Lok Sabha Election 2024 Highlights: BJP to contest 17 seats in Bihar, JD(U) 16

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Commenting on his party getting five seats in NDA's seat-sharing pact in Bihar, LJP (Ram Vilas) President Chirag Paswan said: “The hard work of party workers who worked relentlessly has finally paid off today. This is the result of the faith of every Bihari who contributed to 'Bihar first, Bihari first' and those who attended rallies and meetings with me.”

PMK decided to ally with the BJP. Regarding constituencies and candidates, PMK founder Ramadoss will make an announcement the day after tomorrow, says PMK General Secretary Vadivel Ravanan

Ahead of Lok Sabha elections next month, Election Commissioners of India Gyanesh Kumar and Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

--Under attack for his ''fight against shakti'' remark made at a rally in Mumbai, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday clarified that he was not talking about any religious power but the 'shakti' of unrighteousness, corruption and falsehood.

--He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of twisting his words and said he was speaking about the power of which Modi was wearing the mask.

On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'Shakti' remark, West Bengal LoP and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari says, "He (Rahul Gandhi) was silent during Sandeshkhali issue. Mallikarjun Kharge said that such things keep happening... PM Modi did 'Nari Shakti Vandan'... From the Ujjwala scheme to houses under the PM Awas Yojana... show PM Modi's Nari Shakti Vandan... The 'Matri Shakti' will come forward to bloom the Lotus in the upcoming elections. The condition of Rahul Gandhi's party is very poor. They will not win even 20 seats..."

The Congress in Himachal Pradesh appointed its election in-charges for all four parliamentary constituencies in the state on Monday ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Congress chief for Himachal Pradesh and sitting MP from Mandi Pratibha Singh has appointed Urban Development Minister Vikramaditya Singh the election in-charge in Mandi, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri in Hamirpur, Education Minister Rohit Thakur in Shimla and Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar in Kangra.

The party has also appointed Industries Minister Harshvardhan Chauhan as the in-charge of publicity and publication and Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi as the in-charge of administration and coordination

Elections to the four Lok Sabha seats of Himachal Pradesh will be held on June 1.

-- BJP to contest 17 Lok Sabha seats

-- JD(U) to contest 16 Lok Sabha seats

-- 5 seats have been given to Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)

-- Hindustani Awam Morcha and Rashtriya Lok Morcha on one seat each

“I got to know regarding this right now...if this happened, then we need to accept the fact that govt did not do the things they should have done earlier. When EC takes such an action after implementing the Moral Code of Conduct, it is a big message to the govt that their way of working is not unbiased.”

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal says, "People have made it clear that they will bring the Modi govt even this time. They have seen the development in the last ten years and how the people benefitted out of it. They (people) have got social justice, social security and most importantly dignity in life, for all this to happen PM Modi has worked tirelessly in the service of the people. BJP to win 370 and NDA, 400 is possible, I believe we will win even more than that. Congress has ruled this nation for over 60 years but they have miserably failed to meet their commitment to the cause of the people..."

-- ‘If INDIA bloc wants to destroy 'Shakti', worshipping it is our declaration’

-- ‘When you vote for BJP, your vote is for social justice’

-- ‘No other government gave as much emphasis on 'Nari Shakti' as mine’

-- ‘Confident that lotus of development will bloom on June 4 in all seats of Karnataka’

“... They are either saying things that are outright lies, or they say things that are absolutely insulting to the Hindu faith, or they do things that are dividing communities. I find Rahul Gandhi's entire conduct the most mystifying, most confusing act in Indian politics. It is not something that I waste my time analyzing. And certainly, the people of India have told them again and again in the 14 and 19 elections what they think about him and his views.”

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted 25 guarantees featuring farmers, youth, labourers, ahead of upcoming elections

Senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa, the party's Karnataka President B Y Vijayendra on Monday expressed confidence about the issue getting resolved and said it was natural for aspirants to get upset on not getting the ticket to contest elections.

Acknowledging Eshwarappa's contribution in building and strengthening the BJP in Karnataka, he said the party's national leadership decided the candidates for Lok Sabha polls, and it was not his decision.

Lok Sabha elections 2024 will take place over seven phases from April 19 to June 1 and the results will be declared on June 4, the Election Commission announced on March 16. The poll panel also announced the schedule for assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, and Odisha along with the dates for the bypolls.

The elections will begin on April 19 followed by subsequent phases on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1, chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar said at a press conference. Find detailed phase-wise schedule here

"He (Rahul Gandhi) has not taken any name, however, if he wants to make any remarks on me, it is illogical and baseless... It is also a lie that I have met Sonia Gandhi in Delhi. These remarks are factually incorrect. All of this is a political stunt."

Ten Lok Sabha seats to be contested by the Congress party in Tamil Nadu includes, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Sivaganga, Tirunelveli, Krishnagiri , Karur, Virudhunagar, Kanyakumari and Puducherry.

