Lok Sabha Election 2019 LIVE: ECI has seized crores worth of cash and goods ahead elections

Election Commission of India has seized Rs 399.505 Crore cash, Rs 162.892 Crore worth alcohol, Rs 708.549 Crore worth drugs and precious metals worth Rs 318.495 Crore and other items worth Rs 29.342 Crore ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 across India

Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “I am overwhelmed by the love and affection of the people of Wayanad in Kerala, where I filed my nomination today for the Lok Sabha. Thank you for your support and warm welcome!”

“I also want to wish the journalists injured in a mishap during our road show a speedy recovery.”

The Congress on Thursday mocked the BJP-led government, saying its "dismal" performance bore testimony of the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has only "television" instead of vision.

The Rahul Gandhi-led party also slammed the BJP for criticising its manifesto, noting that the central government had no right to preach on national security, as the country saw a "260%" rise in terror-related incidents during the last five years.

"The dismal performance of his government shows Modi has no vision and only television," Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi told reporters.

She alleged that the rich became richer and the poor turned poorer under the BJP rule, but Congress' election manifesto talks about giving justice to the farmers, women, youth, and the jobless and distressed sections.

Accusing the BJP of not fulfilling promises made in its manifesto in 2014, she said the saffron party had assured to provide 33% quota for women, double farmers' income and create two crore jobs annually, but failed "miserably" to meet any of these.

The President Ram Nath Kovind forwards report about Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh to Home Ministry for ‘necessary action’ to be taken reports NDTV. The Election Commission had written to the President stating that he had violated the model code of conduct with his comment on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He had said ‘We're BJP workers and want BJP to emerge victorious. We want that once again Modi ji should become PM on 23rd May’

TMC leader Mamata Banerjee in Cooch Behar said, “It was Bengal govt and not Modi govt which solved issue of enclave transfer with Bangladesh. PM Modi, the Chaiwallah, who failed to fulfil promises, has now turned into a chowkidar to fool masses. We will never allow NRC in Bengal, Modi is no one to decide who will stay and who will leave. If Modi is re-elected, he will do everything to defy Constitution and this will probably be last election in country.”

Congress releases list of 12 candidates from Madhya Pradesh. CM Kamal Nath's son Nakul to contest from Chhindwara, Ajay Singh Rahul to contest from Sidhi and Arun Yadav to contest from Khandwa.

68-year-old Elsy Amma - one of the victims of the Kerala floods - had a special meeting with Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. She discussed some of her issues with them and was ensured that her problems would be addressed.

Asserting that her brother Rahul Gandhi is the "most courageous" man she knows, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday urged the people of Wayanad to "take care" of him.

Her appeal to the people of Wayanad came after AICC president Rahul Gandhi filed nomination from the parliamentary constituency in Kerala.

"My brother, my truest friend, and by far the most courageous man I know. Take care of him Wayanad, he won't let you down," Priyanka Gandhi tweeted.

More than half-a-dozen Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra will have over 2,000 polling booths, with the Maval constituency in Pune district set to have maximum 2,504 booths, according to official data.

A total of 97,640 polling booths will be set up in the state, where the Lok Sabha elections to total 48 seats will be held in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29, as per figures provided by the election office.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday poked fun at the BJP by asking if it will release its manifesto of "achhe din" after the elections.

"Vikas puch raha hai...Pradhanji ka acche din wala ghoshna patra kya chunav baad ayega? Is baar toh BJP wale ek-dusre se bhi nahi keh pa rahe 'acche din aane wale hain' toh janata se kya kahenge? ('Vikas' is asking if the prime minister's manifesto of 'achhe din' will come after the polls? This time even the BJP supporters are not able to say among themselves that 'acche din' is coming, so how will they say this to people?)" Akhilesh said in a tweet.

The SP chief also said that countdown of the BJP has started.

Three journalists, including ANI reporter, sustained minor injuries after a barricade in Rahul Gandhi's roadshow broke. The injured were helped to the ambulance by Rahul Gandhi.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Thursday rejected BJP chief Amit Shah's claim that his party ended coalition with the PDP after it was pressured to dilute the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.

He also accused Mehbooba Mufti's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Shah of "lying" about the controversial Act which gives special powers to the armed forces.

"Why are @AmitShah & the PDP lying to people about AFSPA? PDP has no intention of doing anything with AFSPA & BJP didn't break the coalition because of AFSPA. This is from Ms Mufti's Assembly speech as CM in February 2018," Abdullah said in a tweet.

The NC vice president was reacting to BJP president Amit Shah's claim that his party ended the alliance with PDP in Jammu and Kashmir last year due to PDP's demand for revocation of the AFSPA.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday launched a music video for the upcoming Lok Sabha election in the state.

The 2-minute-30-second video was on the theme of peace, harmony and progress prevailing in West Bengal, in contrast to an alleged atmosphere of fear in other parts of the country.

The music video was shared by Banerjee on all her social media channels Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.

“I am very happy to share the new music video Maa, Mati, Manush for the forthcoming Lok Sabha Elections,” Banerjee said in a post.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad said, “I have come to Kerala to send a message that India is one, be it North, South, East or West. My aim is to send a message, there is a feeling in South India that the way Centre, Modi ji and RSS are working its like an assault on culture and languages in South.”

“I understand that my brothers and sisters in CPM will now speak against me and attack me, but I am not going to say a word against the CPM in my entire campaign.”

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge files nomination from Gulbarga parliamentary constituency in Karnataka.

