LS Elections 2024: At Least 22 Congress Leaders and Over 400 Workers Join BJP in Jamnagar

Lyngdoh along with her supporters marched to the DC office and filed her nomination. Cabinet Ministers including Sniawbhalang Dhar, Prestone Tynsong and others were also present at the time her filing the nomination papers.
 

The Citizen Action Party (CAP) on Friday announced the names of 14 candidates for the assembly polls, while an independent candidate filed nomination papers for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Sikkim.
 

The BJP on Friday lent support to the Ajit Pawar-led NCP for the Lok Sabha elections in the Lakshadweep parliamentary constituency. The Ajit Pawar-headed faction is yet to announce its candidate for the seat.

In a boost to the ruling National People's Party in Meghalaya, the BJP announced its support to both NPP candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, officials said Friday.

The decision in this regard was taken by the BJP's highest decision-making authority headed by party president J P Nadda, they said.

"As per the instructions of the Honble National President @BJP4India, Shri @JPNadda JI, I am pleased to inform that BJP will extend its support to Lok Sabha Candidates of NPP in both seats of Meghalaya (Shillong and Tura), to NPF in outer Manipur constituency and to NDPP in Nagaland in the ensuing Parliamentary elections 2024,” national spokesperson Sambit Patra said on X.

A total of six candidates have applied for tickets to contest from both the Shillong and Tura seats in Meghalaya, including cabinet minister A L Hek, the officials said. 

Mizoram's ruling Zoram People's Movement on Friday said it is yet to take a call on joining the BJP-led NDA or the Congress-headed INDIA, ZPM Lok Sabha poll candidate Richard Vanlalhmangaiha said on Friday.

Formed by several minor parties in 2017, the ZPM, which received registration from the Election Commission in July 2019, has no link to either the NDA or INDIA.

In a setback for the ruling BJD ahead of the simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls in Odisha, senior leader and MP Bhartruhari Mahtap has resigned from the primary membership of the party on Friday.

Several hundred Congress functionaries on Friday joined the BJP in Gujarat's Jamnagar in the presence of local MP Poonam Maadam. 

Poonam Maadam has been renominated by the BJP and is up against Congress' JP Marvia, who is an elected member of Jamnagar district panchayat. "More and more people are now believing in the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modiji and therefore they have joined us. I welcome all of them to realise the promise of our Prime Minister to make Viksit Bharat," Maadam said.

"In all, 22 leaders with over 400 supporters from different regions of Jamnagar Lok Sabha constituency joined BJP. These include sitting corporator of Jamjodhpur municipality, former and current members of district and taluka panchayats, several current and former sarpanches among others," the MP said in a statement.

This decision not only increases the strength of the BJP in the region, but also increases the spirit of cooperation and collaboration in advancing the welfare of the people of Jamnagar, she added.

PTI

Azad Samaj Party leader Chandrashekhar Azad and Samajwadi Party's Manoj Kumar on Friday filed their nomination papers from the Nagina (SC) Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Two other candidates filed their nomination papers – Har Kishor Singh of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) for the Moradabad parliamentary seat and Sanjay Kumar Bharti of the Rashtriya Samaj Dal (R) for the Rampur seat.

PTI.

INDIA bloc leaders met with the Election Commission of India on Friday and demanded its intervention in the alleged "targeting of opposition leaders" by the ruling party. This meeting came after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) today in the liquor excise policy case. 

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini paid a visit to senior BJP leader and former home minister Anil Vij on Friday, touching his feet to seek blessings.

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will be contesting in all 147 assembly constituencies and all 21 Lok Sabha constituencies in the polls. BJD member Pranab Prakash Das posted on X, “With the blessings of Lord Jagannatha and the faith of people of Odisha, BJD has been serving the state and transforming it like never before in every sector. BJD will contest in all 147 assembly constituencies and all 21 Lok Sabha constituencies with the support of people of Odisha and win more than three fourth seats under the leadership of Shri Naveen Patnaik. BJD will continue to take decisions keeping people of Odisha in the forefront always and their welfare in true sprit of cooperative federalism and statesmanship required for nation building. #NewOdisha and #EmpoweredOdisha will be our goal and we are on track to achieve this under the leadership of our leader Shri Naveen Patnaik.”

Senior IAS officer Iqbal Singh Chahal was on Friday appointed Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) in the Chief Minister's Office, days after he was transferred as Mumbai civic commissioner by the Maharashtra government on the poll panel's directive.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) against West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose, accusing him of unlawfully meddling in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024 process and trying to run a parallel office similar to the EC.

The INDIA bloc party members have gathered at the Election Commission of India office to protest against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Liquor policy scam. Those present include KC Venugopal, Derek O Brian, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Javed Ali, Pankaj Gupta and Sandeep Pathak.

