In a scathing attack on the Opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said "the biggest casualty of dynastic politics are institutions". In an indirect reference to the Congress party, he said the "dynasty" politics had spared nothing -- from the press to Parliament; from soldiers to free speech; and from the Constitution to the courts.
The Lok Sabha elections 2019 have been scheduled to start from April 11 and will go on till May 19. With little time left to woo voters, parties have increased their activities, with prominent leaders holding several rallies every day. From public rallies to workers' meetings, big leaders of the national as well as state parties are leaving no stone unturned to ensure victory in the polls. BusinessToday.In brings complete timeline of all the updates related to the General Elections 2019 through our blog.
1.57pm: Mahagathbandhan is intact, seats and constituencies will be announced after Holi, says Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav.
1.15pm: Taking a dig at BJP's 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal said Wednesday that if people want their children to become watchmen, they should vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
12.52pm: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Chief Mayawati says she will not contest the Lok Sabha elections, reports ANI.
12.47pm: Basic idea behind GST is one tax, simple tax, minimum tax. Modi has sold the country something which isn't GST -- it is Gabbar Singh Tax, says Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
12.07pm: Mahagathbandhan will do a press conference in Patna on 22nd March to announce the seat sharing in Bihar, says LJD leader Sharad Yadav.
11.56am: The word watchman has become synonymous with patriotism.
11.48am: BJD President and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik files his nomination papers.
11.34am: The Maharashtra chief electoral office has received as many as 400 complaints of violation of the model code of conduct through its app cVIGIL, an official said on Wednesday, reported PTI. The Election Commission in July last year launched the Android-based mobile application, using which a person can secretly send to it geo-tagged videos and photos of illegal money being distributed or a hate speech being made during polls. The application called 'cVIGIL', which stands for "citizens' vigil", is available on Google Play Store.
11am: Goa Assembly floor test: Goa Chief Minister & BJP leader Pramod Sawant ahead of Floor Test: "We have 100 per cent confidence that we will win".
10.33am: BJP has systematically attacked every institution in last 5 years including the media.
10.31am: Two sitting BJP ministers and six sitting MLAs joins National People's Party (NPP).
10:31am: Congress leader Tariq Anwar on PM Modi's dynsty remarks: "Tell me one profession where dynasty is not encouraged."
10.30am: The biggest casualty of dynastic politics are institutions, says PM Modi.
9.30am: K Waii, Arunachal Pradesh Home Minister, joins NPP.
8.39am: Asansol Mayor and TMC MLA Jitendra Tiwari has promised party councillors with contracts worth lakhs of rupees if they ensured victory of TMC Lok Sabha candidate Moon Moon Sen from their respective wards,reported PTI. Tiwari, while conducting an election committee meeting here in presence of Sen, promised contracts worth Rs 1 crore to Rs 50 lakh to the party councillors depending on the number of votes polled in favour of the TMC LS candidate. "If you are able to get a lead of more than 5,000 votes in your ward, I promise you to give contracts worth Rs 1 crore, if you manage to get ahead of 3,000 votes, you will get contracts worth Rs 50 lakh. If you manage ahead of 2,000 and 1,000 votes, you will be given contracts worth Rs 25 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, respectively," he said.
8.37am: The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Mehbooba Mufti has dismissed reports of an alliance with the Congress and said the party was preparing to contest all the six Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, reported PTI. "We are preparing to contest all the six seats," Mehbooba said.
8.32am: Tripura BJP vice-president Subal Bhowmik joins the Congress party.
8.31am: The Congress late on Tuesday night released its sixth list of nine candidates, seven from Maharashtra and two from Kerala, for the Lok Sabha elections, reported PTI. With this, the party has so far released names of 146 candidates for the polls starting April 11. In Kerala, the Congress announced that Shanimol Usman will be the candidate from the Alappuzha seat and Adoor Prakash from the Attingal seat. The Alappuzha seat is currently represented by AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, who has decided to opt out of the contest citing organisational work. In Maharashtra, the party has fielded KC Padavi from Nandurbar, Kunal Rohidas Patil from Dhule, Charulata Khajasingh Tokas from Vardha, Manikrao G Thakarey from Yavatmal-Washim, Eknath Gaikwad from Mumbai-South Central, Bhausahib Kamble from Shirdi and Navinchandra Bandivadekar from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg.
8.00am: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has made a fresh bid to forge an alliance with the Congress in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, with the former demanding five seats in the national capital, PTI reported. The AAP wants to contest on three seats in Punjab, two in Haryana and five in Delhi. The Congress is yet to respond to AAP's proposal.