Lok Sabha Election 2024 highlights: Priyanka Gandhi set to campaign in Rae Bareli-Amethi starting tomorrow

The BJP government will never change the Constitution or end reservation, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, accusing the Congress of creating "fear psychosis" and resorting to spreading misinformation for "vote bank" politics. In an interview to PTI, Singh blasted the Congress for spreading "canards" that the BJP will change the Constitution if it returns to power and especially asserted that there was no question of changing the Preamble of the Constitution. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been alleging that the BJP will "tear up and throw away" the Constitution if it retains power. Some other Congress functionaries had expressed apprehensions that the BJP may drop the word "secularism" from the Preamble of the Constitution.

After joining BJP, Arvinder Singh Lovely says, "I had resigned from the post of Delhi Congress President and after that, I met all my colleagues and thousands of Congress workers. All those people said that you should not sit at home and should continue fighting for the people of Delhi and the country."

Assembly elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir soon, says Rajnath Singh without giving a timeline.

On his candidature from Amethi, Congress leader KL Sharma says, "It was the decision of the party leadership because earlier it was not finalized who will contest from here... The thing is that now I will defeat Smriti Irani. This is a big statement I am making today... 'Mai koi Naukri nahi kar raha Gandhi Parivar ki'. I am a politician. I came here in 1983 through the Youth Congress. I don't take salary from Congress. I am a pure politician..."

In a counter-attack, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on May 4 termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "Shahenshah" (king of kings) who lives in a disconnected palace, hitting back at the PM’s oft-repeated "shehzada" (prince) barb aimed at her brother Rahul Gandhi. Addressing a rally in Gujarat's Banaskantha to canvass for Congress candidate Geniben Thakor, Priyanka Gandhi criticized the PM over his lavish lifestyle and alleged failure to deliver on governance. "He calls my brother 'shehzada', but I want to tell the Prime Minister that this 'shehzada' has walked 4,000 kilometres from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to listen to the problems of the people," she said, referring to Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra. Gandhi said her brother met farmers, labourers and common folk during the yatra to understand their hardships, in a swipe at PM Modi over his perceived disconnect with the masses. She also accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of failing to accomplish anything substantive in the last 10 years. "Which is why PM Modi talks about religion, buffalo thefts and Pakistan during election time instead of real issues of India," she alleged. Taking a dig at PM Modi's lifestyle, Gandhi asked, "On the other hand is your 'Shahenshah', Narendra Modiji, lives in palaces. Have you ever seen him on TV? Clean clothes with not a speck of dust, not a hair strand out of place. How will he ever understand the arduous labor of farming or relate to being crushed under the burden of rising inflation? Gandhi asked.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a double pronged attack on RJD-Congress alliance in Bihar, claiming they were resorting to appeasement policy while at the same time reminded the people about RJD's misrule in the past. Addressing a massive election rally at historic Raj Ground in Darbhanga, the Prime Minister, without taking names sought to remind the people about ‘misrule’ during the RJD-led regime. "How the kidnapping industry was running in Bihar? How the treasury of Bihar was looted through big scams? How sisters and daughters were afraid to leave their homes in the evening? How the poor were forced to register their land in the name of getting jobs?” “Today, under the leadership of Nitish ji, the NDA government is working day and night for the development of Bihar," PM Modi stated, highlighting the government's commitment to Bihar's progress. PM Modi highlighted India's remarkable progress over the past decade, citing its rise from the 11th to the 5th largest economy in the world. He praised India's resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing how the country overcame the crisis and provided leadership to the world.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met with youth affected by the Agnipath Scheme at the national capital on Saturday and alleged that the scheme was not made by the Indian Army but in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office and the National Security Advisor. 

MP Rahul Gandhi said to the youth at the event called ‘Nyay Manch (Justice Forum)’ affected by the Agnipath Scheme, "We have written in our manifesto that we will terminate the Agniveer scheme. Now your loss has occurred and you have been hurt. You had a dream of joining the army which was not fulfilled. In the same vein, my thinking is that for those 1 lakh 50 thousand youths who had dreamed of joining the army, they should be compensated."

Gandhi promised the youth that if the INDIA alliance wins the elections, they will terminate this scheme and restart the old recruitment process in the army. During this address, Rahul also gave some youths the opportunity to ask questions from the platform, to which he responded and also shared information regarding his manifesto. He also alleged that the scheme is similar to that of demonetisation where neither the Finance Minister nor the Reserve Bank of India was consulted and the entire system was bypassed.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had been frequently changing constituencies ‘for the fear of losing’ elections. Shah’s comments, at an election campaign rally in Gujarat’s Bodeli, came a day after Gandhi filed his nomination from the party stronghold of Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.

