Lok Sabha Election 2019 LIVE:AMMK to be registered as party with EC, Dhinakaran elevated

The Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) party on Friday elevated its founder T.T.V. Dhinakaran as its General Secretary and said steps will be taken to register it as a political party with the Election Commission.

Dhinakaran was earlier the Deputy General Secretary and the General Secretary's post was held by the now jailed V.K. Sasikala.

The decision to elevate him was taken at a meeting of office bearers and district secretaries of AMMK on Friday, spokesperson C.R. Saraswathi told reporters.

The third phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 23 will witness a battle between several political heavyweights as well as former bureaucrats in Odisha.

As many as four former bureaucrats will contest the Lok Sabha polls for the first time in the third phase.

Six Lok Sabha constituencies -- Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Sambalpur, Keonjhar and Dhenkanal -- will go to the polls along with the 42 Assembly segments in their jurisdiction on April 23.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav on Friday again challenged the RJD by refusing to accept its candidate Syed Faisal Ali in the Sheohar Lok Sabha constituency.

"Syed Faisal Ali is not the party candidate for me," Tej Pratap Yadav said in Sheohar where he would join a roadshow in support of Angesh Singh, the candidate of his newly floated outfit Lalu-Rabri Morcha.

Tej Pratap Yadav said the Lalu-Rabri Morcha was a part of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

NCP leader Nawab Malik Friday expressed confidence that the grand alliance of opposition parties in Maharashtra will win over 28 of the total 48 seats if the situation witnessed during the first two phases of Lok Sabha polls in the state continued.

He said anti-incumbency was visible in the 17 constituencies that went to polls in the first two phases- on April 11 and 18.

Malik, who is the national spokesperson of the Sharad Pawar-led party, claimed that farmers, agrarian workers, youth, backward communities, tribals, Dalits and minorities were angry with the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in the state.

The Congress in Kerala on Friday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Sabarimala issue, saying he was once again shedding 'crocodile' tears over it.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala sought to know why the BJP led NDA government did not frame laws or issue an ordinance after the September 28 2018 Supreme Court verdict, allowing women of all ages to offer prayers at the Lord Ayappa hill shrine if they were really sincere in protecting the faith and tradition of the believers.

After the CPI(M) led LDF government decided to implement the Apex Court verdict,saying they were constitutionally bound to do so, protests by right outfits and BJP/RSS workers had erupted in various parts of the state.

Election Commission: Recognises Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) with reserved symbol 'Ceiling Fan' and Upendra Kushwaha will continue to be recognized as the President of the Party for the purposes of the current election

The police arrested a BJP assembly candidate on the charge of destroying an EVM in a polling booth in Odisha's Ganjam district during the second phase of elections on Thursday.

BJP candidate for Sorada assembly seat, Nilamani Bisoi, along with his supporters allegedly entered a booth at Renti village under Sorada police station limits, destroyed the EVM and prevented polling officials from discharging their duty, police said on Friday.

Lok Sabha and assembly elections are being held simultaneously in the state.

74.95%. is the total voter turnout for the 2nd phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2019 in Chhattisgarh

"In the last 5 years, Modiji has made promises after promises. Every meeting he holds, he promises something new. He said he did not want to be a PM, but wants to be your Chowkidaar. Modi is not your Chowkidar, he is Ambani's Chowkidar” says Congress President Rahul Gandhi

"For Ambani and Choksi, Chowkidaar doesn't ask where the money will come from!

But when we talk about NYAY and Farm Loan Waiver, Modiji asks where the money will come from!

Modiji, money will come by taking it back from your crony friends":

Congress President Rahul Gandhi addresses public meeting in Chikodi, Karnataka

Ashok Gehlot on Friday slammed PM Modi for invoking Pakistan again and Again during election campaign

What is Pakistan in front of India? Still talks about Pakistan again and again! Do you want to win the election by the name of Pakistan? Our armies defeated them in the war of 65, also in 71, we even conquered the Kargil War... So what is Pakistan

The just concluded second phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Odisha recorded a 72 per cent voter turnout, an official said on Friday.

Elections were held on Thursday for the Bargarh, Sundargarh, Bolangir, Kandhamal and Aska Lok Sabha seats, and 35 Assembly seats under these parliamentary constituencies.

According to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) here, the Bargarh constituency recorded 77.73 per cent voter turnout, while Bolangir registered 74.33 per cent. The voter turnout in the Sundargarh and Kandhamal Lok Sabha constituencies were 71.52 per cent and 69.24 per cent, respectively.

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not sharing complete details of Balakot air strikes.

The remarks come a day after Modi's attack on him during the PM's Belagavi and Chikkodi election meetings on Thursday.

Modi took on Kumaraswamy for saying the matter of air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan's Balakot should not be over publicised "fearing the vote bank bank would get angry." "Now tell me, Where is Congress and the JD(S) vote bank? Is it in Bagalkot or Balakot? This Congress-JD(S) has to decide," the prime minister said.

Talking to reporters in Hubballi, Kumaraswamy said, "We do not know anything about the air strike. We read only in the newspapers. You (Modi) did not give the complete information to the people of India about the air strikes.

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the LDF government in Kerala over various issues, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Friday accused him of making "false" charges against the state and said such remarks were "unbecoming" of his position.

Countering Modi's charge that cases would be registered in Kerala if anyone utters the God's name, Vijayan challenged the Prime Minister to point out any single such case.

"It is unfortunate that such an untruthful and concocted campaign has been unleashed by the Prime Minister.

Congress General Secretary for UP (East) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, holds a roadshow in Kanpur.

BJP MP from Machhlishahr Ram Charitra Nishad, joins Samajwadi Party in presence of party chief, Akhilesh Yadav

Calling it an insult, the Indian Police Service (IPS) Association on Friday condemned BJP's Lok Sabha candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur's remarks on former Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad Chief Hemant Karkare.

On Friday, Thakur said Karkare, who died in action during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, had treated her "very badly" and died because of "her curse".

"Ashok Chakra awardee late Hemant Karkare, IPS, made the supreme sacrifice fighting terrorists. Those of us in uniform condemn the insulting statement made by a candidate and demand that sacrifices of all our martyrs be respected," said a tweet from the official handle of the Indian Police Service (Central) Association.

The Congress Friday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise to the country and take action against the BJP's Bhopal nominee Pragya Singh Thakur, who claimed that 26/11 martyr Hemant Karkare died because she had cursed him for "torturing" her.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the remark was an insult to every soldier who has sacrificed his life for the country while fighting terrorism.

"Modi ji, only BJP leaders can commit the crime of declaring 26/11 martyr Hemant Karkare a traitor," Surjewala said.

"This is an insult to every Indian soldier who has sacrificed his life for Mother India while fighting terrorism. Apologise to the country and take action against Pragya," he added.

After completion of three day ban on election campaigning, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Friday visited the historic Hanuman Setu temple in Aliganj area here before resuming the poll battle.

The Chief Minister drove to the Aliganj temple and offered 'prasad' on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti this morning, BJP sources said.

Complaint received against BJP Lok Sabha candidate for Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur, for her comments on 26/11 martyr (former Mumbai ATS Chief Hemant Karkare), said Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer

Ashok Chandel, the BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh's Hamirpur district, was on Friday sentenced to life imprisonment after he was found guilty in a 22-year-old murder case.

He was sentenced by the Allahabad High Court for his involvement in the murder of five people on January 26, 1997.

A bench of Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice D.K. Singh also sentenced 10 others to life imprisonment.

Rajiv Shukla, the victim's family member, told IANS: "Three people from my family -- elder brothers Rajesh Shukla and Rakesh Shukla and nephew Ganesh -- were killed along with our security guards Ved Prakash Nayak and Shrikant Pandey."

He said he approached the High Court after a lower court acquitted the accused.

“Disgraceful comments by BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Pragya Thakur on 26/11 martyr Hemant Karkare ji need to be condemned in strongest terms. BJP is showing its true colours & it must be shown it's place now,” said Kejriwal

As the 72-hour campaigning ban imposed on him by the Election Commission came to an end, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Friday said that respect for constitutional bodies was part of the BJP's ideology.

Adityanath also reiterated his Hindu identity as he defended his visits to temples during the ban. He tweeted that the visits should not be linked to politics as he was practising his right to faith enshrined in the Indian constitution.

"The experience attained through darshan of Ram Lalla and Bajrang Bali at Hanuman Garhi and Sarayu Mata temples is difficult to express," he said.

A day after Darjeeling went to polls in the second phase of Lok sabha elections, violence broke out in the Hills on Friday allegedly between the supporters of rival political parties, triggering panic among the locals, an election official said.

Bombs were hurled and bullets fired by unidentified men, injuring a student of a local school in Chopra area of the Darjeeling seat, he said.

“I appeal the voters to elect Mulayam Singh Yadav as their leader to the Parliament, he is a true leader of the backward classes,” said Mayawati

“I am sure.. Mulayam singh ji will win with a historic mandate. People want to know why I had entered an alliance despite my past equations with Mulayam singh ji and the state guest house episode. But we are sometimes have to take such tough decisions, keeping national interests in mind,” said Mayawati.

“I am happy Mayawati is here with us today. I have lot of respect for her, she has extended support to us at various junctures. I will never forget her favour,” said SP patriarch Maulayam Singh Yadav

A Class VII student was injured in post-poll violence in North Dinajpur of West Bengal, Friday morning. Bullets were fired in the BJP and Trinamool Congress clash in Mokdumi village. The boy, caught in the crossfire, suffered a bullet injury in leg and was rushed to a primary healthcare centre. His condition is reported to be stable at present.

A youth was arrested in North Goa's Valpoi constituency soon after he questioned Vishwajit Rane, an MLA and the coastal state's Health Minister, about unemployment.

The incident took place on Thursday night during a meeting held to discuss the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) North Goa Lok Sabha candidate Shripad Naik's campaign.

Gaonkar had asked Rane why he had not been provided a job despite being the Minister's active supporter for more than a decade.

"I only asked him why I was not given a job despite being promised one for several years now. At the meeting I was only raising a question about a job promise made to me by the Minister, which was not fulfilled and I was arrested after the meeting ended," Gaonkar told the media on Friday.

SP-BSP-RLD's joint rally to begin shortly in Mainpuri; BSP Chief Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav to share the stage.

“We had given free hand to our forces but also gave 2 directions-that no citizen of Pakistan should die and the Pakistan Army should not even get a scratch. We told our forces your targets are only the terrorists of Jaish e Mohd,” said Sushma Swaraj over Balakot strike

Congress President Rahul Gandhi will be in Gujarat on Friday and will address a public rally.

At loggerheads for decades, SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati are scheduled to share the dais at a joint rally of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance in the Samajwadi Party citadel of Mainpuri on Friday.

Preparations are underway for the rally at Christian Field to send out a message to our political opponents that the alliance against the BJP in Uttar Pradesh shares a strong bond, an SP party leader said. Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati have been bitter rivals since 1995 when SP cadres allegedly attacked the state guest house where the BSP chief had been camping with her supporters.

The SP patriarch, who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the party bastion of Mainpuri was conspicuous by his absence at the three joint rallies held earlier in Deoband, Badaun and Agra due to his aversion to his party's alliance with the BSP.