Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live Updates: In Hajipur, PM’s ‘Hanuman’ vs Lalu’s ‘Ram’ amid fraying caste loyalties - The Times of India (2024)

At the height of a bitter political rivalry between the two Paswans, BJP sided with Chirag, whose Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) was allotted five seats for LS elections under a seat-sharing arrangement, while the rival LJP faction led by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, then a Union minister, was allotted none.Now that Chirag has filed his nomination for Hajipur, the onus is on him to prove he enjoys the support of the Dalit community and is the “real” political heir to his father Ram Vilas Paswan, who represented this Lok Sabha seat eight times in the past.This is the first LS election Chirag is fighting without the senior Paswan, who died in Oct 2020, to guide him. With uncle Pashupati Paras along with his faction of the party not campaigning for Chirag, the 42-year-old faces the toughest battle of his decade-old political career. In 2014 and 2019, Chirag got elected from Jamui, a seat reserved for SCs. However, this time, he has moved to Hajipur, which goes to polls on May 20, in a bid to stake claim to his father’s political legacy that continues to be a bone of contention between him and his uncle.

At the heart of BJP’s push for a third straight term at the Centre is the newly inaugurated Ram temple in Ayodhya. No wonder then that the party is confident that it’s candidate here, two-time sitting MP Lallu Singh (69), will romp home by a record margin this time. But as with elections in general, nothing is a given until the results are in.“The Ram temple is certainly a big boost for local businessmen and traders. Opportunities have opened up and everyone is looking to expand operations to cash in on the surge in the number of pilgrims and tourists. BJP deserves credit for fulfilling the expectations of crores of Hindus. But some issues have cropped up for the local population that need to be addressed by elected representatives,” said Sharad Kapoor, director of one of Ayodhya’s oldest hotels, Shan-E-Awadh.Development, it’s said, can be a double-edged sword. So, while there are upbeat voices all around, there is also a sense of insecurity among voters in rural pockets. Families in Bikapur, Milkipur, Rudauli and localities on the other side of Lucknow-Ayodhya-Gorakhpur national highway fear they will be forced out from the land of Ram in the years to come.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has been maintaining an iron hold on Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency since 1991, when it was first won by party veteran and former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who won five times on the trot and continued to hold the seat till 2009.Vajpayee’s Man Friday Lalji Tandon won the seat in 2009 and passed on the baton to another senior leader Rajnath Singh who, carrying forward Vajpayee’s legacy, emerged victorious in 2014 and 2019, and is looking forward to a hat-trick from the City of Nawabs which goes to polls on May 20.In 2014, Singh bagged 54.43% of the votes polled, which went up to 56.64% in 2019, when he won the seat by a margin of 3.5 lakh votes against SP candidate Poonam Sinha. Though SP had contested the 2019 election in alliance with BSP, Singh won more votes than both the SP-BSP combine and Congress, which totaled 4.62 lakh votes.

Lok Sabha Election: RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha said

"Yesterday he (PM Modi) was saying that we (INDIA alliance) will make the country bankrupt. If you waive off Rs 16 lakh crore of your friends then there is no scope for bankruptcy but giving cylinder for Rs 500, giving Rs 1 lakh per year to poor women is bankruptcy. Where is this bankruptcy? This is called bankruptcy of thoughts."

Lok Sabha Election: AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar organizes cyclothon

AAP East Delhi Lok Sabha candidate Kuldeep Kumar organizes a cyclothon as part of his election campaign. BJP has fielded Harsh Malhotra from the East Delhi seat. Voting in Delhi is on May 25.

India elections 2024: Savarkar is not election issue, Modi tried to polarise voters,says Pawar

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was not an election issue, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to polarize people by talking about him during his campaign rally here. Modi, in his speech here on Friday, dared Pawar to make Congress leader Rahul Gandhi promise that he would not criticise the late freedom fighter and Hindutva ideologue ever again."Savarkar is not an election issue, and Rahul has not spoken about him (lately). But Modi's speech was divisive and meant to instigate, polarise. I have never seen such a prime minister," Pawar said at a joint press conference with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on the last day of campaigning for the final phase of the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra.Rahul Gandhi has often targeted Savarkar, claiming that he helped the British rulers and wrote mercy petitions when he was incarcerated on the Andaman islands.

Raebareli Lok Sabha Constituency: Rahul Gandhi to take on BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh at Congress' bastion

Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh is one of the hotly contested seats, as it has been the stronghold of the Gandhi family and this time Congress has fielded Rahul Gandhi to contest against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dinesh Pratap Singh.After representing Amethi from 2004 to 2019, Rahul Gandhi has shifted to Rae Bareli this time. Raebareli is considered the Gandhi family bastion. Sonia Gandhi, the then Congress chief, won Raebareli last time in 2019.The BJP has fielded state minister Dinesh Pratap Singh against Rahul Gandhi, who has also contested from Wayanad in Kerala, while BSP has fielded Thakur Prasad Yadav.Raebareli, the most-watched seat in the fifth phase, will go to the polls on May 20. The results will be announced on June 4.The Raebareli Lok Sabha Constituency comprises five Assembly segments, including Bachhrawan, Harchandpur, Raebareli, Sareni, and Unchahar. The constituency is a general seat.

Campaigning ends for Baramulla Lok Sabha seat in north Kashmir; stakes high for National Conference

The blazing campaign trail in the prestigious Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency ended on Saturday, setting the stage for more than 17.32 lakh eligible voters to exercise their franchise in the fifth phase of the general elections on May 20. The first major political battle post the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 will decide the fate of Omar Abdullah, the National Conference vice-president and a former chief minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state, and 21 others in the fray from the north Kashmir seat.

Odisha Assembly elections: 126 'crorepati' candidates in third phase polls

One hundred and twenty-six candidates in fray for the third phase of Assembly elections in Odisha are 'crorepati', with BJD candidate from Champua segment Sanatan Mahakud the richest with Rs 227.67 crore assets. Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Puri and Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituencies along with 42 assembly seats under these Lok Sabha segments will go to polls in the third phase polls in Odisha on May 25.The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Odisha Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 381 out of 383 candidates, who are contesting for 42 MLA seats in Odisha.In a report, the ADR said there are 126 (33 per cent) 'crorepati' candidates in fray for the third phase assembly polls in the state. Independent candidate from Ghasipura, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik is the second richet candidate after he declared family assets to the tune of Rs 122.86 crore.The third palace is occupied by the BJP candidate from Nayagarh Assembly segment, Pratyusha Rajeshwari Singh, who declared both movable and immovable assets of her family totalling Rs 120.56 crore.

Phase 5 of Lok Sabha polls to decide fate of Rahul Gandhi, Smriti Irani, Rajnath Singh among others

Voting for the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 will be held on May 20, which will cover 49 seats across 6 States and two Union Territories.Of the 49 Lok Sabha seats, 14 are from Uttar Pradesh, 13 from Maharashtra, 7 from West Bengal, 5 from Bihar, 3 from Jharkhand, 5 from Odisha and one each from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.The fifth phase will witness key contests in various constituencies. Leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Piyush Goyal, Ujjwal Nikam, Karan Bhushan Singh, LJP (Ramvilas) chief Chirag Paswan, JKNC chief Omar Abdullah, and RJD leader Rohini Acharya will be looking for electoral success.Key candidates and constituencies in Phase 5 polls