Elections 2024 LIVE: ‘PM Wants You To Chant Jai Shri Ram And Die Of Hunger,’ Says Rahul Gandhi

The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 or General Elections to elect members of the 18th Lok Sabha in India are expected to take place in April and May, however, the schedule for the same is yet to be announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The ruling BJP-led NDA alliance is pitched against the newly formed opposition bloc of INDIA alliance.

With curiosity increasing over the dates for the Lok Sabha elections due this year, sources indicate that the ECI top brass is heading to states for final checks and is likely to announce the poll schedule after the first week of March.

In the 2019 General Elections, the BJP-led NDA emerged victorious, securing 353 out of 543 seats. The Indian National Congress (INC) saw a marginal increase in seats but fell short of claiming the leader of the opposition status.

A comment on Sunday, March 3, made in Bihar's Patna by Rashtriya Janata Dal patriarch Lalu Yadav on Prime Minister Narendra Modi not having a family set off a massive 'Modi Ka Parivar' solidarity campaign by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its leader.

Lalu Yadav, while addressing an INDIA bloc rally in Patna on Sunday, had slammed Modi for raising the issue of dynastic politics and asked why the prime minister doesn't have a family. The RJD supremo had also asked why Modi, who calls himself a Hindu, did not shave his beard and tonsure his head after his mother's death.

Hitting back at the RJD patriarch, top BJP leaders on Monday started updating their social media bios by adding 'Modi Ka Parivar' (Modi's family). Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hit back at the jibe and, at an event in Telangana's Adilabad, asserted that 140 crore people of India are his family.

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As part of his multi-state tour that started on Monday, PM Modi will be in Telangana and Odisha today to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for multiple projects.

As per the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), On Tuesday, at around 10 AM, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation the Civil Aviation Research Organization (CARO) Centre in Telangana's Hyderabad.

At around 11 AM, PM Modi will inaugurate, dedicate and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth Rs. 6,800 crores in Sangareddy, Telangana.

At around 3:30 PM, PM Modi will inaugurate, dedicate and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth over Rs. 19,600 crores at Chandikhole, Jajpur in Odisha.

Telangana Chief Minister and Congress leader A Revanth Reddy on Monday noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is like an "elder brother" to the states and made his intentions clear that he would not like to confront the Centre, but would maintain cordial relations.

Addressing a gathering on the occasion of the PM launching or laying the foundation for Rs 56,000 crore worth of projects, Telangana CM Reddy sought Modi's cooperation to develop Telangana on the lines of Gujarat.

Reddy said Telangana with capital Hyderabad, the fifth largest city in the country, would like to contribute to PM Modi's ambitious goal of making India a USD 5 trillion economy.

After a long time, a Chief Minister of Telangana received PM Modi and shared the dais with him during an official event. BRS supremo and former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao had, on several occasions, skipped the PM's official visits to the state in the past.

"Narendra Modi ji, according to us, Prime Minister means like our elder brother. If there is support from the elder brother, only then can chief ministers take forward development works in their respective states," he said.

(with PTI inputs)

Slamming RJD patriarch Lalu Yadav over his remarks on PM Modi not having a family, BJP leader and Union minister Smriti Irani on Monday said by being 'Pradhan Sevak', PM Modi worked for the family 'India', adding that the "fodder thief" of INDI alliance should know that the country is 'Modi Ka Parivar'

"...By being 'Pradhan Sevak', he (PM Modi) worked for the family 'India'...The fodder thief of INDI alliance said that he (PM Modi) has no family, I want to tell him that, we are 'Modi's parivaar', these youths are 'Modi's parivaar'...nobody will be able to touch even a hair of that person whose family are 140 crore people of India," Smriti Irani said.

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The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 are due this year and political developments are already taking place back-to-back in the run up to the same, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government targeting a 400-mark this time and the Opposition bloc 'INDIA' hoping to stay together to take on the saffron party.

With curiousity increasing over the dates for the Lok Sabha elections due this year, sources indicate that the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) top brass is heading to states for final checks and is likely to announce the poll schedule after March 9.

As we approach the election season, we answer a few frequently asked queries over the Lok Sabha polls HERE

On PM Narendra Modi's "My country is my family" remark, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said even their "priority is the people of the country".

"We are raising their voice against inflation, unemployment, economic instabilities, and polarisation. If 140 crore Indians are his family, why has he broken their trust, why has he done injustice to them?" Jairam Ramesh told news agency ANI.