 In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi had contested from the Amethi and Wayanad seats. While he won from Wayanad, he lost the Amethi seat to Union minister Smriti Irani. 

"The Congress is fighting elections under their leader Rahul Gandhi. He lost in Amethi and went to Wayanad. Now, fearing defeat in Wayanad, he is also contesting from Rae Bareli but didn't return to Amethi. Rahul Baba, the problem is not with the seat but with you. You are going to lose Rae Bareli by a huge margin. No matter where you run, people are searching for you," said Shah. 

Shah also criticized the INDIA alliance's "rotation formula" for the prime ministerial post, urging voters not to "hand over power to a divisive party". He questioned who would become the PM if the opposition alliance wins, stating, "The BJP has a clear face - if we win, Narendra Modi will be our PM. But if the INDIA alliance wins, who will be the PM? Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray, or Rahul Gandhi?"

Home to some of the juiciest and most delectable varieties of mangoes that are joyfully sampled and marketed across the country and beyond, Malda, along with the neighbouring Murshidabad district of West Bengal, will go to polls in Phase 3 of the ongoing general elections. Four Lok Sabha segments in Bengal--Jangipur, Malda Uttar, Malda Dakshin, and Murshidabad--will poll in the third phase on May 7. River erosion, inadequate healthcare infrastructure and perennial drinking water problems are the key electoral and campaign issues going into the polling in Malda on Tuesday, next week.

Greeted by a shower of flower petals from rooftops, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an impressive road show in Kanpur on Saturday evening, infusing enthusiasm among thousands of BJP workers and people who greeted him from both sides of the road. The two-kilometre road show spanned nearly two hours and covered seven assembly segments of Kanpur and Akbarpur Lok Sabha seats. It was the first by Modi in Kanpur. Before the road show, Modi visited the Gumti Gurudwara where he bowed down before the Guru Granth Sahib. He also met a select group of people from the Sikh community. Modi landed at Chakeri airport around 6pm after which his convoy reached the gurudwara. He boarded an open vehicle bedecked with orange and yellow flowers outside the gurudwara.

The Congress' interim Delhi chief Devender Yadav on Saturday lodged a police complaint against the BJP for allegedly spreading "fake and distorted" news against the party on social media.

 In his complaint, filed at Tughlak Road police station, Yadav mentioned that repeated publication and circulation of videographic content, which is either "false, malicious or simply intended to mislead the voters" during the Lok Sabha elections, is intended to mislead the people, the party said in a statement.

 These malicious videos are all available in the public domain. These videos have been "distorted, doctored or edited" to mislead the public and the voters and also to create "enmity and hatred" between communities as the excerpts contain misleading and false content, it stated.

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday addressed a rally in Old City Srinagar urging people to vote against the revocation of J&K’s special status of August 5, 2019. 

While campaigning for the NC’s Srinagar parliamentary candidate Ruhullah Mehdi, Abdullah addressed a public meeting in Khanyar in Srinagar’s Old City.

Abdullah asked people to check who was manning the offices in the civil secretariat. 

“In secretariat, how many are Kashmiris or from Jammu, all are outsiders. DCs, police SPs- all from outside… Do we have to fight against this or not?,” he said, getting a nod from people.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya on May 5 (Sunday) as part of his campaigning for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, party sources said on Friday. During his visit, PM Modi is likely to offer prayers at Ayodhya's Ram Temple and hold a roadshow in support of BJP candidate Lallu Singh in the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency, they said.

PM Modi will arrive in Etawah at around 3 pm on May 5, and proceed to Dhaurahra Lok Sabha constituency at around 5 pm.

The fight for the Amethi Lok Sabha seat will still be a battle of prestige for the Gandhi family even though the Congress has fielded a loyalist and non-Gandhi family member Kishori Lal Sharma as its candidate. 

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi gave indications in this regard right from the time her party announced Sharma’s candidature early Friday morning. Priyanka Gandhi was present in Amethi on Friday to underline Sharma’s importance and association with the family. 

She mentioned this fact before Sharma filed her nomination papers in Amethi.

 Priyanka said she had seen KL Sharma working for the people and would work shoulder to shoulder with him. She asked people to join hands to ensure the Congress candidate’s victory.