Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Congress announces Jay Narayan Patnaik from Puri after Sucharita Mohanty backs out

Madhya Pradesh Deputy CM Jagdish Devda on upcoming elections | "There is excitement for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. People believe in the party and PM Modi. There are a total of 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh, BJP will win all the seats with a huge margin. I am sure that PM Modi will become the Prime Minister for the third time."

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the candidature of Jay Narayan Patnaik (in place of Sucharita Mohanty) as party candidate from the Puri parliamentary constituency for the Lok Sabha elections.

Mahanaaryaman Scindia. son of Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister and BJP candidate from Guna, interacts and cooks food with tribals in Sheikhpur village during an election campaign for his father.

Advocate Ashok Pandey on why Rahul Gandhi's nomination should be rejected in Rae Bareli, "On behalf of Anirudh Pratap Singh, we have registered a complaint with the Returning Officer of Raebareli demanding cancellation of Rahul Gandhi's nomination papers on two grounds. First, Rahul Gandhi has been convicted for two years... He is ineligible to contest elections. Even though the Supreme Court has put a stay on Rahul Gandhi's conviction, it has not given any verdict like Afzal Ansari saying he can contest again... Since his stay on conviction does not involve permission to contest elections he should back off. Second, back in 2006, Rahul Gandhi once mentioned his Nationality as British. Being a British citizen, he cannot Constitutionally contest elections... After my complaint, Rahul Gandhi's representative was called in and my complaint has been accepted."

Wife of former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and JMM candidate for Gandey assembly by-election, Kalpana Soren appealed for votes during the election campaign, in Giridih.

Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav conducts a roadshow in Gwalior

"We have come to Ramesh Nagar today for 'Jan Sampark' yatra", said BJP candidate from New Delhi Bansuri Swaraj.

WATCH | Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav conducts roadshow in Gwalior, ahead of the upcoming elections.

BJP candidate from New Delhi Lok Sabha Constituency Bansuri Swaraj on upcoming election | "We have come to Ramesh Nagar today for 'Jan Sampark' yatra. Here we get to see the kind of love that is being showered on us. We are getting so much support from people and this is the result of the people welfare schemes of PM Modi..."

Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Arvinder Singh Lovely joining the BJP | "Almost everyone knew since the day he submitted his resignation from Congress that he will join the BJP. This is BJP’s politics wherein they break other political parties. Still, I.N.D.I.A bloc will win all the seven (Lok Sabha) seats in Delhi."

A large crowd cheered for the prime minister and waved cutouts of the BJP's election symbol 'lotus' as he greeted them from his car. Modi also visited the Gumati Gurdwara before starting his roadshow.

"The law and government agencies have been taken hostage by this government," said Delhi Congress interim president Devender Yadav.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a roadshow in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur ahead of third phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections.

"The candidate should contest first... Funding is a secondary issue," says Congress leader Ajoy Kumar on party candidate from Odisha's Puri Sucharita Mohanty returning ticket alleging lack of funding from the party.

"Rahul Gandhi lost to Smriti Irani ji in 2019 and now he wants to go to a safe seat, a so-called safe seat," said Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai. 

On former Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely joining BJP, Madhya Pradesh BJP president and candidate from Khajuraho Lok Sabha seat VD Sharma says, "...The people are disappointed with the leaders and leadership of Congress. Be it Arvinder Singh Lovely or the Congress candidate from Puri Lok Sabha seat in Odisha... everyone is disappointed with the Congress. They think they can do some good work in BJP, under the leadership of PM Modi... the preparations have been done for the third phase of polling..."

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said the Congress manifesto talked of 'jizya' (tax imposed on non-Muslims in medieval India) and promotion of cow slaughter and likened it to the "cruel rule of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb". He also accused the Congress of wanting to snatch the quota benefits of SC, STs and Other Backward Classes to please "its vote bank".

"Atal Bihari Vajpayee contested from 3 seats, Modi contested from 2 Parliament seats. This is the party's decision," he said on Rahul Gandhi contesting Lok Sabha polls from 2 seats.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a public meeting in Valsad.

