In a setback to the Congress party, senior leader Tom Vadakkan joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday. He was officially inducted to the party in presence of Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Tom Vadakkan said he was not happy with the way Rahul Gandhi-led party reacted after the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. He said he was left with no option to leave the party after its position on the terror attack. "I left Congress party because when Pakistani terrorists attacked our land, my party's reaction to it was sad, it hurt me deeply," he said. After the Election Commission announced the poll schedule, both the Congress and BJP have officially launched their poll campaigns, with Rahul Gandhi doing several rallies in Kozhikode today.
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7.46pm: Election Commission of India debriefed the Observers that are going to be going to be deployed during the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections and other state assembly elections. These officers will be appointed as General, Police and Expenditure Observers.
6.29pm: Over 10 opposition parties have moved the Supreme Court requesting that 50 per cent votes are verified by paper trials before the results of 2019 Lok Sabha elections are declared.
6.27pm: Political worker Ismail Wani shot by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, reported ANI. He has been admitted in a hospital in Srinagar.
5.40pm: Congress and JD(S) to adopt give-and-take policy for seat sharing in Karnataka during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, says Siddaramaiah.
5.00pm: A team of Election Commission officials is set to visit West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Manipur from March 16-19 to review poll preparedness in these states.
3.55pm: NCP announces first list of candidates for Lok Sabha Elections 2019.
3.50pm: We don't want SP-BSP-RLD 'ghatbandhan' to lose in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Lok sabha elections, says Congress Veerappa Moily.
3.45pm: Mayawati cautioned partymen that the BJP will 'use all tricks' to win the elections. She also said to keep an eye the EVMs to her party workers.
3.40pm: The decisions taken at the meeting will be carried forward after discussions with the top leadership of alliance partner Samajwadi Party.
3.35pm: Ahead of Lok Sabha election, Mayawati gives final touches to list of BSP candidates.
BSP president Mayawati held a meeting with important district and divisional level leaders in Uttar Pradesh.
3.30pm: 'Till now he used to 'abuse' PM Modi'- After Tom Vadakkan joined the BJP, the Congress dismissed his criticism of the party saying that till now he used to 'abuse' Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
3.15pm: SP-BSP to have joint election rallies during the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.
3.05pm: 'Dynastic politics has reached its zenith in Congress,' says Tom Vadakkan.
3.00pm: In an apparent attack on party chief Rahul Gandhi's leadership of the Congress, Vadakkan said he gave the party two years of his life but it has now resorted to a practise of "use and throw".
2.55pm: The BJP may field Vadakkan in the Lok Sabha elections from a seat in Kerala, reported by PTI.
2.34pm: "If a political party takes such a position that is against the country then I'm left with no option but to leave the party," says Tom Vadakkan.
1.32pm: Bihar BJP election committee is ogranising a meeting in Patna.
1.00pm: Trinamool Congress MLA Arjun Singh (in center) joins Bharatiya Janata Party.