Senior BJP leader L K Advani will contest from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat while party Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will fight from Vadodara Constituency in Gujarat. Modi is also fighting from Varanasi seat in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP today released its sixth list of 67 candidates after the party Central Election Committee meeting in New Delhi. The name of the candidates were announced by the party leader Thawarchand Gehlot. The party has also fielded actress turned politician Hema Malini from Mathura seat in Uttar Pradesh.
Former Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh Jagdambika Pal and comedian Raju Srivastava today joined the BJP. Srivastava had recently declined Lok Sabha ticket of Samajwadi Party to contest from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh while Pal had resigned from the Congress and the Lok Sabha. Unhappy over the distribution of tickets for the Lok Sabha elections, BJP workers staged a demonstration at the party office in Lucknow and Ballia today.
Aam Aadmi Party – AAP today released the eighth list of its 19 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Parveen Amanullah will contest from Patna Sahib Parliamentary Constituency in Bihar from where BJP has fielded Shatrughan Sinha. Besides, Deepratna Nilangekar will be the party candidate from Latur in Maharashtra, Ramesh Verma from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh and Tanveer Maqbool Dar will contest from Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir. The list includes seven candidates for Jharkhand, five for Bihar and two each for Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala and Maharashtra. With this, AAP has so far declared its candidates on 287 seats.
The Congress has ruled out supporting Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal against BJP Prime Ministerial nominee Narendra Modi from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat. Briefing media in New Delhi this afternoon, senior leader and Union Minister Anand Sharma said, his party will fight the battle on its own. He reiterated party’s resolve to field a strong candidate in Varanasi. Sharma said that at present there are many names under consideration for the seat and the final decision will be announced soon.
In Tamil Nadu, DMK has warned of disciplinary action against cadres hobnobbing with suspended leader M K Alagiri apparently to keep its flock together ahead of Lok Sabha polls. DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan accused Alagiri of creating confusion by holding consultative meetings with his supporters. Talking to reporters in Chennai today he asserted that disciplinary action will be taken against those who maintain links with him.
Alagiri, son of party supremo M Karunanidhi, appeared to have softened his stand after the party’s warning. He said in Madurai that he had never worked against the party at any point of time. He said he was only trying to set right, what he called, the disorder and confusion prevailing in the party.
NCP leaders from Goa are to meet Party chief Sharad Pawar over tie-up with Congress there. Both the parties have already announced their candidates for the two seats – North and South Goa, despite having an alliance last time. NCP leaders are pressing for the North Goa seat and they have rushed to New Delhi to meet Sharad Pawar to clear air over the uncertainty surrounding the alliance. On the other hand, local Congress leaders are optimistic that they will be able to convince NCP leaders to support them. Congress candidate Ravi Naik told reporters that they want to defeat BJP and NCP will support them.
The Trinamool Congress today released list of 18 candidates for Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. In a statement the party said that it has fielded Umesh Mishra against Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareilly and Mohd. Sarvar Malik against BJP President Rajnath Singh in Lucknow. Madanmohan Mishra will be the party candidate in Azamgarh where Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav will try his fate. The party declared Hari Om Sharma as its candidate in Chandani Chowk against Congress’ Kapil Sibal.
Former Union Minister and National People’s Party (NPP) leader Agatha Sangma will not fight Lok Sabha elections. Announcing this in New Delhi today her father and NPP chief, P A Sangma said that he will fight from Tura seat in place of Agath.
Notification for the Fourth and Fifth phases of Lok Sabha elections, spread over 128 Parliamentary constituencies in 16 states, has been issued. Notifications for the 32 members Sikkim Assembly and for 77 seats of Odisha Assembly have also been issued.
Filing of Nominations have picked up. In Uttar Pradesh, 10 candidates today filed their nomination papers in different constituencies for first and second phases of Lok Sabha polls in the state. As many as six candidates today filed their nomination papers for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections in Delhi.