Lok Sabha Polls: 2024 Election Is Rahul VS Modi, Says Shah; BJP Is Insecure Claims Chavan | Highlights

The schedule for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 was announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on March 16. The voting for Lok Sabha elections 2024 is taking place in seven phases and started on April 19. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.

Voting for Phase 1 took place on April 19, second phase on April 26 and third phase on May 7. Polling for Phase 4 to Phase 7 will take place on: May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.

• Phase 1/April 19 - 21 states/UTs - 102 constituencies

• Phase 2/April 26 - 13 states/UTs - 88 constituencies

• Phase 3/May 7 - 12 states/UTs - 12 constituencies

• Phase 4/May 13 - 10 states/UTs - 96 constituencies

• Phase 5/May 20 - 8 states/UTs - 49 constituencies

• Phase 6/May 25 - 7 states/UTs - 57 constituencies

• Phase 7/June 1 -  8 states/UTs - 57 constituencies

Lok Sabha Elections Full Schedule Here

In what appeared to be a change in the narrative on the 'Ambani-Adani' issue, which was until now used by the Congress to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government at the Centre, PM Modi on Wednesday asked why the Congress to explain to people why it has stopped raising the issue as its 'Shehzada' [Rahul Gandhi] used to do for the past five years and asked if it has struck a 'sauda' [deal].

In response, Rahul Gandhi dared PM Modi to hold a probe by the CBI or ED into whether businessmen Adani and Ambani sent black money to his party and taunted if Modi was speaking from his "personal experience" that they send their "money in a tempo".

The main parties contesting in the Lok Sabha elections are, needless to say, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which leads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) currently in power at the Centre.

Attempting to take on the BJP are several parties, a couple of which have united under a bloc they have named 'INDIA' - The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.

'INDIA' bloc is a multi-party political alliance of 41 parties, led by India's largest opposition party the Indian National Congress.

ALSO READ | Amid 'Hate Speech' Backlash, PM Modi Repeats 'Snatch Property' Charge On Cong

Polling for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 will begin at 7 am in all phases. The Lok Sabha elections 2024 are taking place in seven phases. The first phase took place on April 19, second on April 26 and third on May 7. Phase 4 to 7 will take place on: May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.

Responding to PM Modi's question of why Rahul Gandhi has "stopped abusing" Ambani and Adani in his attacks, the latter on Wednesday released a video message, daring the Prime Minister to hold a probe by the CBI or ED into whether the businessmen sent black money to his party.

Rahul Gandhi taunted if Modi was speaking from his "personal experience" that they send their "money in a tempo". He also asked Modi if he was "scared".

PM Modi had in a rally on Wednesday asked Rahul Gandhi why he had stopped "abusing" Adani and Ambani in his attacks and whether his party received money from them in return.

"Modi ji, are you a little scared? Normally you talk about Adani and Ambani behind closed doors, but for the first time you have talked about Adani and Ambani in public," Gandhi said in the video message.

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A voter can check the EPIC number on their Voter ID card to find out which polling booth they are supposed to vote at.

What is EPIC number

The Election Photo ID Card (EPIC), also known as the Voter ID card, has a unique 10-digit alpha-numeric code which is assigned by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The number is a proof that you are a registered voter.

On any Voter ID card, the EPIC code is on the front. One can also get the EPIC number from the National Voters' Service Portal (NVSP).

How to find EPIC number online?

• Open the official NVSP portal.

• Under ‘Services’, click on ‘Search in Electoral Roll'.

• Select ‘Search by Details’ or ‘Search by Mobile’.

• Fill the required details in to see the EPIC code.

How To Find Polling Booth With EPIC Number

• Visit electoralsearch.eci.gov.in.

• Enter the EPIC code, state, captcha code, and click ‘Search.’

• The booth details will be displayed on the screen of your device.

With the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 taking place, the Election Commission of India has issued voter slips and sent them to the houses of the eligible voters. However, not all eligible voters have received their voter slips.

With several voters yet to receive their voter slips, a common question arises - can I still cast a vote in the elections without a slip?

The answer is YES. Eligible voters can vote without the slips if their name is mentioned on the electoral roll.

Voters can check whether their name is mentioned on the electoral roll on the official website of the Election Commission of India - electoralsearch.eci.gov.in.

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Leaders of the opposition alliance 'INDIA' are likely to meet the Election Commission on Friday over their demand to promptly release the absolute voter turnout figures of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections after each phase, sources said.

While the sources had earlier said that the meeting was scheduled for Thursday, it was later changed to Friday, according to a news agency PTI report.

The opposition leaders will also raise the issue of alleged "use of religious symbols" by the BJP in its campaign, the sources added.

INDIA bloc parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), have written to the poll panel separately so far, expressing concern over the alleged "delay" in the release of the voter turnout data in the first two phases.

Sam Pitroda has decided to step down as the Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress. As per Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, Pitroda decided to step down " at his own accord". His resignation has also been accepted by Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

Sam Pitroda's resignation comes after a huge row erupted due to his remarks which were termed "racist" by the BJP.

Sam Pitroda on Wednesday triggered row as he compared the appearance of Indians from different parts of the nation to that of Chinese, Arabs, Whites and Africans while talking about diversity.

ALSO READ | 'People In South Look Like Africans...': Sam Pitroda's Description Of How Indians Look Stirs Row, PM Modi Reacts

Giving an online interview to a news portal, Sam Pitroda said described India as a "diverse country" where "people in the East look like Chinese, people on West look like Arab, people on North look like maybe White and people in South look like Africa".

The remarks led to reactions by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Addressing a public gathering in Telangana's Warangal on Tuesday, PM Modi the country will "not tolerate the disrespect on the basis of their skin colour".

The third phase of the Lok Sabha elections that took place on May 7 concluded with a voter turnout of approximately 64.58 per cent, according to the Election Commission.

Voting took place across 11 states and Union Territories, with Assam recording the highest turnout at 81.71 per cent and Uttar Pradesh the lowest at 57.34 per cent.

The phase had many bigwigs in the fray including Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia among others.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge were among the prominent figures who cast their votes, alongside Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was also a contestant. READ MORE

India's mega Lok Sabha elections 2024 commenced April 19 with the first of the seven phases of voting taking place to elect the 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha and decide whether the Narendra Modi-led NDA government will come to power at the Centre for a consecutive third term or if the Opposition, which has united under a bloc called 'INDIA',  will remove the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led dispensation from the central government position.

The Lok Sabha elections are taking place in seven phases - April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes scheduled for June 4. READ FULL STORY

The political arena in Haryana heated up on Tuesday after Three Independent MLAs withdrew support to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in the state and announced they would back the Congress, reducing the CM Nayab Singh Saini cabinet to a minority in the assembly.

The BJP government in Haryana, which has the support of two other Independents, is now two short of the majority mark in the 90-member House which has a current strength of 88. READ FULL STORY HERE

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday accused the BJP of "hatching a conspiracy" to snatch school jobs and said she is now relieved that the Supreme Court has stayed the Calcutta High Court order cancelling nearly 26,000 jobs.

Speaking at back-to-back election rallies in Hooghly district, Mamata Banerjee alleged to derive political dividends, the BJP hatched a ‘sinister conspiracy’ that led to so many people losing jobs.

"The BJP snatched away the jobs of school teachers in West Bengal. They had hatched a conspiracy to take away those jobs. The party is now saying they will help those who lost their jobs. Because of elections, the Prime Minister is saying he is with those who lost their jobs. It is the BJP who was part of the court case that took away the jobs. Now they are making false promises,” the TMC supremo said.

The BJP in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday hit out at Congress for appealing voters to exercise NOTA option and said it was an attack on democracy, while a councillor of the saffron party in Indore removed a poster stuck on an autorickshaw advocating the same.

Councillor Sandhya Yadav's act prompted Congress to approach the Election Commission (EC) and lodged a complaint against her.

