Lok Sabha Election 2019 LIVE: Hans Raj Hans ineligible to contest from North West Delhi, says Arvind Kejriwal

The Election Commission on Thursday removed the returning officer of the Tripura West seat, where polling was held on the first phase on the Lok Sabha elections on April 11, an official said.

"The Election Commission removed the returning officer of the Tripura West seat Sandeep Mahatme. Tripura East's returning officer, Vikas Singh, has been appointed in his place," said an Election Commission official, who did not want to be identified.

Alleging large-scale rigging, booth capturing, intimidation and attacks on voters and polling agents by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members and their goons, the opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Congress had been demanding re-polling in the constituency.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Jaipur district of Rajasthan said, “Have you ever seen a chowkidar outside the house of farmers, labourers and unemployed youth? How many chowkidars are there near Anil Ambani's house? There is a queue of chowkidars and Modi Ji is standing first in that queue.”

Terming demonetisation as the biggest scam of the century, Congress leader Anand Sharma on Thursday said people of the country were "cheated" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made "false" promises to them.

"Modi is the first PM in whose tenure black money was used openly and he says that there is no corruption in his governance. The biggest scam of the century is demonetisation," Sharma said at a press conference.

If the Congress comes to power at the Centre, a judicial probe commission will be set up, accountability will be fixed and people responsible for note ban will be punished, he added.

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal claimed on Thursday that the BJP's North West Delhi candidate in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, Hans Raj Hans, is "ineligible" to fight from a reserved seat, urging the voters not to waste their votes on him.

He tagged a tweet of senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Rajendra Pal Gautam, in which he claimed that Hans had deliberately concealed the information that he had converted to Islam recently and was not eligible to contest the polls from the North West Delhi seat which is reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC) category.

"Hans Raj Hans is ineligible to fight from a reserved seat. He will finally be declared ineligible," Kejriwal said in a tweet, adding that the voters of North West Delhi should not waste their votes on him.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that the Narendra Modi government has waived ₹5.5 lakh crore loan of the industrialists in the last five years but has not done enough for farmers, youths or traders.

"Narendra Modi has not worked for the farmers, youths, traders rather he worked only for 15 people in last 5 years and waived their ₹5.5 lakh crore loan," Gandhi said at a rally at Simdega district of Jharkhand.

Prominent leaders of the Grand Alliance for the first time shared a dais in the state after the poll alliance was announced. JMM Executive President Hemant Soren and JVM-P President Babulal Marandi were among those present.

Rajiv Shukla, Congress says, “6 surgical strikes were conducted during Manmohan Singh govt. One was conducted on June 19, 2008 in Bhattal Sector in J&K's Poonch, one from Aug 30-September 1, 2011 in Sharda Sector across Neelam River Valley in Kel.”

“One surgical strike was carried out on January 6, 2013 at Sawan Patra Checkpost; one on July 27 & July 28, 2013 at Nazapir Sector; August 6, 2013 at Neelam Valley; & one on January 14, 2014.”

The Kerala police on Wednesday registered criminal cases against three women for casting more than one vote at the Pilathara polling booth in Kasargod Lok Sabha constituency on April 23.

The case was registered by Pariyaram police station against Panchayat member MV Salina, former Panchayat member KP Sumya and Padmini, all of whom are CPI-M activists. They have been charged under IPC Sections 171 A,C,D and F for impersonation and bogus voting among others.

An official attached to the Pariyaram police station, who did not wish to be identified, confirmed that they have registered criminal cases against the three women. "The case has been registered and a probe into charges of bogus voting will be looked into," said the official.

Supreme Court asks Election Commission to decide before May 6, the 9 complaints filed by Congress party against PM Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra says, “I stopped children from saying slogans which I think weren't correct about PM. BJP edited the tape, removed the part where I was stopping them and they're making this allegation, which is typical of them. What they do is twist truth, what I do is I speak the truth.”

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Raebareli said, “I've said clearly Congress is fighting polls on its own strength. Our candidates are fighting strongly in most constituencies. I would rather die than benefit BJP. We've chosen candidates that are either fighting strongly or cutting BJP votes.”

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Raebareli said, “BJP wants to build a narrative which is not concerned with the public. It wants to deflect the public's attention from the real issues.”

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Raebareli said, “My focus is on both 2019 and 2022 (UP Assembly elections). For 2019, the focus is to defeat the BJP. By 2022, I want to strengthen the Congress so that we can fight well.”

Congress senior leader P Chidambaram tweeted, “Masood Azhar was released in 1999 by a BJP government after the hijack of the Indian Airlines aircraft. After Masood Azhar masterminded the Mumbai terror attack in 2008, the process to name him as a global terrorist was started by a Congress/UPA government in 2009.”

“We are happy that the process has concluded successfully in 2019. But why does the Prime Minister of Pakistan want Mr Modi to continue as Prime Minister of India?”

Congress General Secretary for UP (East) in Raebareli, Priyanka Gandhi said, “Ideology of Congress and BJP is poles apart. We'll always fight them, they are our main adversary in politics. We've made sure not to benefit BJP in any way. We're fighting strongly, our candidates are strong.”

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) President Mayawati said at a press conference, “Earlier BJP Government made Masood Azhar a guest and later freed him abroad, now at the time of elections they are trying to gather votes on his name, it is condemnable.”

Supreme Court asks Election Commission to decide on pleas for rescheduling the voting time from 7 am to 5 am in General Election during the month of Ramzan coinciding with the rest of the phases and due to heat-wave conditions in Rajasthan and other areas.

Sunny Deol, BJP candidate from Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency offers prayer at the Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi will be campaigning in Jharkhand and Rajasthan on Thursday, May 2. He will be addressing public meetings in Simdega, Jharkhand and Jaipur