Election Tracker LIVE: Sheila Dikshit Calls Urgent Meet of Delhi Congress Leaders as Top Brass Warms up to AAP

Only Had to Mend it, Says Akhilesh Yadav on Tie-up With BSP | SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has said his father and party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav had forged the relationship with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and he only had to "mend" it. He also said it was not time yet for Mulayam Yadav to become the prime minister. "Netaji (Mulayam) had relations with the BSP and had forged an alliance earlier. I only had to mend the relationship," Akhilesh Yadav said, replying to questions during a TV programme.

CPI(M) Releases List of Candidates in West Bengal | CPI(M) has announced candidates for 38 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal. Left Front chairman says there is still chance for dialogue with Congress on alliance. Left Front chairman Biman Bose said they will wait till Wednesday evening for the Congress's response. "We announced a list of 38 candidates. We are not announcing the names of four seats which the Congress had won last time (2014). We will wait till Wednesday evening for a response from the Congress. If there is no response, we will go ahead with the remaining four seats," Bose told reporters here.
 

Akshay Yadav is the sitting MP from the Firozabad seat, which has been won five times by the SP since 1999.

Sheila Dikshit Calls Urgent meeting With Working Presidents | Delhi Congress Chief Sheila Dikshit has called an urgent meeting with the three working presidents of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee amid a buzz that the party's top leadership is mulling options to align with the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi.  The party leaders of the Delhi unit, however, maintained that there was no talk of an alliance during the meeting.  "An urgent meeting was called and it was decided that the selection of candidates should begin. Around 70 applications have been received by the party from Delhi Congress leaders for seven seats in Delhi," a senior party leader said.

SP-BSP Announce Alliance for 48 Maharashtra Seats |  The Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party Tuesday announced they would contest all 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra in alliance. Announcing the alliance, SP MLA Abu Asim Azmi said the two parties together represent about "85-90 per cent" of the  society and provided a third front for people let down by the BJP and Congress. "Secularism is about to end in the country. Those who call themselves chowkidars can go to any length, and peddle lies, to cling on to power," he alleged.
 

The song by Babul Supriyo, which was released a few days ago, accuses the Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee of corruption and theft in strong overtones.

Congress Fields State Unit Chief to Boost Prospects in Polls |  Seeking to put up a keen fight in the Lok Sabha polls in Telangana after a disastrous show in the Assembly elections in December last year, Congress has fielded its state unit chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy to boost the morale of its cadres and prospects. Reddy, sitting MLA from Huzurnagar, would be the party candidate from Nalgonda, according to the second list of candidates announced by Congress late on Monday night. Though he was initially said to be reluctant to contest, his candidature is, however, expected to boost the morale of partymen.

This comes after the Congress mocked the BJP's 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign saying that 'watchmen' are only for the rich.

The manifestos were burnt by the AAP to attack BJP on the issue of full statehood to Delhi. "The AAP leaders are violating MCC by either not seeking permission for such events  from Election Commission or they have sought permission for election meetings from EC and misused such permission to violate MCC by burning BJP's manifesto," the letter said. The letter, written by SN Verma, co-convener of the legal department of BJP Delhi Pradesh, said orders should be issued to leaders and workers of AAP to "cease and desist from such violent acts". Five complaints have been made against the BJP and the AAP for organising gatherings to burn manifestos without permission, officials from the Chief Electoral Office of Delhi had said on Monday. On March 13, BJP workers led by Union minister Vijay Goel burnt the manifesto of AAP and a symbolic tower of its "failed" promises while accusing the ruling party of "cheating" the people of Delhi.

Delhi BJP Accuses AAP for 'Indulging in Violent Acts' |  The BJP's Delhi unit has filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Office in Delhi and sought action against the Aam Aadmi Party, which it alleged was "indulging in violent acts" and violating the model code of conduct. In its complaint, the BJP accused the AAP of burning the 2014 manifesto of the saffron party which had photos of BJP leaders. They alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with other party leaders had burnt BJP manifesto on March 13.  Other party leaders Manish Sisodia, Rajendra Pal Gautam, Kailash Gahlot and Pankaj Gupta were among those who led had party workers in burning copies of the party's manifesto, the BJP alleged.

Telangana Congress Appoints In-charges for 17 Seats |  The Congress in Telangana has appointed senior leaders as in-charges for the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader M Bhatti Vikramarka would be in-charge for Khammam Lok Sabha seat, while MLA D Sridhar Babu would be in-charge for Peddapalli, Congress sources said. Meanwhile, the disciplinary action committee of state Congress has expelled six leaders, including former MLA Arepalli Mohan, M Krishank (official spokesperson) and P Karthik Reddy (who contested as Chevella Lok Sabha candidate in 2014) for alleged anti-party activities.