Elsewhere, state BJP chief V D Sharma said that instigating people to press `None Of The Above' (NOTA) button was a crime in democracy.

The opposition Congress received a jolt in Indore after its candidate Akshay Kumar Bam withdrew his nomination on April 29, the last date for the withdrawal of nominations for the Lok Sabha elections.

Bam later joined the BJP, prompting the Congress to appeal the people to press NOTA during the polling in Indore on May 13 to teach the saffron party a lesson.

(via PTI)

Even as political parties continue to introduce welfare schemes and make grand promises that are exclusively catered for women, they only constituted around eight per cent of the total candidates in the fray for the first three phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. 

There were 135 women candidates in the first phase of elections, 100 in the second phase and 123 in the third – bringing the total to 358 out of 4,162 candidates – 8.6 per cent. The ongoing general elections come just over seven months after the Indian Parliament passed the historic and long-awaited women’s reservation bill or Nari Shakti Vandan Abhiniyam, that paved the way for the reservation of one-third of legislative seats for women. Yet, major political parties, barring the AIMIM, that overwhelmingly backed the idea of giving more representation to women, are still lagging behind in giving tickets to women. READ FULL STORY

Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai said the Congress had defamed industrialists in the country and "Ambani-Adani" was a dirty word for the party.

Annamalai's remarks come after Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress of having a "deal" with businessmen "Ambani and Adani", asking whether the party took "bags of cash" from them to stop raising the issue in the election season.

In an interview with India Today, Annamalai said, "Congress has been running a narrative against industrialists since 2019. What the Prime Minister meant to say was that now you tell us how much money you have taken from the industrialists you have been vilifying for so long."

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was seen helping an accident victim at Ghogol Margao yesterday.

Union minister Ramdas Athawale has moved Election Commission over Rahul Gandhi's 'change in Constitution' claim. Rahul Gandhi has claimed that the BJP is aiming 400-plus seats in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 to be able to "Change the Constitution".

Amravati MP and BJP candidate from the constituency, Navnit Ravi Rana, said in gathering in Telangana's Hyderabad that: "...If you vote for AIMIM and Congress, it goes directly to Pakistan. The kind of 'AIMIM prem' and 'Rahul prem' that Pakistan is showing - that defeat Modi and make Rahul win."

"Just like the Congress government governed the country on the signals of Pakistan, the same Pakistan is today saying that they love Congress and AIMIM...," She said.

To ensure maximum participation of eligible voters and include even the remotest areas in world's largest democratic exercise, the Lok Sabha elections 2024 in India, the Election Commission travelled through tough terrains and braved adverse weather. Check out our web story which gives a glimpse of off-roading by EC this general elections.

BSP leader and party chief Mayawati's successor, Akash Anand, was removed as the National Coordinator of BSP and Mayawati's successor on May 7. Replying to the same, Akash Anand on Thursday said in an X post: "BSP chief Mayawati you are an ideal for the entire Bahujan Samaj, crores of countrymen worship you...You are our universally accepted leader. Your orders are our obedience. I will continue to fight for Bhim Mission and my society till my last breath".

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has lodged complaint with Election Commission of India against BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari and others, alleging BJP leaders' confession on camera that Sandeshkhali's rape accusations were concocted.

A viral video of a 'sting operation' shows a man, claiming to be a BJP mandal president in Sandeshkhali, saying the Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, had asked him and other BJP leaders of the area to "instigate three-four local women to level allegations of rape against three TMC leaders, including Shajahan Sheikh".

Both Adhikari and the BJP have dubbed the video as "fake".

TMC has accused BJP of "hatching a conspiracy" to defame the state government.

BJP's Lok Sabha poll campaign is set to gather steam in the coming days with Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to hold two rallies in the national capital after May 15, party leaders said on Tuesday. Delhi will go to polls on May 25, the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024.

PM Modi leads the BJP's star campaigners list for Delhi along with party president JP Nadda, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and several BJP chief ministers, including Yogi Adityanath.

