 "Lok Sabha polls: INDIA bloc-poll body meet, DMK campaign launch. 10 points")
The Opposition's INDIA or Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance will meet the Election Commission on Friday to express their "strong objection to the deliberate targeting" and "arrest" of opposing leaders while the Model Code of Conduct is in enforcement, Mamata Banerjee announced.
The statement followed the Enforcement Directorate's arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in a money-laundering probe linked to the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.
Here are ten major Lok Sabha elections updates for March 22:
1) The Aam Aadmi Party is in fresh trouble after the arrest of its convenor, Kejriwal, on Thursday. The move is being seen as a major jolt to the AAP's polls preparations, as the party is already grappling with the arrest of other senior leaders, like Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, in the alleged liquor policy scam probe. The AAP, which will contest the polls in alliance with Congress in Delhi, Haryana, and Gujarat, is likely to face difficulty in ensuring its poll campaign's success if its star campaigner is remanded in judicial custody.
Congress's third list of candidates
2) The Indian National Congress released its third list of 56 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Thursday, bringing the total to 138. Among key contestants, senior leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will fight to retain his West Bengal's Berhampur constituency in a key battle against cricketer-turned-politician Yusuf Pathan of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
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The two INDIA allies will go against each other in West Bengal after Banerjee-led TMC announced they would contest the Lok Sabha polls alone. Adhir Ranjan has represented the Congress stronghold since 1999.
3) The Congress also announced it is fielding party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's son-in-law, Radhakrishna, from the Gulbarga Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka. The party has also left one seat in Rajasthan for its INDIA ally Communist Party of India (Marxist). The list also revealed that Sonal Patel, the former Gujarat Mahila Congress president, is set to face Union Minister Amit Shah in Gujarat's Gandhinagar. Notably, it is yet to announce its Amethi and Raebareli bets in UP.
BJP's third list of candidates
4) The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also released its third list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on Thursday. The saffron party has decided to field former Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan from the Chennai South seat. Popular party face in the state, Tamil Nadu unit chief and former IPS officer K Annamalai will contest the polls from Coimbatore.
5) Former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi will be the National Democratic Alliance's candidate from the Gaya Lok Sabha seat, his party Hindustani Awam Morcha announced. Manjhi's party received one seat as part of the seat-sharing deal in Bihar, which has 40 seats. The BJP will contest 17 constituencies, while the Janata Dal (United) will contest 16. Chirag Paswan Lok Janshakti Party will fight on five seats in Bihar.
AIADMK promises SC bench in Chennai
6) Tamil Nadu Opposition party AIADMK launched its Lok Sabha poll manifesto, promising Rs 3,000 monthly financial aid to women heads of economically backward families across the country. The party also promised an alternative examination for NEET and the establishment of a Supreme Court bench in Chennai, among other 113 promises.
DMK to launch poll campaign today
7) INDIA member and the Tamil Nadu ruling party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) 's chief M K Stalin, will launch the party's poll campaign today. The Tamil Nadu CM's party leads the multi-party Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), which swept the 2019 elections, winning 38 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats.
8) Samajwadi Party on Thursday said it would not enter into any alliance with Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) in Uttar Pradesh. The development followed a day after the Krishna Patel-led outfit announced its candidates for three seats in UP.
"The alliance between the Apna Dal (K) and the Samajwadi Party was for the 2022 Assembly polls and not the 2024 elections," Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav told news persons here in response to a question. The two parties had contested the 2022 Assembly polls in alliance.
9) The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which decided to go solo in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, announced its first list of candidates for two of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh on Friday. The BSP's Janjgir-Champa district unit president Dr Rohit Kumar Dahariya, has been fielded in Janjgir-Champa (reserved), while former sarpanch Aaytu Ram Mandavi has been given the ticket from Bastar (ST).
TDP launches first list of candidates
10) Former Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) announced its first list of 13 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in Andhra, to be held on May 13. The list includes two YSR Congress MPs who defected from the party recently. According to the list, Narasaraopeta YSRCP MP L Sri Krishna Devarayulu will contest on a TDP ticket to retain his seat. Notably, the BJP has forged an alliance with the TDP to secure a win in the southern state, where it failed to make a mark in 2019 polls.