Lok Sabha polls highlights: Ex-BJP MP Rahul Kaswan joins Congress

Lok Sabha elections 2024 latest news: Catch all the latest updates on the announcements related to the General Elections here

Former Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Rajasthan's Churu, Rahul Kaswan, joined the Congress party on Monday hours after quitting from the primary membership of the saffron party. He joined the Congress in Delhi in the presence of party President Mallikarjun Kharge. 

The BJP's top leaders will hold a meeting at its headquarters in Delhi today evening to be finalise candidatesfor Lok Sabha seats, news agency ANI reported today. The meeting will also be attended by the BJP's partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, and Bihar, according to ANI.

The Congress party's second meeting of Central Election Committee (CEC) will be held at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in Delhi today evening, news agency ANI reported citing party sources said. ANI reported that the talks will be held on the Lok Sabha seats of Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh. The meeting has been convened at 6:00 pm and will be chaired by party national president Mallikarjun Kharge. Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party MP Rahul Gandhi are also expected to attend the meeting. Earlier, Congress released its first list of candidates for 39 Lok Sabha constituencies on March 8. The names have been announced for Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshwadeep, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Telangana, and Tripura. Of the total 39 candidates announced, 16 are from Kerala, seven from Karnataka, six from Chhattisgarh, and four from Telangana.

Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram today stated that if the Constitution is amended according to the BJP-RSS agenda, it will be the end of parliamentary democracy, federalism, rights of the minorities, and English being one of the two official languages. This came after BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde's statement that his party needs a two-thirds majority to amend the Constitution. On X, Chidambaram wrote, "The BJP's intention to amend the Constitution was never a secret. Dozens of BJP leaders in private conversations have said that India must be a Hindu Rashtra, that Hindi must be the sole official language of India and the central government must be strong and prevail over the state governments.

3:30 PM

Lok Sabha polls 2024: INDIA block will die a natural death as there is no cohesion, says BJP's Pralhad Joshi

INDIA block will die a natural death as there is no cohesion, BJP leader and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said today.

2:37 PM

Lok Sabha polls 2024 Live News: ECI briefs its observers ahead of General Elections

The Election Commission of India (ECI) today organised here a meeting for the observers it will be deploying for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The briefing for over 1,800 observers is being addressed by ECI officials.

1:53 PM

Ex-BJP MP Rahul Kaswan joins Congress ahead Of LS polls

Former Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Rajasthan's Churu, Rahul Kaswan, joined the Congress party on Monday hours after quitting from the primary membership of the saffron party. He joined the Congress in Delhi in the presence of party President Mallikarjun Kharge. 

12:56 PM

My third term will write new chapter in rise of women power: PM Modi

At a 'Sashakt Nari-Viksit Bharat' programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today mentioned a string of women-centric schemes of his government to state that only a society which boosts women's standing and creates opportunities for them can advance. His third term will write a new chapter in the rise of women power, PM Modi said, exuding confidence of retaining power in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

12:54 PM

Lok Sabha polls 2024: PM Modi to visit Kerala again on March 15 and 17

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Kerala's Palakkad on March 15 to campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, party sources said here on Monday.

12:33 PM

BJP's CEC to meet today to pick Lok Sabha candidates

The BJP's Central Election Committee will hold a meeting at its headquarters in Delhi today evening. Candidates for some more Lok Sabha seats are likely to be finalised at the meeting, news agency ANI reported.

 

12:30 PM

Congress leader moves SC seeking to restrain govt from appointing new ECs

A Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh has filed a plea challenging the appointment of two election commissioners by the government in the Supreme Court. After the resignation of Arun Goel and the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey last month, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is now left only with Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.

12:27 PM

BJP govt 'misusing' ED to create fear among opposition leaders, Says Sharad Pawar

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar today claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government was misusing agencies like the Enforcement Directorate to create fear among opposition leaders and called the ED "supporting party" of the BJP.

10:31 AM

INDIA bloc names former JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad as Rajya Sabha candidate

Former JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad will be the INDIA bloc candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls in the state, party spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said here. Ahmad (70) is set to file his nomination on March 11.

His candidacy was confirmed following a meeting at the CM's residence, attended by Chief Minister Champai Soren and senior Congress leaders.

9:53 AM

If Constitution amended as per BJP agenda, it will be end of parliamentary democracy, says P Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today said that if the Constitution is changed according to the BJP-RSS agenda, it will be the end of parliamentary democracy, federalism, rights of the minorities, and English being one of the two official languages. The former Union Minister's remarks came over after BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde's statement that his party needs a two-thirds majority to amend the Constitution.

9:38 AM

Lok Sabha polls news update: Congress CEC meet today to finalise more candidates

The second meeting of the Congress party's Central Election Committee (CEC) will be held at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in Delhi on Monday evening, news agency ANI reported. Talks will be held on the Lok Sabha seats of Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh.