Election Tracker LIVE: Congress Working Committee Meeting Begins, Party to Finalise Manifesto

In Tamil Nadu, Makkal Needhi Maiam's Kamal Haasan confirms that he is meeting with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. "It will be a political meeting," he says from Chennai airport. 

Congress to Decide on Manifesto Release After CWC Meet | The Congress Working Committee on the party's election preparedness has begun. The party will is expected to announce the date of its manifesto release following the meeting. The meeting is being attended by the party's top brass leaders including chief Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. 

BJP Releases Candidate List For Lok Sabha, Assembly Polls in Odisha | Bharatiya Janata Party releases its list of candidates for the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha. The list consists of the names of two Lok Sabha candidates, including Kharbela Swain for the Kandhamal seat and Prakash Mishra for Cuttack seat. The nine Assembly polls candidates include Dinesh Jain for Jharsuguda and Debendra Mohapatra for Rairakhol. 

A final decision on the Congress-Aam Admi Party alliance in Delhi is likely to be take during the Congress's Working Committee Meeting, slated to begin at 11 am today. 

Rahul Gandhi to Take Final Decision on Cong-AAP alliance | Delhi Congress unit has been unable to come to a decision on the issue of an alliance with the Aam Admi Party . CNN-News18 sources say that it is Rahul Gandhi who will take the final decision on the alliance with Arvind Kejriwal's party.

In Odisha, the former BJP MP and founder of political party Utkal Bharat, Kharbela Swain joins the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at state party headquarters in Bhubaneswar.

Odisha: Former BJP MP and founder of political party Utkal Bharat, Kharbela Swain joins BJP in the presence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at state party headquarters in Bhubaneswar. pic.twitter.com/4tifJo08vn

— ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2019

Taking a jibe at Congress in-charge for UP East Priyanka Gandhi says, "If I had not made Allahabad-Varanasi waterway, how could she (Priyanaka Gandhi Vadra) have travelled? She also drank Ganga water, could she have done the same under the UPA govt? By March 2020, river Ganga will be 100% per cent clean."

Meanwhile, BJP's Mathura candidate Hema Malini says, "I have worked a lot for my constituency. I built roads but I don't remember what I have done."

Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur to File Nomination | Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is holding a roadshow in Nagpur on his way to file his nomination. Gadkari is being accompanied by CM Devendra Fadnavis and will be contesting against Congress' Nana Patolem from the Maharashtra constituency. 

Bhaichung Bhutia's Party Releases Candidate List | Bhaichung Bhutia's Hamro Sikkim Party releases it list of 19 candidates for the Assembly polls in the state and 1 candidate for the Lok Sabha polls. HSP will be fielding Biraj Adhikari for the Lok Sabha seat.  

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav slams the ruling BJP and accuses them of mistreating the ST, SC and OBC population. "It is wrong to expect those whose parent organisation is the RSS, the world's most casteist organisation, to stand for equality," he says.

बीजेपी को पिछड़ों दलितों से दिली नफ़रत है। जिसका कर्ता-धर्ता RSS जैसा विश्व का सबसे बड़ा घोर जातिवादी संगठन हो उससे समता और बराबरी की अपेक्षा करना ही बेईमानी है। https://t.co/oVUwVBe7og

— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) March 25, 2019

BJP's candidate Sadananda Gowda reacting to JD(S)' decision on the Bangalore North seat says, "JDS had taken Bangalore North but they did not have a candidate. So they gave the seat to Congress. Even they (the Congress) do not have a candidate. In order to fight, there needs to be an efficient candidate. But it seems like the coalition parties have conceded defeat even before elections."

AIMIM's Akbaruddin Owaisi takes a hit at BJP's "Main Hoon Chowkidar" election campaign. " I've seen on Twitter: Chowkidar Narendra Modi'.He should also mention 'Chowkidar' in his Aadhaar card, & passport.Want a PM not a 'Chaiwala','Pakodewala'...If Modi is interested,he should come to me,I'll offer him a Chowkidar's cap&a whistle," he says.

