India General Elections 2024 updates | Highlights on May 18, 2024

At a rally in Delhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “On May 25, I will be voting for the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal will be voting for Congress. Such is the nature of this alliance to save the Constitution. Party workers also understand it.” 

Mr. Gandhi said, “AAP and Congress are in a 4-3 seat sharing alliance for the seven seats in Delhi. Two-three public intellectuals invited me and Mr. Modi for a debate. I’m ready. Will Mr. Modi come? My first question to him will be - what is your relationship with Mr. Adani? He will faulter at this question.”

He added, “Next I will ask him about electoral bonds and the benefits that the BJP has been receiving from those accused by ED, CBI in the form of electoral bonds.”

“Four generations of Congress ruled in Delhi but now they are not capable of fighting on even four seats here. Not a single vote should go to INDI alliance; their manifesto appears inspired by Muslim League,” he said. 

“Leaders of INDI alliance shed tears for infiltrators, but

Congress not even in position to fight from Lok Sabha seat that has their ‘10 Janpath Durbar’,” said Mr. Modi. - PTI

The high-decibel campaigning ended for five Lok Sabha seats and 35 assembly constituencies in Odisha, which will go to polls on May 20.

Among the prominent candidates in the second round of simultaneous elections in the state are BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, and his colleagues in the state government Bikram Arukha, Niranjan Pujari, PK Amat, Tukuni Sahu, Rita Sahu and SP Nayak.

Ex-union minister and Sundergarh’s sitting MP Jual Oram, former Indian hockey captain Dilip Tirkey, former union minister and hotelier Dilip Ray, and BJP’s four-time Lok Sabha MP Sangeeta Singh De are also in the fray in this round of elections.

Mr. Patnaik is seeking re-election from his home turf Hinjili and also contesting from the Kantabanji assembly segment under the Bolangir Lok Sabha seat this time. - PTI

High-decibel campaigning powered by rallies and roadshows came to an end at 6 pm on Saturday in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in North Maharashtra and Mumbai Metropolitan Region where polling will be held on May 20 in the fifth phase of general elections.

In this phase, which will also mark the conclusion of Lok Sabha polls in the state, 2.46 crore citizens are eligible to cast their ballots to decide the fate of 264 candidates.

Union ministers and BJP leaders Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North), Bharati Pawar (Dindori) and Kapil Patil (Bhiwandi), Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde (Kalyan), and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad and advocate Ujjwal Nikam of BJP (who will face off in Mumbai North Central seat) are among the key candidates in this round. - PTI

Campaigning for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections to seven parliamentary constituencies in West Bengal ended at 6 pm on Saturday, a poll official said.

Voting will be held in Bangaon, Barrackpore, Howrah, Uluberia, Serampore, Hooghly and Arambag Lok Sabha seats on Monday from 7 am till 6 pm.

A total of 1.25 crore voters, including 63.51 lakh men, 61.72 lakh women and 348 persons of the third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise in 13,481 polling stations.

The poll body has identified over 57 per cent of the polling stations as sensitive and decided to deploy over 60,000 personnel of central forces, besides around 30,000 personnel of the state police, he said. - PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a poll rally in North-East Delhi, “These elections are to save poor and middle-class from forces conspiring to snatch their assets.” 

“India needs a strong govt, I’m fortunate to be the chosen one to serve this country. When I left home 50-60 years ago, I did not know 140 crore Indians will become my family and I’ll unfurl the tricolour at Red Fort,” he said. 

“It’s time for electric vehicles, time’s up for petrol and diesel vehicles, PM Modi said at poll rally in North-East Delhi.”

On his resolve to make India a developed nation by 2047, he said, “It is Modi’s guarantee to work 24/7 for 2047.” 

The PM said, “I live for democracy; democracy runs in my veins. Central govt has given hundreds of electric buses to Delhi for convenience of people and to save environment.” - PTI

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party was planning to ban its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), after winning a third term in power.

Speaking at his last rally in Mumbai before the campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections ended in Maharashtra, Thackeray also said that the Election Commissioner who was “acting like Modi’s servant” will be removed after the INDIA alliance government comes to power.

