Lok Sabha Election 2019 LIVE: BJP can take do chowkidari after ‘losing’ LS polls, says Mayawati

BSP chief Mayawati said the BJP could take up "chowkidari" after "losing" the Lok Sabha elections.

In a tweet, Mayawati morning said the BJP  leaders were free to amuse themselves and do whatever they want, but they should not insult the country and denigrate constitutional posts in any way.   "Let DM, CM & PM remain as per the provision of the  Constitution. They can do chowkidari after losing polls," she tweeted.

Mayawati alleged that while BJP leaders did not care about the files on the Rafale deal, they were hiding crucial data on unemployment and farmers' plight.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal has said he will "certainly contest" from Delhi's Chandni Chowk seat in the Lok Sabha, irrespective of whether there is an alliance between his party and AAP.

Sibal had won twice from Chandni Chowk in 2004 and 2009 before losing to BJP leader Harsh Vardhan in 2014.

Asked about his views whether there should be an alliance between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, Sibal told PTI: "I don't know that is for the party to decide. There are two views within the party." "I will certainly contest the Chandni Chowk seat, alliance or no alliance," the 70-year-old leader asserted.

The Election Commission of India on Friday joined Twitter ahead of the Lok Sabha elections while the micro-blogging site also launched a special election emoji aimed at encouraging participation in election-related discussions, encouraging more people to go and vote.

Available in 12 languages, the election emoji would feature an image of the Parliament of India.

To further raise awareness among voters, the Election Commission of India has launched the "Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation" programme (SVEEP) on the platform.

With Left parties being left out of the RJD-led opposition alliance in Bihar, CPI general secretary Sudhakar Reddy said their understanding was with the jailed RJD supremo Lalu Prasad who had assured them a place in the coalition, but wondered if the same was conveyed to his son Tejashwi Yadav, who is holding the party's reins.

Reddy told PTI that the failure of the 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) to accommodate the Left parties was "unfortunate" and didn't bode well for the opposition as a whole in the bigger scheme of creating an anti-BJP front. The party's state leadership is scheduled to meet on March 24 to decide on its future course of action, Reddy said.

Shiv Sena Friday declared a list of 21 candidates for the Lok Sabha poll, dropping an MP who hit an Air India staffer in 2017.

Ravindra Gaikwad, 59, had hit an Air India staffer with a slipper at the IGI airport in Delhi and then openly boasted about it.

The Sena has replaced Gaikwad with Omraje Nimbalkar in Osmanabad constituency.

Kerala's Director General of Police Jacob Thomas, currently in suspension since December 2017, has put in his papers so as to to contest the Lok Sabha elections.

Thomas had another 18 months to go for retirement. The resignation has been forwarded to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's office and to the Centre.

The JD(U), which is contesting the elections for the first time in Arunachal Pradesh, has released its second list of eight candidates for the assembly polls.

The party's North East Executive Council (NEEC) Chairman, Senchumo Lotha, released the second list of nominees for the polls on Thursday.

The Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday had announced the names of five candidates.

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy and nephew Prajwal Revanna were not contesting the Lok Sabha polls for "fashion", but for the sake for the people.

Conceding that that there were "small" issues between alliance partners Congress and JD(S) which would be resolved, he said both parties will follow "coalition dharma".

"...on the basis of our (Kumaraswamy and Revanna) work, from our family again two young powers are in the fray,they are not contesting for fashion," Kumaraswamy said.

The Madras High Court on Friday declared as invalid the election in 2016 of the AIAMDK's A.K. Bose -- who died last year -- in a by-election from the Tiruparankundram Assembly constituency.

The court also dismissed the plea of the unsuccessful DMK candidate P. Saravanan to declare him the victor.

The Election Commission has deferred the by-election for this constituency citing this case despite the death of Bose due to cardiac arrest in 2018.

Discontent is growing within the West Bengal BJP over its first list of candidates for the 2019 polls as a senior state leader on Friday resigned while a group of BJP activists protested against the nomination of former Trinamool Congress leader Nisith Pramanik, who joined the BJP, from the Coochbehar seat.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Bengal unit Vice-President RajKamal Pathak resigned from his post after not getting a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls. He will, however, continue to remain in the party.

"If I am not eligible to be a candidate, then there is no need for me to hold on to the post of the party. So I have resigned," he said.

OP Ravindranath Kumar, son of Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, O Panneerselvam files nomination from Theni parliamentary constituency.

The JD(U), which is contesting the elections for the first time in Arunachal Pradesh, has released its second list of eight candidates for the assembly polls.

The party's North East Executive Council (NEEC) Chairman, Senchumo Lotha, released the second list of nominees for the polls on Thursday.

The Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday had announced the names of five candidates.

Sitting MLA from Itanagar constituency, Techi Kaso, has been fielded once again, this time by the JD(U), as he was not given a ticket by the BJP.

