said that the opposition alliance partners under INDIA will also reveal their candidates individually.

"The announcement of Congress candidates for the Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand will occur after Holi, tentatively on March 27 or March 28," Alam informed PTI via phone from New Delhi.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: The Trinamool Congress alleged on Thursday that the transfer of four district magistrates in West Bengal by the Election Commission (EC) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections validates its claim that the BJP was influencing the poll panel after facing rejection in the previous state elections.

The EC, on Thursday, reassigned non-cadre district magistrates and police superintendents of several states, citing that the positions were intended for Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers respectively.

Among those affected were the district magistrates of Purba Medinipur, Jhargram, Purba Bardhaman, and Birbhum districts in West Bengal.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: In response to union home minister Amit Shah's comments on "parivarvaad," National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said on Thursday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not have an issue with 'parivarvaad' parties per se, but rather with parties that oppose it.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: Sonia Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of orchestrating a systematic effort to financially cripple the Congress, alleging this during a press conference on Thursday. The party, along with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, said that all its accounts were frozen, affecting not only the Congress but also democracy in India. They demanded access to their bank accounts to ensure a level playing field in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad attacks Congress: "I offer a gentle reminder to the Congress, the more you let Rahul Gandhi speak, the more ground you lose."

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: At the BJP Press Conference, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "If we summarise the press conference of Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, we can say that in the utter desperation of defeat, the Congress party has created an alibi today."

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: The Karnataka BJP president, B Y Vijayendra, accused the Congress government of prioritising "selfish" coalition politics over the drinking water needs of the state's farmers and citizens as DMK promises to halt the construction of the Mekedatu dam in their manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Vijayendra criticised the government for sacrificing the state's water requirements to appease the INDIA alliance, labelling it as a detrimental move for Karnataka's agricultural and civic sectors.

Hours after the rare joint press conference of Congress leaders over the freezing of accounts, BJP president JP says that the party is conveniently blaming their irrelevance on ‘financial troubles’.

“Congress is going to be totally rejected by the people and fearing a historic defeat, their top leadership addressed a press conference and ranted against Indian democracy and institutions,” he writes on X. “They are conveniently blaming their irrelevance on ‘financial troubles’. In reality, their bankruptcy is moral and intellectual, not financial.”

The Election Commission of India has directed the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) to immediately halt the delivery of “Viksit Bharat” messages over WhatsApp. It has also sought a compliance report on the matter from the IT ministry.

The poll body said it received several complaints of messages highlighting the government’s initiatives being delivered on the phones of citizens despite the announcement of the general elections and Model Code of Conduct (MCC) coming into action.

Amid suspense over who the Congress will field from Uttar Pradesh's prestigious Amethi, Raebareli, and Varanasi seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the grand old party has deliberated upon some names to give ticket to from these parliamentary segments.

Under an agreement with the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Congress will fight on 17 constituencies, while the rest will be with the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP. Check the names here.

Addressing a rare joint press conference with party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi said there has been a “systematic effort” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “cripple” the Congress financially.

"The issue we are taking up today is extremely serious. The issue affects not just the Indian National Congress but the democracy itself. A systematic effort is underway by the Prime Minister to cripple the Indian National Congress financially," Sonia Gandhi said.

The former Congress president pointed out that on one hand, there is an electoral bonds issue and on the other, the finances of the principal opposition party are under assault. Read more.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: "This is not freezing of Congress party's bank accounts, this is the freezing of Indian democracy. As the biggest opposition party, we are unable to take any action - we can't book advertisements or send our leaders anywhere. This is an assault on democracy," said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a press conference on Thursday, as quoted by news agency ANI.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live: "...All our bank accounts have been frozen. We can do no campaign work, we cannot support our workers, we cannot support our candidates...This has been done two months before the election campaign. One notice comes from the 90s, another from 6-7 years ago. Quantum amount ₹14 Lakhs and punishment - our entire financial identity...EC has not even said anything...Already, our ability to fight elections has been damaged, we have already lost a month," said Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in a press conference on Thursday, reported news agency ANI.

"...This issue affects not just Congress, it impacts our democracy itself most fundamentally. A systematic effort is underway by the Prime Minister to cripple the Indian National Congress financially. Funds collected from the public are being frozen and money from our accounts is being taken away forcibly. However, even under these most challenging circumstances, we are doing our very best to maintain the effectiveness of our election campaign. On one hand, there is the Electoral Bond issue which has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Electoral Bonds benefitted the BJP hugely. On the other hand, the finances of the principal opposition party - the INC - are under a determined assault. This, we all believe, is unprecedented and undemocratic," said Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in a press conference on Thursday.

On Thursday, while addressing a joint press conference along side party leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP government of freezing its bank accounts ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

"Supreme Court called Electoral Bonds illegal and unconstitutional. Under that scheme, the present ruling party filled its accounts with thousands and crores of Rupees. On the other hand, under a conspiracy, the bank account of the main opposition party has been frozen. So that, in the absence of funds there is no level-playing field in contesting the elections. This is a dangerous game by the ruling party which will have a far-reaching impact. If democracy in this country has to be saved, there has to be a level-playing ground...," said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as quoted by news agency ANI.

"I don't want to mention how the BJP took money from some companies. As SC is probing the matter, I hope the truth will be before us soon. I appeal to the Constitutional institutions that if they want free and fair elections, then they should allow us to freely access our bank accounts. No political party comes under the purview of income tax...," said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as quoted by news agency ANI.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will address a press conference today, party's spokesperson Pawan Khera posts on X.