Lok Sabha constituencies from Maharashtra, Rajasthan go to polls in fourth phase on Monday | April 28 -- as it happened

TMC Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal has been put under house arrest till April 30. 

West Bengal will go to polls in the fourth phase tomorrow. 

Polling officers had requested WB CEO of his house arrest for a free and fair election.

BJP chief Amit Shah Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown he is a man with a "56-inch chest" by destroying terrorist hideouts in Pakistan.

Shah said all anti-national elements will end up behind bars once the Modi government returns to power, as he hit out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for what he described as his "temerity" to promise scrapping of the sedition law.

Addressing back-to-back election rallies in Bihar's Sitamarhi and Saran, which will be voting in the fifth phase of national polls on May 6, Shah drew a contrast between Modi and Gandhi, claiming that the prime minister has been working "tirelessly for the past 20 years" unlike the Congress chief "who needs a prolonged holiday every few months".

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be in Rajasthan on Monday to address public meetings for the 12 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state, which will go to the polls on May 6, the party said on Sunday.

Rahul Gandhi will address a public meeting at Sepau in the Karauli-Dholpur parliamentary constituency at 11 am, followed by meetings at 2.10 pm in Churu and at 4.10 pm in Kotpuli town of the Jaipur Rural constituency, state Congress vice-president Archana Sharma told reporters.

In the fifth (second in Rajasthan) phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha election, polling will be held in 12 of the 25 constituencies of the state -- Sriganganagar, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaipur Rural, Jaipur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa and Nagaur.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Sunday charged the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress and its allies with lack of resolve, while in power, to act decisively against terror and take affirmative action in favour of the backward classes and the poor in the unreserved category.

Addressing back-to-back election rallies in Sitamarhi and Saran Lok Sabha segments set to go to polls in the fifth phase of general elections Shah also drew a contrast between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, claiming that the prime minister has been working “tirelessly for the past 20 years” unlike the Congress president “who needs a prolonged holiday every few months”.

The Congress has claimed agricultural growth rate had gone down from 4.2 per cent during the UPA regime to 2.5 per cent under the Narendra Modi government. Addressing a press conference here, the Congress’ communications in charge Randeep Singh Surjewala said the Modi government would need “20 years” to double the income of farmers, as against the Centre’s promise of achieving the feat by 2022.

“As per data shared by the Modi government in the Lok Sabha, agricultural growth rate between 2014 and 2018 has gone down to 2.5 per cent. This rate was 4.2 per cent between 2009-14 under the UPA government,” Surjewala said.

“Going by this pace, it would take 20 years for the Modi government to double the income of farmers,” he added.

Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar Sunday asserted that no power on earth can abolish reservation and asked people to beware of those who are spreading confusion over it.

Opposition Mahagathbandhan leaders especially RJDs Tejashwi Yadav, RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha have questioned the continuance of reservation if Modi government returns to power at the Centre.

"No power on earth can abolish reservation. People need to be beware of those who are spreading confusion with regard to reservation. I introduced reservation in panchayat polls while Narendra Modi government gave the benefit of 10 per cent of reservation to the weaker sections among general category," Kumar said at a public meeting.

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Sunday said he was 'boycotting' the media, apparently upset over the coverage of the Mandya Lok Sabha polls, where his son Nikhil Gowda is in the fray.

"I'm boycotting you," an upset Kumaraswamy told reporters who sought his comments after his meeting with Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal.

"You do whatever you want for your story... Go do it. Go enjoy," he said.
Though the reason for his outburst was not exactly clear, sources said he was upset over the media coverage of the Mandya Lok Sabha polls, where his son Nikhil from JD(S) was pitted against multi-lingual actress Sumalatha Ambareesh, an independent candidate, in what is perceived to be a cliffhanger contest.

In Amethi, Smriti Irani tells reporters: "I am happy Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is counting the number of times I came to Amethi. She is probably counting because she is unable to tell the people where the MP was missing for 15 years."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got income tax refunds at least five times in the last 18 years, while Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has received six refunds during the same period.

