Lok Sabha Polls 2024 Live Updates: Cong portrayed India as weak, says PM Modi

“If you want to protect the country’s independence, then remove the BJP (from power), only then the country will remain independent. If this party wins the upcoming elections, there will be no elections in the country in future. This is an autocratic government. They want one leader, one nation, one ‘Bhashan’, one ‘bhojan’ in the country,” the West Bengal CM said.

“How many promises have they fulfilled? They were going to give employment to 2 crore people every year. 20 crore people must have got employment in the last 10 years. What is this ‘Sankalp’. This is just wordplay…They cannot fulfil their promises…What about inflation?” he asked. 

“Due to electoral bonds you are getting the trail of the money. Which company gave it? How did they give it? Where did they give it? And that is why I say when they will think honestly, everyone will regret it (on the Supreme Court decision to scrap electoral bonds)” he told news agency ANI.

“Puducherry must be granted full statehood. And the Congress party is deeply committed to getting statehood for Puducherry. Whatever we promise and say, we will do. But PM Modi will not do… It is only Congress, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi who can do. The issue of Puducherry’s statehood did not even find a place in BJP’s manifesto… The manifesto released yesterday is a blatant disregard for the aspirations of the people of Puducherry. Congress has taken a stand. We will fulfil what we promise after the INDIA Alliance wins in the 2024 elections…” he said.

“Anurag Thakur’s history is such that his speeches are full of hatred and contempt. But I don’t understand why he said such a thing… because the West Bengal Police itself has caught these terrorists. So either he (Anurag Thakur) is himself a victim of delusion or he is creating delusion… Anurag Thakur wears a different kind of glasses which are filled with hatred…” she said.

“There is no need for Indian people to disrespect, hate or to fight with each other… The country can be great only if it is united and working together. There are also local issues in Wayanad. People are struggling here for 2 or 3 big reasons. Human-animal conflict, I recently went and met a family of a person who was killed by an elephant…” he said.

Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi extends the Judicial custody of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal till April 23 in the Excise Policy money laundering case.

Lok Sabha Polls 2024 LIVE: Congress MP Mukul Wasnik labelled the BJP’s manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections as a “Jumla Patra,”. Wasnik said that the rulinge party has failed to offer any justification for its previous promises. “10 years ago, the Bharatiya Janata Party had made many promises to the entire country. Now that the elections are around the corner and the BJP has put forward their manifesto, it is necessary that the party also clears out all the promises fulfilled by them in the past,” Wasnik told news agency ANI.

Lok Sabha Polls 2024 LIVE: Election officials on Monday conducted checks in a helicopter carrying Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for poll campaigning. The flying squad officials conducted the search after the helicopter landed in Kerala. Gandhi was on his way to his parliamentary constituency, Kerala’s Wayanad, where he had a slew of campaign activities, including public meeting.

Lok Sabha Polls 2024 LIVE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that people of Kerala have seen in the last ten years how the NDA government has enhanced India’s credibility across the world. “The Congress government had created the image of India as a weak country. The BJP government has made India a strong country. Today when an Indian goes abroad, he is treated with respect. Today’s India has the power to rescue its citizens trapped in war. Today’s India does not look towards other countries in an epidemic like COVID. We make indigenous vaccines. Along with our country, we also help other countries of the world,” PM Modi said during an election rally in Kerala’s Palakkad.

Lok Sabha Polls 2024 LIVE: The Prime Minister addressed first public meeting in Thrissur where he said the new year will mark beginning of new politics in Kerala. He said today when an Indian goes abroad, he is treated with respect. “Today’s India has the power to rescue its citizens trapped in war. Today’s India does not look towards other countries in an epidemic like COVID-19. We make indigenous vaccines. Along with our country, we also help other countries of the world,” the PM said.

Lok Sabha Polls 2024 LIVE:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that the new year will be the year of development of Kerala, and this new year will be the year of the beginning of new politics. “Now Kerala will send its strong voice to the Parliament. That is why today Kerala is also saying, once again, Modi government,” PM said addressing a rally in Palakkad

Lok Sabha Polls 2024 LIVE: The Election Commission of India said on Monday that it was on track for the highest ever seizures of inducements in the 75-year history of Lok Sabha elections in the country. Enforcement Agencies have made a record seizure of over ₹4,650 crores in ECI’s resolute fight against money power even before the first phase of polling for the 18th Lok Sabha elections commences on Friday, the poll panel said. This marks a sharp increase over ₹ 3475 crores seized during the entire Lok Sabha election in 2019. Significantly, 45 per cent of the seizures are of drugs and narcotics, that are under the special focus of the Commission. The seizures have been possible by comprehensive planning, scaled up collaboration and unified deterrence action from agencies, proactive citizen participation and optimal engagement of technology.

Lok Sabha Polls 2024 LIVE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will hold a public meeting in his constituency Wayanad on Monday. Rahul  is seeking re-election from Wayanad seat that he won in 2019. All 20 Lok Sabha seats of the state go to polls in the second phase on April 16.

Lok Sabha Polls 2024 LIVE: Members from the Kshatriya community of Gujarat have once again demanded that the Bhartiya Janata Party remove Union minister Parshottam Rupala as its candidate for the Rajkot Lok Sabha seat. The community has vowed to intensify their protest in the coming days, according to news agency PTI.

Rupala triggered a row on March 22 when he was heard saying in a video that “kings bowed to the British” and “even gave their daughters to them in marriage.”  

Lok Sabha Polls 2024 LIVE: The Congress party will field the least number of candidates since independence for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024, due to alliance commitments. This comes at a time when the Lok Sabha numbers have come down drastically for the grand old party in last two general elections. 

The party has so far announced 278 candidates from 27 states and eight Union territories. The party is expected to announce at least 20 names of candidates in the coming days. These include candidates from Haryana, Bihar, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, UP and a couple of seats in West Bengal. So the total seats that the grand old party is expected to contest will be around 300.

The Congress contested 421 seats in 2019, 464 in 2014, 440 in 2009. The party contested 417 seats in 2004 which the lowest it contested of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. The party won 52 seats in 2019, 44 in 2014, 206 in 2009 and 145 seats in 2004.

Lok Sabha Polls 2024 LIVE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today address a public rally at Agasthiarpatti near Ambasamudram in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. The PM will arrive at Thoothukudi airport by a special flight from where he would reach the Cambridge Matriculation Higher Secondary School grounds to address public. The BJP has fielded Nainar Nagenthiran from the Tirunelveli Parliamentary seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Lok Sabha Polls 2024 LIVE: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will attend a public rally in Kumarghat of Tripura as part of BJP’s poll campaign. Later, the Home Minister will head to Hapta Kangjeibung in Imphal, Manipur to attend a public meeting.

Lok Sabha Polls 2024 LIVE: Congress leader and former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar will contest Lok Sabha elections against Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi seat in the national capital. Kumar was among the ten names that the Congress released in its latest list of candidates on April 14. Among others, former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi will contest form Jalandhar. 

Apart from three seats in Delhi, where the party is contesting the Lok Sabha election in alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Congress party announced six seats in Punjab and one seat in Uttar Pradesh in the latest list.

Lok Sabha Polls 2024 LIVE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will on April 15 be in Kerala as a part of their campaigns for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024. The Prime Minister will address two public meetings in Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur. This is PM Modi’s sixth visit to the state this year. After the meetings in Kerala, the PM will head to Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu for Lok Sabha campaign. Rahul Gandhi will hold a public meeting in his constituency Wayanad. Rahul Gandhi is seeking re-election from Wayanad seat that he won in 2019. All 20 Lok Sabha seats of the state go to polls in the second phase on April 16.