“The way they tried to use and throw the Shiv Sena, a similar game will be played by Narendra Modi in future (with the RSS), and that has been stated by (BJP president J.P.) Nadda,” he said.

Mr. Thackeray was referring to Nadda’s comments to a newspaper that when the BJP was a small party and less capable, it needed the RSS, but now the saffron party has grown, become more capable, and “runs itself”.

“Nadda said there was a need of the RSS until now, (but) we are capable now and we don’t need the RSS. If they (BJP) came to power, it is a bigger danger for RSS workers because they will ban the RSS,” Mr. Thackeray claimed. - PTI

Asserting that electors of the country will teach a lesson to the BJP in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee claimed that the term of the saffron party-led NDA government at the Centre will expire soon.

Addressing a rally in Kultali in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district in support of Trinamool Congress candidate from Jaynagar Pratima Mandal, Banerjee blamed the BJP for “making the lives of poor people miserable”.

“A right lesson has to be taught to the BJP which always makes empty promises. The saffron party has stopped making payments to West Bengal under various central schemes like 100-day work and housing programmes,” he said. - PTI

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took a swipe at the Congress over its alleged proposal to introduce inheritance tax, saying that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s soul has crept into the grand old party.

He likened the inheritance tax to the ‘jizya’ tax imposed by Aurangzeb on non-Muslim citizens. 

Mr. Adityanath also claimed that PoK will become part of India in six months after Modi becomes the prime minister for the third time.

During the rally in Malegaon town in Nashik district, where he canvassed votes for BJP’s Dhule candidate and former Union minister Suresh Bhamre, Mr. Adityanath said his party was contesting elections not merely for power but to build a developed India. - PTI

One hundred and twenty-six candidates in fray for the third phase of Assembly elections in Odisha are ‘crorepati’, with BJD candidate from Champua segment Sanatan Mahakud the richest with ₹227.67 crore assets.

Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Puri and Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituencies along with 42 assembly seats under these Lok Sabha segments will go to polls in the third phase polls in Odisha on May 25.

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Odisha Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 381 out of 383 candidates, who are contesting for 42 MLA seats in Odisha.

In a report, the ADR said there are 126 (33%) ‘crorepati’ candidates in fray for the third phase assembly polls in the state. Independent candidate from Ghasipura, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik is the second rich candidate after he declared family assets to the tune of ₹122.86 crore.

The third palace is occupied by the BJP candidate from Nayagarh Assembly segment, Pratyusha Rajeshwari Singh, who declared both movable and immovable assets of her family totalling ₹120.56 crore. - PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed the political culture of the country from politics of divide and rule to that of report card in the past ten years with the mantra of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishvas and sabka prayas,” BJP president J.P. Nadda said.

Addressing a public rally at Rehan in the Kangra Lok Sabha constituency in support of BJP candidate Rajiv Bhardwaj, he said, “Politics of divide and rule was going on in the country for 70 years which has been converted in the past ten years to the politics of report card, where the elected representatives have to show their performance.” Dubbing the INDIA bloc an “alliance of families promoting dynastic politics and saving corrupt people,” Mr. Nadda said that leaders of this alliance facing corruption charges are either on bail or in jail, and added that corrupt leaders would go back to jail after the polls on June 1.

“Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is roaming with the Constitution written by B.R. Ambedkar, which clearly states no reservation in the name of religion but the Congress party in Andhra Pradesh tried four times to give reservation on the basis of religion and similar attempts are being made in Karnataka,” he added. - PTI

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for terming the INDIA bloc as the ‘Bhanumati’s clan’, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed that the BJP’s clan will disintegrate after June 4. 

On Friday, the prime minister addressed an election rally in Fatehpur and said, “Currently, four phases of elections have been held in the country. But, the common man has defeated the INDI Alliance in these phases only. Bhanumati’s clan is falling apart, it has surrendered.” “No one wants to work hard in the remaining elections. The workers of INDI Alliance were already disappointed, (and) now they have stopped leaving their homes,” PM Modi had said. 

Taking a jibe at the prime minister, Akhilesh Yadav, during an election rally in Balrampur on Saturday said, “After the four phases of elections, the BJP has already lost on all four fronts.” “BJP’s chariot is not stuck, it has collapsed,” Mr. Yadav said. - PTI

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a video message tells Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “Please stop playing this jail game.” 