"The exact date and venue of the prime minister's rallies likely to be held in the trans-Yamuna area and West Delhi constituency, are yet to be confirmed but he may possibly campaign in the city between May 18-22," news agency PTI quoted a senior Delhi BJP leader as saying.

The Arunachal BJP unit on Tuesday expelled 27 disgruntled party leaders who contested the April 19 elections in the state against the party's official candidates after being denied tickets.

Party’s state disciplinary action committee chairman Tarh Tarak said the leaders have been expelled for six years.

The expelled politicians had contested on the tickets of the National People’s Party which Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma heads, the Nationalist Congress Party, the People’s Party of Arunachal and as independent candidates. READ FULL STORY

A few days back during an interview, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he has ‘zero tolerance’ for the people like Prajwal Revanna, the current MP and NDA candidate from Hassan constituency of Karnataka. The grandson of the former PM and the JD(S) chief Deve Gowda, is facing allegation of sexually harassing multiple women. The videos of women as came out just before the state goes for its final phase of polls, it ensued political mudslinging.

 While the senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a scathing attack to PM Modi wrote that he campaigned for a ‘mass rapist’, the PM responded by saying that it was responsibility of Congress government in Karnataka as it is a ‘law and order issue’. However, Revanna has absconded to Germany in a diplomatic passport. Oppositions are of the opinion that the BJP was well aware of Revanna’s alleged criminal activities before they gave ticket to him. READ FULL REPORT

On the Haryana government crisis, leader of former BJP ally JJP, Dushyant Chautala said, "...The government that was formed two months back is now in the minority because two of the MLAs who supported them - one from the BJP and the other an Independent MLA - have resigned."

"Three Independent MLAs who were supporting them have withdrawn their support and have written to the Governor. JJP has clearly said that if a No Confidence Motion is brought against this Government, we will support the Motion."

"We have also written to the Governor about it...Now, Congress has to take this step (seeking a Floor Test)...The Governor has the power to order a Floor Test to see if the Government has the strength and if it doesn't have the majority immediately implement President's Rule in the state," he said.

On being asked about his role in active politics, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's husband Robert Vadra said "I meet a lot of people across the country and whenever I visit Amethi, Raebareli or Moradabad, people think I should take part in active politics...My relations with the people of Amethi and Raebareli have been strong and they think that their MP used my name in a wrong way by showing my picture with Adani."

"I am a member of the Gandhi family and people from across the world want to meet us. I have met Barrack Obama and Nelson Mandela. I challenged Smriti Irani that I have a lot of information about you but I didn't say anything wrong. I told her to prove anything against me regarding Adani but she did not reply..."

BJP's Raebareli candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh accused the Gandhi family of harbouring "hatred" for Raebareli-Amethi, and asked why they did not field a local leader but opted for "Priyanka Gandhi's clerk" to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Amethi.

Singh, who is taking on Rahul Gandhi in a high-profile electoral contest here, also claimed that the Gandhi scion will lose by a bigger margin than his mother Sonia Gandhi had won in the 2019 polls.

Sonia Gandhi had beaten Singh in 2019 by over 1,67,000 votes. However, this was the lowest margin of victory that Sonia Gandhi has had in the five elections, including a bypoll, that she has fought from the constituency.

Chhattisgarh has recorded an overall voter turnout of 72.8 per cent in elections to the 11 Lok Sabha seats, according to poll officials, registering an increase of 1.31 per cent from the 2019 figure.

Polling in the 11 Lok Sabha seats of the state was held in three phases - on April 19, April 26 and May 7.

"The overall voter turnout in the 11 Lok Sabha seats is 72.8 per cent. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the turnout stood at 71.49 per cent," state's Chief Electoral Officer Reena Babasaheb Kangale said on Thursday.

(via PTI)

The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday ordered repolling at four booths in Madhya Pradesh's Betul Lok Sabha seat on May 10 after electronic voting machines were damaged when a bus ferrying them and polling personnel post-voting caught fire, an official said.

