Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Highlights: If Modi has courage, he should fight elections on people’s issues, says Priyanka

Continuing her tirade against Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she wanted to give the prime minister a “tight slap of democracy” after the former accused TMC of being “toll collector” party. “Money doesn’t matter to me. That is why when Narendra Modi came to Bengal and accused my party of being tolabaaz (toll collector), I wanted to give him a tight slap of democracy,” ANI quoted Mamata as saying at a rally in West Bengal’s Purulia district. <

#WATCH West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in Purulia: Money doesn't matter to me.That is why when Narendra Modi came to Bengal and accused my party of being Tolabaaz (Toll collector), I wanted to give him a tight slap of democracy pic.twitter.com/JnE5xywWJI

— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2019

Haryana: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress Rohtak candidate Deepender Singh Hooda hold a roadshow in the constituency. #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/IlWcLPXo8I

— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2019

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Tuesday took a jibe at his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, asking whether the AAP supremo was the head of city administration or leader of dharnas and demonstrations. Addressing a rally here in support of BJP's East Delhi candidate Gautam Gambhir, Adityanath said, "We are confident that he will be opening our victory tally in Delhi just as he opened for team India in cricket." The Uttar Prdesh chief minister said he landed at the Hindon Air Base first and after entering Delhi, he said he was appalled after seeing the condition of roads here. "The AAP government has turned Delhi into a city of potholes and has hurt the sentiments of people of the city," Adityanath alleged. "Kejriwal has nothing to do with 'vikas' (development) and he does not have any interest in working in collaboration with the central government for the betterment of national capital," he claimed. (PTI)

(Express Photo by Amit Mehra)

Hundreds of sadhus Tuesday trooped to the Madhya Pradesh capital to seek votes for the Congress Lok Sabha candidate Digvijaya Singh and campaign against BJP nominee Pragya Singh Thakur. Led by Namdev Tyagi alias Computer Baba, they will camp in Bhopal for three days. They undertook Hath Yoga Tuesday, followed by a road show. Hath Yoga involves 'asanas' (positions) that help in relaxing and breathing control. Computer Baba was bestowed minister of state status by the then BJP-led government in Madhya Pradesh and appointed on a panel to clean the Narmada. "BJP sarkaar 5 saal mein Ram Mandir bhi nahi bana paayi. Ab Ram Mandir nahi toh Modi nahi." (BJP remained in power for five years but it failed to construct Ram Temple, so when there is no Ram Mandir then there should be no Narendra Modi too.)," the Baba said. (PTI)

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister engaged in a verbal war over chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’, BJP president Amit Shah asked the TMC chief “if Shri Ram’s name is not taken in India, will it be chanted in Pakistan?" Addressing a poll rally in Bengal’s Ghatal, Shah said that Mamata is not allowing people to chant the slogan in Bengal. “Lord Ram is a part of the culture of India… Can anybody stop people from taking his name? I want to ask Mamata didi if Shri Ram’s name is not taken in India, will it be chanted in Pakistan?” Shah said. READ MORE HERE

Amit Shah in Bishnupur, West Bengal: "Priyanka Vadra just called PM Modi 'Duryodhana,' Priyanka ji this is democracy, nobody becomes 'Duryodhana' just because you called them so. We will find out on May 23 who is 'Duryodhana and who is 'Arjuna.'"

UP CM Yogi Adityanath in Mandawali, Delhi: "Congress has completely failed, Shehzada also failed so they brought in their Shehzadi. She was teaching abuses to innocent children of Amethi, please and go teach these abuses in Italy."

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Kolkata: "In spite of Central forces coming and assuring the voters that their presence will make a difference, Didi's syndicate morcha people are all over the place. Mamata Banerjee screams about democracy, she is the one who is violating democracy."

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Ambala, Haryana: "Chunav ke prachar mein BJP ke neta kabhi ye nahi kehte ki unhone jo wade kiye the woh poore kiye ya nahi. Kabhi shaheedon ke name pe vote maangte hai, toh kabhi mera parivaar ke shaheed sadasyon ka apaman karte hain (during poll campaigning, BJP leaders never talk about unfulfilled promises. They will either ask for votes in the name of martyrs or insult the martyrs from my family)" 

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Ambala: "If Modi has the courage, then he should fight the elections on the people's issues, development, unemployment, farmers' and women' issues."

Addressing a rally in Ambala district of Haryana, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that if her party comes to power, they would make sure that no criminal cases are filed against farmers who could not pay back their debt.

Addressing a public rally in Chhattisgarh Tuesday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the previous BJP government in the state of gave the lands of poor tribals to Tata company who did not put up factories in those lands. He further said the incumbent Congress government in the state took those lands back from the company and returned it to the tribals.

R Gandhi: Chhattisgarh mein shayad pehli baar Tata company ne zameen li thi, BJP sarkar ne zameen di. 5 saal mein adivasiyon ki zameen pe, Bastar ki zameen pe unhone koi factory nahi lagai.Cong ke CM ne faisla liya, Tata se zameen lekar wapas Bastar ke adivasiyon ke hawale kar di pic.twitter.com/YZzIkU3HBP

— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2019

Addressing a rally in Jharkhand's Chaibasa, Congress president Rahul Gandhi asked the people to check their wallets, adding that they will then know that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken their money.

