Lok Sabha Election 2024: Congress Releases 3rd Candidate List; BJP Names K Annamalai, T Soundarajan In 3rd Candidates List

The schedule for Lok Sabha elections 2024 was announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on March 16. The poll body announced that voting for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 will take place in seven phases, starting April 19, while the counting of votes will take place on June 4.

While voting for Phase 1 will take place on April 19, polling for Phase 2 to Phase 7 will take place on: April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.

Full Schedule Here

Voting for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 will be taking in seven phases, with the first one being on April 19. Phase 2 to 7 will be on: April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.

A total of 102 constituencies from 21 states/UTs will vote in Phase 1, while 89 constituencies from 14 states/UTs will vote in the second phase. The third phase includes 94 contituencies from 12 states/UTs, 96 constituencies from 10 states/UTs will vote in the fourth phase, 49 constituencies from eight states/UTs in fifth, 57 constituencies from seven state/UTs in the sixth and 57 constituencies from eight states/UTs will vote in the last phase on June 1.

Click Here To Know Which Phase Your Constituency Will Vote In

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission (EC) against Rahul Gandhi for his "fight against a shakti" remarks at a recent rally in Mumbai, and urged the poll panel to take "stringent action" against the Congress leader and issue directions for lodging an FIR against him.

ALSO READ | ‘Shakti’ Row Explained: How Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Fight Against Shakti’ Remark Triggered A Political Storm

At a rally in Mumbai on Sunday, March 17, Rahul Gandhi had said, "We are not fighting against a political party...We are not fighting against Narendra Modi, nor are we fighting against one person. But, one face has been projected in the forefront."

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Tamil Nadu's ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (DMK) released its manifesto on Wednesday, in which the party promised to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 (CAA0), ban NEET exam and abandon the proposal of 'One Nation One Election'.

The manifesto also gave an indication that DMK would go on a battle against the ‘imposition of Hindi’. The movement against the imposition of Hindi has a pivotal role in the political history of the State that helped in strengthening the foundations of Dravidian politics in the State. Read More

With the issuance of notification, nomination process began from Wednesday for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, which will take place April in 102 seats across 21 states and Union Territories

Full Schedule Of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 1

• Date of Issue of Gazette Notification: March 20

• Last Date of Nominations: March 27

• Date for Scrutiny of Nominations: March 28

• Last Date for Withdrawal of candidatures: Match 30

• Date of Poll: April 19

• Date of Counting: June 4

• Date before which election shall be completed: June 6

Election notification for both the Lok Sabha seats in Manipur was issued on Wednesday, however, no nomination was filed on the first day, an official said.

Manipur's Lok Sabha seats are 1-Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency and 2-Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency.

While Inner Manipur covering 32 assembly segments will go to polls on April 19, Outer Manipur having 28 assembly segments will vote on April 26.

Jan Adhikar Party leader Pappu Yadav joined the Congress on Wednesday and announced the merger of his outfit. A former five-time MP from Bihar, Pappu Yadav is known for having influence in Seemanchal area of the eastern state.

Yadav is the husband of Congress Rajya Sabha MP Ranjeet Ranjan.

Pappu Yadav was accompanied by his son Sarthak Ranjan and other party leaders as he announced his decision at the AICC headquarters.

Yadav said the Congress leadership gave him respect and he was joining the party's fight against "dictatorship" in the country to help save democracy and the Constitution.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday demanded the disqualification of Mandu MLA Jai Prakash Bhai Patel as Jharkhand MLA, hours after he joined the Congress. In a letter to Assembly Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto, leader of the opposition Amar Kumar Bauri said that Patel won the Mandu assembly seat on BJP’s symbol and became a member of the fifth Jharkhand legislative assembly.

Patel is currently holding the post of whip in the party, Bauri said.

"Violating the constitutional provisions, Patel has joined the Indian National Congress in Delhi on Wednesday, which comes under the purview of anti-defection law,” Bauri, the BJP legislator from Chandankiyari, mentioned in the letter cited in a PTI report.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh was seen performing puja at his residence in Jammu on Thursday, ahead of filing his nomination from Udhampur (J&K) as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate.

Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) arrived in Karnataka’s Puttur ahead of the upcoming elections. They will be stored at the Vivekananda English Medium School in the city.

The Supreme Court will hear today a PIL against the practice of political parties promising freebies during elections, a significant move which comes weeks before the Lok Sabha elections 2024 which begin from April 19.

The PIL also seeks a direction to the Election Commission to invoke its powers to freeze the election symbols and cancel the registration of such political parties.

The plea said there should be a total ban on populist measures to gain undue political favour from voters as they violate the Constitution, and the EC should take suitable deterrent measures.

It also urged the court to declare that the promise of irrational freebies from public funds before elections unduly influences the voters, disturbs the level playing field and vitiates the purity of the poll process.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha was seen holding door-to-door campaign in Kanchanmala gram panchayat of Golaghati constituency, ahead of Lok Sabha elections.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday morning conducted searches against All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader Vijayabaskar and a Chennai-based real estate group in money laundering probe.

Vijayabaskar, a former health minister, is an AIADMK strongman from Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu. The searches against him are based on a state vigilance (DVAC) investigation of 2022 linked to an alleged case of possession of disproportionate assets, sources cited in a PTI report said.

He was earlier booked by the CBI in a "gutkha scam".

Speaking on differences between Samajwadi Party and its ally Apna Dal (K), Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput said on Wednesday: “It’s an [INDIA] alliance with several parties in it. All parties respect each other and if there is any sort of minor misunderstanding or issue, we will discuss and sort it out.”

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday moved a fresh plea in the High Court, seeking no coercive action against him in the excise policy "scam" case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued nine summons to Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case till now. Kejriwal has skipped all the summons.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the stand of the ED on the petition by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenging the summons issued to him in an excise policy-linked money laundering case.

On electoral bonds, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said: "Inflation and unemployment are breaking records of 40 years. In the electoral bonds, you are caught red-handed for getting funds from the companies where your government had been conducting raids... this is your government. You tell why SBI is running away. You (BJP) should tell the truth to the people..."

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday transferred non-cadre district magistrate and superintendents of police in some states. Additionally, the Commission has also directed for transfer of SSP Bathinda in Punjab and SP Sonitpur in Assam in view of their kinship or familial association with the elected political representatives.

Election Commission of India (ECI) issues transfer orders for non-cadre officers who are posted at leadership positions as District Magistrate (DM) and Superintendent of Police (SP) in four states namely Gujarat, Punjab, Odisha and West Bengal.

The officers to be transferred are SPs of Chhota Udaipur and Ahmedabad Rural districts in Gujarat. SSPs of Pathankot, Fazilka, Jalandhar Rural and Malerkotla districts in Punjab. DM of Dhenkanal and SPs of Deogarh and Cuttack Rural in Odisha and DM of Purba Medinipur, Jhargram, Purba Bardhaman and Birbhum districts of West Bengal.

Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi are addressing a press conference in Delhi.

Addressing a press conference, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge appealed to constitutional bodies that they should allow the party to "access bank accounts if they want free, fair polls".

"Defreeze our accounts to ensure level playing field in polls, said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

"Even under these challenges we are doing our best to maintain effectiveness of our campaign," Sonia Gandhi, who was also present at the press conference, said.

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, addressing a press conference on Thursday, said "a systematic effort is underway by the Prime Minister to cripple the Indian National Congress financially", adding that funds collected from the public are being frozen and money from their accounts is being taken away forcibly.

"However, even under these most challenging circumstances, we are doing our very best to maintain the effectiveness of our election campaign. On one hand, there is the Electoral Bond issue which has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Electoral Bonds benefitted the BJP hugely. On the other hand, the finances of the principal opposition party - the INC - are under a determined assault. This, we all believe, is unprecedented and undemocratic," Sonia Gandhi said.

On freezing of Congress accounts ahead of Lok Sabha elections, party leader Rahul Gandhi said that the idea that India is world's largest democracy "is a lie".

"This is a criminal action on the Congress party, a criminal action done by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister...So, the idea that India is a democracy is a lie. There is no democracy in India today. The idea that India is the world's largest democracy is a lie. A complete lie," Rahul Gandhi said.

