Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Highlights: Congress tarnished Delhi's image during Commonwealth games, says PM Modi

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami claimed the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc wants to push the country into the "abyss of corruption" but the people have decided to make Narendra Modi the prime minister for the third time in a row.

Referring to BJP leader Sambit Patra’s controversial remark on Lord Jagannath, senior Congress leader Pawan Khera on Wednesday alleged that the prime minister is thinking himself to be above God and appealed to the people to break Narendra Modi's "arrogance" in this election. Patra had told reporters in Puri on Monday that the state’s most revered deity “Lord Jagannath is a devotee of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be able to retain power "pretty easily" in the ongoing general elections, political scientist Ian Bremmer said on Wednesday. Unlike the upcoming US elections, where aspects like the legitimacy of the vote may come into focus, the Indian election is not a "controversial" one, he said after an interaction with Indian C-suite executives arranged by industry grouping CII.

Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami campaigns in Delhi | "Under the leadership of PM Modi, there has been rapid development in the last 10 years. India has made its mark in every field, in the last 10 years, work has been done at an unprecedented pace to strengthen the infrastructure... Today India's Vande Bharat train is making India's mark in the world and the work of bullet train is also going on very fast..."

Union Minister and BJP candidate from Khunti, Arjun Munda on Lok Sabha Elections 2024 | "This alliance (INDIA alliance) is not to serve the nation, this alliance is to save themselves... So this is their basic motive...These people have always tried to take political advantage by creating differences in the country..."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi | "Today, Calcutta HC has given a verdict that all the OBC certificates issued after 2010 have been cancelled. This was done because the West Bengal government inexplicably gave OBC certificates to Muslims, only for the Muslim vote bank. This vote bank politics, this politics of appeasement, is crossing every limit. 'Aaj Court ne tamacha maara hai, yeh Khan Market gang paap ki zimmedaar hai'... They say that Muslims have the first right on the country's resources. These people are continuously giving government lands to the Waqf Board and asking for votes in return. These people want to reserve 15 per cent of the country's budget for minorities. They also want to give loans from banks and government tender based on religion. These people are opposing CAA to please their vote bank..."

Addressing a public rally in Dwarka, PM Modi said, "Sometimes while speaking lies, the truth comes out of the Shehzada's mouth. Today, Congress' Shehzada has confessed a big truth. He has admitted that the system that was formed during his grandmother, his father and his mother's time, was severely against the Dalits, backwards and Adivasis. This system of the Congress destroyed the generations of ST, SC and OBCs. Today, the Shehzada admitted this himself..."

Congress tarnished image of the Commonwealth Games by looting Delhi, entire world hailed India for hosting G20 summit, PM Modi said at Delhi rally. The national capital will vote on May 25.

Addressing a public rally in Delhi's Dwarka, PM Modi said, "The voting on more than 400 Lok Sabha seats has been completed... The 5 phases have confirmed a strong BJP-NDA government. The country understands that any vote for the INDI alliance is not going to be of any use to the country. Every vote for the BJP will ensure the resolution of Viksit Bharat..."

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Sultanpur | "Whenever Samajwadi Party and Congress have allied, it has been disastrous, it is dangerous for the country. You are seeing how the stampede is happening, just think what these goons would have done if they came to power. How the stage is being vandalised, someone is pushing his leader down and someone is occupying the stage himself..."

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis holds a roadshow in support of BJP candidate from Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat Praveen Khandelwal.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on how the system works | "I have been sitting in the system since the day I was born. I understand the system from the inside. You cannot hide the system from me. How it works, whom it favours, how it favours, whom it protects, whom it attacks, I know everything because I come from inside the system. When my grandmother was the PM, my father was the PM, and when Manmohan Singh was the PM, I used to go to the PM's house. So I know how the system works from the inside. I can tell you one thing, the system is aligned against the lower castes, severely and on every level..."

On Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann's '13-0' slogan, Punjab BJP President Sunil Jakhar says, "Bhagwant Mann's background is of a theatre artist and a comedian. This is just another joke of him at which people laugh. He is just joking because he comes from that background. It is the misfortune of Punjab that a non-serious person is sitting on the CM's chair. Farmers and traders are troubled because of him..."

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday launched a blistering attack on the "corrupt INDI alliance" and said the opposition bloc doesn't have any leader who can become Prime Minister. While addressing a rally at Ghatal, Shah said the INDIA bloc leaders just want their dynasty to move ahead and "neither have any leaders to lead the country nor have any intention for the development of the nation." Shah, while referring to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir said "PoK is part of India and we will take it". "The INDI alliance doesn't have any leaders. The INDI alliance wants five PMs in five years. The INDI alliances neither have leaders nor have any intention for the development of the nation," he said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the Agniveer scheme will be scrapped and thrown into dustbin if the INDIA bloc comes to power as he slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "turning Hindustan ke jawan into labourers". In his first election meeting in Haryana for the Lok Sabha polls, the former Congress president also attacked Modi over the issue of farmers. Slamming the BJP government over the Agniveer scheme, he said, "This is Modi's scheme and not Army's scheme, Army does not want it".

