LS polls Highlights: SP changes mind, now Akhilesh Yadav to contest from Kannauj

General Elections 2024 news updates: Catch all the news updates on the announcements related to Lok Sabha polls here

10:14 PM

Lok Sabha polls: BSP releases fresh list of 3 candidates in Uttar Pradesh

The Bahujan Samaj Party on Wednesday announced its fresh list of three Lok Sabha poll candidates for Uttar Pradesh, fielding former state unit chief Bhim Rajbhar from Salempur seat. With this, the Mayawati-led party has declared its candidates for 65 seats out of total 80 parliamentary seats in the state.The party also declared its candidate for the Dadraul assembly bypoll, fielding Sarvesh Chandra Mishra 'Dhandhu' from the seat. According to the list, Irfan Ahmed will be the candidate from Bhadohi Lok Sabha seat and Nirdosh Kumar Dixit from Hamirpur.

9:44 PM

LS polls: INDIA bloc playing dangerous game, mulling 'one year, one PM' formula, says Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the opposition INDIA bloc is contemplating "one year, one PM" formula to resolve their leadership issue and added that the world will ridicule such an arrangement in the largest democracy. He said the Congress hates SCs/STs/OBCs so much that it wants to give reservation provided to them in jobs and education to its "most loved community", and accused the opposition party of "killing" the idea of social justice. 

9:13 PM

Social justice most important issue in Lok Sabha polls, says Congress chief Kharge

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said the party is committed to ensuring social justice as atrocities against SCs, STs, women and tribals have risen in the Modi government's 10 years and called this the most important issue in the Lok Sabha elections. Addressing a Samajik Nyay Sammelan organised by the Samruddh Bharat Foundation in an online statement, he said it is necessary to remove the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi from power to preserve the Constitution. "Social justice is the most important issue in the 18th Lok Sabha elections and it concerns everyone. It has also remained the core issue of our ideology," he said.

8:30 PM

Congress says no plans to introduce inheritance tax, distances itself from Pitroda's remarks

The Congress on Wednesday asserted that it has no plans to introduce inheritance tax in the country as a row erupted over the remarks by its leader Sam Pitroda, who also later said that his comments on the issue had nothing to with the party policy. Pitroda had spoken about inheritance tax in the US while delving into the issue of redistribution of health. As the BJP latched on it to target the Congress, the opposition party first distanced itself from the remarks of the US-based president of its overseas wing and then launched a counter-offensive claiming it was the BJP that wanted to impose an 'inheritance tax'. It cited the remarks made in the past by some ruling party leaders, including former union minister Jayant Sinha and the party's social media head Amit Malviya, to buttress its claim.

8:07 PM

LS polls: Can't control elections or pass directions on basis of suspicion, SC on EVM

The Supreme Court said on Wednesday it cannot "control the elections" or issue directions simply because doubts have been raised about the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), as it reserved its judgement on a clutch of petitions claiming the polling devices can be tinkered with to manipulate the results. The court said it cannot change the thought process of those doubting the advantages of polling machines and advocating going back to ballot papers. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), after taking note of the answers to queries it had posed to the Election Commission.

7:19 PM

BJP on back foot after first phase of Lok Sabha polls: Congress leader Sachin Pilot

Senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Wednesday said there is an "undercurrent" in favour of the INDIA bloc in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. He also said that the BJP is now "on the back foot" after the first phase of the elections as the voters are not satisfied with the saffron party. "I have been to many districts in Rajasthan. I have gone to several states in the country. Everywhere I see an undercurrent of change," Pilot told reporters in Tonk. He further said, "Looking at the feedback received after the first phase of voting, and the speeches BJP leaders are making, I feel that somewhere the BJP is on the back foot today. The public is not satisfied...I feel that this election is an election of change."

6:40 PM

No force can stop caste census, it's my life mission to secure justice for 90% population: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said those who call themselves "deshbhakt" are scared of the 'X-ray' of caste census but no force can stop it and his life mission is to secure justice for 90 per cent of population, as he hit back at the BJP amid the row on the issue of wealth redistribution. Addressing the 'Samajik Nyay Sammelan' here, Gandhi said he was targeted by the BJP and the prime minister for just talking about finding how much injustice had been done to 90 per cent of the population. "I am not interested in caste but in 'nyay' (justice). I am saying that gross injustice is being done to 90 per cent of the population. I have not even said till date that we will take any action on that.

