Lok Sabha Elections 2024 HIGHLIGHTS: Repolling at 11 polling stations in Manipur on April 22

Samajwadi Party MLA from Bhiwandi Rais Shaikh withdrew his resignation. Due to the insistence of the people in Bhiwandi, he withdrew his resignation from the post of MLA. He said, "There are some brokers sitting in Samajwadi Party. Try to remove these brokers. Some brokers are weakening the party. Even if the resignation is withdrawn, your problems with these brokers will still continue. The party should think about this."

(With inputs from Sachin)

The nomination papers of 104 candidates were found valid during scrutiny on Saturday, while the nomination papers of 78 candidates were rejected for the elections to be held in 10 Lok Sabha constituencies in the third phase in Uttar Pradesh, a senior official of the Election Commission said.

As many as 37 Lok Sabha and 227 Assembly election nominations were filed in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday with Congress leader Y S Sharmila also submitting her papers for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat.

Manipur chief electoral officer on Saturday announced repolling at 11 polling stations in Inner Manipur Lok Sabha constituency on April 22. The decision follows a directive from the Election Commission to declare the polls held at these stations on April 19 as null and void and schedule fresh polling. The affected polling stations are Moirangkampu Sajeb and Thongam Leikai in Khurai constituency, four in Kshetrigao and one in Thongju in Imphal East district and three in Uripok and one in Konthoujam in Imphal West district, the official said. Incidents of firing, intimidation, destruction of EVMs at some polling booths and allegations of booth capturing were reported from conflict-hit Manipur that recorded a turnout of 72 per cent in the two Lok Sabha constituencies - Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur - on Friday.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his recent statement on the state's financial condition and said the BJP-led government consistently ignored the state and denied crores of rupees duly owed to it.

The nomination papers of BSP candidates from Bareilly and Amla seats were rejected in a blow to the party.

FIR  registered against JD(S) leader and former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy on the grounds of false statements in connection with elections. 

FIR lodged against Karnataka BJP chief BY Vijayendra for a derogatory post posted on official X handle of BJP Karnataka on 19.04.24.

Karamjeet Kaur Chaudhary, the wife of former Congress MP from Jalandhar, Santokh Singh Chaudhary, joined the BJP.

Rajasthan CM Bhajanlal Sharma said, "Will not spare those involved in paper leak."

Rajasthan CM said, "BJP will win all 25 seats in the state. NDA will win over 400 seats in the country."

Union Minister Parshottam Rupala said, "PM Modi's work speaks louder than my words. People have lot of respect for PM Modi. The Rajput community is not upset with the BJP. I have apologised to the Rajput community again and again. BJP's victory is certain in the Rajkot seat. The people have decided to make Narendra Modi PM again".

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra will win more than 50 per cent of the Lok Sabha seats in the state. There are 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. As per the seat-sharing agreement among the three MVA parties, the Shiv Sena (UBT) is contesting 21 seats, Congress 17 and NCP (SP) 10. These three parties are fighting the national elections as part of the opposition INDIA bloc. Talking to reporters here, Pawar said there could be disagreements among the INDIA bloc partners over certain seats, but attention should not be paid to it.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said Rajasthan is going to give all 25 Lok Sabha seats to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third time. Addressing a poll rally in Bhilwara, Shah also targeted former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, saying that he was stuck in the election campaign of his son Vaibhav Gehlot, the Congress candidate from the Jalore seat. Vaibhav Gehlot is going to lose the election by a huge margin, the Union minister claimed.

Andhra Pradesh Congress President Y S Sharmila filed her nomination for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat.

