Lok Sabha Election 2024 Highlights: When is India going to vote? All eyes are on the Election Commission of India as the wait gets longer for the full schedule of the Lok Sabha Election 2024. While there were reports that the poll panel may announce the dates on Thursday, no official confirmation came till the late evening. However, it was a hectic day for the poll panel. From appointments of two election commissioners to publishing the electoral bonds data, the EC witnessed flurry of activities on Thursday.
Amid the sharp dissent by the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led panel appointed two former bureaucrats as the election commissioners on Thursday. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar were appointed as Election Commissioners ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls. Initially, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary had spoken about the names while addressing media after key panel meet. However, later, the law ministry issued an official notification regarding the appointments.
Meanwhile, the poll panel also published the SBI’s electoral bond data on its website. The data was published just a day before Supreme Court-mandated deadline of March 15. The data is regarding buying of poll bonds of denominations between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1 crore. These purchases date back to April 12, 2019. The data shows the list of buyers of these poll bonds. The list includes private companies and individuals as well.
There’s a strong buzz that the wait for the full schedule of the General polls is likely to end today. The Election Commission of India is expected announce the dates of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. The poll panel held a review of the preparedness in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. With this, the EC concluded the pan-India survey and there’s strong buzz around Lok Sabha dates announcement anytime now.
While BJP has finalised the names of over 250 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress has announced the names of 82 candidates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is seeking the third term, will contest from Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi. On the other hand, Congress has finalised Rahul Gandhi’s name for poll battle in Kerala’s Wayanad. The suspense remains as to whether Gandhi will contest from UP’s Amethi or not. His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is also tipped to contest from Raebareli.
Here are the highlights on this key political development
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Election Commission to respond to a petition filed by the Tamil Nadu-based unrecognized political party, Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK). The plea challenges the allocation of free symbols to unrecognized political parties on a first-come, first-served basis. A bench consisting of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also issued a notice to another unrecognized political party that received the election symbol previously held by NTK.
Apart from the General Elections, the Election Commission is also scheduled to announce the poll dates of some state Assemblies. Schedule of Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh State Assembly polls will also be declared on Saturday.
In a post on X, the poll panel said that apart from the General Elections, poll dates of Assembly Elections of some states will also be announced. Buzz is that poll dates of Assembly Elections of Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim will also be declared.
https://twitter.com/SpokespersonECI/status/1768530836964393357
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is viting Tamil Nadu today. Addressing a rally, PM Modi said that "DMK and Congress want to come to power to loot people; DMK biggest beneficiary of 2G scam." He also said that "the wave that is rising from Kanyakumari, the southern tip of the country, will go very far."
Top three electoral bond buyers that donated to the major political parties between 2019 and 2024 under the now-scrapped poll bond scheme are corporate entities that faced investigations by the Income-Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate. According to an Indian Express report, the top three donors are – infra firm Megha Engineering, Future Gaming and mining giant Vedanta. (Read More)
The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court that delivered the Electoral Bonds judgment is hearing the plea of the poll panel for the return of the sealed cover documents to it. The top court said that the State Bank of India has to disclose poll bond numbers too.
The newly appointed election commissioners, Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, officially took up their positions, on Friday. Their appointments to the role of election commissioners were made on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a roadshow in Hyderabad on Friday and address BJP rallies in Telangana on March 16 and March 18 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai embarked on a grassroots campaign leading up to the 2024 elections. He visited neighborhoods, engaged with residents, and met beneficiaries of various Central Government initiatives in Raipur. Through personal interactions with the people of Raipur, the Chief Minister listened to their concerns firsthand. This initiative not only aimed to evaluate the state's development but also sought insights directly from beneficiaries at the grassroots level.
Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu will assume their roles as Election Commissioners, today. Their appointments were made yesterday by the selection panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On the day the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced its candidates for 8 of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal dismissed rumors of forming an alliance with the BJP but left the door open for potential collaboration in the future. The Akalis were previously allied with the BJP as part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre. Despite jointly contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the state, they were unable to secure victory.
The Trinamool Congress unveiled its roster of candidates for four crucial Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam ahead of the impending polls on Thursday. Among the nominees announced, Gauri Shankar Sarania has been nominated for the Kokrajhar parliamentary seat, which is designated for Schedule Tribe (ST) representation. Additionally, the TMC's lineup includes Abdul Kalam Azad for the Barpeta seat, Ghana Kanta Chutia for Lakhimpur, and Radhashyam Biswas for Silchar, a constituency reserved for the Schedule Caste community.
