Election 2024 News Highlights: Congress fields Raj Babbar from Gurgaon, Anand Sharma from Kangra

Former Maharashtra minister Suresh Navale has resigned from the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, claiming the CM has succumbed to the pressure from the BJP. Navale has also said he will not join any party and announced his support to NCP (SP) Beed Lok Sabha seat nominee Bajrang Sonawane. Talking to a news channel on Monday, Navale, who hails from Beed, said he resigned from the Shiv Sena on April 25.

Reacting to Congress leader P Chidambaram's remark on India's economy, Goa BJP Lok Sabha election in-charge Ashish Sood asked the Congress leader to recall the previous state of the economy and highlighted the efforts made by the BJP in uplifting it. Highlighting former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's words that "money does not grow on trees," Sood asserted that the BJP has pulled India's economy from the "fragile five" to the "top five" economies. "P Chidambaram forgets how Indian economy was. One of the top economists in the world Dr Manmohan Singh used to say that money does not grow on trees, somebody needs to remind this to P Chidambaram. PM Modi has pulled India's economy from the 'fragile five and put it in the top five'. Hence there is no need to take him (P Chidambaram) seriously."

The display unit connected to EVMs of the Komarapalayam assembly segment part of the Erode Lok Sabha constituency placed at a college here failed on Tuesday. Officials said that the CCTV cameras were functioning and recording the visuals.

On being asked about Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's candidature from Amethi and Raebareli, Union Home Minister Amit Shah says "I don't know whether they will contest elections or not but the amount of confusion shows that they lack self-confidence. The situation in Uttar Pradesh is that they have left their traditional seats and ran away..."

The Janata Dal (Secular) core committee on Tuesday recommended the suspension of its Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna from the party. Prajwal Revanna, grandson of former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president, H D Deve Gowda, finds himself embroiled in a sex tapes scandal in Karnataka. Thousands of pen drives allegedly having his sexual assault videos were circulated in Hassan, the Lok Sabha constituency, from where he was BJP-JD(S) candidate. Following the core committee meeting, the chairman of the committee said that following the meeting a recommendation has been made to national president HD Deve Gowda to suspend Prajwal. “The party has already welcomed the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that has been ordered by the state government. (In the meeting), we have decided to support the investigation completely. Since there is an allegation that there has been disrespect towards the women, we have recommended to our national president HD Deve Gowda to suspend him from the party,” said D(S) core committee chairman and senior party leader GT Devegowda.

Addressing a public gathering in Madha, Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says "Women have a huge role to play in building a Viksit Bharat. Modi has left no stone unturned to empower women. Thousands of women have joined Self Help Groups in the past 10 years. Women are contributing to the fast-paced development of villages. We have made 1 crore women Lakhpati Didis. India will soon have 3 crore Lakhpati Didis and that’s my guarantee..."

Addressing a public gathering in Madha, Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says "15 years ago, a very big leader came here to contest elections. Then he took an oath and said that he would provide water to the drought-affected areas here. But he did not fulfil his promise, and now the time has come to punish him...Be it Vidarbha or Marathwada...this sin of making people yearn for every drop of water has been going on for years. The country gave Congress a chance to rule for 60 years. In these 60 years, many countries of the world have changed completely, but Congress could not provide water to the farmers' fields...In 2014, there were about 100 irrigation projects that were stuck for decades, out of which 26 projects were from Maharashtra. Just think, what a big betrayal Congress has done to Maharashtra..."

Lok Sabha Speaker and BJP candidate from Kota, Om Birla says, "People are enthusiastic about making Narendra Modi the Prime Minister again. Welfare schemes were launched for all the poor and deprived sections, works done to bring a change in their lives... They (the opposition) have neither a candidate for the post of Prime Minister nor any policy or intention. They want to contest elections only based on lies. Prime Minister Modi clearly said that the social reservation system will not end ..."

Why waste your vote by giving it to those who are not contesting even the number of seats needed for majority in Lok Sabha, says PM Modi in Maharashtra.

I have left no stone unturned to empower women; thousands of women have joined Self Help Groups in last 10 years: PM Modi.

