Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live Updates: IT authorities launch 24x7 control room, toll-free helpline for Lok Sabha elections

Lok Sabha elections: Notification issued for 2 Lok Sabha seats in Manipur, no nominations filed

Election notification for both the Lok Sabha seats in Manipur was issued on Wednesday, an official said. The seats are 1-Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency and 2-Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency. While Inner Manipur covering 32 assembly segments will go to polls on April 19, Outer Manipur having 28 assembly segments will vote on April 26.

In a bid to ensure clean and fair elections, the Directorate of Income Tax (Investigation), Delhi, has taken proactive measures by setting up a 24X7 Control Room and launching a toll-free mobile number for the General Elections to Lok Sabha, 2024. According to a press release, this initiative aims to curb the influence of black money in elections and monitor suspicious movements of cash, bullion, and other valuables within the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi during the Model Code of Conduct period.

Lok Sabha elections: EC allots Cooker symbol to AMMK. Earlier in the day, AMMK signed poll pact with BJP to contest in 2 seats.

Lok Sabha elections: NEET PG rescheduled to June 23 in view of Lok Sabha polls

In view of the Lok Sabha elections, the National Medical Commission (NMC) on Wednesday rescheduled medical entrance exam NEET PG to June 23. The NEET PG 2024 was scheduled to be held on July 7. The decision was taken during a meeting held by the Post Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) of the National Medical Commission with Medical Counselling Committee, Directorate General for Health Sciences and National Board of Examinations for Medical Sciences, a public notice said.

Election Commission on Wednesday directed state governments to immediately remove all unauthorised political advertisements from public and private properties in the next 24 hours.

Lok Sabha elections: Top Congress leaders in MP not willing to contest Lok Sabha polls, says MP CM Yadav

Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav on Wednesday claimed top leaders of Congress are not willing to contest Lok Sabha elections in any of the 29 constituencies in the state and said people will reject the opposition party which had questioned the existence of Lord Ram. Rajesh Mishra, the BJP nominee from Sidhi constituency, has become the first candidate in MP to file his nomination papers on the day the notification for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections was issued.

Lok Sabha elections: MP Public Service Commission postpones two examinations due to Lok Sabha polls

In view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC) has postponed the State Service Preliminary Examination 2024 and State Forest Service Examination 2024, a senior official of the commission said on Wednesday. These examinations will now be held on June 23 instead of April 28, the official said.

Lok Sabha elections: Nomination process for first phase of Lok Sabha polls begins

The nomination process for 102 parliamentary constituencies spread across 21 states and Union territories, where polling would be held in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 19, began Wednesday with the issuance of a notification. In the first phase, polling will be held in Arunachal Pradesh (2 seats), Assam (5), Bihar (4), Chhattisgarh (1), Madhya Pradesh (6), Maharashtra (5), Manipur (2), Meghalaya (2), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Rajasthan (12), Sikkim (1), Tamil Nadu (39), Tripura (1), Uttar Pradesh (8), Uttarakhand (5), West Bengal (3), Andaman and Nicobar (1), Jammu and Kashmir (1), Lakshadweep (1) and Puducherry (1).

DMDK signs poll pact with AIADMK to contest in Tiruvallur, Central Chennai, Cuddalore, Virudhunagar and Thanjavur LS seats. DMDK-AIADMK alliance will continue in 2026 assembly election, DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakant informed on Wednesday.

Lok Sabha elections: Delhi Police tightens security in border areas

The Delhi Police has intensified checking at the national capital's borders to prevent the illegal supply of liquor and the movement of unaccounted for cash after the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha elections came into effect, officials said on Wednesday. Police in the border areas have been directed to keep an eye on the movement of suspicious vehicles, a senior officer said.

Former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana on Wednesday took a swipe at Sita Soren after she quit Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Citing her husband's arrest, Kalpana said that it is not in a Jharkhandi's DNA to bow down and that the tribal society has not learnt to move forward by turning its back.

Danish Ali, a Lok Sabha member was recently suspended by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for alleged anti-party activities. He joined Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Manipur on Sunday.

DMK manifesto: These promises make it INDIA bloc’s manifesto

DMK released its Lok Sabha poll manifesto on Wednesday seeking to curtail the powers of the governor, reverse some of the key decisions implemented by the BJP government including CAA and drop the proposals for implementation of Uniform Civil Code and One nation – one election.