The Sangrur parliamentary constituency's electorate knows of the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government's pro-people works and they cannot be fooled by an "outsider", AAP candidate from the seat Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said in a dig at Congress' Sukhpal Singh Khaira. The "outsider" barb against the Congress nominee for the seat comes days after Hayer had claimed that he had asked Khaira to name 10 villages of Sangrur and he could not name even three.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday took a dig at Rahul Gandhi for contesting from the Wayanad and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seats, claiming that the Congress leader will lose from Rae Bareli by a huge margin. Addressing a gathering at Bodeli town in the tribal-dominated Chhotaudepur district, Shah accused the opposition INDIA bloc of robbing the quota meant for Dalits, tribals and backward classes by giving it to Muslims in some states.

Eight candidates, including AIUDF chief and sitting Dhubri MP Badruddin Ajmal, contesting in the third and final phase of Lok Sabha polls in Assam have criminal cases registered against them as per affidavits submitted by them while filing nomination papers. Besides Ajmal, the ruling NDA's partner Asom Gana Parishad's (AGP) MLA Phani Bhushan Choudhury and United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) Jayanta Basumatary, three independents and one each from the Asom Jana Morcah and Ekam Sanatan Bharat Dal have cases pending against them. Dhubri constituency has four candidates with cases against them while Barpeta has two and Guwahati and Kokrajhar (ST) have one each. Ajmal, contesting from Dhubri Lok Sabha seat for the fourth consecutive term, has two cases pending against him in the state but no charges have been framed against him yet.

A BJP legislator in Madhya Pradesh lost his cool and allegedly threatened a policeman after he switched off the mic of former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during a public rally citing the model code of conduct. As a video of the incident, which took place on Thursday night, went viral on social media, the Congress filed a complaint with the Election Commission, demanding action against the ex-CM for flouting the model code. Sub Divisional Magistrate Chandrashekhar Shrivastava said that no action has been taken so far.

BJP has fielded its sitting MP Arvind Sharma from Rohtak Lok Sabha seat. Rohtak will vote on May 25. 

"Better sense will prevail this time and KL Sharma will come out with flying colours," Kharge said.

"I have returned the ticket because the party was not able to fund me," Congress candidate from Puri parliamentary constituency Sucharita Mohanty said.

After Congress leader Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination from Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli, his opponent in Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, Annie Raja, CPI candidate, said it is an "injustice to voters." Annie Raja said that it is about political morality and by not informing the Wayanad voters of his intention, Gandhi was being "unjust" to them.

"The part of the family is Dinesh Pratap Singh & Smriti Irani and not the Gandhi family," BJP's Raebareli candidate, Dinesh Pratap Singh said.

"Law and order has collapsed completely in Karnataka. There is a rise in cases of suicide, murder, rape and love jihad cases," he said.

Addressing a public rally PM Modi said, "This is the land of martyr Nilambar Pitambar. In 2014, one vote of yours worked and the world saluted India's democracy. You removed the corrupt government of Congress." "Recognise value of your one vote, it resulted in scrapping of Article 370 in J&K, wiped out terrorism," said PM Modi at a Jharkhand poll rally on Saturday. 

The fight for the Solapur Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra is between two sitting MLAs who are trying their fortunes for the first time in parliamentary politics. Congress candidate and former Maharashtra chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde's daughter Praniti Shinde is a three-time MLA from the Solapur City Central assembly constituency while BJP nominee Ram Satpute represents the Malshiras assembly segment.

"People close to the Gandhi family have fought from Amethi previously...Why is the BJP so concerned?" he asked.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President KT Rama Rao today campaigned for the parliamentary elections in Sirisilla town by visiting the market area in the town and interacting with locals.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president J P Nadda are scheduled to visit Odisha over the next few days to campaign for the simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections. Modi is slated to address two political rallies in Berhampur and Nabarangpur Lok Sabha constituencies on Monday, a party leader said.

Kuldeep Kumar, AAP Lok Sabha candidate from East Delhi constituency took blessings of his parents before holding a roadshow to Geeta Colony SDM Court to file his nomination today.

"For Congress and the Gandhi family, Amethi and Raebareli are equal," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold two rallies in Jharkhand and one in Bihar today. He will also hold a roadshow in Kanpur later in the evening today.

AAP leader Somnath Bharti will file his nomination paper from New Delhi today. He will be up against BJP's Bansuri Swaraj.