Lok Sabha Elections: 'My target is 2024, I'm very clear about it', says Congress leader Pappu Yadav

The Altaf Bukhari-led Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party has been allotted "bat" symbol for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the Union Territory. In a communication to the Chief Electoral Officer of Jammu and Kashmir, the Election Commission (EC) has said it has withdrawn symbol "bat" allotted to the Sanyogwadi Party for the general elections. It said the common symbol allotted to the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party is only for the forthcoming general elections to the Lok Sabha. "Further use of common symbol by the party is not allowed after the completion of the election," the communication read.

Union minister and the BJP's Guna candidate Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday said Congress has become 'behosh' (unconscious) because of the "josh" (passion) of BJP workers. He was speaking at a gathering of BJP workers at Khaniyadhana in Shivpuri district which comes under the Guna constituency. "Because of the BJP workers' `josh and hosh' (passion and alertness), Congress has become `behosh'. We should not sit idle till we achieve the target given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of winning more than 400 Lok Sabha seats," he said. He urged party workers to connect with 370 new voters in each booth for ensuring a historic victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The BJP on Wednesday alleged that Congress is contesting the Lok Sabha elections with the “support of terrorists” after Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), offered its support to the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala. Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan of the Congress had on Monday told mediapersons that the UDF has not reached any understanding with the SDPI after the outfit extended support to the alliance in the state for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Targeting the Congress, BJP national spokesperson Prem Shukla alleged that Rahul Gandhi who speaks of "opening 'mohabbat ki dukan' (shop of love) is repeatedly sending ‘mohabbat ke paigam' (message of love)’ to terrorism and separatism".

A meeting of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP) to resolve differences over a few remaining Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra remained inconclusive on Wednesday. The Congress was firm on getting Sangli, Bhiwandi and a couple of seats in Mumbai, state Congress chief Nana Patole told media after the meeting. The meeting at 'Silver Oak', the residence of NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar here, did not yield any outcome, he conceded. Talks were still going on with the central leadership of his party, and a solution would likely emerge tomorrow, Patole said. Maharashtra sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha, second-highest after Uttar Pradesh. As per MVA leaders, only four or five seats are a sticking point and the three allies have agreed on most constituencies in the state.

A meeting of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP) to resolve differences over a few remaining Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra remained inconclusive on Wednesday. The Congress was firm on getting Sangli, Bhiwandi and a couple of seats in Mumbai, state Congress chief Nana Patole told media after the meeting. The meeting at 'Silver Oak', the residence of NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar here, did not yield any outcome, he conceded. Talks were still going on with the central leadership of his party, and a solution would likely emerge tomorrow, Patole said. Maharashtra sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha, second-highest after Uttar Pradesh. As per MVA leaders, only four or five seats are a sticking point and the three allies have agreed on most constituencies in the state.

An Election Commission team on Wednesday instructed deputy commissioners and senior police officers to widen their campaigns to prevent the smuggling of drugs, liquor and cash into Punjab during the Lok Sabha elections. Led by Deputy Election Commissioner Hirdesh Kumar, the Election Commission (EC) team also asked the deputy commissioners, police commissioners and senior superintendents to make the required arrangements at polling stations to ensure ease of voting for increasing the turnout. Polling for Punjab's 13 Lok Sabha seats will be held in the last phase on June 1.

Former Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam seems to be heading for a showdown with Congress after the party initiated disciplinary action for his recent remarks targeting Maha Vikas Aghadi ally Shiv Sena (UBT), stating he would announce his decision on Thursday. As Congress dropped Nirupam's name as a star campaigner and said a decision about him would be taken in a day or two, the former MP launched a sharp attack, saying since the party is experiencing a "serious financial crisis", it should utilise the stationery and energy to save itself.

According to sources, SP may change its candidate for the third time on the Meerut Lok Sabha seat.

Initially Bhanu Pratap Singh, then SP MLA from Sardhana, Atul Pradhan was given the ticket.

Atul Pradhan has also been nominated from Meerut today, but now it is being said that SP can make former MLA Yogesh Verma's wife a Lok Sabha candidate in place of Atul Pradhan.

(With inputs from Ruchi Kumar)

Tripura CPI(M) leader Jitendra Chaudhury on Wednesday said that the Left parties have teamed up with the Congress in the state to safeguard democracy and constitution. Chaudhury's assertion follows persistent attacks by the BJP on the CPI(M) in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls. Chief Minister Manik Saha, who has been leading the party's campaign trail, has been criticising the CPI(M) for aligning with the Congress.