Rahul Gandhi in Chaibasa,Jharkhand: Apni jeb main haat daliye, batua kholiye aapko pata lagega ki aapke batue se paisa Modi ji ne nikala hai. Aadivasi bhaiyo-behno, apne jungle-jal-zameen ko dekhiye, apko pata lagega ki Anil Ambani ko Modi ji ne aapka jal-jungle aur zameen di hai pic.twitter.com/WoW48GHS3C

— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2019

Addressing a rally in West Bengal, BJP president Amit Shah reiterated his pitch for bringing in the Citizenship Amendment Bill for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Christian refugees from the neighbouring countries. 

"We will first bring Citizenship (Amendment) Bill to give Indian citizenship to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Christian refugees from the neighbouring countries and then will ensure that every infiltrator is identified and deported out of India," he said. 

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged there is a conspiracy to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi citing an unverified video in which Tej Bahadur Yadav, the dismissed BSF constable whose nomination as the SP’s Varanasi candidate was rejected by Election Commission (EC) last week, is purportedly heard asking for Rs 50 crore to allegedly assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The sound of a slap to Kejriwal echoes for months but there is no discussion on the conspiracy to kill the country's Prime Minister," he said in a press conference, questioning the silence of the Opposition in the matter. "Does the Opposition agree with Tej Bahadur," he asked.

Watch LIVE: BJP president Amit Shah addresses press conference in Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal

Shri @AmitShah addresses public meeting in Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal. #HarDilMeiModi https://t.co/rmekgmoJIH

— BJP (@BJP4India) May 7, 2019

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said his meeting with Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao yesterday was "significant." " We discussed the national political scenario. According to KC Rao, both the fronts (BJP and Congress) may not get a majority. So, the regional parties will play a prominent role. There were no discussions about the PM candidate," he said. 

Rao, who is in Kerala for a two-day visit with his family members, visited Vijayan at his official residence in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. Rao’s meeting with Vijayan assumes significance as the TRS chief has been talking about a non-Congress, non-BJP federal front. And if the CPM-led LDF, which is contesting all 20 seats in Kerala, can send a substantial number of MPs to Parliament, Vijayan would have a significant say in deciding the party’s post-poll agenda.

READ MORE HERE

Bollywood actor Swara Bhaskar campaigns for AAP's East Delhi candidate Atishi. Announcing her support Swara had tweeted, "I will be campaigning for progressive, secular and the architect of Delhi education reform @AtishiAAP in East Delhi tomorrow on 7th May 2019. I strongly feel candidates like her must be in the Parliament."

Film actress @ReallySwara and Gujrat's independent MLA @jigneshmevani80 collaboratively doing a padyatra in support of AAP East Delhi candidate @AtishiAAP. pic.twitter.com/voTrqhtIUr

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) May 7, 2019

The Election Commission of India (EC) has sought NITI Aayog’s comments on the Congress’s allegation that the government policy think-tank was misused by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for election purposes. A letter, The Indian Express has learnt, was sent to NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Saturday. The missive does not mention a deadline by which he has to respond.

Last week, the Congress had approached the EC with an allegation that the PMO had used the NITI Aayog to collect information in advance about places where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was set to campaign. Quoting from a news report on the website scroll.in, the opposition party’s complaint alleged the Aayog had written to different collectors in Maharashtra in March seeking basic statistics and demographic profile of Gondia, Latur and Wardha districts ahead of Modi’s rallies there. Read more

In a discussion moderated by Vandita Mishra, National Opinion Editor, The Indian Express, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka University spoke on how this has been an election of low expectations, the erosion of institutions and the challenges after the polls. "If you do get five years of a consolidated (Narendra) Modi government, India will become an irrevocably majoritarian state. All basic assumptions we made about Indian democracy — that it has a tendency to move towards the centre, that it has a very distinctive model in the way it accommodates pluralism and diversity — will be up for grabs," he said. Read more

Computer Baba and thousands of od sadhus seek votes for Congress candidate for Bhopal seat Digvijaya Singh against BJP's Sadhvi Pragya. The campaign will continue for three days, followed by a roadshow. Making an announcement to this effect, Computer Baba aka Namdev Tyagi on Saturday said the former CM was a true Narmada Bhakt. “We are with those who undertook Narmada Parikrama and not those who were on jail yatra,” he said, referring to the 3300-sq km circumambulation of the Narmada by Singh and the years spent in jail by the BJP candidate.

Computer Baba was bestowed Minister of State status by the Chouhan government after appointing him on a panel to clean the Narmada and plant saplings along the river. Before Assembly elections, he had resigned calling Chouhan irreligious. He has been named on a panel by the Kamal Nath government.

MP:Computer Baba who was granted status of minister in BJP govt,camps in Bhopal along with thousands of sadhus to undertake Hat Yoga,also campaigns for Congress leader Digvijaya Singh,says,"BJP sarkaar 5 saal mein Ram Mandir bhi nahi bana paayi. Ab Ram Mandir nahi toh Modi nahi" pic.twitter.com/BvvgBU7HxC

— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2019

Bhopal: A Congress delegation led by former Union Minister and Congress leader Suresh Pachouri reaches former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan residence with documents containing details of farmers whose loans have been waived off by the present state government. pic.twitter.com/m33w1VbAVa

— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2019

The Supreme Court has rejected review petition filed by 21 opposition leaders demanding at least 50 per cent matching of VVPATs with EVMs. The bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had previously directed the Election Commission to increase matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs from one to five polling stations per assembly seat. Read more

Welcome to The Indian Express' LIVE blog. Amit Shah and Rahul Gandhi will lead the campaigns for their parties in West Bengal, while Priyanka Gandhi will address rallies in Haryana. Also on schedule today is the Supreme Court's hearing on the review petition filed by 21 opposition leaders demanding at least 50 per cent matching of VVPATs with EVMs