Lok Sabha election 2024 Highlights: AIMIM extends its support to AIADMK in polls

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday said TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu ignored the handloom weavers' community during his tenure. The YSRCP chief made this observation during an interaction with the weavers' community at Mangalagiri in Guntur district as part of his 'Memanta Siddham' (we are all ready) election canvassing bus tour. "Chandrababu ignored the industry (weavers community) in his previous term, but the current government has backed them in the last five years," said Reddy, adding that Mangalagiri weavers are renowned in the Telugu speaking states for their craft.

Congress on Saturday released its second list of candidates for 9 Lok Sabha seats in the state that includes the prestigious Balasore seat where former union minister Srikant Jena would fight BJP's Pratap Sarangi and BJD's Lekhashree Samantsinghar. As per the list released by the All India Congress Committee, former union minister and veteran leader Srikant Jena will contest from Balasore Lok Sabha seat from where he had won in 2009 Lok Sabha election. The BJP has nominated former union minister Pratap Sarangi while BJD has given ticket to former vice-president of BJD, Lekhashree Samantisnghar, who quit BJP early this week. The party has so far fielded candidates for 17 of the 21 Lok sabha seats. Of the remaining 4, Congress is likely to leave Aska for CPI and Mayurbhanj for JMM. It needs to announce candidates for Sambalpur and Cuttack Lok Sabha seats. The Congress fielded NSUI state unit president Yasir Nawaz for Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency and young IITian Siddharth Swarup Das. Nawaz will face the poll battle against BJP’s sitting MP Aparajita Sarangi and BJD’s Manmath Routray, the son of veteran Congress leader and Jatni MLA Suresh Routray.

Congress in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday took objection after a video showing slogans being shouted in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP at a congregation of the Dawoodi Bohra community here went viral. It amounted to seeking votes by using religion and the Election Commision should take note of it, the opposition party demanded. But no formal complaint had been lodged yet. The video showed BJP candidate from Bhopal, Alok Sharma, saying part of his party's slogans "Modi hai to mumkin hai" and "Abki baar, 400 paar", and the audience from the Bohra community chanting the remaining part. A child is also seen holding aloft a cut-out of Modi. A cleric is also heard saying, "We value our prime minister Narendra Modi." State Congress chief spokesperson Abbas Hafeez claimed that the BJP candidate was shouting campaign slogans inside a mosque which was a gross violation of the code of conduct. "We ask the Election Commission when it is going to take cognizance and act. Is the EC's remit only limited to taking action against the opposition?"

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address his first election rally in Jammu on April 16, Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina said on Saturday. Raina said Shah is coming to garner support for BJP candidate Jugal Kishore, who is vying for his third term from the Jammu parliamentary constituency. The BJP leader said he and other party leaders visited the Manhas Mahasabha Ground in Paloura to finalise the arrangements for the home minister's rally. Praising Shah for restoring peace and stability in Jammu and Kashmir, Raina said Article 370 was a major hurdle to peace, progress and prosperity and it could be removed due to the strong leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union home minister.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's single day campaign in the state has "beaten all the election trips" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state to seek votes. Referring to the April 12 meet addressed at nearby Coimbatore by him and Gandhi, Stalin said the turnout and the rally was magnificent like the movie "Baahubali", and the "total BJP was trumped," by a single public meeting. Further, the chief minister said Gandhi's single day campaign in Tamil Nadu has "beaten all the election trips" of Modi to the state to seek votes. "Rahul Gandhi has proven that Tamil Nadu people can be won over (ruled) only through love."

Bikaner, a city in the northwest of Rajasthan, is one of the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies within the state. The constituency has remained as a BJP bastion since the year 2004 when the seat was won by actor Dharmendra. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the seat was won by Arjun Ram Meghwal, who went on to become a minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet. While the Congress struggled to secure victories in the general elections post-1999, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has consistently dominated this constituency from 2004 to 2019. Arjun Ram Meghwal, the current Member of Parliament from Bikaner, clinched victories in 2009, 2014, and 2019, solidifying Bikaner as a fortress for the BJP.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was on Saturday injured after stones were pelted by unknown persons during the YSRCP chief's election campaign in Vijayawada, his office said. The chief minister suffered a small cut on the left side of his temple above the eye during his ‘Memanta Siddham’ (we are all ready) election canvassing bus tour. "The stone struck the CM while he was acknowledging the crowds as part of his bus tour at Vivekananda School Centre in Singh Nagar, Vijayawada," said a statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).