The Election Commission has launched a special campaign in Himachal Pradesh to maximise voter turnout in 414 polling stations which registered less than 60% voting in the last Lok Sabha polls.

Rahul Gandhi is looking at India through the eyes of a foreigner from Italy...He is trying to defame the country and create confusion. They have been continuously making nefarious attempts...They sometimes insult the army, sometimes the religion, sometimes the country, sometimes the institutions of the country.

"It is BRS who has misused people's faith, formed government & then betrayed their trust. For 10 years, after its formation, Telangana was ruthlessly looted by BRS. And now, Congress has made Telangana its 'personal ATM'."

"JDU national spokesperson KC Tyagi has said that people of any religious community will not be hurt by the CAA bill passed by the Parliament. So, the statement by Khalid Anwar could be personal, but the national spokesperson's statement will be considered the official statement of JDU."

On the BPSC paper leak matter, he says, "The Economic Offenses Wing has taken cognizance of the matter. The investigation is going on. We adopt the policy of zero tolerance in such matters.

"When they (opposition) lose, they blame EVM. When they won in Karnataka & Kerala the machine (EVM) was not a problem. Wherever PM Modi wins they say that there is a problem with the EVM machines. In case of defeat, they have to blame someone, and then they blame EVM."

The Supreme Court says in the judgment, it had asked the SBI to disclose all details and that includes the Electoral Bond numbers as well.

SBI should not be selective in disclosing the details, says SC. Supreme Court says it wants all information related to the Electoral Bonds to be disclosed which is in SBI possession. Supreme Court says it will ask SBI to disclose the Electoral Bond numbers and also that it should file an affidavit stating that it has not suppressed any information. SBI says it will give every bit of information it has and the bank is not holding back any information it has.

The leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) convened at Mumbai's Shivaji Park on March 17 for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', in a display of their unity with just a month left for the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections, set to commence on April 19.

Among those present were senior Congress figures Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Priyanka Gandhi, as well as NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav. A look at who said what at the mega rally's final moments in Mumbai

Biocon Ltd Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on March 18 clarified that she bought and then donated electoral bonds to the JD(S) on a personal level and that the company was not involved in it.

"Would like to clarify that Biocon did not make any political donation to JD(S) or any other party for elections. At a personal level, I purchased electoral bonds which I donated to JD(S) and several parties..." she wrote on X.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on March 17 released further information regarding the electoral bonds, including information on the amount redeemed per political party.

Among the southern states, Tamil Nadu sends the highest number of 39 parliamentarians to the Lok Sabha. The state has 32 unreserved seats, while seven others are reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Caste community.

In the run-up to the 2024 general elections, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) along with Congress, both constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, are running a high-octane campaign to garner support on the ground. Read in detail, here

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will begin his four-day visit to New Delhi today. During this visit, he will engage in discussions with top BJP leaders to finalise the seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state.

The Chief Minister is expected to arrive in the national capital tonight around 8:15 pm and is scheduled to return to Patna on March 21. Read here

Out of a total of Rs 20000 crore Electoral Bonds, bonds worth Rs 6000 have gone to BJP while bonds worth Rs 14000 crores have gone to the opposition. Everybody is answerable and the SC verdict will be applicable for everyone equally... Uddhav Thackeray is seen standing with those leaders in Mumbai's Shivaji Maidan who called Veer Savarkar a traitor and a coward... The maximum number of riots and massacres in the country have been carried out under the rule of Congress.

CAA will not be implemented in Bihar. Our CM Nitish Kumar has already announced that the entire population of Bihar is purely Bihari and there is no need for NPR, NRC, or CAA here. Secondly, CAA is a provision to give citizenship to people. No citizenship will be taken away.

Common University Entrance Test for Undergraduate (CUET UG) 2024 will be conducted between May 15 and May 31, 2024, as announced earlier, and there will be no change in the schedule of the entrance exam view of the Lok Sabha elections, news agency PTI reported. The date sheet of the CUET UG 2024 will be released after the registration process is completed on March 26, UGC Chairman, M Jagadesh said.

"As the government changed there (in Afghanistan) in the 1990s, we started migrating to India... We have been Indian from the start (before partition), but we got the tag of Afghani Sikhs... Those who have been here since 1991, born here in India, don't have an Indian passport or Aadhar card till now. CAA will solve these problems."

On Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's statement, he says, "We legally entered India. We haven't asked anything from the government. We are doing our work."

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address an election rally in Shivamogga, Karnataka on Monday. This will be his first appearance in the southern state after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls on Saturday. According to the leaders of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), they are expecting an audience of approximately 250,000 people to attend the event. The rally will start at 2 pm at the Allama Prabhu ground in Shivamogga, which is the hometown of former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa, who is a key figure in the BJP in the state.

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