Lok Sabha Elections 2024 updates: Ahead of the sixth phase of polling on May 25 (Saturday), Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed poll rallies in Haryana's Bhiwani and Punjab's Patiala today (May 23). On the other side, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also addressed multiple public meetings in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday as part of Lok Sabha poll campaigning. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a poll campaign in Delhi and Haryana today.
Security beefed up in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district ahead of the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polling.
Ahead of the polling for the sixth phase, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said, “I have no doubt that the people want change. I am sure that you will see a change in Delhi on June 4. BJP will get very less votes compared to last time. Public is tired of this government's mistakes and shortcomings.
On Security arrangements for the 6th phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 25, Additional DCP Vishnu Kumar Sharma says, "... In Shahdara, there are 166 polling stations and 827 polling booths. Staff has been appointed as per the guidelines of the Election Commission. A staff of 2500 will be on duty that day... The staff was briefed on May 20 and today... Drones will be used at sensitive polling booths..."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a public rally in Patiala today said, "So-called Punjab CM is too busy attending the Delhi Darbar."
"Our Sikh families were in trouble in Afghanistan, we brought everyone safely. 'Guru Granth Sahibji' was also brought with respect by my minister..," he added.
Amid the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, Senior Congress leader and former Punjab Minister Harminder Singh Jassi joined BJP in the presence of Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar today.
Ahead of the polling in Delhi on May 25, senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in a video message shared appealed to the voters to make Congress and INDIA bloc candidate win on all seven seats. She said, "This election is being fought on issues like unemployment, inflation, and attacks on constitutional bodies, and you have to play your part in the battle. Your vote will create employment opportunities, reduce inflation, strengthen women, and will create an India of equality in a bright future."
Ahead of the sixth phase of polling, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday took a dig at the opposition. Addressing a rally in Haryana's Bhiwani, PM Modi said, "The people of the country have already understood the intentions of the INDI alliance, that is why this is their condition. The drum of the INDI alliance has burst in just 5 phases and you must have seen that after the third phase, they started crying and whining... Why does the Election Commission do this? Why does the Election Commission do that?..."
Amid the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, "Delhi is with BJP, Modi Ji, we will win all seven seats and Manoj Tiwari ji will be elected with record number of votes..."
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Yogi Adityanath today said if the 'double engine' government is formed in Odisha, bulldozers will be used against all kinds of mafia. Addressing an election rally in the Chilika assembly constituency under the Puri Lok Sabha seat, Yogi said, “Give us strength to form a double engine government in Odisha so that we can clear the path by running bulldozers on 'land, sand, forest and cattle' mafia in the state, as we did in Uttar Pradesh." The term "double engine" is used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a state. “The BJD government is surrounded by servile coterie and when they surround any government, it gives birth to dictatorship. Then corruption increases, the poor are exploited and the administration collapses,” he alleged.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati to address public meetings at Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh and Buxar in Bihar.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today charged that the BJP always wanted to "tear and throw away" the Constitution, and asserted that the Lok Sabha elections this time is a fight to safeguard it. At an election meeting in northeast Delhi's Dilshad Garden in support of party candidate Kanhaiya Kumar, he claimed that the BJP always wanted to change the Constitution. "These people (BJP) have always wanted to tear and throw it (Constitution) away. They never accepted neither the Indian Constitution nor the Indian flag. In this election finally they have accepted that they want to change it," he charged. "In this election, the fight is for safeguarding the Indian Constitution. It is not simply a book, our Constitution carries thousands of years of ideological heritage of Gandhi, Ambedkar and Nehru ji," the Congress leader said. The former Congress president said the BJP has finally "accepted" in this election that it wanted to change the Constitution.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will address public meetings in Odisha -- at Sambalpur, Deogarh, Champua and Badamba.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday led a roadshow to garner support for party nominee Kumari Selja for the May 25 Lok Sabha poll in Haryana. Standing in an open vehicle along with Selja and former Haryana minister Kiran Choudhary, Priyanka waved towards people during her roadshow, which lasted for about an hour. It was her first such election outing in Haryana. Holding party flags, Congress workers raised slogans 'Congress party Zindabad' and showered flower petals on her. The roadshow came hours before the campaigning for the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls come to an end. Selja, a prominent Dalit face of the Congress in Haryana, is pitted against BJP's Ashok Tanwar. Like Selja, Tanwar has also been the president of the Haryana Congress when he was in the party.
