BJP Lok Sabha candidates list highlights: Kangana, Ramayana-fame Arun Govil get seats

BJP Lok Sabha candidates list LIVE: Abhijit Gangopadhyay secures BJP Lok Sabha ticket from Tamluk constituency of West Bengal, mere days after stepping down as Calcutta HC judge.

BJP Lok Sabha candidates list LIVE: Arun Govil, known for his role as Ram in the serial Ramayana, is the BJP candidate from Meerut.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: After an uproar over the candidature, Congress replaced Sunil Sharma with Pratap Singh Khachariyawas from the Jaipur Lok Sabha constituency.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Kanpur Lok Sabha seat Satyadev Pachauri on Sunday expressed unwillingness in fighting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and conveyed the same to party's national president JP Nadda.

"It is a humble request to you that at present I am not willing to contest on the Kanpur seat in 2024-Lok Sabha elections," Pachauri said in a letter addressed to Nadda.

"Thus my name should not be discussed. I am a faithful worker of the party and will continue to do the work given by the party," he added in the letter in Hindi.

The Samajwadi Party on Sunday renominated its Lok Sabha MP from Moradabad S T Hasan from the same seat and changed its Bijnor candidate by fielding Deepak Saini, the son of a party MLA, the party wrote on X.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: Former chief minister Harish Rawat gave his support for Congress candidate Virender Rawat for the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat on Sunday. He said that Virender Rawat was nominated not because he is his son, but due to his commendable track record as a devoted party worker.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: In an attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for allegedly infringing on their "language rights," DMK leader and Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said, “How many times did PM Modi come to Tamil Nadu in these ten years? Whenever he comes, he talks about Tamil pride and Thirukkural. But they have taken away our language rights.”

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai, once again nominated as the party's candidate from Varanasi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said on Sunday the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections would witness a direct contest between the INDIA bloc and the NDA.

He added that the theme of "local versus outsider" would prominently feature in the polls for the Varanasi seat.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: Two YSRCP MLAs, Vunnamatla Eliza and V Varaprasad Rao, resigned from the ruling party on Sunday after being denied tickets for the upcoming assembly polls. Eliza (63), who represents the Chintalpudi assembly constituency, joined the Congress party in the presence of Y S Sharmila Reddy, President of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC). Meanwhile, Varaprasad Rao opted to leave the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led party and joined the BJP in New Delhi after being denied a ticket for the assembly election.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: Despite Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's change of stance and Mamata Banerjee's independent seat-announcing, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh expressed confidence in the opposition's ability to surpass the halfway mark of 272 in the elections and remove the BJP from power.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: BRS candidate T Padma Rao expressed confidence in his victory after he was named as party's candidate from Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat. “I have full faith that I will win. I am not here for a few days but for 35 years,” he said.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: "Like all other parts of the country, in Assam too, our star campaigner is Prime Minister Narendra Modi. People of northeast love, respect and get inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Other BJP stalwarts of our party including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, JP Nadda, Nitin Gadkari, they are always our star campaigner in Assam," BJP MP Pabitra Margherita said while speaking to ANI.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: The BRS fielded former minister and legislator Theegulla Padma Rao Goud from the Secunderabad seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Telangana. The decision came after the party's legislators, and other people's representatives unanimously approved Padma Rao Goud as the candidate after a meeting.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: In an attack on the leaders of the INDIA bloc, union minister Anurag Thakur claimed that while the opposition leaders were busy ‘abusing’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his prestige continued to grow globally in the last ten years.

"... Initially you wanted to do 'tukde tukde' of the country and now you want to do the same to PM Narendra Modi. First, they would go and stand with the 'tukde tukde' gang, now they include those advocating 'tukde tukde' into their gang...," the Minister for Information and Broadcasting said.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: Quota activist Manoj Jarange on Sunday appealed to the Maratha community to choose candidates for contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as independents before March 30.

The Maratha community holds sway over 17-18 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra, he claimed.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: The BSP on Sunday formally declared its list of candidates for 16 of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls.

The party in-charges in some districts had earlier declared candidates at district level.

The Mayawati-led party has fielded Majid Ali from Saharanpur, Shripal Singh from Kairana, Dara Singh Prajapati from Muzaffarnagar, Vijyendra Singh from Bijnor, Surendra Pal Singh from Nagina (SC seat) and Mohammad Irfan Saifi from Moradabad.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: “I express my gratitude to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar for giving me this opportunity to contest from Munger constituency again...The work that has been done by Nitish Kumar is discussed not only in the village but in every house in Bihar. The opposition party can pick anyone as a candidate from that very constituency (Munger), I don't have to do anything with that, nor do I want to make any comment on the same...”, JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan said.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued directions to take disciplinary action against Amardeep Singh Thind, PCS, Assistant Returning Officer cum-SDM of Amloh, who has been absent from election duty during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024.

The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Punjab, Sibin C said that in place of Amardeep Singh Thind, the Commission has appointed Karandeep Singh, PCS as Assistant Returning Officer cum-SDM of Amloh to ensure the smooth conduct of the election process.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: Asserting confidence in the BJP's chances for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, Sukanta Majumdar, the state president, stated that if the saffron party secures just one more seat than the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, the current government won't last its full term until 2026.

Majumdar emphasized that for the Bengal BJP, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) holds a significance similar to that of the Ram Mandir issue for the central unit, suggesting that the Act will greatly bolster the party's electoral success in the state.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: On Sunday, Congress leader Choudhary Lal Singh accused the Democratic Progressive Azad Party of prioritizing the fielding of former minister G M Saroori over founder Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Udhampur constituency. Singh argued that this decision reflects the party's aim not to secure victory but to fragment the opposition's votes. Singh, aged 65, who recently returned to the Congress, is contesting against Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who is vying for his third consecutive term in the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: JD(U) has released the names of its 16 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections. Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh will contest from Munger whereas Lovely Anand will contest from Sheohar.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: After sewing up a seat-sharing deal with the BJP, the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK) on Sunday unveiled its candidates for the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections.

The AMMK will contest two seats in the DMK-ruled southern state, as part of a seat-sharing deal with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: YSRCP leader Varaprasad Rao Velagapalli joined the BJP in the presence of party General Secretary Vinod Tawde and Union Minister Anurag Thakur.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: Former Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal (Retd.) RKS Bhadauria joined BJP in the presence of party General Secretary Vinod Tawde and Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday ahead of Lok Sabha polls

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: "The alliance was made with good intentions," the Sena (UBT) leader said.

"Ambedkar should have discussed with Thackeray before making such an announcement. It is one-sided and unfortunate," Raut said, adding that the VBA chief, Prakash Ambedkar should reconsider his decision.