Lok Sabha elections 2024: BJP appoints in-charges, co-in-charges for 13 states

The Congress on Wednesday night announced the names of candidates for three Lok Sabha constituencies - Lohardaga, Khunti and Hazaribag. Three more names were finalised for the state in the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting held in New Delhi while talks on seat-sharing are on among INDIA bloc partners, Congress Legislature Party leader Alamgir Alam told PTI over phone from Delhi.

BJP appointed party election in-charges and co-in-charges for several states former Haryana BJP president OP Dhankhar appointed as incharge of Delhi. Dr Dinesh Sharma was appointed as incharge of Maharashtra. Sanjiv Chaurasia was given responsibility of Uttar Pradesh.

Tamil Nadu BJP chief and party's candidate from Coimbatore, K Annamalai said it is very clear there is a huge wave for PM Narendra Modi in Tamil Nadu.

"We are extremely confident that on April 19, the people of Coimbatore, the people of Tamil Nadu will vote for PM Narendra Modi in an overwhelming fashion. June 4 will herald a new era where Narendra Modi and all the candidates working for him will win...BJP will get 60% votes in Coimbatore," he added.

BJP releases list of two candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra and Karnataka, Independent MP Navneet Rana to contest from Amravati.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief MK Stalin participated in the election campaign public meeting at Tenkasi District.

Stalin, while addressing the poll event, said "BJP will show concern for people only at the time of election. Now petrol-diesel prices have been reduced, and even gas prices have also been reduced only for elections. It is the Modi government that raised the prices but they will pretend that they have nothing to do with the price hike."

Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh on Wednesday targetted BJP's Mandi candidate Kangana Ranaut by indirectly comparing her to Sunny Deol, another actor-politician in the BJP camp, who has been criticised for his absences from Parliament and his Lok Sabha constituency. The Congress leader shared on social media a purported notice from Deol appointing a "representative" for attending meetings in his Gurdaspur constituency on his behalf. "I pray to Lord Ram that such situation does not arise in Mandi," PWD minister Singh said Wednesday on Facebook, asking people of the constituency to think hard before casting their vote.

Navneet Rana, who contested as an independent candidate in 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Maharashtra's Amravati seat, has been fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming election from Amravati.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its list of candidates for the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.

Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Pratibha Singh said she would accept the party's decision on fielding her from Mandi Lok Sabha seat.

On contesting the Lok Sabha election from Mandi, she said, "The party high command will decide this."

"We discussed which candidates we have to field. We have asked for some time on this so that we can think again and field the most powerful candidates..," she added.

A total of 222 bills were passed in the 17th Lok Sabha and 45 of these were cleared the same day they were introduced in the House, according to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

According to reports, RJD has offered eight seats to Congress which are: 

• Bhagalpur 
• Muzaffarpur
• Bettiah 
• Sasaram 
• Kishanganj 
• Katihar 
• Patna Sahib 
• Samastipur

"The Election Commission had assured us yesterday that they will look into it... Dilip Ghosh always uses this kind of language and that is why we said that some severe action has to be taken against him..." said West Bengal minister Shashi Panja on BJP MP Dilip Ghosh's remark against Mamata Banerjee.

Maulana Mohibullah Nadvi, the Imam of Parliament Street Mosque in Delhi, on Wednesday filed his nomination from the Rampur constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

"I have filed my nomination as a Samajwadi Party candidate... Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has sent me here with the message of humanity...," Maulana Mohibullah Nadvi said.

Tamil Nadu Congress candidate from Tiruvallur Parliamentary constituency, ex-IAS officer Sasikanth Senthil on Wednesday filed his nomination, ahead of Lok Sabha polls. 

Sitting DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran and state BJP chief K Annamalai on Wednesday filed their nominations for the April 19 Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu. Maran, who is seeking a successive term from the Chennai Central constituency, declared movable and immovable assets worth over Rs 7.81 crore. Annamalai is contesting from Coimbatore and he was accompanied by BJP Mahila Morcha chief and MLA Vanathi Sreenivasan among others, when he filed his nomination. In his election affidavit, senior DMK leader Maran submitted that he has Rs 7,81,05,240 of movable assets which include bank deposits and equity shares with private firms.

According to sources, AAP MP from Jalandhar Sushil Kumar Rinku likely to join BJP today.

Six-time Congress MLA Suresh Routray's son Manmath Routray joined the ruling BJD in Odisha on Wednesday. Manmath, a former commercial pilot, went to the BJD headquarters, Sankha Bhawan, with his supporters in a procession. He was inducted into the party by its MPs Manas Mangaraj and Sasmit Patra.

Karnataka minister and Congress leader MC Sudhakar along with three other 3 MLAs and 2 MLCs met the Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman today, not the Assembly Speaker.

Akhilesh Yadav has said in the party meeting that he will take action for indiscipline. He said if Ruchi Vira files her nomination from Moradabad then Samajwadi Party will take action against him. 

