 "Lok Sabha polls latest: Modi's Kerala visit, Congress CWC meet. 10 points")
Day after embarking on a three-state trip to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a roadshow in Kerala on Tuesday, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes to make gains on its south tally in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP has set a goal of scoring at least 400 parliamentary constituencies in the Lok Sabha polls, set to commence on April 19. However, south India remains the most challenging aspect of the saffron party's ambition, as it has failed to make any significant mark in these states in the past.
Here are major election updates for March 19:
1) Modi's second Kerala outreach in a week follows as the BJP won no seats in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu in 2019. It won four seats in Telangana. These four account for 101 of the 543 parliamentary seats in India. Karnataka is the lone state in the region, where the BJP swept the last polls. It won 25 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 there.
Congress CWC meeting in DelhI
2) The main Opposition party, Congress, will hold a Working Committee (CWC) meeting at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi today. Top party leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, Jairam Ramesha, and Sachin Pilot, among others, will attend the key meeting, likely aimed at finalising the remaining candidates for the polls.
3) In its meeting, the CWC is also expected to pass a resolution on Rahul Gandhi's recently concluded 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' as well as endorse the draft of the Congress' poll manifesto. The party has made promises to five groups in its election campaigns, including those for the youth, women, farmers, reservation and the informal sector workers.
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Congress may finalise Rae Bareli candidate
4) The Congress meet may also take a call on the candidature for Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh, considered a Congress stronghold. Rae Bareli was the lone UP Lok Sabha seat won by the party in 2019. Earlier represented by Sonia Gandhi, there are speculations that party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may be trusted with furthering her family's legacy with a poll debut in the constituency.
NDA locks seat-sharing deal in Bihar
5) Notably, on Monday evening, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) finalised its seat-sharing deal in Bihar. The BJP will contest 17 seats in the state, while the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) will bet on 16 seats. The remaining seats have been distributed among regional parties, including the actor-turned-politician Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). The NDA won 39 out of 40 seats in Bihar in 2019.
Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras resigns
6) Notably, Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras resigned on Tuesday following the Bihar NDA deal, after the BJP gave five seats to Paswan's faction. To be clear, Paras and his nephew lead the rival factions of the LJP, founded by Chirag's late father Ram Vilas Paswan. According to the LJP (Ram Vilas) faction, they will get the Hajipur seat as part of the NDA deal. The seat, represented eight times by Ram Vilas, is the bone of contention between the two LJP factions.
Tharoor v CPI(M) in Thiruvananthapuram
7) The BJP-led NDA will play out against the Opposition's INDIA or Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. The alliance of over two dozen parties is attempting to overcome its own differences as it hopes to take on the "dictatorial" Narendra Modi government. On Tuesday, the Congress and the CPI(M) faced fresh hurdles as senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor charged its INDIA ally with "helping the BJP." Tharoor is eyeing a fourth term in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram. He will face Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar in the poll battle. Notably, the CPI(M) has also fielded its candidate Pannian Raveendran in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, prompting Tharoor to slam them for dividing "the anti-BJP vote."
Tamilisai Soundararajan may contest polls
8) In a key development, Tamilisai Soundararajan, the Telangana Governor and Puducherry Lt. Governor, resigned from her post on Monday, sparking speculations that she might contest the upcoming elections. She had lost her 2019 Lok Sabha battle from Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Lok Sabha poll schedule
9) All political parties have geared up election-related developments since the Election Commission's formal schedule announcement for 2024 Lok Sabha polls last week. In a press conference on Saturday, the election body said that the polls will take place in seven phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. The counting of votes will be done on June 4.
TMC cries foul on EC action on West Bengal DGP
10) Following its announcement, the poll body took the first major action on Monday as it ordered the removal of senior officials in various states in a bid to ensure a "level playing field" in the elections. Those removed included Rajeev Kumar, director general of police in West Bengal, and Home Secretaries in Gujarat, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand among others. Reacting to the order, the Trinamool Congress alleged that the incident was a glaring example of the BJP's "control" over the EC.