He said, “Tomorrow at 12 noon, I will be coming to the BJP headquarters with all my MLAs and senior leaders. Instead of putting our leaders in jail one by one, put whoever you want in jail. We will all be there together. You think you can crush the AAP by putting AAP leaders in jail? You are mistaken. Put us all in jail and 100 others will rise up. We are not a party but an idea that you cannot crush.”

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee said, “I had coined the name INDIA and at the national level we the coalition partners are all working together to resist the autocratic, demonic Narendra Modi government. TMC will play its role in installing the INDIA bloc to power.” “Modi can read the writing on the wall already. BJP will not cross even 200 tally. BJP will bite the dust,” she said. 

Banerjee alleged that CPI(M), Congress and other Left partners in West Bengal have entered into a ‘mahaghot’ (unprincipled nexus) with communal, undemocratic, autocrat BJP just to discredit the ruling TMC which is only waging the war against Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in the state. 

The TMC supremo also slammed CPI(M) for allegedly committing mass murders at places like Goghat and Sihar during its rule and claimed only she as then opposition leader had dared to face the “Marxist terror at that time braving her life.” “I know the true face of CPI(M) in Bengal,” she added. - PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi sharpened his attack on the Congress and said it was his “dhakad” (strong) government that brought down the wall of Article 370 and as a result, Kashmir is now moving ahead on the path of development.

Modi said the history of the Congress has been of betraying India’s forces and soldiers as he referred to the “Jeep scandal”, the “first scam” during the grand old party’s rule.

“Could a weak government have changed the situation in Jammu and Kashmir?” Modi asked the gathering, addressing his first Lok Sabha poll rally in Haryana.

Referring to Haryana contributing a sizable number of soldiers in the armed forces, he said when the Congress was in power, mothers in Haryana were a worried lot thinking about their children’s safety.

- PTI

The Election Commission (EC) has told the Delhi High Court it will preserve the video footage in respect of the EVMs for the Rampur Lok Sabha Constituency in Uttar Pradesh in accordance with the protocol.

The commission’s statement came on a petition filed by lawyer Mehmood Pracha, a poll contestant from Rampur who had sought a direction to the EC for following the Manual on Electronic Voting Machines in respect of his constituency for safeguarding the video footage.

The counsel for the EC, advocate Sidhant Kumar, said in any event, the commission is bound to follow the protocol for the preservation of videography or CCTV coverage at various stages of the electoral process for every Lok Sabha constituency.

- PTI

Chandni Chowk faces a plethora of everyday issues like crumbling infrastructure, traffic congestion and parking woes, but many residents say they would prefer to cast their votes in the coming Lok Sabha elections on national issues rather than the local problems.

Pollution and crime are among the least talked-about issues in this trader and Muslim-dominated constituency. Ironically, it is among the 13 pollution hotspots of Delhi but this finds little or no mention in the poll promises of parties.

The BJP has been winning the Chandni Chowk seat since 2014. In this election, it has fielded Praveen Khandelwal replacing incumbent Harsh Vardhan. Kandelwal is pitted against Congress veteran leader JP Agarwal, a three-time MP from the seat.

In 2019, BJP’s Harshvardhan defeated Agarwal with over 8 per cent vote margin.

- PTI

The Election Commission of India (ECI) will deploy 102 companies of central armed police forces (CAPFs) for the second phase of simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls in Odisha on May 20, an official said on Saturday.

Incidents of violence have been reported from Ganjam and Bolangir districts ahead of voting.

Voting will be held in Aska, Bargarh, Bolangir, Kandhamal and Sundargarh Lok Sabha seats and 35 assembly constituencies falling under these parliamentary seats on Monday.

- PTI

A member of the erstwhile royal family, a tribal and a filmstar are contesting from the Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency in western Odisha where migration and irrigation are major issues.

The major issue in the Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency is migration and irrigation, said Narasingha Mishra sitting Congress MLA of the Bolangir Assembly segment.

