March 30 Elections round up: Sonia hopes people will give Congress a second chance, Modi asks if ‘Shahzada’ trusts his own mother

9.55 pm: In a major boost to BJP in Gujarat, several bigwigs from the co-operative sector today joined the party with the help of former state minister Dilip Sanghani and BJP leader Narhari Amin.

9.38 pm: Union Minister Srikant Jena, former Union Minister Arjun Sethi and and sitting BJD MP Baijayant Panda are among 98 candidates left in the fray for 11 Lok Sabha seats.

9.35 pm: Actor-turned-BJP candidate from North East Delhi Lok Sabha seat Manoj Tiwari today said if he gets elected he will cut down on his film assignments to dedicate more time to the people of his constituency.

9.30 pm: Fed up over official apathy in providing them basic infrastructure, residents of Anbunagar area in Coimbatore and also estate workers of Pannimedu in Pollachi have decided to boycott the April 24 Lok Sabha polls.

9.25 pm: AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh’s son Jaiwardhan Singh calls Sushma Swaraj a ‘hawa hawai’ candidate, says she neglected people of her constituency.

9.20 pm: With anti-nuclear activists plunging into the poll fray as AAP candidates in Kanyakumari, Tuticorin and Tirunelveli districts, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, MDMK and Left parties are worried about their prospects in these constituencies.

9.05 pm: Reacting sharply to the expulsion of her husband by BJP, Sheetal Kanwar today said Jaswant Singh was insulted by the party for which he worked for over 32 years.

9.00 pm: The Election Commission cannot ban broadcast and publication of opinion polls, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath said today.

8.58 pm: Days after row over his choice of seat, veteran BJP leader L K Advani will address a rally in Ahmednagar on Monday as the star campaigner begins canvassing for Lok Sabha elections.

8.50 pm: BJP has lodged a complaint with Election Commission alleging that defamatory comments had been made against the party’s candidate from Mathura Lok Sabha seat Hema Malini on Facebook.

8.33 pm: In yet another jolt to Congress in Madhya Pradesh, its Katni MLA Sanjay Pathak today decided to join BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

8.24 pm: Barring a few incidents, polling in urban local bodies elections in Andhra Pradesh passed off peacefully today with nearly 75 per cent of electorate casting their votes.

8.20 pm: In a bid to attract voters to the polling booths and give a festive look to the electoral exercise, a few model polling stations are planned to be set up in the country for the first time.

8.15 pm: Putting to rest all speculation over his party’s joint campaign with Congress top leaders, RJD president Lalu Prasad today said he would not address the rallies of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in Bihar.

8.10 pm: BJP today received a jolt after its former Member of Parliament Subhash Deshmukh resigned from the party.

8.05 pm: Congress today lashed out NarendraModi for targeting Ashok Chavan on corruption and asked why he was silent about tainted leaders in his party like B S Yeddyurappa and Sriramulu.

7.34 pm: The Congress has changed its Raipur parliamentary constituency candidate for the fourth time and re-nominated its veteran leader Satyanarayan Sharma.

7.01 pm: BSP supremo Mayawati today kept up her attack on Narendra Modi, claiming he was trying to create an illusion that if BJP came to power “everything will be set right” in the country.

6.55 pm: Criticising both BJP and Congress, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today said their claims of ‘Gujarat Model’ and ‘Bharat Nirman’ respectively were “just an eyewash”.

6.50 pm: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray today said Congress is in a bad shape due to lack of formidable leadership and claimed that “saffron resurgence” is on the cards with Narendra Modi being a credible alternative.

NDA wave will soon turn into ‘saffron storm’: Uddhav Thackeray

6.44 pm: A day after Imran Masood was arrested for his remarks against BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, the Congress on Sunday urged the Election Commission to take action against BJP for their “unverified and distorted” remarks against the controversial Congress leader.

6.35 pm: BJP President Rajnath Singh today criticised Congress for “misleading” people by calling his party “divisive” and said it was doing it to hide its misdeeds.

6.30 pm: Punjab Chief Miniser Prakash Singh Badal today said the victory of BJP candidate Arun Jaitley would benefit not only Amritsar but the whole state as the latter would get an important portfolio if NDA formed the next government at the Centre.

6.28 pm: Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal today attacked Narendra Modi claiming the BJP leader had written to the Centre recently requesting for a three-fold hike in gas prices to help industrialist Mukesh Ambani.

6.25 pm: CPI general secretary Sudhakar Reddy and party’s national secretary D Raja will tour various places in Tamil Nadu from April 4 to campaign for the candidates of CPI and CPI (M) for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

6.20 pm: Akali Dal (Amritsar) candidate for Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat Talib Singh Sandhu today surrendered his party ticket and announced his support to SAD-BJP combine candidate Manpreet Singh Ayali.

6.18 pm: The CPI and the CPI(M) will together fight the AIADMK, DMK and the Congress party in Tamil Nadu on 18 Lok Sabha seats for the first time since 1964.

6.15 pm: Congress leader Ashok Chavan today dismissed Narendra Modi’s tirade against him and accused the BJP prime ministerial candidate of trying to create disturbance in the country and Maharashtra.

6.00 pm: Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Naxals have strengthened their information system in the sensitive Bastar region and deployed informers at strategic locations like police stations, a senior Intelligence Bureau official said.

5.55 pm: I hope all of you give Congress a second chance, Sonia in Delhi.