AIMIM's Akbaruddin Owaisi in Hyd y'day: I've seen on Twitter 'Chowkidar Narendra Modi'.He should also mention 'Chowkidar' in his Aadhaar card, &passport.Want a PM not a 'Chaiwala','Pakodewala'...If Modi is interested,he should come to me,I'll offer him a Chowkidar's cap&a whistle pic.twitter.com/4ibLgayM0X

— ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2019

Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Gowda will be filing his nomination today between 2 and 3 pm. Nikhil is the JD(S)-Congress coalition candidate from Mandya. 

Sources have said that the Nationalist Congress Party's Shankarsinh Vaghela will contest against BJP president Amit Shah from Gujarat's Gandhinagar constituency. The ruling party sparked a controversy last week for dropping its senior leader - LK Advani and deciding on Shah in his stead. 

In Maharashtra, former Nationalist Congress Party Corporator Pandurang Gaikwad was killed in Beed last night.

#Maharashtra: Former NCP Corporator Pandurang Gaikwad was killed in Beed last night. pic.twitter.com/URZkMFTMfz

— ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2019

Known for his stinging attacks on the Congress, Vijayvargiya added that Chief Minister Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia will face a tough challenge in the state capital as, according to him, Bhopal is the strongest BJP seat in Madhya Pradesh.

In what promises to be a tooth and nail fight,  top leaders from both the BJP and Congress camps are being pitted against each other from key constituencies. Even the BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvarguya on Sunday expressed an interest in taking on Congress' Digvijaya Singh from Bhopal. “If the party wants me to, I am ready to contest from Bhopal, it will be a fun fight,” he said. 

Sumalatha Ambareesh Gets BJP Support | Meanwhile, the BJP in Karnataka has decided to support late Congress leader Ambareesh's wife Sumalatha who is standing as an independent candidate from Mandya. The party will not be fielding a candidate in the constituency from where JD(S) candidate CM HD Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Gowda will be contesting. 

The 85-year-old HD Deve Gowda, who currently represents Hassan, had earlier announced that he will be fighting the elections from either Tumkur or Bangalore North after deciding that his grandson Prajwal Revanna will be the candidate from the family bastion seat. 

The Congress in-charge of Karnataka KC Venugopal in a tweet thanked its ally - JD(S) for the gesture. "@INCIndia is thankful to Shri H D Deve Gowda ji and the JD(S) for their kind gesture of giving back the Bengaluru North Lok Sabha seat to the Congress. Together, let us reclaim democracy," he wrote. 

@INCIndia is thankful to Shri H D Deve Gowda ji and the JD(S) for their kind gesture of giving back the Bengaluru North Lok Sabha seat to the Congress. Together, let us reclaim democracy.

— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) March 24, 2019

JD(S) Decides to Give Cong Bangalore North Seat | Congress' ally in Karnataka, the Janata Dal(Secular) decides to give the Bangalore North seat to its allied partner after remaining unsuccessful in its efforts to find a suitable candidate. The move comes following JD(S) supremo HD Devegowda's decision to contest from Tumkur over Bengaluru North. The constituency is currently represented by BJP's Sadananda Gowda. 

It's also being seen as a political test for Singh who is known to be a wily politician and in the past had decimated his opponents in and outside Congress.

Prior to this, the Congress on Saturday night had announced a list of nine candidates. The names included that of former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijaya Singh, who has been nominated from Bhopal. 

The Congress announced its ninth list of 10 candidates on Sunday. The list includes the son of Congress veteran P Chadamabaram, Karti Chidambaram who will be fielded from Tamil Nadu's Sivaganga seat. Karti Chidambaram is facing trial in corruption cases, including the INX media money laundering case and his interim protection from arrest is set to come to an end today. 

Delhi Congress to meet over AAP alliance | Amid back and forth over an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has called a meeting of all leaders of the party’s Delhi unit on Monday. Although both parties have ruled out the possibility of an alliance in Delhi, they are still working on a tie-up behind the scenes.