Pappu Yadav merged Jan Adhikar Party with Congress at AICC. Speculation arose after meeting RJD's Lalu Prasad Yadav in Madhepura. His wife, Ranjeet Ranjan, is a Rajya Sabha member. It comes a day after the Bihar leader called on RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav fueling suspicion about a realignment with the party that fielded him from Madhepura in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Lok Sabha Live: Rajasthan govt declares holiday on voting day for Lok Sabha elections

A paid holiday has been declared for all workers in private, industrial institutions and government undertakings on the voting day for the Lok Sabha polls in Rajasthan. Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said that the Rajasthan government has issued a notification in this regard.

The chief electoral officer of Chandigarh has referred to the Election Commission a digital complaint alleging that a central govt department violated the model code of conduct by sending out bulk WhatsApp messages labelled “Viksit Bharat Sampark” after the Lok Sabha elections were announced.

The party is also planning a separate manifesto announcement about safeguarding the freedom of enforcement agencies and constitutional bodies which it claims have been captured by the governing BJP to target the opposition. Among other promises, Congress is vowing effective implementation of Sachar panel’s recommendations for welfare of Muslims and of the Prevention of Atrocities Act, 6th Schedule status to Ladakh, restoration of statehood for J&K. Sources said members from the North-East demanded in the CWC meeting that the party should promise extension of some special constitutional safeguards to parts of conflict-hit Manipur, and to Arunachal Pradesh.

A day after MNS chief Raj Thackeray reached Delhi late on Monday, only saying he had been “called” to explain his sudden presence there, he posted pictures of a meeting with BJP politician Amit Shah on X on Tuesday. The meeting so close to the Lok Sabha poll triggered speculation of a possible tie-up. Observer Ravikiran Deshmukh said BJP would never have aligned with Raj Thackeray given his stand against north Indians in the state, but it was now becoming increasingly clear that the party was worried about the Marathi vote.

Former Indian diplomat, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who just superannuated as ambassador of India to the US, joined BJP on Tuesday amid speculations of him contesting LS polls from Amritsar. After joining BJP, Sandhu emphasised on improvement in India-US ties in past few years, particularly in advanced and critical technology like semiconductor industry, underlining the importance of diplomatic successes for country’s development. He hoped for the progress to extend to his hometown, Amritsar, giving boost to speculations of him taking poll battlefield.

Lok Sabha Election Live: 17000 Mizoram’s settlers to cast vote in Tripura Lok Sabha poll

Around 17,000 Bru settlers from Mizoram are set to cast their votes in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in both the seats of Tripura slated to be held on April 19 and 26, said Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Puneet Agarwal here on Wednesday. Tripura has registered about 28.58 lakh voters for the upcoming general elections including the Brus rehabilitated across 10 locations of Tripura following a quadruple agreement signed in 2020 who had been residing in six camps of North Tripura for more than 22 years although they were the voters of Mizoram. About 14,62,875 voters enrolled in West Tripura while 13,95,121 in East Tripura for this poll.

Lok Sabha Election Live: Notification issued for 5 Lok Sabha seats in Assam

The notification for the first phase of polls to the five Lok Sabha seats in Assam on April 19 was issued on Wednesday, an election office official said. Elections to the 14 Sabha constituencies in Assam will be held in the first three phases on April 19, 26 and May 7. In the first phase, Kaziranga, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur will go to the polls on April 19.

Amit Shah's uncertain stance on BJP-BJD Odisha coalition, hopeful for BJP's success with people's support for Modi. Mention of government formation goal, discussions with Naveen Patnaik, V K Pandian's perspective on friendship, and meeting prospective BJD candidates. “With the love of the people of Odisha towards Modi ji, we will get considerable success in both the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections.

Lok Sabha Election Live: 'Incompetence, malicious behavior': Jairam Ramesh lists 'failures' of BJP government on agriculture

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday listed out eight major failures of the NDA government in the agriculture sector terming "incompetence and malicious behavior of the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare" as the most harmful. In a post on X, Ramesh said, "Among all the failures of the Modi government, the most harmful is the incompetence and malicious behavior of the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare. The failures of this ministry are clearly visible to everyone."

Lok Sabha Election Live: LJP leader Chirag Paswan to contest Lok Sabha elections from Hajipur

"During the party's parliamentary board meeting today, it has been officially decided that I will contesting (Lok Sabha election) from Hajipur seat as NDA candidate from LJP," he informed.

