Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Highlights: Phase 3 voter turnout climbs to 65.68 per cent

The updated approximate voter turnout figures for polling in the third phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections stands at 65. 68 per cent, the Election Commission said on Wednesday. The figures were retrieved at 10 pm on Wednesday, it said.

Former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said that Narendra Modi's 10 years' work outweighs Congress's work of 55-60 years. Khattar made the remark while addressing a public meeting in Burari in support of BJP's Northeast Lok Sabha candidate Manoj Tiwari.

Bharatiya Janata Party president JP Nadda will hold a roadshow in Haryana's Panchkula on Friday to campaign for party's Ambala Lok Sabha candidate Banto Kataria. "On May 10, Nadda ji will be in Panchkula in the morning. He will hold a roadshow in which Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, party candidate from Ambala, Banto Kataria ji and other leaders will also remain present," Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta told reporters in Panchkula.

Congress nominated Devinder Singh Jaggi as its candidate for the by-election to Dharamshala constituency in Himachal Pradesh.

Congress candidate from Sangrur Lok Sabha seat in Punjab Sukhpal Singh Khaira has declared his total assets as worth Rs 50. 02 crore, according to his poll affidavit. Khaira, 59, filed his nomination papers from the Sangrur seat on Wednesday. According to his affidavit, Khaira has declared his moveable and immovable assets, including those of his wife, to be Rs 1. 12 crore and Rs 48. 9 crore respectively.

The BJP on Thursday fielded Subhash Sharma from Anandpur Sahib Constituency, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi from Firozpur and Arvind Khanna from Sangrur.

Union Minister Smriti Irani challenged Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi for a debate, saying to pick a time and date and the issue to debate with BJP.

"Dono bhai-behen ek taraf aur BJP ka ek pravakta ek taraf, doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani ho jaayega...Congress is running away from the issues," she added.

NCP founder Sharad Pawar's remark on regional parties' possible merger with the Congress shows it has become difficult for him to manage his own party, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Wednesday. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde latched on to Pawar's comment to target Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying the latter has already become "Congress-minded". Another leader of the ruling 'Mahayuti' in Maharashtra said Pawar's remarks reflect that ground was slipping from under his feet in his home turf Baramati and the only option before him was merging his party with the Congress.

 Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused Rahul Gandhi of pushing Pakistan's agenda and said the Congress leader would be defeated in Raebareli after which he should settle down in Italy, the only place left for him. Hitting out at the I.N.D.I.A bloc, he said leaders of opposition parties did not attend the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple as they were afraid of their vote bank and warned that they would put a "Babri" lock at the temple if they came to power.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lashed out at Congress leader Sam Pitroda for his 'racist' remark, saying it reveals the mindset and attitude of Rahul Gandhi's mentor. Pitroda, the head of the Indian Overseas Congress, had triggered a controversy on Wednesday with his "people of the east look like the Chinese and those of the south look like Africans" remarks. In a post on X, Sitharaman retorted saying, "I am from South India. I look Indian! My team has enthusiastic members from north east India. They look Indian! My colleagues from west India look Indian!

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda and party IT cell head Amit Malviya were summoned by Karnataka police over a controversial social media post on Wednesday. The Karnataka Police summoned BJP leaders before Bengaluru's High Grounds Police Station within seven days in connection with a tweet posted by BJP Karnataka allegedly against SC/ST community.

The CPI(ML) Liberation, an alliance partner of the 'Mahagathbandhan' in Bihar, on Wednesday asked why the BJP-led NDA leaders are maintaining silence over the demand for inclusion of Bhojpuri in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution so that it can be accorded the status of an official language. Notably, the majority of voters in Arrah and Karakat Lok Sabha constituencies, where CPI (M-L) Liberation candidates are contesting, are Bhojpuri-speaking.

Amidst reports of strong displeasure and objection raised by a section of leaders, veteran leader K Sudhakaran on Wednesday took over as president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee after a brief interval. He was given a warm welcome by his admirers at the party headquarters here by draping shawls and raising slogans. However, prominent leaders, including M M Hassan, who was serving as the acting president of the KPCC in the absence of Sudhakaran, were conspicuous by their absence when he came to take charge.

Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Y S Sharmila on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "ineligible" to enter the state as he has allegedly "cheated" it for the past 10 years. Sharmila alleged that Modi is "shedding crocodile tears" for Andhra Pradesh because of the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.

Hitting out at the INDIA opposition bloc, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said if it comes to power after the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, it will put a "Babri" lock at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Addressing a rally in support of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra, who is the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Lok Sabha poll candidate from Lakhimpur Kheri, Shah also accused the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of defaming the saffron party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi by saying if he gets 400 seats in the ongoing election, reservation will be done away with.

Union Power Minister and senior BJP leader R K Singh owns movable and immovable assets worth Rs 10.49 crore, as per the affidavit filed by him. His wife owns movable and immovable assets worth Rs 1.83 crore. Singh who is seeking re-election from Arrah Lok Sabha seat as the NDA nominee filed his nomination papers on Tuesday. Elections will be held in Arrah, Nalanda, Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Buxar, Sasaram, Karakat and Jahanabad in the last phase on June 1.

The Congress on Wednesday sought the imposition of President's Rule followed by fresh polls in Haryana after three Independent MLAs withdrew support to the BJP dispensation, reducing the Nayab Singh Saini government to a minority in the state assembly. The party said it would write to Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya to demand that the BJP government be dismissed. It also asked the JJP, the INLD and Independent MLA Balraj Kundu to write similar letters to the governor to give credence to their claim of opposing the BJP.

BJD leader and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's close aide V K Pandian on Wednesday alleged that the opposition BJP is not fighting elections in Odisha to win polls but to increase its seat number with an intention to break the Biju Janata Dal after elections. This was stated by the bureaucrat turned politician while meeting a group of television channel journalists at Gopalpur in Ganjam district on Wednesday.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said her party's 100-year-old relationship with the people of Rae Bareli has entered a new era and the people of the constituency are once again ready for its leadership. Priyanka Gandhi, who is here to bolster Rahul Gandhi's campaign from the family bastion,also said that the enthusiasm of every Congress worker and the people of Rae Bareli is worth seeing.

An estimated 81.71 per cent of the 81.49 lakh eligible voters exercised their franchise in the elections held in four Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam on May 7, officials said on Wednesday. The final polling percentage could be further revised as compilation of figures are yet to be completed, an official said. Polling in all the three phases in Assam was peaceful with no repoll held in the first two phases and none announced so far for the third.

Priyanka Gandhi will start the election campaign in Rae Bareli from today. She has been conducting workers' meetings in Rae Bareli and Amethi for the last two days.Today, Priyanka will hold street meetings (nukkad sabha) for Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli.

Maharashtra's 11 constituencies, which went to the poll on Tuesday in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections, recorded around 61 per cent voter turnout, according to the provisional figures released by the Election Commission of India. In the 2019 elections, these constituencies witnessed 63 per cent voting. Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer's office said that the voting percentage will increase as the information from the 11 constituencies is still being gathered.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray has claimed the BJP-led NDA wants to win more than 400 Lok Sabha seats so that it can change the Constitution. Thackeray was addressing an election rally on Tuesday for Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate Shobha Bacchav at Dhule in Maharashtra.

PM Narendra Modi to address two public meetings in Telangana today (May 8).