 Addressing a public rally in Bhagalpur, Bihar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, "As soon as the I.N.D.I.A alliance government comes, we will end the Agniveer scheme. India does not need two types of martyrs. Everyone should get pension. We will change GST. There will be one tax, minimum tax. We will double the salary of Asha and Anganwadi workers," he said.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh, who is seeking re-election from Begusarai Lok Sabha seat as the NDA nominee, owns movable and immovable assets worth Rs 10. 16 crore, as per the affidavit filed by him. His wife owns movable and immovable assets worth Rs 4. 15 crore. Singh filed his nomination papers from Begusarai Lok Sabha seat as the NDA nominee on Friday. Elections will be held in Begusarai, Darbhanga, Ujiarpur, Samastipur, Begusarai, Munger Lok Sabha seats of Bihar in the fourth phase on May 13.

The Congress has demanded repoll in 47 polling stations in Manipur alleging that booths were captured and elections to two Lok Sabha constituencies in the northeastern state were rigged. Incidents of firing, intimidation, destruction of EVMs at some polling booths and allegations of booth capturing were reported from conflict-hit Manipur that recorded a turnout of over 68 per cent in the two Lok Sabha constituencies - Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur - on Friday. Manipur Congress president K Meghachandra said the party has lodged a complaint with Manipur Chief Electoral Officer demanding repoll in 36 polling stations in Inner Manipur constituency and 11 in Outer Manipur constituency.

Tajinder Singh Bittu, who resigned from Congress today, joined BJP at the party headquarters in Delhi in the presence of Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and party general secretary Vinod Tawde.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy held a roadshow in Anakapalle.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a public gathering in Maharashtra's Nanded. PM Modi, who is currently on a visit to Maharashtra for election campaigning, is campaigning for Mahayuti's candidates from the parliamentary seat of Nanded Prataprao Patil Chikhlikar.

Tajinder Singh Bittu, AICC Secretary In-Charge Himachal Pradesh and close aide of Priyanka Gandhi resigns from the primary membership of the Congress Party.

The Election Commission revised the voter turnout in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha polls held on Friday to 69. 46 per cent, from the earlier 72 per cent. State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Satyabrata Sahoo had on Friday said the state witnessed a turnout of 72. 09 per cent. However, officials had then indicated there could be changes in the turnout figure. Asked about the difference in the figures, officials on Saturday said the earlier "figures were based on sample data from some polling stations," and that the accurate numbers were arrived upon past midnight.

Amid the Lok Sabha Election 2024, Tajinder Singh Bittu, AICC Secretary In-Charge Himachal Pradesh & close aide of Priyanka Gandhi resigns from primary membership of Congress Party. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Bengaluru and neighbouring Chikkaballapura district for the Lok Sabha poll campaign on Saturday. He will address mega rallies both in Bengaluru and Chikkaballapura. Modi held mega rallies in Kalaburagi and Shivamogga last month. On April 14, he addressed a rally in Mysuru, during which he shared the dais with JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, and later held a roadshow in Mangaluru.

Former Deputy CM of Bihar RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said there was no fight in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections. "We have said many times that Bihar will give shocking results this time. These (BJP) people have done nothing for the people of Bihar. One engine of their so-called double-engine government is in corruption and the other is in crime. People are unhappy with him. These people did nothing in 17 years," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Team India pacer Mohammed Shami during an election rally here. Addressing the gathering, PM Modi said, "The whole world has seen the amazing feat that bhai Mohammed Shami did in the Cricket World Cup. The central government has given Arjuna Award to bhai Mohammed Shami for his excellent performance in sports."

As the first phase of Lok Sabha polls ended on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that he got excellent feedback. "First phase, great response! Thank you to all those who have voted today. Getting EXCELLENT feedback from today's voting. It's clear that people across India are voting for NDA in record numbers," he said on X.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take action against BJP leaders who have stated that the Constitution will be changed if the saffron party won more than 400 seats in Lok Sabha. Addressing back-to-back election rallies in Kishanganj and Katihar Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar, Kharge also came down heavily on former Congress ally Nitish Kumar, alleging that the Bihar chief minister had "no principles" and, hence, was "more dangerous" than even the BJP.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will address the first joint poll rally in favour of I.N.D.I.A bloc candidate Kunwar Danish Ali in Amroha on April 20.