A day after resigning as the Telangana governor, Tamilisai Soundararajan on Wednesday joined BJP in the presence of Tamil Nadu party chief K Annamalai in Chennai. Tamilisai sent her resignation to President Droupadi Murmu and sent a copy to Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah. Modi has been staying in Telangana Raj Bhavan since Sunday after addressing a public rally in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

Lok Sabha Election Live: BJP MLA from Mandu J P Patel joins Congress in Delhi

He is son of late Tek Lal Mahto, one of the founders of JMM party.

Lok Sabha Election Live: Rampal Majra appointed as state president of INLD

Lok Sabha Live: 1 lakh crore fund has been approved for research and innovation, says PM Modi.

India has democratised technology, therefore 'haves and have-nots' theory can not work here, he said.

Lok Sabha Live: My AI stands for America-India: PM Modi

India will continue to spearhead AI revolution, he said.

Lok Sabha Live: India has more than 1.25 lakh startups, 110 unicorns, says PM Modi at Startup Mahakumbh

India's youth has chosen path of being job creator rather than job seeker, he said.

Lok Sabha Live: Tamil Nadu CM and DMK President MK Stalin along with senior DMK leaders announced list of candidates to contest in the Lok Sabha elections.

He also released the party manifesto for the upcoming elections

Lok Sabha Election Live: Our fintech startup has got immense help from UPI, says PM Modi.

India's youth has chosen path of being job creator rather than job seeker, he said.

Lok Sabha Election Live: Today's youth dreams to be an innovator, says PM Modi.

With the help of startups, the youth is stepping into various sectors, said PM Modi. He further said that even in 2019 elections, many political parties would have taken the service of many startups.

Lok Sabha Election Live: India preparing roadmap for a developed country, took right decision at right time: PM Narendra Modi

India's startup ecosystem not limited to metro cities, it has now become a social culture, said PM Modi.

Can see many entrepreneurs in future, says PM Modi

"Usually, a business mind thinks that elections are near, we will see when the new government comes to power. Elections have been declared and despite that you have organised such a big event. This means that you know what's going to happen in the next five years," said PM Modi addressing 'Startup Mahakumbh' at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi.

PM Modi addresses gathering at the Startup Mahakumbh

India is witnessing a rising trend in startup culture, he said.

PM Modi visits various stalls at Delhi's Bharat Mandapam where he will be speaking at the 'Startup Mahakumbh' shortly.

In a tweet on Tuesday, PM Modi said, "At 10:30 AM tomorrow, I will be speaking at the Startup Mahakumbh, a forum which brings together stakeholders from the world of Startups, innovators and upcoming entrepreneurs. India’s strides in the world of Startups has been phenomenal in the last few years."

Lok Sabha Election Live: Janasena declares candidate for Kakinada Lok Sabha seat

"T Uday Srinivas will be the Janasena candidate from the Kakinada Lok Sabha constituency," a press release from Janasena quoted its chief Pawan Kalyan as saying on Tuesday. Kalyan announced Srinivas' name during a party internal meeting in which 160 people from Pithapuram constituency joined the party. Kalyan is contesting the Legislative Assembly election from Pithapuram segment. So far, the party has announced the names of seven Assembly candidates and one LS candidate from the party, and is due to announce candidature of the remaining 14 Assembly segments and one Lok Sabha constituency. The Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in Andhra Pradesh are scheduled to be held simultaneously on May 13 and the results will be declared on June 4. (PTI)

AIADMK allots five seats to the DMDK and talks are on to finalize the seats. PT and SDPI are allotted one seat each: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami releases first list of 16 candidates. The first list has constituencies, Chennai North, Chennai South, Kancheepuram, Arakkonam, Krishnagiri, Arani, Villupuram, Salem, Namakkal, Erode, Karur, Chidambaram, Nagapattinam, Madurai, Theni and Ramanathapuram.

People above 85 years will now have the option to cast their votes from the comfort of their homes, Madhya Pradesh chief electoral officer Anupam Rajan said on Tuesday. Giving details about the vote count, he said, "Overall voter count in Madhya Pradesh stands at 5, 64,76,110, including 2.90 crores males and 2.74 crores females."