"The last 10 years have been 'anyaay kaal' for his own family. He is a democratically elected person, but his personality and his way of working is absolutely unjust. He sits there just for marketing, and rebranding, and is a self-proclaimed Vishwaguru. We respect the post of the Prime Minister but if a person demands respect, he needs to behave respectably," he said.

BJP's Lok Sabha MP from Bhopal Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur on Monday accused the media of "distorting" her comments made after she was not renominated by the party from the seat for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and refused to entertain any questions from journalists on the issue.

"Whatever we speak, you people show it in a distorted and twisted manner. I don't like such things, neither earlier nor today. From today onwards, I will not speak to the media as you people have been defaming me for the last five years (after she became an MP) to raise your TRP ratings," news agency PTI quoted Pragya Singh Thakur as saying.

The Hindutva activist was interacting with media persons, who went to her residence to seek reaction to reports in a section of media that she was denied a BJP ticket from Bhopal because certain controversial comments she made in the past may have displeased Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Thakur declined to give clarification on the reports and asked the media to refer to her video posted on Facebook after the BJP on March 2 did not renominate her from the Lok Sabha seat in the Madhya Pradesh capital.

The BJP on Saturday released its first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha election in 2024. The list includes 34 ministers who will be contesting for seats in the parliamentary polls.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to run from Varanasi, Smriti Irani will also be contesting again from Amethi. Additionally, Bansuri, the daughter of the late Sushma Swaraj, will be making her debut in electoral politics.

Click HERE for full list of BJP candidates for Lok Sabha Elections 2024

Posters saying 'Modi Ka Parivar' were seen in Delhi on Tuesday, a day after the BJP launched a massive social media campaign by putting the phrase 'Modi Ka Parivar' (Modi's family) on their bios to show solidarity with PM Modi and hit back at the Opposition for a comment on the Prime Minister "not having a family".

RJD's Lalu Yadav, while addressing an INDIA bloc rally in Patna on Sunday, had slammed Modi for raising the issue of dynastic politics and asked why the prime minister doesn't have a family. The RJD supremo had also asked why Modi, who calls himself a Hindu, did not shave his beard and tonsure his head after his mother's death.

Mahendra Gupta, a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader who unsuccessfully contested the 2023 assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, has been shot dead in the state's Chhatarpur city, police said on Monday.

Mahendra Gupta was shot in the head near a marriage garden on Sagar Road on Monday night, news agency PTI quoted Superintendent of Police Amit Sanghi as saying.

"Gupta died on the spot. The accused fled from the crime scene," the SP said.

A resident of Ishanagar town, Gupta contested the 2023 assembly polls from Bijawar seat on the BSP ticket and secured third place by getting 10,400 votes.

Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah is likely to address a rally of backward communities in Bihar's Patna on March 9, a BJP leader said on Monday. BJP MP Sangam Lal Gupta, the national general secretary of the party's OBC Morcha, said preparations are in full swing for the 'Maha Samellan' of backward and extremely backward communities in Paliganj.

The rally will be addressed by Home Minister Amit Shah," he said.

"I discussed the preparations with senior BJP leaders of Bihar today. It will be a mega event, and all party leaders of the state unit are busy finalising things," he added.

(with PTI inputs)

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is seeking re-election to the state legislative council, will file his nomination papers on Tuesday, a senior JD(U) leader said. Kumar, who heads the JD(U), will be contesting for a fourth consecutive term in the Upper House, to which he first got elected in 2006, a few months after becoming the chief minister.

The JD(U) president's current term ends in May. However, the Election Commission recently announced biennial polls for 11 seats of the Bihar Vidhan Parishad, including the one held by the CM Nitish Kumar.

Of the 11 seats, the JD(U) held four, the largest number for any single party. In view of its diminished tally in the assembly, however, the party is conceding two seats to ally BJP, which has grown numerically stronger.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who has been fielded by the BJP from the Thiruvananthapuram seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections, visited Pazhavangadi Ganapathy and Sri Padmanabhaswamy temples in the district on Tuesday morning.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has resumed his 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' from Sarangpur in Madhya Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi is on his 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', which began in the strife-torn north eastern state of Manipur, AND will culminate in Mumbai on March 20-21 after covering 6,713 kilometres across 110 districts over a period of 67 days, as per party leaders.

Asked about seat-sharing agreement between his party and the JMM in Jharkhand, Congress leader Alamgir Alam on Tuesday said there was no contention over the matter.