The bus was ferrying election staffers and electronic voting machines after polling in the Betul Lok Sabha seat during the day when it caught fire on Tuesday at around 11 pm near Gola village, causing damage to a few EVMs, he said.

However, no one was injured in the incident, Betul Collector Narendra Suryavanshi told PTI earlier.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (bsp) on Thursday announced two more candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. This is the 14th list of candidates declared by the BSP.

In a statement here, the party said Shubh Narayan Chauhan was its candidate from the Kushinagar Lok Sabha seat and Sandesh Yadav has been fielded from the Deoria Lok Sabha seat.

Kushinagar and Deoria will go to polls in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections on June 1.

A day after Congress' Sam Pitroda stoked controversy by describing facial features of Indians with Africans, Arabs, Whites etc., Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday demanded that Congress should apologise to the country.

Speaking to ANI, Yogi Adityanath took a jibe at Congress and also held the party responsible for the 1947 partition. Yogi said,

"Sam Pitroda is Congress' 'buddhidata' and he is displaying the party's policy of divide and rule. Congress is responsible for the partition in 1947, it is responsible for the horrors of partition. Even after the independence, it has committed the sin of dividing the country in the name of caste, region, and language," UP CM Yogi Adityanath said.

"Sam Pitroda's remark is highly condemnable. Congress party should apologise to the country for the things it is making Sam Pitroda say," he said.

Sam Pitroda was Indian Overseas Congress in charge and stepped down from the post on Wednesday amid backlash over his remarks.

In every Himachal Pradesh election, a significantly higher number of women, as compared to men, voted for the parties boosting their chances to the power. Yet when it comes to giving women a chance to join the fight, not many parties see them potential winners.

Women have played a remarkable role in the development, agriculture, rural economy and environment preservation in the hill state. Despite that they don’t find preference over men while candidatures for elections are decided. They unfortunately never have been a choice for key positions in the governance, policy levels, and political parties. READ FULL STORY

Finance Minister and BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday alleged that Jharkhand was bearing the brunt of rampant corruption, migration and lawlessness, and a change in governance was the need of the hour in the state.

Sitharaman, speaking at an event in Ranchi, also said that allegations of step-motherly treatment towards Jharkhand were baseless.

Eastern India can become the engine of growth for the country with the restoration of industries, she said.

(via PTI)

Addressing an election rally in Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "PM Modi brought the Agniveer scheme. What is it? It recruits people in the Army but only for four years. After four years, they again become unemployed."

She added: On every stage, the BJP government has worked to weaken the poor, farmers, ordinary people."

Addressing an election rally in Telangana, Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah said the 2024 election is Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi.

He said this "election is vote for development against vote for jihad"

Here's What Else Amit Shah said

"This election is a choice between Modi's 'Bharatiya guarantee' and Rahul Gandhi's Chinese guarantee"

"Congress, BRS, AIMIM don't allow celebration of Hyderabad Liberation Day; want to run state on Sharia and Quran"

One of the three women from West Bengal's Sandeshkhali, whose rape complaints against Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders had stirred unrest in the North 24 Parganas district town, backtracked on Wednesday and withdrew her complaint.

The woman claimed she hadn't been assaulted and accused local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members of coercing her into signing a blank paper and complaining to the police, The Times of India reported.

This development comes amid a viral video of a 'sting operation' doing the rounds, showing a man, claiming to be a BJP mandal president in Sandeshkhali, saying the Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, had asked him and other BJP leaders of the area to "instigate three-four local women to level allegations of rape against three TMC leaders, including Shajahan Sheikh".

Both Adhikari and the BJP have dubbed the video as "fake". TMC has accused BJP of "hatching a conspiracy" to defame the state government. READ FULL STORY

Addressing a public meeting in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said, "Half of the election is over... One voice is resonating in the whole country, 'Phir Ek Baar, Modi Sarkar'... The public says that they will bring back those who have brought Lord Ram... A so-called intellectual of Congress said that the construction of Ram Mandir was unnecessary. He is an advisor to Rahul Gandhi..."