“The people from here migrate in large numbers as they are unable to get work here. The farmers also face difficulties due to lack of irrigation facilities. The CM recently inaugurated the Lower Suk Tel irrigation project but the water do not reach the tail end,” Mishra said “blaming” the 24-year-old BJD government headed by Naveen Patnaik.

The BJP has fielded its sitting MP Sangeeta Singhdeo, a member of the erstwhile Patna royal family in the district again from the seat. Sangeeta’s husband K V Singhdeo is a veteran BJP leader.

- PTI

Lord Ram will ensure that opposition doesn’t come to power to destroy his temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said at a rally in Maharashtra.

“There should be no doubt that Modi ji is coming back once again as PM.”

BJP is contesting elections not merely for power but to build a developed India, he added. 

- PTI

Film actor and Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Gurugram Raj Babbar said that he is not too concerned about national issues but local ones and that he is not contesting against any particular person or party but against apathy.

“I am not thinking about national issues but local. I have an old relationship with Gurgaon. Those who are coming from Delhi don’t know that this place is the most backward in the interiors...My fight is not with any person or party but with problems, I am contesting against apathy,” Babbar said speaking to ANI.

- ANI

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the state will avenge the “injustice” of the BJP and the “anti-Bengalis will be washed away for sure.” 

Ms. Banerjee in a post on her X handle said, “It is a sin to block the funds earmarked for development of the poor but continue splurging money on spreading propaganda”.

The TMC supremo had been vocal about alleged non-payment of Central dues to the state under various schemes like MNREGA (100 days work) and PM Awas Yojana (housing) for the last three years totalling more than ₹1.65 lakh crore.

- PTI

Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam has called for special initiatives to boost participation of voters, including house-to-house outreach programmes.

He was speaking to reporters in Maharashtra’s Thane district while conducting a review of the election preparations in three constituencies of Thane, Kalyan and Bhiwandi.

Elections to 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in north Maharashtra and Mumbai Metropolitan Region will be held on May 20.

Underscoring the need for seamless coordination among all systems to facilitate voting in Thane district in a transparent and secure manner, Chockalingam emphasized the role of the administration in upholding the democratic principles, and urged that collective efforts need to be taken to ensure transparent and fearless elections.

- PTI

Amid a three-cornered fight in Ladakh, Independent candidate Mohammad Haneefa Jan said his focus remains on the demands such as safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and statehood raised with the Union government. 

Haneefa, who was a National Conference (NC) leader till recently, quit the party along with the entire Kargil unit to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Ladakh. While he belongs to Kargil, INDIA bloc’s Tsering Namgyal and BJP’s Tashi Gyalson are from Leh. 

It is believed that being the lone candidate from Kargil gives Haneefa an edge over the other two candidates.

- PTI

Sixty-something Parikala Mahato trembled in fear as she tried to recount the horrors of the attack of a stray tusker in the Nayagram-Murakata forest that borders her village Metala.

Although Parikala barely managed to escape the attack, her neighbour Urmila Mahato wasn’t as lucky. Urmila, crushed under the feet of the rogue pachyderm on May 15, was the latest victim of an elephant attack in the Medinipur forest range where deaths and destruction from instances of man-animal conflict continue to take place at regular intervals.

“Three of us were returning home after collecting Kendu leaves from the forest. There was a faint sound of rustling of leaves from behind. I only saw the beast from the corner of my eye, then heard Urmila’s scream and ran for my life,” Parikala said in disjointed sentences before breaking down.

- PTI

AAP leader Atishi on Saturday claimed party MP Swati Maliwal, who has accused Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar of assaulting her, is facing arrest in an illegal recruitment case and she was “blackmailed” by the BJP to become part of the “conspiracy” against the Chief Minister.

Talking to PTI-Video, Atishi, who is also a cabinet minister in the Delhi government, alleged that Maliwal went to the chief minister’s official residence on Monday without an appointment.

“Why did she barge inside? Why did she land up at the chief minister’s residence without an appointment? Arvind Kejriwal was busy that day and did not meet her. If he had met her that day, the allegations levelled against Bibhav Kumar could have been levelled against him,” Ms. Atishi said.

- PTI

As Ladakh votes to elect its MP for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, safeguards under the sixth schedule, statehood and employment are the key issues in the two distant districts of the constituency that is the largest in the country in terms of area.