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) National President Akhilesh Yadav will address a public meeting in support of Dharmendra Yadav, the joint SP and INDIA bloc candidate from Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency.

Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar on Wednesday wrote to the Election Commission, seeking extension in voting time by two hours in the state in the wake of searing heat. He sought that polling be allowed from 6 am to 7 pm. Polling across the country is normally held from 7 am to 6 pm. Polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held on June 1.
In his letter to the Election Commission of India, Jakhar said, "With the final phase of general elections scheduled for June 1, Punjab will be experiencing an intense heat wave, making it extremely challenging for voters to cast their votes during the peak sunny hours. The intense heat wave will pose health risks, particularly to vulnerable groups such as the elderly and children."

Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh will address a public meeting in Haryana's Bhiwani.

The Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP of ignoring the plight of Uttar Pradesh's once thriving sugar industry and neglecting farmers' frequent calls to increase the price of sugarcane. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his rallies in Shravasti and Basti.

Odisha recorded a voter turnout of 73.50 per cent in the second round of polls to five Lok Sabha seats and 35 assembly segments, the Election Commission said. The highest polling of 79.78 per cent was registered in the Bargarh seat followed by Bolangir (77.52 per cent), Kandhamal (74.13 per cent), Sundergarh (73.02 per cent) and Aska (62.67 per cent), it said in a statement. The voter turnout in the five parliamentary constituencies in 2019 was 72.09 per cent.

Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav and Mukesh Sahni, the National President of the Vikassheel Insan Party, will jointly address a public meeting in East Champaran's Chiraiya at 3 pm.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav will visit Uttar Pradesh and address a public meeting at BRP Inter College in Jaunpur at 3:00 pm today.

The Bihar unit of BJP on Wednesday suspended Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh from the party for contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Karakat seat as an independent candidate. Former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, who heads the Rashtriya Lok Morcha, is the NDA nominee from the south Bihar seat. Singh threw his hat in the ring in the Karakat constituency after turning down a BJP ticket from Asansol in West Bengal.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will address a public meeting in favour of I.N.D.I.A bloc and Congress candidate from North-West Delhi Lok Sabha seat, Udit Raj at 6 pm. at Durga Chowk, Bhalswa Dairy.

The Congress has consciously contested on a lesser number of seats in this Lok Sabha election as part of a strategy to keep the INDIA bloc together and defeat the BJP, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has said. In an interview with PTI, he said this does not exhibit "under-confidence" on the part of the party as the "compromise was struck to ensure victory of the united opposition while giving space to other parties which have strengths in different parts of the country".

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati will address a public meeting in support of party's Lok Sabha candidate from Sultanpur, Udayraj Verma at 12 pm.

An assistant teacher posted as a polling officer in Hamirpur for the Lok Sabha elections has been suspended for clicking a selfie inside the polling booth. Ashish Kumar Arya, an assistant teacher at Girls Primary School, Umri in Muskara Development Block in Hamirpur district, was deployed on duty as Polling Officer (First) at polling station 112 of Shri Vidya Mandir Inter College, Hamirpur, UP's Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said in a statement on Tuesday. Rinwa said that it is alleged that Arya took selfies with his mobile phone and took photographs of voters on the day of voting, which is a clear violation of the instructions of the Election Commission.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will address poll rallies in Haryana today (May 22). It is his first campaign stop in the state that goes to the polls on May 25. Haryana sends 10 members to the Lok Sabha. Gandhi will hold a rally in the Charkhi Dadri area of the Bhiwani-Mahendergarh constituency. He will address another public meeting in Sonipat. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address three public meetings and a roadshow in West Bengal- one in Kanthi at 11 a.m., another in Ghatal at 12:30 p.m. followed by another public rally in Purulia at 2:30 p.m. He will also hold a roadshow in Bankura at 4 p.m. starting from Lal Bazaar Chowk which will culminate at Chak Bazaar.

In his first poll meeting for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections after returning from the UK following an eye surgery, AAP MP Raghav Chadha on Tuesday said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be voting for Congress and Rahul Gandhi will be voting for AAP when the national capital goes to polls. Addressing a poll meeting in South Delhi in support of party's Lok Sabha pick Sahi Ram Pahalwan, Chadha said, "I am here to support my brother not only because he is a good person but also because this election is about saving the country and the Constitution." The future of your children depends on your vote, the Rajya MP told the gathering.

BJP President JP Nadda will address three public meetings in West Bengal- one in North 24 Parganas at 12:50 pm, another in Kolkata Uttar (Kolkata district) at 3 pm. followed by a third public rally in Kolkata Dakshin (Kolkata district) at 4 pm.