The government has announced a reduction in petrol and diesel prices by Rs 2 per litre, effective from 6 am on March 15. As per a tweet from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have implemented the price adjustments for petrol and diesel across the country. (Read More)
According to the data uploaded by the poll panel, the buyers of electoral bonds include Grasim Industries, Megha Engineering, Piramal Enterprises, Torrent Power, Bharti Airtel, DLF Commercial Developers, Vedanta Ltd., Apollo Tyres, Lakshmi Mittal, Edelweiss, PVR, Keventer, Sula Wine, Welspun, and Sun Pharma. Megha Engineering emerged as the top donor with a donation of Rs 980 crore. (Read More)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sustained a major injury in an accident on Thursday, March 14. According to reports, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee has accompanied her to the SSKM hospital in Kolkata for treatment. (Read More)
Ahead of the Supreme Court-mandated deadline, the Election Commission of India uploaded the electoral bonds data on its website on Thursday evening. The State Bank of India had submitted the poll bond data to EC a day before on Wednesday.
Ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Hyderabad on Friday. Reports say that the PM will also hold a mega roadshow in city on Friday. Apart from this, he will also address BJP rallies in Telangana on Saturday (March 16) and Monday (March 18). Reports say that PM Modi will hold the roadshow between Mirjaguda to Malkajgiri.
The BJP on Wednesday announced the second list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. The list featured several key leaders including this year's poll debutant Piyush Goyal from Mumbai North. While several sitting MPs were dropped, the situation was particularly stark in Delhi. Out of seven sitting MPs, only one - Manoj Tiwari - managed to get another chance. Thos who didn't get the BJP ticket include stalwarts such as Ramesh Bidhuri, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma and Meenakshi Lekhi. Others such as cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir were also dropped. Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans didn't feature in the second list. It should be noted that the BJP has swept the Lok Sabha Elections in Delhi by winning all seven parliamentary constituencies both in 2014 and 2019.
On Thursday, Congress MP Nakul Nath accused the ruling BJP of raising issues such as NRC (National Register of Citizens), CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), and Article 370 in the lead-up to the Lok Sabha elections as a diversionary tactic. Nakul Nath, who was the sole Congress victor from Madhya Pradesh in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, secured victory in Chhindwara. He is the son of senior leader and former chief minister Kamal Nath and has been nominated again from the same constituency by the opposition party.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said that "everything will be done soon," when asked baout Lok Sabha polls seat-sharing pact in NDA. "We will inform about everything ...," Kumar was quoted as saying by ANI.
On Thursday, Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) expressed its desire to contest the Gaya Lok Sabha seat, currently held by the JD(U). This declaration came from Santosh Suman, Manjhi's son and a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet, a day following reports suggesting an established seat-sharing arrangement within the NDA. HAM indicated its preference for the Gaya seat amidst speculation that it might only secure one out of Bihar's 40 constituencies in the agreement.
The high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu, recommending to hold elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies simultaneously. The report, 21 volumes and 18,626 pages long, comes after several rounds of consultations with several stakeholders and experts and a research spanning 191 days. (Read More)
JanaSena Party Chief Pawan Kalyan has reprtedly decided to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Andhra Pradesh's Pithapuram. Earlier, there were reports that Telugu superstar will contest the state Assembly Election.
Communist Party of India General Secretary D Raja on Thursday said that the 2024 General Elections are very critical for India's democracy. He said that it is of utmost importance to defeat BJP to save the Indian Constitution. Raja also rejected that notion that the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha will bolster BJP's electoral performance.
Latest media reports say that the course of events for the one nation, one poll will be decided by the 18th Lok Sabha during the inaugural sitting. The year 2029 may see India going for one nation, one poll model where Lok Sabha and state Assemblies polls will be carried out in one go.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is in Assam today. Addressing an event, Singh sounded confident and said that the BJP will win over 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. He also said that if NDA returns to power for the third term, "there won't be a single kutcha house in Assam"
The high-level committee, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, on Thursday, submitted its report on ‘One Nation, One Election’ to President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is also a member of the panel, was also present. There are reports that the panel is recommended rejig in the Constitution. (Read More)
Captain Amrinder Singh's wife Praneet Kaur joins BJP. There are reports that she will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Punjab's Patiala.
On Thursday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal criticised the BJP-led Centre for its handling of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). He described the implementation of the CAA before the Lok Sabha polls as a manipulative move by the BJP, branding it as "dirty vote-bank politics." Kejriwal emphasized that the public's demand is for the repeal of the law.
In 2019, PM Narendra Modi and his ruling BJP achieved a resounding victory, securing a sweeping return to power. With 303 seats won in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, BJP surpassed its 2014 tally of 282 seats — a remarkable feat that few anticipated. Securing a majority in Parliament requires 272 seats, and the BJP's success in 2014 marked the first instance in thirty years where a party independently attained such a substantial seat count.