Besides, the refunds for assessment years 2015-16 and 2012-13 got "adjusted against outstanding demand" in case of Modi, while it was the case for Rahul Gandhi in assessment year 2011-12.

This is based on the online 'refund status' service provided by the Tax Information Network of the Income Tax Department, managed by NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi Sunday said slum dwellers and tenants in Mumbai will get homes of their own if his party comes to power after the April-May Lok Sabha polls.

All six seats of Mumbai will go to polls on Monday.

In a tweet in Marathi, Gandhi said that he had backed the proposal of his party colleagues that slum dwellers and tenants be given houses with a minimum area of 500 square feet.

"I assure Mumbaikars that if the Congress is voted to power, slum dwellers and tenants will get homes of their own," Gandhi's tweet stated. 

Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday rebuffed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assertion of belonging to an "ati-pichhda" (most backward) caste, insisting that he saw this coming
from the PM a week ago.

Addressing a public meeting in Uttar Pradesh Saturday, the prime minister aggressively pitched his backward caste identity, declaring that he was not just an OBC, but was "born" into the "most-backward caste".

Yadav, in a tweet, said Sunday, "I had said on April 20 (2019) said that @narendramodi ji, after portraying himself as fake OBC, will call himself a person belonging to extremely backward caste. He did so yesterday (in Kannauj rally in UP).

"The fact is that he is an upper caste (person) by birth and backward on papers. He (PM) will say so many things just to fetch votes."

Notably, the former Bihar deputy chief minister had said on April 20 that Modi would call himself a son of extremely backward caste parents, hours before the prime minister held a rally in the Araria Lok Sabha constituency.

"PM @narendramodi ji is coming to Bihar today. He would portray himself as the son of extremely backward caste. He will make an abortive bid to polarise voters.

"Bihar is expecting lies and jumlas from him. Hope that the PM would give account of his 2014 promises," the RJD leader had tweeted.

AAP's East Delhi candidate Atishi Marlena has hit out at her BJP rival Gautam Gambhir for reportedly saying that she has no vision, asking him what work did he do in the constituency to get the ticket. 

According to media reports, Gambhir said Marlena does not have a "vision" and that is why she is levelling allegations against him of having two voter ID cards.

In a series of tweets, Marlena slammed Gambhir, and asked him to share his vision for the constituency.

"In 4.5 years, AAP government built 2 new schools of excellence, 2 talent schools, 2 university campus, 25 mohalla clinics in East Delhi and 32 are under construction. Hundreds of new jobs. Tell your vision too," she said in a tweet.

"I told what we did in 5 years. Now it's your turn, let me tell you that: 1. What did your party MP @MaheishGirri do for East Delhi in 5 years? What did you do for East Delhi in five years which BJP gave you the ticket from here, "she asked.

She said no voter would vote for Gambhir as he would be disqualified soon.

"It is possible @GautamGambhir that I do not have vision, but at least, every vote I get will not be in vain! No voter in East Delhi will vote for you, because your nomination will get cancelled. So by voting for a disqualified candidate, no votes will be wasted," she said. 

She also claimed that Gambhir is not denying the charge of possessing two voter IDs.

"If my charge is wrong then @GautamGambhir, deny that charge, present the facts in order to prove the wrong! Why are you avoiding the question," she said.

Marlena had filed a criminal complaint on Thursday against Gambhir over possession of two voter IDs in two separate constituencies of Delhi.

She also earlier complained in the Election Commission for discrepancies in nomination papers but the cricketer-politician's nomination was accepted by the EC. 

Polling in six Lok Sabha seats of Madhya Pradesh and by-election to Chhindwara Assembly constituency where Chief Minister Kamal Nath is in the fray will be held on Monday.

Lok Sabha constituencies of Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Mandla, Balaghat and Chhindwara will go to polls in the first phase of general elections in the central state.

