Election wrap: Arvinder Singh Lovely officially joins BJP, Yogi Adityanath slams Congress manifesto, rakes up 'jizya and more

Arvinder Singh Lovely officially joined the BJP at the party headquarters in Delhi today

Rahul Gandhi's choice to contest from both the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh and the Wayanad constituency in Kerala has elicited a varied response from the people of Wayanad. This decision comes as Gandhi, the former party president, is also running for office in Kerala's Wayanad constituency, where the elections concluded recently on April 26th.

Meanwhile, Arvinder Singh Lovely officially joined the BJP at the party headquarters in Delhi, with Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in attendance, days after tendering his resignation as the Delhi Congress Chief on April 28. Lovely had cited the party's alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as one of the contributing factors for his departure.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, during a rally in Ashok Nagar town of Guna Lok Sabha constituency, slammed the Congress manifesto, alleging that it discussed imposing 'jizya' and advocated for cow slaughter, likening it to the rule of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. CM Adityanath accused the Congress of planning to revoke quota benefits for SC, STs, and OBCs to please its vote bank.

He praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership for honoring faith, implementing welfare schemes for the poor, and bringing pride to the country. Adityanath was speaking in support of BJP candidate and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia at the rally.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) released its list of 40 star campaigners for the Delhi and Haryana Lok Sabha elections scheduled for May 25.

Among the prominent figures mentioned in both lists are Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his wife Sunita Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, MPs Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha, Delhi ministers Gopal Rai, Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Kailash Gahlot, and Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi.

Congress candidate for the Puri Lok Sabha constituency, Sucharita Mohanty, has declined to contest the elections and returned the party ticket, citing a lack of funding from the party.

In a mail to AICC general secretary KC Venu gopal on May 3, Mohanty, the daughter of former Congress MP Brajamohan Mohanty, claimed that her campaign in the Puri Lok Sabha constituency has been severely impacted due to the party's refusal to provide funding. She alleged that AICC Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar explicitly instructed her to fund her campaign using her own resources.

A day after Kishori Lal Sharma filed his nomination from the crucial Amethi Lok Sabha seat, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, alleging that his camp is deliberately sidelining both Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her husband Robert Vadra.

In a post on X, BJP leader Amit Malviya claimed that the Congress party ignored Robert Vadra for the Amethi seat. He also suggested that Priyanka Gandhi might soon dissent against the Congress leadership.