The Election Commission (EC) today directed the chief secretaries and directors general of police of all states as well as the heads of central agencies to ensure peaceful and inducement-free Lok Sabha polls and take preemptive measures to address communal tensions based on past experiences. Recent violence and turmoil in Manipur and its ramifications for the conduct of a peaceful election were also addressed, with the EC urging for swift action to assist internally-displaced persons and ensure their participation in the electoral process, the poll panel said. In his remarks, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said it is the "most important and crucial" meeting that takes place every five years of the election cycle. Kumar told the officials that the EC seeks to deliver "absolutely spotless elections".

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra will campaign in Maharashtra for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, the party said. While Rahul Gandhi will campaign in Bhandara-Gondiya constituency on April 13, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be in Chandrapur on April 15, Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said.

Several high-profile candidates in Kerala, including senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor, KPCC Chief K Sudhakaran, state Minister K Radhakrishnan and CPI's Annie Raja filed nominations today for the Lok Sabha polls, a day before deadline. Polling will be held in all of Kerala's 20 parliamentary constituencies on April 26, in the second phase of the nationwide polls, for which the last date of filing nomination papers is April 4, according to an Election Commission notification. Many of the candidates led road shows and foot marches on the way to filing their nominations at the district headquarters, to showcase their ground support and strength.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday declared four more candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, fielding Vaishali Darekar-Rane from the high-profile Kalyan constituency, currently represented by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's son Shrikant Shinde. With this, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party has so far declared nominees for 21 seats in Maharashtra which will go to polls in five phases starting April 19.

The Bahujan Samaj Party on Wednesday released its third list of 12 Lok Sabha poll candidates for Uttar Pradesh, fielding Nandkishore Pundir from Ghaziabad and Sarvar Malik from Lucknow. With this, the Mayawati-led party has declared its candidates for 37 seats out of total 80 parliamentary seats in the state. According to the latest list released by the BSP office here, the party declared its candidates for Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Mainpuri, Lucknow and Mirzapur seats, among others. In Mathura, the party has changed its candidate and now Suresh Singh will be in the electoral fray in place of Kamal Kant Upmanyu. Singh has been made BSP candidate against sitting BJP MP and actor Hema Malini. While Nandkishore Pundir will be party nominee from Ghaziabad, Hitendra Kumar alias Bunty Upadhyay will contest from Aligarh.

Stating that the biggest challenge in West Bengal during elections is violence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked BJP workers of the state to visit each and every house to encourage people to vote fearlessly. Interacting with the state's BJP workers virtually, he said the party was confident of increasing its tally in West Bengal. Modi said the Election Commission (EC) has made special arrangements for the security and safety of the people of the state during the Lok Sabha polls.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi are likely to visit Arunachal Pradesh to campaign for the party candidates. Elections to the 60-member Arunachal Pradesh Assembly and two Lok Sabha constituencies in the state will be held simultaneously on April 19. The Congress party has prepared a list of the campaigners in Arunachal Pradesh, however, the dates and places have not been fixed yet, party sources said quoting a list issued by AICC general secretary KC Venugopal.

(With inputs from Vishal Singh) 

RLP leader and I.N.D.I.A bloc candidate Hanuman Beniwal climbed onto a cart, yoked to a pair of colourfully caparisoned white bullocks, and rode it across a village in the Nagaur Lok Sabha constituency while campaigning on Wednesday. "The villagers of Idana have been showering their blessing on me in every election. Even today, they brought this bullock cart for me and asked me to campaign riding on it. In fact, in the last Lok Sabha polls too, I campaigned riding this bullock cart," Beniwal told media. He was accompanied on his bullock cart odyssey by Nagaur MLA Harendra Mirdha, who is the uncle of his BJP rival, Jyoti Mirdha who had left the Congress before last year's Assembly polls, had been fielded by the BJP from the Nagaur Assembly seat but lost to Harendra Mirdha by over 14,000 votes.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will conduct four road shows and one public meeting during his two-day visit to Tamil Nadu starting from Thursday. As the Lok Sabha is just round the corner, Shah's impending two-day excursion to Tamil Nadu emerges as a strategic move in the political landscape of the state.

A meeting of the BJP resolution committee to take place tomorrow at 3:00 pm under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

(With inputs from Devendra Parashar)

PM Modi will do the poll campaigning in Tamil Nadu on April 9, 10, 13 and 14.

According to the information received from the state unit, on April 9, PM will hold a road show at Vellore seat in Tamil Nadu, and on the same day in the evening, PM will take part in a road show at South Chennai seat.