The BJP's Beed Lok Sabha candidate Pankaja Munde on Friday said it is unfortunate if her caste is brought up during campaigning. Munde said she met her party colleague and Pune Lok Sabha candidate Murlidhar Mohol there and also leaders in Ahmednagar and did not feel there was casteism in Maharashtra. "However, after starting my Beed Lok Sabha campaign if my caste is brought up then it is unfortunate," she told reporters. She also claimed the Maratha quota agitation would not have any impact on her electoral chances. 

Pankaja Munde, who was a minister in the previous Devendra Fadnavis government, lost from Parli in the 2019 Assembly polls to her cousin and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde.

PTI

There will be no alliance between the BJP and the BJD in Odisha as the saffron party has decided to go solo on all the Lok Sabha seats in the state, Republic has learnt. 

Himachal Pradesh: Three Independent MLAs have submitted their resignation to the Assembly secretary, days after they had voted for a BJP candidate in Rajya Sabha Elections 2024. All the three independent MLAS – Hoshyar Singh, Ashish Sharma and K L Thakur – will be joining the BJP.

The BJP has named its Lok Sabha Elections 2024 candidates for 14 seats in Tamil Nadu and a single seat of Puducherry. The party has fielded A Namassivayam, a minister in the Puducherry government, from Puducherry.

PTI inputs.

Union minister Smirti Z Irani will address a press conference today at 3 pm at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters in New Delhi.

State Congress chief Nabam Tuki is set to lock horns with Union minister Kiren Rijiju in the Arunachal West Lok Sabha seat. The state will go for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the first phase on April 19. Former chief minister Tuki currently represents Sagalee constituency in Papumpare district as MLA, having been elected for six consecutive terms. The Congress on Thursday announced Tuki's candidacy along with Bosiram Siram, the APCC vice-president, who will be contesting from Arunachal East Parliamentary seat against BJP nominee Tapir Gao. Tuki, who lost the Arunachal West seat to Rijiju in 2019, is confident of victory this time, citing a growing desire for change among the electorate.

The PMK will contest on 10 Lok Sabha seats in NDA alliance. It also released the names of candidates. 

Telangana Congress in-charge Deepa Das Munshi, paid a visit to the residence of BRS MP Keshav Rao today. During her visit, it is likely that she would invite mayor Gadwal Vijaya Lakshmi to join the Congress party along with KK.
 

Former Maharashtra Congress leader Nitin Kodwate and his wife Chanda Kodwate joined the BJP in the presence of Maharashtra BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Friday.
 

The TDP on Friday announced the first list of 13 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in Andhra Pradesh which included two YSR Congress MPs who defected from the party recently. The former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu-led party also announced the third list of TDP candidates for 11 more Assembly segments. The Assembly elections in the state will be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls on May 13. Narasaraopeta YSRCP Lok Sabha member L Sri Krishna Devarayulu was fielded from the same constituency while V Prabhakar Reddy, a YSRCP Rajya Sabha member, will contest from Nellore. The TDP has so far announced candidates for 139 Assembly seats and 13 Lok Sabha constituencies.

Maharashtra Congress leader Dr Nitin Kodwate will join the Bharatiya Janata Party in Mumbai on Friday.

Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi will be the NDA's candidate from the Gaya Lok Sabha seat, his party Hindustani Awam Morcha announced. According to a statement issued by the party's central office at Gaya on Thursday, the candidature of Manjhi was approved by his son and state minister Santosh Suman, who is the national president of the party founded by his father.

DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin will launch his party's campaign for the April 19 Lok Sabha polls, from this central district on Friday. Stalin, a key leader of the opposition INDIA bloc, will canvass votes for the party-led bloc's Tiruchirappalli candidate, MDMK leader Durai Vaiko and the DMK's Arun Nehru in nearby Perambalur, according to the tour schedule of the ruling party chief. The DMK leads the multi-party Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), which had swept the 2019 elections. It had won 38 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu then, besides the neighbouring Puducherry segment.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said his party AAP will announce the names of candidates for the remaining five Lok Sabha seats in next five days. The Aam Aadmi Party has already announced eight candidates. Polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held on June 1. In a post on X, Mann said, "In the next five days, the candidates for the remaining five Lok Sabha seats will be announced by the AAP." AAP is yet to announce its candidates from Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana and Anandpur Sahib. AAP was the first one among all political parties in the state that announced the list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.

Amid firm indications that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is unlikely to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the party on Thursday fielded his son-in-law, Radhakrishna Doddamani, from his home turf of Gulbarga. The octogenarian won the Lok Sabha polls from the Gulbarga (Kalaburagi) segment in 2009 and 2014, but lost the electoral contest in 2019. "Kharge's hands are full. In addition to managing party affairs at the national level, he has to coordinate with the INDIA bloc partners. Also, his term in the Rajya Sabha is not yet over," a senior Congress leader said.