Addressing a public gathering in Madha, Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says "A stable government takes care of the present while keeping in mind the needs of the future. Today, we are making huge investments in railways, roadways and airways… Our annual budget for infrastructure projects is equal to Congress’ infra budget of 10 years..."

Weighing in on the controversy around an alleged fake video, purportedly showing Union Home Minister Amit Shah as claiming that the BJP stands against reservations; Chief Minister Mohan Yadav came down heavily on the Congress on Tuesday, saying it has a history of instilling 'fear' in people's minds for the sake of votes. Speaking to ANI on board a chartered flight, on the sidelines of campaigning for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, on Tuesday, CM Yadav said, "The Congress has a history of instilling fear in people's minds through unfounded claims for the sake of votes. On the issue of reservation, too, the Congress is treading the same line. It was the Congress that brought amendments to our Constitution (countering the Opposition claim that the BJP-led NDA would ring in changes to the Constitution if elected for a third term). The BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has worked to give reservation to the poor and the backward sections. We even moved the Supreme Court in the interest of reservations and social justice." Echoing PM Modi's refrain, the Madhya Pradesh CM said Rahul was eyeing a flight from Wayanad, his current Lok Sabha constituency from where he is seeking a fresh term, in the same way as he 'ran away' from Amethi (in Uttar Pradesh) after his defeat to Union Minister Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

RJD president Lalu Prasad's daughter Rohini Acharya, who is contesting the elections from Saran Lok Sabha seat as a Mahagathbandhan nominee, has movable and immovable assets worth ₹15.82 crore, according to the affidavit filed by her. Her husband has movable and immovable assets worth ₹19.86 crore. Acharya filed her nomination papers from Saran Lok Sabha seat on Monday. She was accompanied by her father, the RJD supremo, and mother, former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, brother and party heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, former state minister Tej Pratap Yadav and sister Misa Bharati.

HD Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular) on Tuesday asserted that the party will not protect his nephew Prajwal Revanna amid the controversy over the obscene video case against the Hassan MP in Karnataka. Describing it a “shameful issue”, HD Kumaraswamy told reporters, "...We are not going to protect him, we will take severe action but the government's responsibility is more. Not only as an uncle but as a common man of the country, we have to move further. I am not protecting any person. We have fought against these kinds of illegal things. This is a serious issue. Who is running the government, they have to expose the real picture and the ground reality has to be exposed by the govt and not me..."

Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday accused the Congress of spreading lies with fake videos and stressed that the Bharatiya Janata Party supports reservations of scheduled tribes (ST), scheduled castes (SC) and other backward castes (OBCs). Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, Shah said that the party and its allies will cross 100 seats in the first two phases of polling and are on course to reach their aim of bagging 400 plus seats.

A voter turnout of 16.68 per cent was recorded till 9 am at six polling stations in Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat, where repolling is underway on Tuesday, election officials said. No untoward incident was reported so far and voting, which commenced at 7 am, is underway under tight security arrangements, they said. Repolling was necessitated as unidentified persons had damaged EVMs and VVPATs before the completion of voting at four of these six polling stations on April 26, while EVM malfunctioning was reported at one polling station, and voting could not be completed at another due to "threat and intimidation by unknown miscreants", they said.

TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu has said the anti-incumbency wave coupled with failure of all institutional frameworks will ensure his party sweeps both assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra Pradesh as people have 'realised' the ruling YSR Congress has failed to live up to all its promises. The former Chief Minister who is fighting to regain power in the state, expressed confidence that the TDP-BJP-Jana Sena Party (JSP) combine will win 24 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats and 160 of the 175 assembly seats comfortably in the simultaneous elections to be held on May 13. Naidu (74) said the YSRCP came to power on the promise of getting a special status to AP but the issue has been relegated to the background as people are struggling to deal with alleged mismanagement of every government department.

