Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Kejriwal lost his mental stability in jail | Updates

"Those who have allied for common greeds... their policies, leadership, ideologies, direction nothing is same. They have formed this alliance to stop themselves from going to jail. Kejriwal has become a wall of corruption and he has lost his mental stability inside the jail and keeps saying anything. People of the country know the truth and they are going to eliminate INDI alliance from the whole country...," said senior BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Union Minister and BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Sambalpur, Dharmendra Pradhan held a roadshow in Deogarh district, earlier today. | WATCH

"When Congress asks us why do you need 400 seats? When we got 300 seats we built the Ram Mandir and now when we get 400 seats Krishna Janmabhoomi will be built and Baba Vishwanath Mandir will also be built in place of Gyanvapi Mosque... During Congress' rule, no discussions were held in the Parliament regarding PoK... Soon Pak-occupied Kashmir will become part of our country under the leadership of PM Modi...," said Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma says, "They (Akhilesh Yadav and INDIA alliance) are experts in speaking lies, whenever elections come they speak lie... Arvind Kejriwal came to finish corruption and today he himself is in the swamp of corruption..."

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan says, "Arvind Kejriwal is now 'Kejri-corruption-wal'. He has become a wall of corruption... wherever his party wins, they do corruption..."

Keeping up with the times, the Delhi poll body has roped in social media influencers to encourage youth to exercise their franchise on May 25 when the national capital goes to polls. Speaking to PTI, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P Krishnamurthy said the poll body has been conducting activities under the Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation programme, better known as SVEEP, to spread voter awareness. In a novel initiative this time, various districts have roped in influencers for the cause.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not hearing the people's plights and talking "irrelevant" things. Priyanka Gandhi addressed an election meeting organised in Mohiya Kesariya in support of the Congress candidate from Amethi, Kishori Lal Sharma. In her 45-minute-long speech, she accused the prime minister of not loving the people and not visiting any farmer's house.

"Rahul Gandhi's statement is correct that they are fighting to protect something. But the fight is not to protect the Constitution but family dynasties & the shrinking shop of its politics. If he has to say that when his grandmother imposed an emergency or when she put opposition leaders behind bars Consitution was safe, or the Constitution was safe when Rajnath Singh was not given-permission to do the last rites of his mother... This has nothing to do with saving the Constitution but last try to save their family dynasty...," said BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma addressing an event in Bhubaneswar says, "Congress always speaks about secularism... When the Constitution was drafted, there was no mention of the word secularism... Our country is secular for centuries... When we have the courage to say 'sarve bhavantu sukhinah', then we don't have to learn about secularism from Congress."

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) asked the Election Commission to stop "blatant violations" of the poll code by the BJP and its leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while alleging that the model code of conduct has been turned into "Modi Code of Conduct".

Addressing a public meeting in Bangaon, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, says, "4 phases of polling have been completed. Elections for 380 seats have been completed. Elections for 18 seats in Bengal have been completed. Today I tell you that out of 380, PM Modi has achieved absolute majority by winning 270 seats. The fight ahead is to cross 400..."

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday held a roadshow in Kurukshetra's Pehowa campaigning for party candidate Sushil Gupta and attacked the BJP-led Centre over his jailing, claiming it is scared of him. Gupta, AAP's Kurukshetra Lok Sabha candidate, accompanied Kejriwal during the roadshow. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor was granted interim bail till June 1 by the Supreme Court on Friday in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said he will campaign for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli. The state Congress president also expressed confidence about the INDI Alliance coming to power in the country after the polls. "I'm going to Raebareli for (Lok Sabha) election campaigning in Uttar Pradesh. I won't be here (Bengaluru) for two days, I'm leaving today. I have requested that no one should come (near my residence) to celebrate my birthday (May 15) and there should not be any celebrations," Shivakumar said.

Forty-nine drones have been either shot down or recovered from along the India-Pakistan international border by the BSF in the 60 days of the Model Code of Conduct being in force for the ongoing general election in the country, latest data show. Separately, the total recovery of these largely Chinese-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), originating from Pakistan and entering India's Punjab territory and a few in Rajasthan, has seen an about 13 times rise since 2022 in the January-May period. The MCC, or the Model Code of Conduct, came into force on March 16, the day the Election Commission held a press conference here to announce a seven-phase election in the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi left the DM office in Varanasi after filing his nomination for Lok Sabha Elections. Union Ministers, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, and other NDA leaders were present.

BJP candidate and Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut arrives at the DM office to file her nomination from the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency. She has been pitted against Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh, the royal heir of the former Rampur Bushahr princely state, from Mandi. 

Congress candidate from Chandigarh, Manish Tewari held a roadshow ahead of filing his nomination for Lok Sabha Elections. BJP has fielded Sanjay Tandon from this seat. Chandigarh will vote on June 1.

The security has been tightened outside the DM office in Varanasi ahead of PM Modi's nomination today. The Prime Minister will file his nomination at 11.40 am. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared a video on his official X account, mentioning his emotional connection with his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi. "My relationship with my Kashi is amazing, integral and unmatched… All I can say is that it cannot be expressed in words!" he stated. 

Visuals have surfaced from Kal Bhairav ​​temple in Varanasi where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit and offer prayers.  PM Modi is the sitting MP and BJP's candidate from Varanasi. He will file his nomination for the Lok Sabha Elections today.

Voting seems to have picked up in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha polls held on Monday as compared to the previous phases, according to the latest voter turnout shared by the Election Commission (EC). According to the poll authority, the turnout stood at 67.25 per cent at 11:45 pm. The turnout is 1.74 percentage points higher than the corresponding phase in the 2019 parliamentary polls. The figures, the EC said, will continue to be updated by the field-level officers as polling parties keep returning.

The preparation is in full swing at Dasaswamedh Ghat in Varanasi where PM Narendra Modi will visit and offer prayers. According to the information, he will also board the cruise ship here. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Ministers of 12 BJP-ruled and alliance states are likely to be present during the nomination filing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi. He will be filing the nomination at 11.40 am today. The BJP's NDA partners Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary, LJP chief Chirag Paswan, Apna Dal (S) president Anupriya Patel and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party president Omprakash Rajbhar are also expected to be present, the statement said. Besides Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, chief ministers Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Pushkar Singh Dhami (Uttarakhand), Mohan Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), Vishnu Deo Sai (Chhattisgarh), Eknath Shinde (Maharashtra), Bhajan Lal Sharma (Rajasthan), Himanta Biswa Sharma (Assam), Nayab Singh Saini (Haryana), Pramod Sawant (Goa), Prem Singh Tamang (Sikkim) and Manik Saha (Tripura) are also likely to attend the prime minister's nomination filing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will file his nomination papers after offering prayers at the Kaal Bhairav temple today in Varanasi. He is also likely to offer prayers at the Dashashwamedh Ghat on the banks of the Ganga around 9 am, a BJP statement issued in Lucknow said. The Prime Minister is also expected to take a dip in the Ganga river on the occasion of Ganga Saptami today. According to the itinerary, the prime minister may also take a cruise trip to the Namo Ghat in the city ahead of filing nomination papers. Following the nomination process, Modi will hold a meeting with BJP workers at the Rudraksha Convention Centre.