Lok Sabha Elections 2024: BRS candidate from Warangal opts out of polls contest

Senior BRS leader and Rajya Sabha member K Keshav Rao is contemplating returning to the Congress fold, sources said on Thursday. According to the sources, Rao, who had served as state Congress president in undivided Andhra Pradesh, is "thinking of" going back to the Congress and that he will share the details later. He had joined the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), then Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), in 2013.

The Congress in Maharashtra on Thursday set up four committees tasked with handling various matters related to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, and one of them will be headed by party veteran and former chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde. Shinde, also a former Union minister, will head the 31-member coordination committee of the Congress in the state, the opposition party said here. The publicity and publication committee will be headed by Congress group leader in the Legislative Council Satej Patil and it will have 23 members.

The Ramtek Lok Sabha Constituency Returning Officer declared the nomination of Congress candidate Rashmi Barve as invalid. The nomination was rejected on the ground that the caste validity certificate was invalid. The Election Commission has approved her husband Shyam Kumar Barve as the official candidate of the Congress for Ramtek Loksabha, said the Returning Officer.

The CPI (M), a constituent of the INDIA alliance, on Thursday announced P Appalanarasa as its candidate for Araku (ST) Lok Sabha constituency. The CPI, Congress and CPI (M) are INDIA alliance partners in Andhra Pradesh.

The TMC on Thursday said that BJP candidate Rekha Patra availed of the state’s ‘Swasthya Sathi’ health insurance scheme, prompting the saffron party to assert that the ruling party should not claim proprietorship of any social welfare projects which are funded by taxpayers’ money.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday named Gopen Soren as its candidate for the Rajmahal Lok Sabha constituency in Jharkhand, a party official said. The party has decided to contest two Lok Sabha seats - Rajmahal and Chatra - out of 14 seats in Jharkhand.

The nomination papers of six candidates seeking to contest from the Inner Manipur parliamentary seat were found valid during scrutiny on Thursday, an official said. The papers of one candidate were rejected.

The Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday announced candidates for eight Lok Sabha seats in the state, with the list including seven sitting MPs.

BJD founding member and six-time Cuttack Lok Sabha MP Bhartruhari Mahtab joined the BJP here on Thursday, dealing a big blow to the Odisha's ruling party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress on Thursday wrote to the Election Commission (EC) and the Supreme Court, accusing Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule of giving a misleading statement involving MP Navneet Rana. The statement amounted to contempt of court and violation of the model code, it claimed.

Puducherry District Election Officer A Kulothungan on Thursday said at the end of scrutiny of nominations filed by 34 candidates for the lone Lok Sabha seat, 27 were accepted.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has been re-fielded from Wayanad, will file his nomination from the seat on April 3.

Bollywood actor Govinda joined Shiv Sena in the presence of Eknath Shinde. 

CPI(M) released the first list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls including 15 for Kerala, 17 for West Bengal.

Five-time BJP MP and two-time MLA from Jharkhand Ram Tahal Choudhary joined Congress on Thursday.

On preparations for Lok Sabha elections 2024, Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren said, "...Our alliance is winning 14 out of 14 seats... We will announce the (candidates) names in 1-2 days."

RJD has offered these seats to Congress in Bihar. The announcement of the same will be made tomorrow.

Bhagalpur

Muzaffarpur

Bettiah

Sansaraam

Kishanganj

Katihar

Patna Sahib

Samastipur

The ninth seat could be Madhepura.

(With inputs from Vijay Lakshmi)

Bollywood actor Govinda may contest Lok Sabha polls from North West Mumbai on Shiv Sena ticket, sources said.

A Congress worker in Chhattisgarh has launched an indefinite fast opposing the candidature of party MLA Devendra Yadav from the Bilaspur Lok Sabha seat and demanding that he be nominated for it.

Tomorrow at 12.15 pm, the seats of Mahagathabandhan will be announced in Patna. A press conference will be held in RJD office, leaders of constituent parties will be present along with Tejashwi Yadav. Consensus has been reached on nine seats in Bihar, announcement will be made tomorrow.

(With inputs from Vijai Laxmi)

Karnataka: Prajwal Revanna of JD(S) files nomination papers in Hassan for Lok Sabha elections 2024.