Twenty per cent of India votes for us and we are not able to pay Rs 2 for anything, he said.

"It has been orchestrated to cripple us in the elections. Even if our bank accounts are unfrozen today, huge amount of debt damage has been done to Indian democracy," Rahul Gandhi said

Union Minister Jitendra Singh filed nomination paper from Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency, accompanied by wrestler Dalip Singh Rana, popularly known as 'The Great Khali'.

"We are here to support Jitendra Singh. I request every worker to work hard. If he [Jitendra Singh] wins from the Udhampur then he will raise the issue of this constituency in the Parliament....I have come from Punjab to support him; Those who have worked for the country, we can go everywhere to support them," 'The Great Khali' said.

The Election Commission of India on Thursday asked the BJP-led central government to "stop sending" 'Viksit Bharat' WhatsApp messages to the public.

The central government has recently circulated a "letter" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on messaging portal WhatsApp, telling the public about the benefits of various schemes and seeking feedback. READ MORE

Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda on Wednesday said some more big leaders of the Congress may "unconditionally" join the BJP ahead of Lok Sabha elections. "You are seeing big leaders of Congress across the country are joining the BJP as they are angry with the policies of the Grand Old Party. I think this is the reason why many Congress leaders are not ready to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections," news agency PTI quoted Devda as saying.

He said the common people do not trust Congress anymore.

"Soon some more big leaders of Congress in MP may join the BJP unconditionally as they are impressed by the working style of the BJP government," Devda said.

A little after Congress slammed the central government for freezing party accounts, BJP president JP Nadda said the Congress top leadership is "conveniently blaming their irrelevance on financial troubles".

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, along with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, slammed the BJP-led central government and PM Modi for 'systematic efforts to cripple the Congress' by freezing its accounts.

Congress on Thursday released a list of candidates for elections to the Legislative Assembly of Arunachal Pradesh.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday appointed its incharges and co-incharges for the Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh.

BJP leader Vinay Sahasrabuddhe was appointed as the party's incharge and party national secretary Vijaya Rahatkar and Parvesh Verma the co-incharges for the parliamentary polls in Rajasthan, as per a party release.

For the Lok Sabha polls in Haryana, BJP president JP Nadda has appointed Satish Punia as the incharge and Surendra Singh Nagar as the co-incharge.

BJP national general secretary Arun Singh has been appointed as the party incharge for the Lok Sabha polls in Andhra Pradesh, while party leader Siddharth Nath Singh will be the co-incharge.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), hitting back at Congress over its bank account freezing charges against the central government, said on Thursday that "if you are a defaulter, you will be treated like one"

BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said "As far as bank account freezing is concerned if you are a defaulter, you will be treated like one. The sense of entitlement that the Gandhi family had that even if we were a defaulter, provisions of the law of this country would not apply to us. The era of this kind of entitlement is now over under PM Narendra Modi..."

The State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman on Thursday filed a compliance affidavit in Supreme Court saying that all details of Electoral Bonds, including the alphanumeric numbers, have been disclosed to the Election Commission.

Union minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday submitted his nomination papers for the Udhampur-Kathua Lok Sabha constituency in Jammu and Kashmir.

The first phase of general elections in the state is scheduled for April 19.

The notification for the Udhampur-Kathua constituency, along with 102 seats in 17 states and four Union Territories, was issued on Wednesday for the first phase of polling.

BJP names K Annamalai to contest from Coimbatore, Tamilisai Soundararajan from Chennai South and L. Murugan from Nilgiris in their third list of candidates for Lok Sabha elections.

The Election Commission on Thursday released fresh data set of electoral bonds which contain alpha-numeric numbers to match their purchasers with the political parties that received the funds on their website after they received the data from SBI on the same day.

The ED team reached Arvind Kejriwal’s residence hours after Delhi High Court denied protection from “coercive action” in probe agencies cases against him in the Delhi excise policy case over which he has been summoned nine times so far.

The Enforcement Directorate arrested Arvind Kejriwal for his involvement in the Delhi Excise Policy case for alleged corruption and money laundering.

The Congress on Thursday released its third list of 56 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, fielding Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from Berhampore, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna from Gulbarga and former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde's daughter Praniti Shinde from Solapur.