Lok Sabha elections 2019 highlights- Government is ready for floor test: Kamal Nath

As the 2019 Lok Sabha elections drew to a close on Sunday evening, eight separate exit polls, conducted by different polling agencies, commissioned by different media houses, predicted that Narendra Modi was best positioned to return as India’s Prime Minister .Day after final and seventh phase of voting in Lok Sabha elections 2019, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu will be meeting his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee to hold post-poll talks in Kolkata.Follow highlights here:

9:37 pm IST

Chandrababu Naidu, along with 21 opposition parties leaders, will meet Election Commission tomorrow

Andhra Pradesh CM and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, along with 21 opposition parties leaders, will meet Election Commission tomorrow at 3 pm.

 

8:52 pm IST

The opposition stands united: Chandrababu Naidu

The opposition stands united: Chandrababu Naidu.

 

7:14 pm IST

Discussion held on possibility of forming a non-BJP government at the Centre

Discussion held on the possibility of forming a non-BJP government at the Centre comprising regional parties with Congress support : TMC sources, reports news agency PTI.

7:13 pm IST

Government is ready for floor test: Kamal Nath

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath: They (BJP) have been trying this since day 1,have proved majority at least 4 times in last 5 months.They want to do it again, we have no problem.They will try their best to disturb present govt to save themselves from getting exposed. Government is ready for floor test.

 

7:03 pm IST

Chandrababu Naidu, Mamata Banerjee decide to hold discussion with other Mahagathbandhan leaders after poll results

Chandrababu Naidu, Mamata Banerjee decide to hold detailed discussion with other Mahagathbandhan leaders after the Lok Sabha poll results are declared on May 23 : TMC sources said, reports PTI.

6:32 pm IST

Maharashtra Congress MLAs pass resolution that decision on name of the Leader of Opposition of State Assembly will be taken by Rahul Gandhi

Maharashtra Congress MLAs unanimously pass resolution that decision on name of the Leader of Opposition of State Assembly will be taken by Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil had resigned as Leader of Opposition(LoP) last month, reports news agency ANI.

6:24 pm IST

Meeting between Chandrababu Naidu and Mamata Banerjee ends

Meeting between Chandrababu Naidu and Mamata Banerjee ends.

 

5:05 pm IST

Chandrababu Naidu arrives in Kolkata to meet Mamata Banerjee

Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu arrives in Kolkata to meet chief minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee.

 

Read here: Lok Sabha elections 2019: Undaunted by exit polls, Chandrababu Naidu sets up meeting with Mamata Banerjee. He has a plan

4:32 pm IST

Devendra Fadnavis has called a state core committee meeting later today to review elections

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has called a state core committee meeting later today, at his residence, to take a review of the elections.

 

4:26 pm IST

We would probably support some party or some kind of combination: Amar Patnaik

Amar Patnaik, BJD: We would probably support some party or some kind of combination, whoever forms the government at the Centre and agrees to settle some of the unsettled and long pending issues of Odisha.

 

4:12 pm IST

Nagpur: RSS General Secretary Bhaiyaji Joshi leaves after meeting Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

RSS General Secretary Bhaiyaji Joshi leaves after meeting Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur.

 

3:20 pm IST

Kumaraswamy voices concern over vulnerability of EVMs

With most exit polls forecasting another term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP almost sweeping Karnataka in the Lok Sabha polls, chief minister H D Kumaraswamy Monday expressed concerns over the vulnerability of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Hitting out at the pollsters, the chief minister in a series of tweets alleged that the “artificially engineered” or “manufactured” Modi wave is being used by the BJP to lure regional parties well in advance to fill any shortfall after the results on May 23.

“Entire Opposition political parties had expressed concern over credibility of EVMs under PM @narendramodi’s rule. Opposition parties even knocked the doors of the Supreme Court asking for a traditional ballot paper electionsto avoid defective EVMs that are vulnerable to fraud,” Kumaraswamy said.

“World wide, even developed countries have opted for traditional polls through paper ballets. The exit poll surveys on May 19 only reiterated the serious concern of the Opposition parties on misuse of vulnerable EVMs for electoral gains by the ruling party,” he said in another tweet.

3:18 pm IST

Congress workers reject exit polls, say results will be different

Exit polls painted a grim picture for the Congress but party workers remain unfazed, asserting that the results on May 23 would not be onesided as shown projected, and their party would perform better.

Most exit polls Sunday forecast another term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with some of them projecting that BJP-led NDA will get more than 300 seats to comfortably cross the majority mark of 272 in the Lok Sabha.

Even as the atmosphere at the Congress headquarters remained sombre Monday morning, party workers rejected the exit polls and said May 23 would give results quite different from the projections.

“The exit polls are an attempt by the BJP to spread rumours and they might try to manipulate EVMs after creating such atmosphere,” said Congress worker Jagdish Sharma.

“We will perform better and win. It would not be onesided as projected. We have seen the real atmosphere at the ground and no one is believing the exit polls except the BJP,” he said.

3:14 pm IST

Rajbhar ‘shattered’ decorum of alliance dharma: BJP

Hours after Om Prakash Rajbhar was sacked from the Uttar Pradesh council of ministers, the BJP said he has shattered the decorum of alliance dharma by continuously speaking against the party despite being an ally.

Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recommended to governor immediate sacking of Rajbhar, also the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief, from his cabinet for his outbursts against senior NDA partner BJP. Governor Ram Naik accepted the recommendation and relieved Rajbhar from his post of Backward Class Welfare and Divyangjan Empowerment Minister, an official spokesperson said.

“The BJP is a party which gives full respect to its allies and honours the coalition dharma. But, it is unfortunate that our alliance partner in UP, Om Prakash Rajbhar, not just violated the decorum of alliance dharma, but shattered it. It is for this reason that the party and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were compelled to take such a strong step,” state BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey said in a statement.

2:30 pm IST

Most of exit poll agencies are pro-BJP channels: CPI

The Communist Party of India Monday sought to discredit the agencies which predicted a second term for the Narendra Modi government in their exit polls, and claimed the NDA would fall short of the majority mark.

“Most of them are pro-BJP channels; This was expected from them, this is part of the BJP’s election campaign; from the beginning till now, they are continuously with them. So, I don’t give much value for that”, CPI General Secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy told PTI.

1:43 pm IST

Exit polls not final decision, but hint at BJP’s win: Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said the exit polls are not the “final decision” but indicate that the BJP will once again come to power, riding on the development work done by the NDA government.

The senior BJP leader was speaking at the launch of a poster of ‘PM Narendra Modi’, a biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, being released this Friday.

“Exit polls are not the final decision, but are indications. But, by and large, what comes out in the exit polls also reflects in the results,” Gadkari said, replying to a query.

1:42 pm IST

BJP demands re-poll in Bengal’s violence-hit constituencies

A BJP delegation on Monday met Election Commission officials and demanded re-polling in the violence-hit constituencies of West Bengal.

“We gave the Election Commission detailed information of the violence inflicted upon our workers and reiterated our demand for re-poll in constituencies where violence occurred in seventh phase and earlier phases, particularly in West Bengal,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters

1:38 pm IST

Not bothered about exit poll results, says Stalin

A day after eight separate exit polls, conducted by different polling agencies, commissioned by different media houses, predicted that Narendra Modi was best positioned to return as India’s Prime Minister, DMK chief MK Stalin said that he wasn’t bothered about the exit poll results.

1:35 pm IST

Sabarimala issue didn’t affect polls, will win big: Kerala CM

“We are going to win big. Sabarimala issue didn’t affect polls in Kerala. All of us know who created troubles there,” said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, reported news agency ANI.

1:30 pm IST

Informed EC about violence inflicted upon BJP workers: Piyush Goyal

“We gave the Election Commission detailed information of the violence inflicted upon our workers. We reiterated our demand for re-poll for constituencies where violence occurred in 7th phase and earlier phases, particularly in West Bengal,” said Union minister Piyush Goyal, as reported by news agency ANI.

1:11 pm IST

Opposition can daydream till May 23: Ram Madhav

With opposition parties citing the example of Australia federal elections in which exit polls predictions went wrong, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Monday mocked his rivals saying they were daydreaming.

He asserted that such a situation will not arise in India and said that BJP will win a bigger mandate than what exit polls are showing.

“The Opposition can keep on dreaming day and night till May 23. By 12 pm on that day, their dream will not come true. We will wait for the exact results. But, I am confident that we will get a bigger mandate than what exit polls are showing,” Madhav told ANI.

12:55 pm IST

Entire Opposition in political ICU after exit polls: Giriraj Singh

Union Minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh on Monday said that the entire Opposition leaders slipped into oblivion after the exit polls came out on Sunday.

His jibe at the Opposition came after exit polls on television channels on Sunday projected the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to retain power at the Centre with most of the pollsters giving Prime Minister Modi a clear majority again in the 543-member Lok Sabha.

Singh’s tweet in Hindi roughly translates as, “The entire Opposition, including Mamta Banerjee and N Chandrababu Naidu, has reached ICU politically after seeing exit polls. Now after 23rd, all these people should introspect for a better future,”

However, the Opposition parties have termed the exit polls as wrong.

12:50 pm IST

Akhilesh Yadav leaves Mayawati’s residence

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav left after meeting BSP Chief Mayawati at her residence in Lucknow.

12:40 pm IST

TMC busy with post-poll calculations after exit polls

Miffed with exit poll predictions, the Trinamool Congress is busy with post-poll calculations based on reports received from the districts, a senior party leader said Monday, reported news agency PTI.

Dismissing the exit poll predictions, he said, “We do not have to worry about these exit poll reports, which in most cases do not match.

“We have our internal party report. We also have reports from districts and each and every constituency.” The TMC leadership is also in talks with various opposition parties in the country, party sources said.

12:35 pm IST

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav meets BSP supremo Mayawati

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Monday reached BSP supremo Mayawati’s residence in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow.

12:30 pm IST

Andhra CM to meet Mamata Banerjee for post-poll alliance talks

A day after meeting Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu will meet West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee here on Monday, sources said.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president will meet Banerjee as part of his efforts to unite opposition parties against the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha election results on May 23.