Kicking off the party’s election campaign in Maharashtra on Saturday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi promised waiving crop loans, guaranteed fair price for agricultural produce, filling up 30 lakh vacant government jobs, ensuring educated youth get one year of apprenticeship in government or private sector with ₹one lakh annual stipend — if his party is voted to power at the Centre. He said if the INDIA bloc is elected to power, they will immediately conduct a caste census throughout the country. Additionally, women from poor sections of the society will receive ₹8,500 a month under the Mahalakshmi Yojana. Addressing a huge crowd at Sakoli in Bhandara district, the Congress leader also assured that the honorarium of women working at Anganwadis will be doubled. Sakoli is part of the Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha constituency where the Congress has fielded Dr Prashant Padole. Lashing out at the Modi government, for what he claimed, works only for some handful industrialists like Adani, he said that if the Congress-led alliance comes to power, they would focus on running the government for farmers, poor, dalits, tribals and the unemployed. He emphasizedthe importance of participation from all sections of society.

AIADMK writes to the Election Commission of India, alleging "illegal phone interception by Tamil Nadu Intelligence Wing to target Opposition leaders"; the party demands action.

Sarabjit Singh, son of Beant Singh, one of the two security guards who assassinated former PM Indira Gandhi, is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Faridkot in Punjab as an independent candidate. Sarabjit Singh will contest the elections as an independent candidate from the reserved constituency of the border state. Three singers also contesting from the same seat. While Hansraj Hans is contesting on a BJP ticket, Congress and AAP have fielded Mohammad Sadiq and Karamjit Anmol, respectively. Currently, Congress MP Mohammad Sadique is representing the seat.

No flags will be used for Rahul Gandhi's election campaign in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, KPCC acting chief M M Hassan said here on Saturday. Hassan, who is also the UDF convener, said that a decision has been taken not to use any flags of the Congress or its allies during the poll campaign of Gandhi next week in the hill constituency. However, he refused to give any reason for taking the decision. Speaking to reporters at a press conference here, the UDF convener said that there is no need to communicate to the media the reasons behind the party's decision.

The BJP will neither end reservations nor allow anyone to do it, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday and accused the Congress of spreading a misconception that the ruling party wants to abolish quota for the Dalits, tribals and backwards. "(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi himself is the biggest supporter of reservation," Shah said at an election rally in Harsoli in Rajasthan's Alwar district. He alleged that the Congress was "anti-OBC" and had put in cold storage key reports on the issue of reservation. "I want to make one thing clear. Congress party is spreading misconception, especially among Dalit and tribal brothers, that the BJP is going to abolish reservation.

The Congress on Saturday finalised the names of a few Lok Sabha candidates from Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi at a meeting of the party's Central Election Committee here. The CEC meeting for Himachal Pradesh was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal. Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri, Pradesh Congress Chief Pratibha Singh, and AICC in-charge Rajeev Shukla, were the others present in the meeting. The Haryana CEC was attended, besides the top party leaders, by PCC chief Uday Bhan, ex-CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Randeep Surjewala, and Kumari Selja. A source from the party said the name of Deepinder Singh Hooda was finalised from the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said loans of farmers will be waived if his party comes to power at the Centre. Addressing a rally in Sakoli in Maharashtra's Bhandara district, he said the main issues plaguing the people of the country were unemployment and inflation, though these were ignored by the media, which concentrated on programmes of the prime minister and celebrities. "Loans of farmers will be waived if the Congress comes to power. People are distressed due to unemployment and inflation. The situation is such that people earning just thousands and those making crores are paying the same GST," he said while attacking the NDA government at the Centre.

The Election Commission of India on Saturday suspended two more police officials found guilty of dereliction of duty in poll-bound West Tripura Parliamentary constituency. A press statement issued by the office of the Chief Electoral officer stated that after proven guilty of dereliction of duty, West Tripura Police Superintendent Dr Kiran Kumar issued a suspension order to Sub Inspector Dipankar Debnath and police Constable Bipin Sen Chakma. Both the cops have been placed under temporary suspension. It should be noted here that the total number of suspensions in the run-up to the General Elections of two parliamentary constituencies of Tripura now stood at 8.