The party has also fielded sitting BJP MLA Dikto Yekar from the Daporijo constituency.

Six new faces were included in the JDUs second list.

Tamil Nadu Assembly Secretary, K Srinivasan declares Sulur constituency of Coimbatore district as vacant after the demise of Sulur MLA R Kanagaraj on Thursday. The number of vacant seats in the state assembly is 22.

The Congress released its manifesto on Friday for the April 11 general elections in Andhra Pradesh, promising to accord Special Category Status to the state on the first day of coming to power (at the Centre).

It also promised to implement all other provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president N Raghuveera Reddy, Manifesto Committee chairman Kanumuri Bapiraju and other leaders released the manifesto at the state party office.

The main promises include waiver of loans up to ₹2 lakh for all farmers, tenant farmers and women Self Help Groups; extension of interest-free loans to farmers, tenant farmers and SHGs; creation of a ₹5,000 crore price stabilization fund to ensure remunerative prices for farm produce and introduction of a minimum income guarantee scheme.

Sitting Congress MP Vincent H. Pala on Friday filed his nomination papers for the Shillong parliamentary constituency, seeking a third straight term in the Lok Sabha.

Meghalaya has two Lok Sabha constituencies -- Shillong and Tura -- that will go to the polls on April 11.

Pala, 51, who was a Union Minister in the Congress-led UPA government, asserted that his party would return to the power.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi takes a dig at BJP citing the ‘Yeddyurappa Diaries’, “ BJP ke sare Chowkidar Chor Hai: NoMo, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh.

Bringing an eco-friendly twist to poll campaigning, state Congress president Girish Chodankar on Friday said that party leaders will cycle to different parts of Goa to canvass for votes for the party, during the first phase of campaigning.

Chodankar said that cycling was a cheap, eco-friendly way of connecting with people and travelling by cycles also amplified both the reach of the party campaigners and generated a better connect.

"Financially, also it is a cheap mode of transport. It is eco-friendly, too, because we do not disturb the environment," Chodankar said.

Upendra Prasad to contest from Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat reports ABP news.

RJD's Vibha Devi to contest from Nawada seat reports ABP news.

Jitan Ram Majhi to contest from Gaya parliamentary constituency reports ABP news.

Mahagathbandhan seat distribution for the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar - Rashtriya Janata Dal - 20, Congress - 9, RLSP - 5, VIP - 3, HAM - 3.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter and sitting MP from Nizamabad, K Kavitha, files nomination papers for the Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency.

Delhi's chief electoral officer (CEO) said on Friday that 39 FIRs and daily dairy (DD) entries have been registered against various political parties since March 10 for violating the model code of conduct.

Four FIRs have been registered against the Aam Aadmi Party, while three have been filed against the BJP. Most of the FIRs are related to defacement of property.

The office of Delhi CEO said more than 1.94 lakh posters, banners and hoardings have been removed since the mode code of conduct came into force.

Police have registered 106 FIRs and arrested 133 people under the Arms Act, while 384 people have been arrested under the Excise Act, it said.

It is not for nothing that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has earned the the sobriquet of 'Chanakya' of Bihar politics.

Often deprecatingly dubbed as 'paltu ram' (turncoat) by RJD boss Lalu Prasad, with whom he has had a love-hate relationship for long, Kumar, a mechanical engineer by training, has outmanoeuvred his rivals, much like the wise and wily advisor to emperor Chandragupta, to stay afloat on the choppy political waters of the Hindi heartland state.

Politically debilitated after his JD(U) was mauled at the hustings in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, barely a year after the party snapped its ties with the BJP at his insistence in the aftermath of Narendra Modi's anointment as the saffron party's prime ministerial face, he made friends with arch rival Lalu and halted the Modi juggernaut in its tracks in the 2015 Bihar assembly polls.

A group of BJP activists on Friday protested against the nomination of Nisith Pramanik, who recently switched to the saffron party from the Trinamool Congress, as a candidate from Coochbehar constituency in West Bengal.

They vandalised furniture, ransacked the party office in Coochbehar, and heckled district chief Malati Rava on Thursday night, alleging that she took a bribe from Pramanik.

"We do not want any turncoat to be selected from Coochbehar. The party did not consider leaders who have been fighting against Trinamool for years. We are disappointed," a worker said.

With less than a month to go for the Lok Sabha elections, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Friday announced its candidates for 11 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh.

The BSP, which is contesting the elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal, has fielded Haji Fajalurahman from Saharanpur, Malook Nagar from Bijnor and Girish Chandra from Nagina (SC).

The party also named Kunwar Danish Ali as its candidate from Amroha, Haji Mohammad Yakub from Meerut, Satbir Nagar from Gautam Budha Nagar and Yogesh Verma from Bulandsahr (SC) seat.