Union Minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani will hold a roadshow in support of BJP candidate Harsh Malhotra from East Delhi Lok Sabha seat at 2 p.m.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will address a public meeting at 11:45 a.m. in Buxar district.
Samajwadi Party National President and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to address public meetings -- in Pratapgarh at 12:45 p.m., in Jaunpur at 1:50 p.m. and Machhlishahr at 3:15 p.m.
The Congress on Thursday hit out at the BJP for not fulfilling the promises made to farmers' organisations and asserted that an INDIA bloc government will implement all its guarantees to the tillers, including the legal guarantee of MSP.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP leader Yogi Adityanath will address public meetings in Odisha and Bihar. From Odisha, he will address public meetings -- in Puri at 11:40 a.m. and in Kendrapara at 1:05 p.m. In Bihar, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister will address public meetings -- in Motihari (East Champaran) at 4:05 p.m. and at 5 p.m. in West Champaran.
BJP President J.P. Nadda will address public meetings in Odisha on Thursday -- one in Mayurbhanj at 11:10 a.m., another in Bhadrak at 1 p.m., third public rally in Jajpur at 2:35 p.m. and later a fourth public meeting in Jagatsinghpur at 4:10 p.m.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address four public meetings in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday -- one in Siddharthnagar at 12:15 p.m., another in Sant Kabir Nagar at 1:30 p.m. followed by another public rally in Ambedkar Nagar at 3 p.m. Later, he will also address a public meeting in Pratapgarh at 4:15 p.m.
Amid the blistering heatwave in the region, as the temperatures three-four notches above the season's average, the BJP's top brass will continue its campaign for the Lok Sabha polls on Thursday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing two rallies- one each in Haryana and Punjab. Prime Minister Modi will address the day's first public meeting in Haryana's Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, which goes to the polls along with other state's nine seats in the sixth phase on May 25. The campaigning in Haryana will end on Thursday evening. Later, he will address an election rally at Patiala in Punjab where the polls will be held on all 13 seats on June 1, along with the lone seat of Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana.
A total of 45,576 EVMs will be used in the state for the Lok Sabha elections and the by-election of Karnal Assembly constituency, Haryana Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Agarwal said on Wednesday. Agarwal said 24,039 control units and 26,040 VVPAT machines will be used at 20,031 polling stations for the elections. Among the polling stations set up, 19,812 are permanent and 219 are auxiliary stations, he said. There are 99 polling stations which will be operated entirely by women staff and 71 polling stations will be manned by Person with Disability (PwD) employees, he said. There are 5,470 polling stations in urban areas and 14,342 polling stations have been set up in rural areas, he said. Voting for 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana and bypoll for Karnal assembly seat will be held on May 25 in the sixth phase of general elections. Polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm. The state CEO said that 176 model polling stations have also been established.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit Delhi and address public meetings -- in North East Delhi's Dilshad Garden area at 10:30 a.m. and another in North West Delhi's Mongolpuri area at 12:30 p.m.
The Election Commission on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that "indiscriminate disclosure" of polling station-wise voter turnout data and posting it on website will cause chaos in the election machinery which is already in motion for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The poll panel said that public posting of Form 17C - which gives the number of votes polled in a polling station - is not provided in the statutory framework and could lead to mischief and vitiation of the entire electoral space as it increases the possibility of the images being morphed. The EC also dismissed as false and misleading the allegation that the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections saw an increase of "5-6 per cent" in the voter turnout data released on the day of polling and in the subsequent press releases for each of the two phases.