The BJP will release its manifesto -Sankalp Patra - for the Lok Sabha polls on Sunday, with its planks of welfare and development besides a roadmap for 'viksit Bharat' expected to figure prominently in its election agenda. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders of the party are expected to attend the unveiling of the manifesto at the party headquarters that coincides with the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar, a towering leader from the Dalit community and an architect of the Indian Constitution.

In an attack on both the Congress and the BJP, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Bahujan Samajwadi party (BSP) chief Mayawati, accused the parties of failing to address the needs of marginalized communities and the middle class. Mayawati criticized both the BJP and Congress for allegedly exploiting Uttarakhand repeatedly for their gains, asserting that the time has come for the people to defeat them. Speaking at a rally in Roorkee, Mayawati asserted that Congress lost power due to discriminatory policies against Dalits and tribal communities, while BJP's promises of prosperity remained unfulfilled.

BJP candidate from Mandi Kangana Ranaut says, "...Even after Independence, the country was impacted by the Congress for 70 years...Every day a new scam, scandal...How will they (Congress govt in the state) look after you when they are unable to manage their own government."

Targetting the Bharatiya Janata Party over the "rising unemployment" in the country, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday said that even the graduates from the Indian Institute of Technology are not getting jobs under the BJP-led Centre. Addressing a public meeting in Haridwar, Priyanka Gandhi said, " There is rising unemployment in the country. PM Modi has only given unemployment to this nation. Even IIT graduates are not getting jobs under the Modi government. The Centre's scheme and policies are not employment-oriented. The government is handing over PSUs, Railways, and ports to their business friends. So basically all these jobs are going away to the corporates," Priyanka Gandhi said. Congress General Secretary further said that small-level businesses in the country are suffering due to the poor economic policies of the BJP.

The Kukis and Meitis may be at loggerheads in Manipur but their thoughts on one point converge -- this is not the right time for Lok Sabha elections in the restive state. It has nearly been a year since ethnic violence broke out between the hill-majority Kukis and the valley-majority Meitis. It has not only killed over 200 people and displaced around 50,000 but also sharply divided Manipur along ethnic lines. Elections for two Lok Sabha seats in Manipur will be held on April 19 and 26. While Inner Manipur and some segments of Outer Manipur will vote in the first phase, the remaining segments of Outer Manipur will go to polls on April 26.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Saturday said the Supreme Court upholding the abrogation of Article 370 does not close the issue and his party will keep it alive till a dispensation comes at the Centre that is willing to discuss the restoration of special status to Jammu and Kashmir. "This government will not remain forever. There is no power on earth that can keep Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi in office in perpetuity, there is no power on earth that can keep the BJP in office forever. Every government has a finite term, some are longer, some are shorter. Why would you assume that no government will come in future that will be unwilling to talk to us on Article 370," Abdullah told PTI in an interview here.

AIADMK has refused to ally with BJP and has committed to never allying with it in the future. It has also assured that it will oppose CAA, NPR & NRC. Therefore, AIMIM extends its support to AIADMK in the coming Lok Sabha elections. Our alliance will also continue for the Assembly elections

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said Congress was a problem and it has given the country problems like terrorism, naxalism, casteism, corruption and separatism. Yogi, while addressing his first rally in Uttarakhand in Haldwani of Nainital district said, "BJP believes in the solution, not problems. Congress is a problem, it has given problems to the country lifelong. Whether it is partition, terrorism, naxalism, casteism, corruption, or separatism. All these problems were given by Congress. They give so many problems that for their solution, the country got Modi's leadership. In the last 10 years, we have seen India changing.” "Could the Congress have abrogated Article 370 from Kashmir? The poison of terrorism which was seeping into the country through Article 370, has been given by Congress. The Congress gave this problem. Modi ji ended the disease forever. Could the Congress have ended Triple Talaq?," he asked.

On Himachal Pradesh CEC meeting, Congress leader Rajeev Shukla says, "In the meeting, we discussed how to win all 4 seats of Himachal Pradesh... We have decided on candidates for two seats. For the remaining two seats, the discussions will continue..."