Out and about for a morning stroll by the Sukhna Lake, former Union Minister and the Congress' Lok Sabha candidate from Chandigarh, Manish Tewari caught up with locals, engaged with them and also exchanged greetings as part of his campaign for the general elections on Tuesday. Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of his campaign, the senior Congress leader said, "Me and my campaign team decided to take a walk by the Sukhna Lake this morning, meeting and engaging with locals while we were at it. We received a lot of love and affection from the people here. There's a culture of fitness here in Chandigarh and we decided to be a part of it and promote physical activity in the interest of staying fit and healthy."

After the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections concluded, both the ruling and opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh have intensified their campaigns across for the third phase of polling. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have claimed that the party is going to win all 80 parliamentary seats in UP. Dimple Yadav, the wife of Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, who is contesting from the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency, known as the stronghold of the Party, on Monday dismissed the BJP's claims as a "blatant lie."

In a bid to bolster their businesses and contribute to the state's agricultural sector, Coconut growers in Gujarat are seeking governmental assistance after the Lok Sabha elections for the expansion of business. With a rich history of coconut cultivation in the region, farmers are eager to expand their operations and meet the growing demand for coconut products both locally and internationally. Recognizing the potential economic benefits, the coconut growers are advocating that political representatives should take some measures to assure subsidies for modern farming equipment, access to affordable loans, and technical training programs to enhance productivity and quality.

Repolling is underway under tight security arrangement at six polling stations in three assembly constituencies in the Outer Manipur parliamentary constituency on Monday. The re-polling which was held as voting could not be completed during the second phase of the 18th Lok Sabha Polls on April 26, began at 7am and is scheduled to conclude at 4pm. “Repolling at six polling booths was peaceful,” says an official of Chief Electoral Officer(CEO) office on Tuesday. "A voter turnout of 16.68 per cent was recorded till 9 am." A resident of Ukhrul town,84 km north of Imphal when contacted said the voters coming out in groups were seen standing in a long queue at a polling station."There is also a large-scale security personnel deployment at most of the polling booths,"he added.

The state election commissioner (SEC) Nagaland has notified the schedule of the long-due elections to the state's urban local bodies (ULB). Elections to these have last been conducted in 2004 in Nagaland and had since been marred with controversies and lawsuits on issues surrounding property tax and 33% quota for women. The fresh polls will now be conducted under the new Nagaland Municipal Act 2023 which addresses the public concerns on these issues, in particular, with 33% of seats reserved for women. On Tuesday, SEC TJ Longkumer notified that the pending polls for the state's three municipal councils and 36 town councils would be conducted on June 26 and model code of conduct (MCC) comes into operation with immediate effect.

In his inaugural address on the floor of the National Assembly (NA) following the 2024 elections, JUI-F chief and Pakistani Opposition Leader, Maulana Fazlur Rehman drew a sharp contrast with India, asserting, "India is dreaming of becoming a superpower, while we are begging to avoid bankruptcy. Who is responsible for this?" ARY News reported. 

He attributed the nation's predicament to unseen forces orchestrating decisions from behind the scenes, reducing elected officials to mere puppets. "There are powers behind the walls controlling us, and they make decisions while we are just puppets," he claimed.

With the nomination process for the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections underway, a total of nine candidates, including Shiv Sena's (UBT) leaders, Arvind Sawant and Anil Desai, filed their nominations in Mumbai on Monday. Arvind Sawant is contesting from Mumbai South, while Anil Desai is from Mumbai South Central. Sawant also submitted information about his wealth to the Election Commission through an affidavit along with his nomination form. The affidavit also mentioned information about the assets in the name of Arvind Sawant's wife, Anuya Arvind Sawant.

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday said that the manifesto of the BJP for the Lok Sabha polls has vanished without a trace after it was announced. On the other hand, Congress manifesto recieved popularity because of its welfare promises. In a post on X, P Chidambaram said, "Congress' manifesto is based on three driving principles: work, wealth and welfare. There is nothing in the BJP's manifesto that is comparable to the Congress' Manifesto. That is why PM Modi and other BJP leaders do not speak about their manifesto. The BJP's manifesto vanished without a trace. The Congress' manifesto has left a deep impression on the minds of the people and has become a talking point among millions of people of the country." Chidambaram, who heads the Congress manifesto committee, said that his party's poll document has an inclusive approach and that it only talks about the poor.