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Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday paid obeisance at the Hanuman Temple in Connaught Place here, before hitting the campaign trail for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. He was accompanied by his wife Sunita, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and other AAP leaders.
Kejriwal is scheduled to hold his first mega roadshow in South Delhi, a day after he was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on Friday till June 1 to campaign for his party for the general elections. He was lodged in the Tihar jail following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 in the liquor policy case. The top court, while granting relief to the AAP chief, had barred him from making case-related comments or visiting the CM’s office during the 21-day bail period.
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Top 10 Lok Sabha elections updates for May 11:
1) Following his visit to the famous temple in the national capital, Kejriwal will address a key press conference at 1 pm at his party headquarters here. Later, he is scheduled to hold two road shows, starting from South Delhi’s Mehrauli and then in East Delhi’s Krishnagar to garner public support for this party’s candidates.
What to expect from Kejriwal's press conference
2) The contents of Kejriwal’s scheduled press conference are eagerly awaited, where he is likely to corner Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The AAP and other Opposition parties have been criticising the Modi government, accusing it of employing "dictatorial" tactics against Opposition leaders.
Rahul Gandhi challenges Modi for public debate
3) Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday expressed his willingness to engage in a debate with PM Modi on public issues. “I am 100 per cent ready to debate with the Prime Minister on 'public issues' on any platform, but I know him, he will 100 per cent not debate with me,” Gandhi said in a response to a query about the same. This comes days after a group of retired judges and journalists urged the two prominent leaders to hold a debate on the Lok Sabha elections.
Modi's three rallies in Odisha today
4) Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to address three election rallies in Odisha on Saturday. He will address public gatherings in Kandhamal, Bolangir and Bargarh Lok Sabha seats in the state, which is set to go to polls on May 13. Modi expressed confidence in his party’s poll performance in the state, where it won eight out of 21 seats in the last general elections. The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the state had got 13 seats. Notably, Odisha will also go to Assembly elections along with Lok Sabha polls.
Update in Prajwal Revanna case
5) BJP leader and advocate Deveraje Gowda, who is facing accusations of molestation and sexual harassment, was arrested on Friday night by the police in Chitradurga district in Karnataka. Gowda's arrest comes amid the controversy surrounding Janata Dal (Secular) leader and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former PM Deve Gowda. Revanna is facing charges in multiple sexual abuse cases, which have become a focal point in the Lok Sabha polls. Notably, JDS is contesting the polls in alliance with BJP. It was Deveraje, who had flagged the Hassan MP’s contentious tapes with the BJP in December last year.
Akhilesh Yadav among Phase 4 candidates
6) Many heavyweights are set to face the election battle in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Monday. The names include Union minister Giriraj Singh, Trinamool Congress party’s Mahua Moitra and actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav among others. A total of 96 seats across 10 states and Union territories will witness polling during the fourth phase.
7) So far in the first three phases, a total of 285 constituencies have gone to polls since April 19. The remaining seats will be up for voting over the next four phases, including the coming phase on Monday. The last day of polling will be conducted on June 1 and the election results will be announced on June 4, according to the Election Commission’s schedule.