Son of Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister D Jayakumara and sitting MP from south Chennai, J Jayavardhan files nomination papers for south Chennai parliamentary constituency.

Madras High Court dismissed the petition seeking to defer the election date for Madurai parliamentary constituency, citing the Chithirai festival. Election Commission has extended voting time by two hours in Madurai.

South Indian multilingual actor Prakash Raj on Friday filed his nomination to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Bangalore Central constituency as an Independent.

Raj, 53, who hails from this tech city, is a popular actor in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films.

The actor will be contesting from the seat against BJP's outgoing MP P.C. Mohan, who too filed his nomination from Bangalore Central seat on Friday.

The Election Commission will set up 15 special polling stations at Kanhmun village along the Mizoram-Tripura border to help tribal refugees living in relief camps in Tripura exercise their franchise for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Mizoram, officials said on Friday.

The tribal refugees, however, have yet to decide whether they would go to Kanhmun village to cast their votes.

There are around 12,000 eligible voters, from among the 35,000 tribal immigrants from Mizoram, sheltered in northern Tripura's seven relief camps in Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-divisions for the past 22 years after they fled from Mizoram in the wake of communal tensions.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "If there is no truth to this diary then why did the BJP not get an inquiry done on this. If this true then is this not a first-hand report of BJP's corruption? Why is there no independent inquiry of this? Now there is also Lok Pal and other independent bodies in place. Chor chowkidar is answerable for this."

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "From this diary, five facts come out. Close to ₹2690 crore was sought and ₹1800 crore was given to BJP. Yeddyurappa was the CM during the period. There are his signatures on each page. This was given to BJP's central team.”

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, “Is it true or false? The diary with BS Yeddyurappa's sign on it, was with the Income Tax Department since 2017. If that is the case why did Modi ji and BJP did not get it investigated?”

"These are the people who are responsible for the biggest ministries. These are the leaders who are literally running the country.”

R Surjewala, Congress on ‘Yeddy diaries’ said, “BS Yeddyurappa made payouts to senior BJP leaders during his tenure as K'taka CM: It mentions names of senior BJP leaders from Rajnath Singh to Jaitley. There is an allegation of bribe of ₹1800 crore on the top BJP leadership.”

"Chowkidar and company was caught red-handed, Congress cites ‘Yeddy diaries’ claiming that BS Yeddyurappa made payouts to senior BJP leaders during his tenure as Karnataka CM."

A nephew of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, Aakash Anand, figures in the list of 20 star campaigners released by the party on Friday.

Aakash Anand, who has been seen with Mayawati at some public engagements, was given the task to connect youngsters with the party dominated by Dalits.

Nara Lokesh, Andhra Pradesh IT Minister and son of CM N Chandrababu Naidu to file nomination shortly. He will contest from Mangalagiri constituency in Amaravati.

Former international cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Friday joined the BJP and is expected to be fielded by the party in the Lok Sabha polls from one of the seats in the national capital. The former opening batsman joined the party in the presence of Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Gambhir played a key role in India's triumph in the 2011 World Cup and the 2007 T-20 World Cup. He was recently conferred upon the Padma Shri award.

BJP sources said Gambhir may be fielded from the New Delhi constituency, currently represented by the party's Meenakshi Lekhi. A final decision is yet to be taken though, they added.

BSP supremo Mayawati on Friday attacked the BJP using the 'chowkidar' jibe alleging while its leaders did not care about the Rafale files, they are shielding crucial data on unemployment and farmers' plight.

In a series of tweets, she took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his colleagues for calling themselves 'chowkidar' (watchman) and alleged they are not bothered about Rafale files being "stolen", but are hiding data on "declining" employment rate, poverty and farmers' plight. "They (the data) are to be hidden for vote/image. Does the country need such a chowkidar?" Mayawati wrote.

Prime Minister Modi and his partymen have launched "Main bhi chowkidar (I too am a watchman) campaign to blunt Opposition's, especially the Congress', 'chowkidar chor hai (watchman is thief' slogan. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister further said while several BJP leaders and ministers declared themselves 'chowkidars' following the PM, CM Yogi Adityanath was not sure whether to announce himself as one or remain a public servant or a yogi (sannyasi).

"BJP leaders may adopt whatever fashion they want", but they should work as the 'watchman' of the law and Constitution, she said.

"People want just this much," she added.

Telugu actor and Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan, who is making his electoral debut in next month's Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls, has declared assets worth over ₹52 crore.

The actor, who filed the nomination from Gajuwaka constituency in Visakhapatnam district on Thursday, also revealed that his liabilities were to the tune of ₹33 crore.

Kalyan, in the affidavit submitted to the Returning Officer along with his nomination papers, mentioned that his movable assets including bank deposits, vehicles and jewellery were worth ₹12 crore. He had ₹4.76 lakh cash in hand while his wife Anna Lezhneva had ₹1.53 lakh cash.