Lok Sabha Election 2019 LIVE: I wanted to give him a tight slap of democracy, says Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in Purulia said, “Money doesn't matter to me. That is why when Narendra Modi came to Bengal and accused my party of being Tolabaaz (Toll collector), I wanted to give him a tight slap of democracy.”

A senior Congress leader in Tripura on Tuesday said the party has has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission alleging that the BJP is getting access to government documents and has demanded an inquiry into it.

A BJP delegation had met the Chief Election Commissioner on May 2 and submitted a memorandum demanding the removal of Tripura Chief Electoral Officer.

Tripura Congress vice president Tapas Dey said that " ... documents attached in the BJP memorandum to the CEC include a letter of the Returning Officer addressed to the chief secretary of Tripura, a representation by Tripura Civil Service Association and the chief secretary's letter to the ECI".

Dey said the BJP was 'not supposed' to have access to such government documents and alleged they were given to the saffron party in an "unauthorized manner" and demanded an inquiry into it.

In a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday said the Mahabharata character Duryodhana too had “such arrogance”.

Addressing a public meeting, she also criticised Modi for calling her late father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi “Bhrashtachari Number 1” (the most corrupt).

She dared Modi to fight the Lok Sabha elections on issues like development rather than “divert” the people's attention.

“This country has never forgiven ego and arrogance. History is witness to this, the Mahabharata is witness to this,” she said at the meeting in support of Kumari Selja, the Congress candidate from Ambala.

“Duryodhana also had such arrogance. When Lord Krishna went to make him understand, he tried to take him captive,” the Congress general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh said.

Congress MP, Sushmita Dev has filed an additional affidavit before the SC stating that "the respondent ECI failed to appreciate that the hate speeches delivered by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are ‘corrupt practices’ under Section 123A of the Representation of People Act, 1951"

One of them flips burgers, the other rustles up noodles at a roadside joint. The two are among the 278 candidates who are trying their luck in the May 19 Lok Sabha elections in Punjab.

While 30-year-old Ravinder Pal Singh who owns the popular 'Baba Ji Burger Wale' is contesting from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat, Jasbir Singh (55), owner of the famous 'Chacha Maggi Wala' is a contender from the Patiala parliamentary constituency.

Both are fighting as independent candidates.

The NCP on Tuesday alleged that the Election Commission (EC) is "swayed" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik made the comment after the Supreme Court dismissed the plea of 21 opposition parties seeking a review of its April 8 order directing the EC to increase random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs to five polling booths per Assembly segment.

Malik alleged that the EC did not find a way out despite there being a possibility of votes polled through the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips not tallying.

East Delhi Returning Officer issued notice to Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia over violation of Model Code of Conduct regarding a tweet on religion of AAP's East Delhi Candidate Atishi. He has been asked to furnish his comments on the matter by 5 pm tomorrow.

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Ambala, Haryana said, “Chunav ke prachar mein BJP ke neta kabhi ye nahi kehte ki unhone jo wade kiye the woh poore kiye ya nahi. Kabhi shaheedon ke name pe vote maangte hai, toh kabhi mera parivaar ke shaheed sadasyon ka apaman karte hain.”

Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Chaibasa, Jharkhand said, “Chhattisgarh mein shayad pehli baar Tata company ne zameen li thi, BJP sarkar ne zameen di. 5 saal mein adivasiyon ki zameen pe, Bastar ki zameen pe unhone koi factory nahi lagai. Congress ke CM ne faisla liya, Tata se zameen lekar wapas Bastar ke adivasiyon ke hawale kar di.”

Alleging that south India received "step motherly" treatment under the Modi government, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said the south will play a key role in voting out the ruling dispensation and "overwhelmingly" side with the Congress.

Emphasising that all sections of the country are equally important to the Congress and have been equally sought after, he said party president Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from Kerala's Wayanad sent a message that under Congress rule, the concerns and aspirations of southern states will not be ignored at the Centre.

"I think the south will definitely play an instrumental role in deciding the political fate of the country, particularly in the context of voting out the present ruling dispensation, under whose tenure, the south has an understandable case of step-motherly treatment under the Centre," Tharoor said in an interview.