Total 108 candidates are in the fray, including maximum 26 in Sidhi, followed by Balaghat-23, Jabalpur-22, Chhindwara-14, Shahdol-13 and Mandla-10.

Nine candidates are trying their luck in the Chhindwara Assembly bypoll.

Altogether 1.08 crore people, including 9,864 services voters who will cast postal ballot, are eligible to exercise their franchise.

The ruling CPI(M) in Kerala Sunday rejected allegations of bogus voting at various polling booths in the Kasargod Lok Sabha constituency during elections on April 23 and welcomed any probe into the charges.

There is no need for the CPI(M) to resort to bogus voting for winning the elections in Kerala, senior CPI-M leader and state Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac told reporters.

He said secretaries of CPI(M)'s Kasargod and Kannur districts have already rejected the allegations.

Those who were not satisfied with their clarifications can approach the Election Commission, which has established mechanisms to examine such allegations, Issac, also the central committee member of the CPI(M), said.

The CPI(M) is ready to face any probe into the allegations, he said.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram Sunday accused the Election Commission of being "silent spectator" to the "excesses" of the BJP and to the utterances of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the poll body has "largely failed" the people of India.

The former Union Finance and Union Home Minister also said the plank of nationalism, propagated by the BJP, is a ploy to hide "failures" of the NDA government.

"According to me, the Election Commission has largely failed the people of India. It has been a silent spectator to the excesses of the BJP, Mr Modi's utterances and the enormous amount of money that has been spent by the BJP," he said.

BJP ally and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan asserted on Sunday that the ruling NDA is on track to retain power at the Centre, helped by the "Modi factor" and the appeal of the issue of nationalism, while the Opposition has become a picture of "disunity" in a key state like Bihar.

The Lok Janshakti Party leader said the 2019 general election stands out from many elections he has seen in his over five-decade long career for the centrality of the issue of nationalism in this poll with people supporting the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for development as well as national security.

The Dalit leader further said the momentum in the NDA's favour is increasing in every phase of polling and that the "wave has now become a tsunami".

Polling parties gather at EVM distribution centre in Bolpur, in Birbhum district of West Bengal. 

8 Lok Sabha constituencies to go to polls tomorrow.

13 parliamentary constituencies in Rajasthan will vote in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha Elections tomorrow. 

Mumbai: 17 parliamentary constituencies in Maharashtra will go to polls in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections tomorrow.

"Issues are clear; employment, education and health. Nationalism is to solve the problems of people," Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today said in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi.

"Here they don't listen to people, when they raise their issues they suppress them, it's neither democracy nor nationalism," she further said. 

"The way they contest polls by distributing money, sarees and shoes in front of media is wrong. People of Amethi have never begged in front of anyone. I've been coming here since I was 12, people of Amethi and Raebareli have a lot of pride," Priyanka Gandhi said. 

Jharkhand: Polling parties collect EVMs and VVPATs and leave for their respective polling stations for the 4th phase of the general elections. 

BJP's Gautam Gambhir today spoke on Aam Aadmi Party MP candidate Atishi's allegations of him holding 2 voter-ID cards. 

"When you don't have a vision and have done nothing in the last 4.5 years, you make such allegations, EC will decide this," he said.

"When you have a vision you don't do such negative politics," Gautam Gambhir said. 

Rajasthan DM IS Rao, today commented on the poll preparedness in the state. 

"All EVMs and VVPATs will be dispatched from the strong room today. Security forces and police force deployed in adequate numbers. We won't face any law and order situation; 13 parliamentary constituencies in the state go to polls tomorrow," he said. 

With less than 15 days to go to for the May 12 Lok Sabha elections in the national capital, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday intensified their poll campaign in Delhi.

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, who is pitted against Congress' J.P. Agarwal and the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Pankaj Gupta from the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat, held meetings with the residents of the Kishanganj railway colony.

He then kicked off his 'padyatra' from Kishanganj Mandal to Motibagh, Padam Nagar and Sadar Bazar.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Vijay Goel took out a cycle rally on Sunday morning with suspended AAP MLA Kapil Mishra in the capital city.