PM will hold a road show in the Nilgiris on April 10, after which he will address a public meeting in Coimbatore.

On April 13, PM will hold a public meeting in Perambalur and on April 14, PM Modi will hold a public meeting in Virudhunagar.

Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam may quit the party tomorrow, said the sources. Nirupam is upset with the party on the seat-sharing dispute with MVA partners.

BJP candidate from Mandi and actor Kangana Ranaut held poll campaigns in Mahunag village in her constituency.

NC leader Omar Abdullah said his father Farooq Abdullah will not contest Lok Sabha polls due to health issues.

BJP MP from Jalgaon Unmesh Patil joined Shiv Sena (UBT) in the presence of party chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination papers from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak accompanied the BJP candidate from Gautam Budh Nagar, Mahesh Sharma in his nominations for Lok Sabha elections.

RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav's daughter Rohini Acharya, who is contesting from Saran constituency as an RJD candidate, held poll campaigns in Chapra.

The joint press conference of MVA which is scheduled to be held today has been cancelled as the seat-sharing dispute of Mahavikas Aghadi is yet not resolved.

BJP leader and Union minister Jitendra Singh is seeking to retain the Udhampur seat for the third time while the Congress has pitted Choudhary Lal Singh, who is facing ED heat in a money laundering case. The entry of former minister G M Saroori on the ticket of his Democratic Azad Party (DPAP) has made it a three-cornered contest. Though there are 12 candidates in the fray, the real fight is between the BJP candidate and his Congress rival. Jitendra Singh had retained the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat in 2019, defeating Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh, the grandson of erstwhile Maharaja Hari Singh, by a margin of 3,53,272 votes. Lal Singh only got 19,049 votes.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will arrive in Wayanad on Wednesday to file his nomination papers for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He will also hold a roadshow in the constituency where he had won in the 2019 Parliament polls with a massive margin of over four lakh votes.

BJP sitting MP and candidate from Gautam Buddha Nagar (UP), Mahesh Sharma says, "...I would like to thank PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, JP Nadda, CM Yogi Adityanath and other senior leaders for considering me capable enough to represent my constituency for the third time... Everything that has been done across the country and in Uttar Pradesh under the leadership of PM Modi is unprecedented... I am going to file my nomination today around 12 noon. I am confident that we will win with results even better than the last time..."

"We won 372 seats the last time... On the basis of our record over the last 5 years, it seems we will win not just 400 but even more than that," he added.

BJP MP from Jalgaon Unmesh Patil to join the Uddhav-led faction of Shiv Sena in his presence today, party MP Sanjay Raut informed.

AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami meets people in the Periyar market area and distributes party pamphlets, as part of election campaign.

On Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's 'India will be on fire' remark, Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav says, "Who even believes what he says? What Rahul Gandhi says doesn't have any facts or seriousness. His own party doesn't take him seriously, what will someone else do...Congress is nowhere, it is lagging way behind. Rahul Gandhi is responsible for it. He never took Congress or elections seriously. There is still some time, we hope Congress will come out of its internal conflicts and have some self-introspection."

Centre provides security cover to former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, ex-TMC MP Arjun Singh, BJP district General Secretary Abhijit Barman, and executive member Cooch Behar district Tapas Das.

The four leaders have been provided Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in different categories in West Bengal ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Gangopadhyay and Singh joined the BJP last month.

BJP candidate from Sivaganga constituency, Devanathan Yadav says, "P. Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram have been consistently winning in the Sivaganga parliamentary constituency since 1984. However, this time, I am contesting on behalf of the National Democratic Alliance, and I am confident of securing a victory by a significant margin. The people are dissatisfied with the Chidambaram family's lack of engagement with the community - evident by their absence from public interactions."

CPI candidate from Wayanad for Lok Sabha elections, Annie Raja to file her nomination today against Congress' sitting MP and candidate Rahul Gandhi.

After Agra and Moradabad, the Samajwadi Party has now changed its candidate from Meerut seat. The party has now given ticket to Atul Pradhan who will be replacing Bhanu Pratap Singh.

The fate of 12 candidates will be decided by over 16.23 lakh voters of the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat in the first phase of Lok Sabha to be held on April 19.

The Udhampur parliamentary constituency is spread over five districts including Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Udhampur and Kathua.

According to the office of the Returning Officer 4-Udhampur Parliamentary constituency, there are 16,23,195 registered voters in the constituency, which includes 8,45,283 male; 7,77,899 female; and 13 transgender electors.