Spread over more than 59,000 square kilometres -- around 40 times the size of Delhi -- the two districts of Leh and Kargil are divided by geography and religion. Buddhist-dominated Leh and Shia Muslim-majority Kargil have come together over four demands -- safeguards under the sixth schedule of the Constitution, statehood, reservation in jobs for locals and a separate public service commission and two Lok Sabha seats for the region.

- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modihad accused leaders of South India of insulting people of Uttar Pradesh and Sanathana because his hatred communal campaign had failed to favour the BJP in the elections, charged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.

He was reacting to Mr Modi’s campaign speech in the UP, where he had said both the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) “seek votes here and while in south India, when their partners use absurd and abusive language for the people of U.P. and Sanatana Dharma, they remain silent.” 

Security in parts of the national capital was beefed up in view of two different rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with the local police having planned to deploy around 3,000-personnel strong force on the day.

On Friday, the Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, along with other senior officers, visited the northeast district and took stock of the security arrangements, where PM Modi will address a rally.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will campaign at the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency.

- PTI

Modi’s ‘Achhe Din’ will begin on June 4, as the INDIA bloc government is set to be formed in the country, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray said in Mumbai.

They’re on a mission to even finish it’s ideology parent, the RSS, he said.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge stated in Mumbai that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is expected to secure at least 46 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. While he didn’t predict a complete shutout for the ruling MahaYuti, “but MVA will win the majority.”

He called the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led MahaYuti government “an illegal” government.

They (BJP) are trying to portray us as Deshadrohi (traitors) and themselves as Deshbhakt (patriots), Mr. Kharge said.

BJP’s Hoshiarpur candidate Anita Som Parkash on Friday, May 18, 2024, faced farmers’ protest when she was on her way to a village to canvass for the Lok Sabha polls.

A group of farmers led by Kirti Kisan Union district president Jagtar Singh Bhinder staged a protest at the Barian Kalan-Bahowal link road.

They asked the BJP candidate the reason why the Centre had not enacted a law on minimum support price (MSP).

Mr. Parkash assured the farmers that their demands would be considered after the formation of the BJP government at the Centre. She then proceeded to the Barian Kalan village to continue her election campaign.

Applauding people in India for exercising their right to vote in the general elections, the White House said that there are not too many more vibrant democracies in the world than India. National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby applauded the people of India for having a voice in their future government. 

Mr. Kirby told reporters at a press conference, “Not too many more vibrant democracies in the world than India and we applaud the Indian people for exercising you know their ability to vote and have a voice in their future government and we wish them well throughout the process of course.”

He was responding to the question about the U.S. president’s thoughts on India’s general elections.

- ANI

West Bengal’s Hooghly is set to witness a clash between two popular stars of the Bengali film industry in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 20 as Bharatiya Janata Party’s Locket Chatterjee will be locking horns with Trinamool’s Rachana Banerjee.

The Trinamool which has not shied away from using star power in its election campaigns, introduced Rachana Banerjee as its party member as the “other Didi” at a Brigade rally in March. 

The actor is popularly known for hosting the popular Bengali television reality show, “Didi No. 1”.

Ms. Banerjee will be adding to TMC’s glam quotient which is known to use star power in poll battles. While the TMC fielded actors Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan in the 2019 polls, Deepak Adhikari, popularly known as Dev has been repeated from Ghatal Lok Sabha constituency, Shatrughan Sinha contested from Asansol and cricketer-turned-politician Yusuf Pathan is fighting it out against Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from Berhampore.

- ANI

The State government has constituted a 13-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Vineet Brijlal, to investigate election-related violence in the State.

Director General of Police (DGP) Harish Kumar Gupta issued an order to this effect on Friday. The SIT will submit its report to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on the violence in two days.

The team, comprising six Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officers, including Superintendent of Police Rama Devi, Additional SP Soumya Latha, DSPs P. Srinivasulu, Ramana Murthy, Ravi Manohara Chary and Valluri Srinivas Rao and inspectors will investigate the violent incidents that occurred on polling day (May 13) and during the next two days in Tirupati, Palnadu and Anantapur districts, Mr. Harish Kumar said.