6:24 PM

Lok Sabha elections: VPN services suspended in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri

The authorities on Wednesday ordered the immediate suspension of VPN services till the end of the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district. The decision to suspend virtual private networks (VPNs) was taken as a preventive measure to protect information on the Lok Sabha elections and other sensitive data from cyber attacks, Additional District Magistrate (Rajouri) Rajeev Kumar Khajuria said in an order. "Whereas, a communication has been received from the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police (Rajouri) regarding unprecedented high usage of VPNs during the past few days in different parts of this district by scores of suspicious Internet users," the order mentioned.

5:38 PM

LS polls: Asaduddin Owaisi questions silence of Nitish Kumar over Modi's remarks

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owais on Wednesday challenged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to make his stand clear on the controversial remarks against Muslims made recently by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Hyderabad MP was addressing an election rally in Kishanganj, where the AIMIM's Bihar unit chief and MLA Akhtarul Iman is locked in a triangular contest with sitting Congress MP Mohd Javed and Mujahid Alam of JD(U), which is headed by the Chief Minister. "What has happened to Nitish Kumar? He has not spoken a word on Narendra Modi's utterances? Has he turned dumb? Is milk curdling inside his mouth (munh mein dahi jam gaya hai )", asked Owaisi.

4:59 PM

Congress' manifesto has 'unnerved' BJP, says PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti

PDP President Mehbooba Mufti today said the Congress' manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls is "pro-people" and has "unnerved" the BJP, which is showing its "frustration" by trying to fan communal tension. "The manifesto of the INDIA alliance which says 50 per cent reservation will be given to women, MSP will be provided to farmers, the NDA is unnerved because of that. The alliance is doing a good job," she said. Mufti is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency.

4:47 PM

Lok Sabha polls 2024 news update: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari faints during rally

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari fainted while speaking at an election rally in Maharashtra's Yavatmal on Tuesday afternoon. Fortunately, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader received prompt treatment and was able, after a brief pause, to get back up on stage and continue his speech.

4:45 PM

Cong refutes claims of party planning inheritance tax, shares old clip of BJP MP calling for estate tax

Refuting Bharatiya Janata Party's claim that Congress aims to impose inheritance tax in the country, the party's General Secretary Jairam Ramesh stated that it was former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who abolished the Estate Duty in 1985. Taking to social media platform X, Jairam Ramesh said, "The Congress has no plan whatsoever to introduce an inheritance tax. In fact, Rajiv Gandhi abolished Estate Duty in 1985." Ramesh also shared a video of BJP MP Jayant Sinha, in which the former Minister of State is advocating for estate taxes in the country.

4:40 PM

General Elections 2024: INDIA bloc govt will uplift OBCs, SCs, STs, says MK Stalin

DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin today expressed confidence of the INDIA bloc bagging  the Lok Sabha polls and said the new dispensation will fulfill the pledge to uplift Other Backward Classes, the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Tamil Nadu has played a pivotal role in championing social justice, Stalin said in his address at the social justice conference (Samajik Nyay Sammelan) held in New Delhi on Wednesday.

3:51 PM

Congress wants to snatch your wealth, it will find out through X-ray what is hidden in your locker: PM Modi

At an election rally in Sagar, Prime Minister Modi today claimedthat the party wants to snatch the wealth of people, and it will find out through X-ray what is hidden in their locker.

3:46 PM

Seven-phase Lok Sabha elections schedule to satisfy BJP, says West Bengal CM Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today asked why the Lok Sabha polls are being conducted in seven phases amid severe heatwave across the country and claimed that the schedule for the general elections was designed to "satisfy the BJP." At an election rally for TMC's Bolpur candidate Asit Mal,  she claimed, "Earlier, the poll process used to be over by May 2 or 3, but this year they have stretched it for three months, amid severe weather conditions." "The Election Commission has planned the polls for three months to satisfy the BJP," Banerjee said.