Pitted against BJP's Kangana Ranaut, Himachal Pradesh Public works minister and Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh on Thursday filed his nomination papers from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat.

Singh was accompanied by his mother and the state Congress chief Pratibha Singh, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Congress Working Committee member and in-charge Himachal, Rajiv Shukla.

In a scathing attack against AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother Akbaruddin, BJP leader Navneet Rana has said if police were removed from duty for "15 seconds, the brothers would not know from where they came and where they went".

Rana's blistering attack came in response to AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi's controversial speech in 2013 that it would take them only "15 minutes" to balance the "Hindu- Muslim ratio" in the country if the police were removed.

Reacting to BJP leader Navneet Rana's remark that if police were removed from duty for "15 seconds, the Owaisi brothers would not know from where they came and where they went," AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said "take an hour instead".

"Modi ji has power, give 15 seconds, rather take one hour. We also would like to see how much humanity is left or not. Who is scared? Who is stopping you? The Prime Minister is yours in Delhi. RSS is yours. Everything is yours. Tell us where to come. We will come," Owaisi said while speaking to reporters. READ FULL STORY

On Sam Pitroda's controversial statement comparing facial features of Indians with Africans, Arabs and Whites, BJP candidate from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha seat, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said: "...If Africans live in the South, then who was Shankaracharya?...Why is MK Stalin silent?... Where was Mahatma Gandhi from?...What insult is this?"

"If he [Sam Pitroda] sees only the colour of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in North India, then I have nothing to say. This is completely unconstitutional and insulting... The silence of many leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge is very disturbing," Prasad said.

Election Commission of India will be conducted the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha Elections on May 13. For this phase, polling will be held for 96 constituencies across 10 states. These states heading to vote are -

• Andhra Pradesh

• Telangana

• Uttar Pradesh

• Maharashtra

• West Bengal

• Madhya Pradesh

• Bihar

• Jharkhand

• Odisha

• Jammu and Kashmir

The Enforcement Directorate has opposed the idea of interim bail being granted to Delhi CM and AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal. IN an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court of India, the central agency has stated that interim bail to Kejriwal for the right to campaign for elections "is not fundamental"

Amid the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, Russia has claimed that the United States is trying to de-stabilise India making it "harder to have the general parliamentary elections."

A spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that the US has been trying to unbalance the political situation in India and is meddling into India's domestic affairs. READ THE FULL STORY HERE

As many as 52,100 Kashmiri migrant voters across the country are eligible to exercise their franchise in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar constituency on May 13.

The constituency is gearing up for an intense electoral showdown. As many as 17.4 lakh voters, including 8.7 lakh women, will decide the fate of 24 candidates in the fray.

Over 1.13 lakh Kashmiri migrants are registered to cast their votes for the Lok Sabha elections for three seats in the Valley, officials said.

- PTI

BJP's Rae Bareli candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh has accused the Gandhi family of harbouring "hatred" for Rae Bareli-Amethi, and asked why they did not field a local leader but opted for "Priyanka Gandhi's clerk" to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Amethi.

Singh, who is taking on Rahul Gandhi in a high-profile electoral contest here, also claimed that the Gandhi scion will lose by a bigger margin than his mother Sonia Gandhi had won in the 2019 polls.

- PTI

With Maharashtra set to go to the polls on May 13, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan stated that the BJP has been discussing "non-existent " aspects of Congress' manifesto because "it is insecure".

"The BJP raises the slogan of 'abki baar 400 paar' but is insecure. That is why it is discussing issues (to attack the Congress) that are not even mentioned in our manifesto. We have said we will give Rs 1 lakh to poor women annually. Now this is something the BJP will not discuss," he said. READ MORE HERE.

Karni Sena President and BJP Haryana spokesperson Suraj Pal Amu has announced his resignation form the Bharatiya Janta Party. The Karni Sena chief stated that his resignation comes after the party's choice for the candidate in Gujarat for the Lok Sabha elections.