Braving the scorching heat, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, began a roadshow on Thursday in the hilly Wayanad constituency as part of his poll campaign for the April 23 Lok Sabha elections.

The AICC chief, along with the state leaders including former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala, came out in an open vehicle after Gandhi completed the nomination procedures at the district collectorate.

As the massive crowd of supporters gathered on both sides of the road, security personnel had a tough time controlling the workers to clear the way for the vehicle.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which drew a blank in the 2017 Goa Assembly polls, is now trying its luck in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state where it has fielded its candidates on both the parliamentary seats.

The task would not be easy for the Arvind Kejriwal-led party as it faces a tough challenge from the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress in the coastal state.

However, AAP's South Goa Lok Sabha seat nominee Elvis Gomes, a former bureaucrat, said he was confident that people will vote for his party this time.

AAP's general secretary Pradeep Padgaonkar, who is contesting from North Goa Lok Sabha seat, said he was banking on the state's youth to vote for the party.

An apex body of major civil societies and student associations in Mizoram, which had earlier sought to boycott the Lok Sabha election, reversed its decision on Thursday following an internal meeting of the organisation's top hierarchy.

The NGO Coordination Committee had called for an indefinite strike from April 8 in protest against the decision of the Election Commission(EC) to set up exclusive polling booths at Kanhmun village, on the Mizoram-Tripura border, for the Bru voters lodged in six relief camps of Tripura.

A statement issued by the committee claimed that the boycott was called off after the state government promised to end the Bru imbroglio by undertaking the last and final repatriation process this year.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi files nomination papers to contest LS elections from Wayanad in Kerala.

Notices have been issued to all 10 candidates from the Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha seat to provide details election expenses from April 1, a poll official said on Thursday.

The notices were issued by the assistant returning officer in Muzaffarnagar district, Observer OP Choudhry said.

SP-BSP-RLD alliance nominee Ajit Singh and BJP's Sanjiv Balyan are among the 10 candidates in the fray in Muzaffarnagar, which goes to polls in the first-phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 11. Singh is the chief of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

They have been asked to submit the expenses on a day-to-day basis in a prescribed format, Choudhry said.

The narrow lanes of Wayanad are packed to the brim with excited onlookers waiting in anticipation for Congress President Rahul Gandhi to arrive and file his nomination.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday declared candidates for four more Assembly seats in Odisha.

Former Minister Raghunath Mohanty, who had joined BJP two days ago after quitting Biju Janata Dal (BJD), got ticket to contest from Basta Assembly constituency in Balasore district.

The party has fielded Murali Sharma to contest from Champua, Chhabi Mallick from Niali and Manas Mohanty from Bhograi.

Supreme Court refuses to hear plea seeking postponement of scheduled Lok Sabha poll date of April 18 in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry as Christian body tells Supreme Court that polling date in TN and Puducherry be rescheduled as April 18 falls in the 'holy week'.

“ We don't want to advise you how to pray and how to cast vote,” says SC on plea to reschedule poll date.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi and General Secretary UP-East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra arrive at Wayanad, Kerala ahead of their Mega Roadshow. Rahul Gandhi to file nominations shortly

Kottampally Srinivas, a turmeric and red jowar farmer in Telangana's Armur village, stands with arms akimbo amid a crowd that has gathered at a public rally but doesn't sound optimistic.

"No political party is concerned about agricultural issues," he says.

Sitting Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MP K Kavitha is to address the rally at Metpally village in Maknoor mandal and Srinivas struggles to have a glimpse of her as she steps out of the car. Few months before the assembly polls in December 2018, the TRS government had procured red jowar at ₹2,300 per quintal. However, after coming to power, it stopped the procurement, Srinivas rues.

Now as the polling date nears, the Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency is in spotlight as it has the highest number of candidates -- 185 -- contesting, 179 of them being distressed farmers who have kept political parties on tenterhooks and the Election Commission (EC) on its toes to arrange for jumbo EVMs.

These farmers are fighting the elections as independents so as to send a message across to political parties about their plight.

Supreme Court agrees to hear on April 8, a fresh petition seeking direction to defer the release of the biopic 'PM Narendra Modi'.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the matter for urgent hearing of the plea before a bench headed by Justice SA Bobde who posted the case for Monday April 8

BJP MLA Narendra Mehta has lodged a complaint with Thane police against an unidentified person for allegedly creating a fake account on a social media platform in his name and posting objectionable messages on it, an official said on Wednesday.

Mehta, the legislator from Mira Bhayandar constituency in Maharashtra's Thane district, was informed by some local BJP activists about the fake account running in his name on Facebook following which he approached the police on Wednesday, he said.

Body of a 42-year-old man was found hanging at BJP booth office in Siliguri early morning today; Police investigation is underway.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will file his nomination from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala on Thursday.
Rahul Gandhi and his sister and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, who arrived in Kozhikode on Wednesday, were greeted by hundreds of UDF supporters, who had been waiting three hours to see them.

The BJP has topped the chart of political advertisers on Google with an advertisement spent share of around 32 per cent, while Congress is ranked sixth with a meagre 0.14 per cent share.

Political parties and their affiliates have spent Rs 3.76 crore on advertisements since February 19, 2019, according to the internet giant's Indian Transparency Report released Thursday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the top advertiser with a total advertisement expense of Rs 1.21 crore, accounting for around 32 per cent of the total advertisement expenses on Google, it said.

The Congress was ranked sixth with a total expenditure on advertisement of Rs 54,100 on Google.

BJP was followed by Andhra Pradesh's Jagan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party, which spent a total of 1.04 crore on advertisements, according to the report.