He alleged that in the last five years of BJP rule, there has been a "widespread assault" on the spirit of cooperative federalism which has held the country together since Independence.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Chaibasa, Jharkhand said, “Apni jeb main haat daliye, batua kholiye aapko pata lagega ki aapke batue se paisa Modi ji ne nikala hai. Aadivasi bhaiyo-behno, apne jungle-jal-zameen ko dekhiye, apko pata lagega ki Anil Ambani ko Modi ji ne aapka jal-jungle aur zameen di hai.”

A senior functionary of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of BJP on Tuesday surrendered his security as a mark of protest against the withdrawal of security to the party activists by the government and the killing of party' leader by terrorists on Saturday.

BJP's state general secretary (organization) Ashok Kaul surrendered his security and a vehicle provided by the Security Wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police after a protest at Press Enclave against the killing of party's district vice-president for Anantnag, Gul Mohammad Mir, on Saturday and the failure of the administration to provide security to political activists in the valley.

Kaul said he was surrendering his security as a mark of protest till all political activists in the state were not given security.

A polling officer died while 24 others, including security personnel, were injured when their vehicle overturned in the district, officials said on Tuesday.

The accident took place when they were on way to deposit EVM machines after polling on Monday.

The deceased has been identified as Om Prakash (40) assistant district information officer SD Yadav said.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Tuesday surrendered in a Bihar court in Begusarai district in connection with violation of model code of conduct and granted bail.

According to the police Singh surrendered in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Thakur Aman Kumar.

Singh, who is the BJP candidate from the Begusarai Lok Sabha seat, had made communal remarks on April 24 during an election meeting, where BJP President Amit Shah was also present.

Following the completion of the Lok Sabha polls in Assam, parties in the state are now focussing on the two Rajya Sabha seats which are set to fall vacant next month.

The seats are held by senior Congress members, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and politician Santiuse Kujur. Their terms will come to an end on June 14.

According to sources, the Election Commission (EC) is likely to issue a notification soon for holding polls for the two seats.

The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) on the other hand, has reminded the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of an agreement that was inked between the two parties ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh performs 'pooja' in the presence of Computer Baba, at the venue where he is camping along with thousands of sadhus to undertake Hat Yoga.

PM has been given clean chit by ECI over his Pulwama remark in Chitradurga, in Karnataka on April 9, where be reportedly asked voters to vote for the heroes of the Balakot air strike. PM also has been given clean chit by ECI for his rally in Ahmedabad held on April 23.

Supreme Court dismisses Opposition parties' plea for modifying its order on VVPAT (voter-verified paper audit trail) slip counting. Top court said, "We are not inclined to interfere." Opposition wanted 50% of VVPAT slips counting.

VVPAT case hearing in Supreme Court: TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, D Raja of CPI and Farooq Abdullah of National Conference at top court. 21 Opposition parties want the court to review its decision and order 50% of voter-verified paper audit trail slips counting.

Computer Baba who was granted status of minister in BJP govt, camps in Bhopal along with thousands of sadhus to undertake Hat Yoga, also campaigns for Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, says,"BJP sarkaar 5 saal mein Ram Mandir bhi nahi bana paayi. Ab Ram Mandir nahi toh Modi nahi"

A Congress delegation led by former Union Minister and Congress leader Suresh Pachouri reaches former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan residence with documents containing details of farmers whose loans have been waived off by the present state government.

They are polling agents all right, but the problem is they can't recall the names of the candidates they are working for.

This seemingly bizarre occurrence came to light at a booth in Shibpur Assembly segment of Howrah Lok Sabha constituency during the fifth phase of election on Monday.

The setting was booth number 157. When newpersons entered the booth, they found the polling agent of the Trinamool Congress was present. Alongside him, were couple of other polling agents of independent candidates.

The script took a strange twist when the newspersons confronted a middle aged woman polling agent. Asked to name the candidate she was working for, the woman was clueless.

EVMs and VVPAT were found from a hotel in Muzaffarpur on Monday. Alok Ranjan Ghosh, DM says,"Sector officer was given some reserved machines so that it could be replaced with faulty ones. After replacing EVMs he was left with 2 balloting unit,1 control unit and 2 VVPAT in his car."

“He shouldn't have unloaded the machines in the hotel which is against rules. Since he has violated an departmental investigation will be done.”