Lok Sabha Election 2019 LIVE: Amit Mali, the man who sprung a surprise on Congress’s Bhopal candidate Digvijaya Singh during his Berasia rally yesterday, was felicitated by BJP for hailing PM Modi when prompted to talk about the saffron party’s 2014 poll promise of disbursing Rs 15 lakh.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has claimed that Russians are operating EVMs and some are taking money to get leaders elected to a particular seat. “There are rumours that Russians are operating the machines. Some are even asking for Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore for each assembly segment to get leaders elected. It may not be true but things are bad at this stage,” he said.
Hitting out at West Bengal chief minister over ponzi scams, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the PM post cannot be bought in auction with money earned through “Saradha and Narada scams”. “If PM post could be bought in auction, both Congress and didi (Mamata) would have collected the money they accumulated through corruption and would have used it to buy post,” he said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today accused the central forces of working for the BJP, saying they were camping inside polling booths to ensure votes are cast for the saffron party. Banerjee, while speaking at a rally, said, “I have got information that the central forces are sitting inside booths in Englishbazar in Maldaha Dakshin and asking voters to vote for the BJP. They do not have the right to do such thing. We have informed the Election Commission about our reservations regarding this,” she said.
Meanwhile, the BJP announced its final list of seven candidates for Delhi, replacing MP Udit Raj with Hans Raj Hans from the North West seat. Raj had issued an ultimatum to the party that he would quit if not given a ticket.
The Supreme Court today issued a criminal contempt notice to Congress president Rahul Gandhi for attributing the ‘chowkidar chor hai’ jibe against Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the court. Gandhi had on Monday expressed “regret” over his jibe against the Prime Minister and gave an undertaking to the Supreme Court that he will not attribute any views to the court in his political addresses unless there are specific orders.
Meanwhile, actor Sunny Deol is all set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, a week after he met chief Amit Shah and set off rumours of making his political debut. Sources said Deol may be fielded from Punjab’s Gurdaspur or Chandigarh, the seat held by late actor Vinod Khanna.
Another new star face of the BJP, cricketer Gautam Gambhir, held a roadshow in Delhi today before filing his nomination for the Lok Sabha polls. Gambhir, who has been fielded from east Delhi, said: “I really want to contribute something to the country and whatever our Prime Minister has done in the last five years, I want to take that legacy forward.”
Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi will kick-off his party’s campaign spree from Rajasthan, followed by public meetings in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol and Jabalpur. His mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will meet party workers in her pocket borough Rae Bareli on a day when 15 states, including UP, vote for Phase 3 of the Lok Sabha elections. The grand old party’s eastern UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will campaign in Barabanki.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will rally in Asansol and Odisha. Modi cast his vote in Ahmedabad today and urged first-time voters to exercise their franchise. He said terrorism’s weapon was IED but that of a democracy was voter ID. Modi also met his mother Heeraben to seek her blessings before casting his vote.
Actor-turned-politician Ravi Kishan, who recently joined the BJP, will file his nomination from Gorakhpur today. Also, NCP national president Sharad Pawar and leaders of other opposition parties will address a press conference in the afternoon.
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