PM launches #MeinBhiChowkidar
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday urged his supporters to take the 'main bhai chowkidar' (I too am watchman) pledge, saying he is not alone in the fight against graft and social evils.
"Your Chowkidar is standing firm & serving the nation. But, I am not alone. Everyone who is fighting corruption, dirt, social evils is a Chowkidar. Everyone working hard for the progress of India is a Chowkidar. Today, every Indian is saying-#MainBhiChowkidar," he wrote on Twitter.
At the time of publishing, it was the top trend on Twitter across the world.
Manifestoes come under MCC
Making changes to the Model Code of Conduct the EC fixed a timeline for releasing party manifestos, stating that no party would be allowed to release their manifestos two days before voting.
In case of single-phase election, manifesto shall not be released during the prohibitory period as prescribed under Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The same will apply during multi-phase elections.
JD(U) General Secretary Danish Ali joins BSP
Danish Ali, who was the general secretary of the Janata Dal (Secular) until recently, joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Saturday.
Ali joined the BSP in the presence of the party's general secretary Satish Mishra in Lucknow. He was seen as one of the top leaders in JD(S) and was also involved in preparing the list of probable candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Kumaraswamy said that he had joined the BSP with ‘consent from Devegowda and himself’.
The Karnataka CM tweeted: “Danish Ali, the JDS General Secretary, has joined BSP in consent with me and our national president Sri HD Devegowda in a purely political arrangement between the two parties. It is a thoughtful political decision taken by #JDS and BSP to win more seats in the Loksabha elections.”
HAM wants five seats in Mahagatbandhan
Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) supremo Jitan Ram Manjhi on Saturday said that his party has asked for five seats from the 'Mahagathbandhan' out of 40 Lok Sabha seats at stake in the state.
Addressing a press conference after the party's parliamentary board meeting here, Manjhi said: "We are second only to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in terms of the support base in the state. If we get five seats, our problems will be resolved."
When asked about the Congress getting 11 seats, he said: "Whatever the Congress is saying about 11 seats is not final."
President of HAM's Parliamentary board Santosh Manjhi said: "We had asked for 5 seats. We've agreed for 3-4 seats. Talks are going on. The final meeting is about to be held in Patna on March 18."
Bihar will go to polls in all seven phases on April 11, 18, 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19. The results would be announced on May 23.
Request Owaisi to contest from one seat in Mumbai: VBA’s Prakash Ambedkar
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar on Saturday said the AIMIM will contest the ensuing Lok Sabha polls from at least one seat in Maharashtra.
This comes after VBA, which is an alliance of Prakash's Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM and Janata Dal-Secular in Maharashtra, failed to forge an alliance with the Congress party.
Speaking to ANI, Ambedkar said: "I spoken to Owaisi this morning. We clarified that we are not going with the Congress. I have requested AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi to contest elections. They have communicated to us that they will contest from Aurangabad seat. The name of the candidate will be declared by AIMIM itself."
"During the discussion, we have also requested him that they should contest one seat in Mumbai as well. They will decide in a day or two," he said.
Urge Rahul to contest from Tamil Nadu as well: TN Cong
The Tamil Nadu Congress unit Saturday urged its national president Rahul Gandhi to contest from the southern state for the April 18 Lok Sabha elections, saying he was first proposed as the next Prime Minister from here by the DMK.
TNCC president K S Alagiri said besides contesting from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi should also select a seat from Tamil Nadu as he cannot be perceived as belonging to just the northern state, but "is seen as an asset of the people of India".
Referring to DMK president M K Stalin first proposing Gandhi's name as the next prime minister in the event of the opposition winning the Lok Sabha polls, Alagiri said the secular alliance cobbled up by the DMK leader had the full support of the people.
BJP Delhi requests CEO to appoint special observers for mosques
The BJP's Delhi unit has requested the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to appoint special observers at mosques to prevent any attempt to influence voters on "religious lines" during the Lok Sabha election.
In a letter, Delhi BJP's legal department convener Neeraj cited alleged attempts by some Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders to polarise voters on religious lines and requested the CEO to appoint special observers at mosques.
"We are bound to write you this complaint due to recent repeated attempts to polarise voters on religious lines by the convener of the AAP, Arvind Kejriwal, and his party members," alleged Neeraj.
Kejriwal, while addressing events and public gatherings in minorities-dominated areas, had been asking people to beware of vote split between the AAP and the Congress and vote for his party to defeat the BJP in Lok Sabha polls.
Wave unfavourable for Modi: BJP
The wave in the country is unfavourable to the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lost credibility, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said Saturday .
In an interview to PTI, the Maratha strongman cited the BJP's losses in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in the assembly polls held in November-December last year.
Pawar said these states were ruled by the BJP for 10 years and nobody could have predicted the party's drubbing.
"Modi himself concentrated on and campaigned extensively in these states. But what was the ultimate result? It is a clear indication that the wave in the country is not favourable to the BJP, particularly in rural India," he said.
Cong will win 23 seats in MP: Kamal Nath
Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Saturday said the Congress is going to win as many as 23 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh where 29 seats are at stake.
"We are expecting to win at least 23 seats in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections," Chief Minister Nath told reporters here.
Talking about the party's strategy, he said: "We will share with the people what the Congress has done in the past 85 days. BJP governments have only disappointed the people of Madhya Pradesh."
When asked from where Digvijaya Singh will contest the Lok Sabha election, Chief Minister Nath said: "He will decide on his own. I have requested him to contest from one of the toughest seats which Congress has been losing for the last 30-35 years."
Andhra CM launches campaign
Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a 'chowkidar' of corrupt people like Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Addressing a gathering here, he said, "Modi is chowkidar for corrupt people like Jagan. PM Modi-K Chandrashekhar Rao want to defeat TDP in the upcoming elections, but we will not let that happen. Let us work hard for TDP's victory as that is in the interest of the state and its people."
Naidu also drew a comparison between YSRCP, TRS, BJP with the functioning of a fan. He said, "YSRCP is the fan, TRS is the switch and BJP in Delhi is the power. Do the people of Andhra Pradesh need such a fan (Government)?"