These are the seats that RJD has offered to Congress 

• Bhagalpur
• Muzaffarpur
• Bettiah
• Sasaram
• Kishanganj
• Katihar
• Patna sahib
• Samastipur

RJD is not ready to give seats like- Purniya, Aurangabad, Karakat, and Begusarai (already given to left parties) the stalemate continues on these seats and will be resolved after one more round of a meeting between the leaders of both parties.

Karakat Congress wants to accomodate Meera Kumar' son, as she herself does not want to contest from Sasaram and wants his son to contest, since Sasaram is a reserved seat, Meera Kumar's son can't contest from that seat as Meera Kumar's husband is from OBC community.

In Aurangabad, RJD has already given a symbol to Abhay Kushwaha, so there seems no going back. Begusarai seat has already been given to left parties by RJD.

(With inputs from Vijai Laxmi)

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav not likely to contest polls in the upcoming elections. 

(With inputs from Vishal Singh)

The West Bengal BJP, which political analysts claim is grappling with internal discord, organisational shortcomings and resurgence of the Left-Congress alliance, takes on the daunting task of securing 35 Lok Sabha seats in the national elections, hinging on CAA implementation as its key to achieve its target. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP put up a stellar performance in West Bengal, clinching 18 seats and securing 40 per cent of the vote share. Buoyed by its success, the party has set an ambitious target of winning 35 seats in this election. While the party heavily relies on the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it also seeks to reap the benefits of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, although political analysts warn that CAA could prove to be a "double-edged sword" for the BJP.

NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar calls a meeting of the party's parliamentary board; party leaders Jayant Patil, Anil Deshmukh, Fauzia Khan, Rajesh Tope, Rakhi Jadhav, Rohit Pawar, Naseem Siddiqui and other leaders took part in the meeting. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and UP CM Yogi Adityanath are among the 40 star campaigners who would canvass for the BJP in Bihar during the Lok Sabha elections. In the list, the party also named its chief JP Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Giriraj Singh and Nityanand Rai, besides Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday declared the candidature of Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil from Shirur Lok Sabha constituency after the Shiv Sena leader joined the Nationalist Congress Party. Patil will be the candidate of the tripartite Mahayuti alliance. Pawar has also announced the candidature of sitting NCP MP Sunil Tatkare from the Raigad Lok Sabha constituency in the coastal region. Patil joined the Ajit Pawar-led NCP at a party congregation held in Manchar village in Ambegaon tehsil of Pune district which falls under the Shirur LS constituency.

SP made big changes in Moradabad Lok Sabha seat ahead of the election. ST Hasan will contest from Moradabad seat on the ticket of SP. Ruchi Veera may be stopped from filing nomination papers. Form B was given to Ruchi Veera by the party yesterday.

(With inputs from Shoiab Raza) 

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will start interacting with intellectuals from Wednesday, through 'Prabuddh Sammelans' where he will present a comprehensive account of the government's work. The Chief Minister's Prabuddh Sammelans are set to begin from Western Uttar Pradesh, where elections will be held in the first few phases. Through these proposed meetings until March 31, Yogi Adityanath will engage in dialogue with the people, laying the groundwork for the 'Phir ek bar, Modi sarkaar’ resolution ahead of the elections. As per the schedule announced by the Bharatiya Janata Party, he will visit 15 districts over five days from March 27 to 31. His series of Prabuddh Sammelan will commence from Mathura, Meerut, and Ghaziabad on Wednesday, where he will engage with dignitaries and the general public. On Thursday, March 28, Yogi Adityanath's schedule includes programmes in Bijnor, Moradabad, and Amroha, where he will interact with prominent individuals. On March 29, he is scheduled to participate in the Prabuddh Sammelan in Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, and Saharanpur.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday released its first list of 17 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, nominating former Union ministers Anant Geete and Arvind Sawant from Raigad and South Mumbai constituencies respectively. The party also fielded Rajan Vichare from Thane, Amol Kirtikar from Mumbai North-West, and Sanjay Patil from Mumbai North-East. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party is a constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state. Another MVA constituent, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) is yet to officially declare its candidates in the state for the April-May Lok Sabha polls. On the other hand, the Congress, which is also a part of the state-level grouping of the opposition parties, has declared its candidates on some seats where there is no tussle with its alliance partners. Maharashtra, which has 48 Lok Sabha seats, the second highest after Uttar Pradesh (80), will vote in five phases starting from April 19.

Election officials have seized undocumented diamond, gold and silver articles valued at around Rs 4 crore in Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru district. According to police, the valuables were seized at the MC Halli checkpost near Tarikere town on Tuesday. Officials seized diamond articles weighing over 1.7 kg, gold around 6.5 kg and 1 kg of silver articles. The seizure was made during the inspection of vehicles at the checkpost from a truck. As the concerned persons failed to produce relevant documents for the valuables, the police seized the articles and took up the investigation.