Delhi BJP to Raise Issue of Non-declaration of Assets and Liabilities by AAP MLAs with Lokpal |  The Delhi BJP Monday said it will raise the issue of non-declaration of assets and liabilities by AAP MLAs as demanded by the state Lokayukta with the soon-to-be constituted Lokpal. Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said they will seek Lokpal's intervention in issues such as alleged involvement of Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in a Hawala case, water tanker scam, premium bus service scam, home delivery of ration scam, appointments in government and a host of other issues of corruption and irregularities. 

Earlier, the Congress was mulling options to align with the Aam Aadmi Party in the national capital in its bid to defeat the BJP in Lok Sabha elections. Sources said the Congress leadership was in talks with AAP leaders and senior leaders within the party were trying to convince Delhi Congress leaders for an alliance with the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP.

No Alliance Between Congress, AAP | The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party confirmed on Tuesday that there will be no alliance between the parties in Delhi even as defeating the BJP remains the primary motive of both the parties. The AAP with contest from all seven seats in Delhi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Former Prime Minister and JDS chief HD Devegowda in Bengaluru said, "Modi mocks the idea of mahagatbandhan but they themselves are running coalition governments in many states. We will answer BJP by winning this election." 

Kishor, who is also the national vice-president of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumars JD(U), was reacting to a news report wherein Naidu had also blamed him for deletion of lakhs of voters in Andhra Pradesh besides giving "criminal advice" to his main rival  the YSR Congress. Kishor is earlier known to have worked closely with many political figures cutting across ideological affiliations.

Prashant Kishor Lashes Out at Chandrababu Naidu for 'Bihari Dacoit' Barb | Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor Tuesday lashed out at Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for reportedly calling him a "Bihari dacoit". He charged the TDP chief with having displayed "prejudice and malice" against the eastern state fearing an "imminent defeat" at the hustings. 

Rahul Vows to Restore Special Category Status to Arunachal, Other Northeast States | Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday his party will restore the special category status to Arunachal Pradesh and other states in the northeast if elected to power. There are some states in the country which require special status because of their "unique problems and difficulties" such as connectivity, terrain, infrastructure, Gandhi said at an election rally in Itanagar. During the Congress rule at the Centre, he said, Arunachal Pradesh and other NE states used to enjoy special category status.

Subal Bhowmik, Tripura BJP Vice President resigns from the party stating "unavoidable circumstances".

The Bimal Gurung led GJM and the GNLF, who have long maintained their rivalry, seemed to have now transcended their animosities to come together against the TMC in the Hills.

Referring to the Doklam standoff in 2017, Rahul Gandhi mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying, "When PM Modi was enjoying tea with Xi, Chinese troops were entering India. But, Modi didn't utter a word." 

"Modi brought GST with complete drama at midnight. With its announcement, he swiped away money from your pockets. In 2019, the moment we come to power we will remove 'gabbar singh tax' and give you GST with single tax rate. Congress knows how to do that," Rahul Gandhi said.

Rahul Steps Up Attack on the PM | Congress chief Rahul Gandhi attacked PM Modi for continuing with his programmes on February 14 depsite having full knowledge about the Pulwama terror attack. "I cancelled my programmes but Modi was at the Corbett National Park making his movie, three and a half hours after the pulwama blast. He had put make up and was posing," Rahul said in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh.

Chaos reigned at Gandhi’s rally after several people started raising slogans in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi outside the Manyata Tech Park. In a video that has gone viral on social media, policemen can be seen chasing protesters screaming “Modi, Modi, Modi” and hurling placards demanding that Gandhi leave the venue. When the protesters became out of control, the police had to intervene and clear the area.

Negotiations between Congress and the National Conference reached a dead-end after the latter made it a precondition to contest all three seats in the Kashmir valley in exchange for the party's support to the Congress in the two seats in Jammu and one in Ladakh

Goa Assembly Floor Test Tomorrow | Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said, "We are going for the floor test tomorrow. There will two deputy CMs in this government- Vijay Sardesai and Sudin Dhavalikar. I request all the people to not congratulate me or welcome me with flowers during the 7-day mourning period."

Jana Sena Party (JSP) Chief, Pawan Kalyan will contest from two seats – Bhimavaram and Gajuwaka – in the upcoming Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.

PM Modi to Interact with 'MainBhi Chowkidar' Campaign Supporters | Cabinet Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the people who joined the BJP'S 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign via video conference on March 31. The PM will interact with the people from 500 different locations and he will interact from a location in the field and not from Delhi.

Alluding to Akhilesh Yadav, Prasad said, "Some people are saying that chowkidar is for the rich not for the poor. But will someone tell them that only those born in privilege and power will go against this campaign."

Calling the 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' capaign an immense success, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "Our campaign on social media has become a public movement. It was a world wide top trend on Twitter with 20 lakh tweets. As many as 16,080 crore impressions were recorded for our campaign."