The Congress will announce the names of its remaining candidates for the four Lok Sabha constituencies of Jharkhand by April 1, a party official said.

D K Suresh, only incumbent MP from Karnataka, files nomination from Bangalore Rural.

JJP leader and former deputy CM of Haryana, Dushyant Chautala said, "JJP will contest on all 10 seats (in Haryana) Candidates will be announced soon...It is clear that this is Congress' last election.."

"I am confident that Pralhad Joshi will win with a huge margin (from Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency). I will speak with Dingaleshwar Swamiji to sort out any misunderstandings promptly. Pralhad Joshi is a leader who works with all communities," said B S Yediyurappa.

Pralhad Joshi is the BJP candidate from Dharwad parliamentary seat.

Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to hold meeting in Mumbai today.

Mumbai, Maharashtra: On Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA)- (MVA) Maha Vikas Aghadi ties, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said, "The list of nine people have been released by VBA. The election is in the 5th step; there is enough time, talks are on..."

Bhartruhari Mahtab likely to join the BJP today. The MP from Cuttack resigned from the BJD on March 22.

National President of Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and NDA candidate Jitan Ram Manjhi files nomination from Gaya Lok Sabha seat.

BJP MP Varun Gandhi writes emotional letter to people of Pilibhit.

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Punjab BJP leaders meeting at its office in Chandigarh.

On nomination filing for Lok Sabha polls, National President of Lok Janshakti Party, Chirag Paswan said, "There is no doubt that NDA alliance will win all 40 seats (in Bihar). 

Mumbai: NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar arrives at party office, to meet party leaders to finalise candidates for Lok Sabha elections.

Sharad Pawar has called for a meeting of the NCP(SP). In this meeting, 10 Lok Sabha seats will be discussed again. The Sharad Pawar-led faction has decided to assert its claim on the Bhiwandi seat. During the MVA meeting scheduled for this evening, the NCP (SP) will raise the issue of the Bhiwandi seat.

Tamil Nadu: DMK candidate from South Chennai DMK and party's sitting MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian begins her election campaign from T Nagar in Chennai. 

Union Minister Giriraj Singh said, "INDIA alliance has no presence. They have come together only to abuse Modi ji."

The process of filing nominations for 88 parliamentary seats across 12 states in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections began on Thursday. The notification for the second phase of the parliamentary polls -- to be held on April 26 -- was issued by the Election Commission on behalf of the president early on Thursday.

Maharashtra: Election Commission's surveillance team seized cash worth Rs 1. 76 crore in Goregaon, Gondia on Wednesday, said District Information Office, Gondia.

RJD and Congress have come to a consensus on allocating nine seats in Bihar for the upcoming elections, said sources. Furthermore, they have also resolved the issue regarding the Purnia seat, although the official announcement will be made today. However, the Chatra seat in Jharkhand remains the only point of contention between the two parties, with no decision reached yet. Nonetheless, decisions have been finalized for all other seats. 

(Input: Vijay Laxmi)

Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, BJP national president JP Nadda appointed CR Kesavan as the party's national spokesperson on Wednesday. Kesavan, who is the great-grandson of C Rajagopalachari, recently switched from the Congress party to BJP. 

On Wednesday, the BJP announced the appointment of its Lok Sabha poll in-charges and co-incharges for various states and union territories, including several leaders who were not nominated as candidates for the elections. Nitin Nabin, a Bihar MLA, has been designated as the in-charge for Chhattisgarh, while Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Sharma will oversee affairs in Maharashtra, as per a party statement. In Uttar Pradesh, Bihar MLA Sanjeev Chaurasia, along with Ramesh Bidhuri and Sanjay Bhatia, both MPs in the outgoing Lok Sabha, have been named as co-incharges. Bidhuri and Bhatia were not renominated by the party for the upcoming polls.

Navneet Rana, an incumbent MP from Amravati, joined the BJP in Nagpur late on Wednesday night in the presence of the party's state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule. She joined the BJP at the Bawankule's residence in Nagpur along with her supporters and in the presence of senior party leaders from Amravati, Nagpur, Wardha and other places. Her husband Ravi Rana, an MLA, was also present when she joined the BJP.  BJP announced her name as the party's candidate for the Amravati seat. (PTI)