The Trinamool Congress has written to the Election Commission of India over wrestler The Great Khali campaigning for BJP's Jadavpur MP candidate, Anupam Hazra, on April 26.

The letter states, 'He (Khali) holds US citizenship, therefore, a foreigner should not be allowed to influence the minds of Indian electors'.

Chhindwara: Polling parties collect EVMs and VVPATs and leave for their respective polling stations for the 4th phase of the 2019 general elections. 

Jhansi: Polling parties leave for their respective polling stations ahead of fourth phase of general elections tomorrow.

Polling will be held in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state tomorrow.

Heavy deployments of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and police were on Sunday made to ensure peaceful and fair poll process for the second phase of polls in Anantnag Lok Sabha seat of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.

Voting in Kulgam district of the constituency is spread over four Assembly segments of Noorabad, Kulgam, Homshalibugh and Devsar.

Voting will take place in 433 polling stations and a total of 3,45,486 electors are eligible to vote.

Kulgam voting segment has the highest number of voters -- 98,298.

Authorities have made elaborate arrangements to ensure that militants are prevented from disrupting the democratic process by creating multiple layers of security.

Security forces were moved out early on Saturday to take over the polling stations across Kulgam district that has witnessed bloody gunfights between the security forces and the militants during the last three years.

DMK's former Rajya Sabha member Vasanthi Stanley has died after a brief illness. Stanley, 56, died on Saturday late night.

She represented DMK in Rajya Sabha from 2008-2014.

DMK President MK Stalin on Sunday, condoling the death of Stanley, said she had voiced the party's views in the House on various important issues.

RP Singh, a burger vendor is contesting as an independent from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat in Punjab. 

"If I'm elected, I'll take on the education mafia and ensure good education for poor people," he says. 

The Congress is weakening the Opposition across the country, senior leader of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has said against the backdrop of a failed attempt at stitching an pre-poll alliance between the two parties.

Sisodia said the Congress should be blamed if the BJP wins in Delhi and across the country and returns to the power after the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

"Not only in Delhi but across the country, the Congress is weakening the Opposition. If the BJP wins any seat in Delhi or outside it, the Congress should be blamed," he said when asked if the AAP feels the failed alliance talks with the Congress could help the BJP in winning seats in the capital.

Nationalist Congress Party's Majeed Memon today reacted to Shatrughan Sinha's comment "from Mahatma Gandhi to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, all part of Congress parivar".

"Amit Shah should note that till yesterday he (Shatrughan Sinha) was with them, if he said something anti-national then it is their teaching," Memon said. 

He further said, "Jinnah made a big contribution to the freedom struggle, just because he was a Muslim you are offended and are calling Shatrughan Sinha anti-national."

The Bharatiya Janata Party has alleged that voters from a particular community were not allowed to exercise their democratic rights in parts of Raiganj Lok Sabha constituency which went to polls on April 18.

BJP candidate for the constituency Debasree Chaudhuri blamed the Trinamool Congress for the irregularity, but claimed the happening would have no bearing on the outcome of the polls, which the saffron outfit would 'easily win'.

Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah is slated to address public meetings in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar today. 

In Bihar, Shah will address a rally in Sitamarhi (at 11 am) and in Chhapra (at 12:50 pm), while in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP chief will address rallies in Barabanki (at 4:20 pm) and in Lucknow (at 6 pm). 

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is slated to address a public rally in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich today. 

She will also hold a roadshow in the state. 

Seeking to consolidate Dalit votes in Congress bastions of Rae Bareli and Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, Lok Janshakti Party leader and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan will hold election rallies in the two constituencies Sunday.

While Dinesh Pratap Singh of the BJP is pitted against UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli, Union minister Smriti Irani will take on Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi.

The two seats will go for polls in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 5.

"Will be campaigning for Smriti Irani and Dinesh Pratap Singh in Amethi and Rae Bareli on April 28," Paswan tweeted.