Sixty-six companies registered in the Mumbai region collectively purchased electoral bonds totalling Rs 1,344 crore since 2019, which accounts for 11% of the total bonds purchased nationally, according to an analysis by TOI.The contributions range from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 410crore. Among the buyers are builders, pharmaceutical companies, pathology labs, diamond firms, investment and trading firms and tech companies headquartered in the city, Thane and Navi Mumbai. Data from the State Bank of India, published by the Election Commission of India, reveals that even small businesses have purchased the bonds. Notably, a lot of them were bought in 2019, with several purchases occurring on a single day.

As Ajit Pawar and his political mentor Sharad Pawar are fighting a legal battle for getting control of Nationalist Congress Party and its symbol, SC in an interim order Tuesday allowed the former to hit the hustings using party name and the symbol ‘clock’ but directed EC to recognise the rival faction as ‘NCP- Sharadchandra Pawar’ and reserve symbol of ‘man blowing turha (trumpet)’ for it. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan also directed Ajit’s faction to give notice in newspapers stating that the matter pertaining to legal fight over the symbol is sub judice and is subject to the final outcome of the case. It said that the faction should mention it in all its pamphlets or audio/video advertisement meant to attract voters.

Lok Sabha Election Live: As MVA wait for its candidate continues, BJP starts campaigning for Gadkari

With the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) yet to name its candidate for the Nagpur Lok Sabha constituency, the BJP’s well-oiled poll machinery has already started campaigning for Union minister Nitin Gadkari in all the six assembly constituencies. On Tuesday, its city unit, led by election in-charge Pravin Datke and city chief Bunty Kukde held a press meet inviting suggestions from the public for the party’s manifesto for the country, state and city. Even before Gadkari’s name was announced for Nagpur constituency, the party had started its election campaign by holding a meeting of its office-bearers and workers asking them to approach voters through a door-to-door campaign.

The nomination process for 1st phase of Lok Sabha polls which is scheduled to be held on April 19 began on Wednesday in 102 seats across 21 states and UTs with issuance of notification.

Lok Sabha Live: ‘Lost his life for party’: Modi breaks down as he recalls TN BJP leader’s 2013 hacking

PM Modi took a pause during his speech and turned emotional as he spoke about ‘Auditor’ Ramesh, a BJP leader from Salem who was hacked to death in 2013. During his address in Salem, Modi began speaking about his friends and BJP leaders from Salem. “When I went to Kailash 40-50 years ago, I met a person from Salem named Rathnavel. He was running a hotel then. He is no more,” Modi recalled. He also spoke about late K N Lakshmanan, a former BJP MLA who hailed from Salem. “He worked hard for BJP’s growth in early days in TN.”

Lok Sabha Live: ‘Ghar Ghar Guarantee’: Congress woos 5 sections with 25 vows

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge exuded confidence that the country is fervently looking for a change and the governing BJP’s campaign revolving around Modi’s guarantees would meet the same fate as the India Shining of 2004, as Congress Working Committee on Tuesday approved the draft manifesto that spotlights party’s 25 ‘Nyay’ guarantees to five key demographies. The party is also planning a separate manifesto announcement about safeguarding the freedom of enforcement agencies and constitutional bodies which it claims have been captured by the governing BJP to target the opposition. Read more

Lok Sabha Live: Sita Soren, sis-in-law of ex-J’khand CM Hemant, joins BJP

Sita Soren, former JMM MLA and also sister-in-law of former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, opted for BJP due to neglect. She criticized Hemant Soren for favoritism and also said that she became aware of the conspiracy hatched against her family. BJP's move aims to counter JMM's Santhal backing. Hemant's legal issues test BJP's tribal support. Read more

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live Updates: 'Tomorrow we will announce (our list of candidates),' says Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah after the Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting in Delhi

"Tomorrow we will announce (our list of candidates)," says Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah after the Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting in Delhi

Lok Sabha Election Live Updates: EC allows voting by postal ballot for mediapersons on duty

EC allows voting by postal ballot for mediapersons on duty. They have been added to the definition of essential services included in the list of ‘absentee voters’

Lok Sabha Election Live Updates: 'How can govt talk about 'one nation one election'?', says Omar Abdullah on delay in J-K elections

National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah said on Tuesday that if simultaneous elections could not be held in Jammu and Kashmir, then how is the government deliberating upon conducting 'one nation, one election' in the future.Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar had earlier informed that the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls will be held after the Lok Sabha elections. It is currently under the President's Rule.