"There's no contention over the seat-sharing. We only aim to help more and more INDIA alliance candidates win in the polls," Congress leader Alamgir Alam said.

Launching mega projects in Telangana in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections 2024, PM Modi on Tuesday said that the 140 crore people in the country are committed towards making the nation 'viksit' (developed), adding that modern infrastructure is important for a 'Viksit Bharat'.

That's why we have allocated Rs 11 lakh crore for infrastructure in this year's budget," PM Modi said after dedicating and laying foundation stone of several development projects in Telangana's Sangareddy.

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On former Bihar chief minister and RJD patriarch Lalu Yadav's 'Parivarvaad' jibe on PM Modi, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that making such "petty statements" is not correct.

"The BJP has given a befitting reply...What PM Modi said is correct, the entire country considers him his family. So, making such petty statements is not correct - that too by a person who spent decades in politics and was a CM of the state. If such a senior leader makes such statements, it disheartens people. It is essential to maintain dignity in politics," Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Locals put "Hum Hain Modi Ka Parivar" posters outside their house in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, in a show of solidarity for the PM after RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav took a jibe saying Modi has no family.

Addressing a gathering after launching multiple projects in Telangana on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said "Modi does what he says"

"You all know that Modi does what he says. I had said that we will take India to new heights. Today, you can see that India has emerged as a new ray of hope in the entire world," said PM Modi at the public meeting in Telangana's Sangareddy.

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court has resigned amid speculation that he might be contesting the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket.

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had hit headlines in January after accused brother judge Soumen Sen of the Calcutta High Court division bench of pandering to the interests of West Bengal's ruling party Trinamool Congress (TMC) to overrule his order for a CBI probe.

Justice Gangopadhyay had in January directed the CBI to launch an investigation into alleged irregularities in the issuance of caste certificates to candidates aspiring for reserved category seats. He had passed the order on a plea by MBBS aspirant Itisha Soren alleging irregularities in the admission process for candidates belonging to the reserved categories.

The West Bengal government rushed to the division bench and imposed an interim stay on the order passed by Justice Gangopadhyay. A defiant Justice Gangopadhyay took up the matter the same day and asked the Advocate General how a stay order could have been passed without a memo of appeal and the impugned order in place.

Yesterday, Justice Gangopadhyay said he would be resigning, adding that over last two or more years, he has been dealing with "some matters, especially education matters, regarding which a huge corruption has been discovered and unearthed."

Addressing a public event in Karnataka, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda slammed the ruling Congress, saying Congress means "corruption, commission and nepotism".

"Pakistan zindabad slogans raised in Karnataka's Vidhana Soudha, CM and Deputy CM are mute spectators," BJP chief JP Nadda.

Karnataka government has become an ATM for Congress, he said, adding that the Congress government in Karnataka is corrupt and indulging in appeasement politics.

"BJP is the only party that has an ideological base," JP Nadda said in Karnataka on Tuesday.

The Election Commission of India issues direction to District Magsitrates and Superintendrents of Police in West Bengal for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, asking them to be "absolutely impartial, transparent, accessible to all parties equally."

"Absolutely Zero Tolerance to any violence in democracy. No scope for any kind intimidation/ threat to voters and candidates. Ensure transparency in giving permissions for grounds, meeting places- First In First Out Principle," said EC.

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay who resigned as a judge of Calcutta High Court on Tuesday confirmed later that he is set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

There is speculation that he might contest the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on a BJP ticket. Justice Gangopadhyay sent his resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu with copies to CJI DY Chandrachud and the Chief Justice of the Calcutta HC TS Sivagnanam, sources said.

He came to his chamber at the high court in the morning, following which the resignation letter was sent.

(with PTI inputs)

PM Modi inaugurates, dedicates to the nation and laid the foundation stone of several development projects in Odisha's Jajpur on Tuesday.

The multiple development projects are worth over Rs. 19,600 crores at.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday over unemployment in the country and said he wants the nation to chant "Jai Shri Ram and die of hunger".

He made the remarks during Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Madhya Pradesh’s Shajapur today. 

Upon his arrival, the Congress MP was greeted with chants of "Modi, Modi" and "Jai Shree Ram" by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers. 

While welcoming the slogans raised by the BJP workers, Rahul Gandhi criticised the Prime Minister saying that young jobless individuals "keep watching reels (on social media) all day long".

"The Prime Minister wants you to look at your phones all day, chant Jai Shri Ram and then die of hunger," he added.