5.52 pm: Congress has always been for the people and will continue to be so, Sonia in Delhi.

5.50 pm: Winning elections doesn’t matter, India’s culture and tradition more important for me, Sonia in Delhi.

5.47 pm: We brought various policies for the welfare of the people and now our focus will be Right to Health, Sonia in Delhi.

5.45 pm: This a battle of two ideologies- one that divides people and one that unites, Sonia in Delhi.

5.42 pm: We would have passed more Bills had political parties not stalled the parliamentary proceedings, Sonia in Delhi.

5.40 pm: Running a government is not easy, I am sure you saw what happened to the government in Delhi, Sonia in Delhi.

5.35 pm: Patriotism and Nationalism is in our veins, Sonia in Delhi.

5.32 pm: We implemented the ‘One Rank, One Pension’ for our soldiers, made policies for betterment of people, Sonia in Delhi.

5.30 pm: We have done revolutionary work in the country, under the leadership of Manmohan Singh, Sonia in Delhi.

5.25 pm: Terming Aam Aadmi Party as a single issue-based movement, senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is getting acceptance in those places where the Left is traditionally not strong.

5.20 pm: Election Commission has disqualified 48 contesting candidates, including former MP Trilok Singh Bajwa, from 12 Assembly constituencies from contesting elections to Lok Sabha in Jammu and Kashmir, for their failure to furnish details of expenditure incurred while contesting Parliamentary and Assembly polls on different occasions earlier.

Read: EC disqualfies 48 contesting candidates including ex-MP in J&K

5.15 pm: Jaswant Singh hits back at BJP, says values being perverted, destroyed under false pretence of party discipline.

Read: Jaswant Singh says BJP has lost its vision

5.10 pm: The EC has sought a report from the Farukkhabad district administration on the alleged violation of Model Code of Conduct by Union Minister Salman Khurshid.

5.15 pm: The Congress can neither save themselves nor the country, Modi in Karnataka.

5.14 pm: You all should vote for BJP in the coming Lok Sabha Elections for a better future, Modi in Karnataka.

5.10 pm: Corruption can be reduced if discrimination is reduced. State should be policy driven, Modi in Karnataka.

5.05 pm: ‘Shahzada’ speaks about Gujarat everytime. These are Lok Sabha elections, not Gujarat Elections, Modi in Karnataka.

5.03 pm: The country wants to know whether ‘Shahzada’ ji trusts his mother Sonia or not, Modi in Karnataka.

4:30 pm: BJP sets 24-hour deadline to TDP on sealing AP alliance deal.

Read: BJP gives TDP 24-hours to seal Andhra Pradesh alliance

4:14 pm: BJP President Rajnath Singh said people who came from Bangladesh after 1971 and settled in Assam or elsewhere in the country should be treated as illegal migrants and necessary action be taken against them.

BJP for action against illegal migrants from Bangladesh: Rajnath Singh

4:10 pm: Share market surge proves people expecting a new government: M J Akbar

3.50 pm: More than 83 per cent of the 1,600 polling stations in Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency in Kashmir have been designated as hypersensitive or sensitive by the election authorities as they are apprehensive of violence during polling in these areas.

Read: 83 percent of polling stations in Jammu & Kashmir’s Anantnag sensitive

3.12 pm: Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha today accused Finance Minister P Chidambaram of “running the economy to the ground” and posed an 18-point questionnaire to him on price rise, economic growth and job fronts.

Read: Yashwant Sinha poses 18-point questionnaire to Chidambaram on economy

3.10 pm: Various government employees under the banner of ‘Rajya Karamchari Sanyukt Parishad’ took out a cycle rally in Bulandshahr on Saturday and warned that they would consider using the provision of None Of The Above (NOTA) in the voting option during Lok Sabha elections if pension benefits that prevailed prior to 2004 were not restored.

3.05 pm: With the DGCA cracking the whip on air charter firms flouting safety norms, the companies busy flying politicians for poll campaign would now report to the aviation regulator on operational issues once every week from Monday.

Read: DGCA to keep an eye on air charter firms flying politicians

2:59 pm: Amit Shah to inaugurate Narendra Modi’s election office on Apr 1.

Read: Modi’s election office in Varanasi to be inaugurated on April 1

2:40 pm: Sabir Ali says he has no terror links, challenges Naqvi to probe.

Read: Sabir Ali steps up attack on Naqvi

2:05 pm: In a sharp attack on Narendra Modi,  Jaswant Singh deprecated “veneration” of an individual and said world was full of graveyards of those who are considered indispensable to their nation.

Read: Jaswant takes a dig at BJP’s Modi-centric poll campaign

1:04 pm: Targeting Sharad Pawar in the farmers’ suicide belt of Amravati, Narendra Modi on Sunday said the Agriculture Minister has time to talk on cricket but has been “unable to save” farmers.

Read: Narendra Modi slams Pawar for farmers’ suicides in Amravati

12:47 pm: AAP’s candidate eighty-year-old Dr Daljit Singh, a noted ophthalmologist, is eyeing to tap the “under-current” with his niche support base.

READ MORE: AAP’s ophthalmologist candidate eyes niche support base

12:46 pm: Congress to select LS nominees for Telangana, Seemandhra this week.

12:14 pm: BJP making big claims, spreading rumours, says Sonia Gandhi.

Read: Sonia Gandhi attacks BJP for “talking big”

12:10 pm: Congress’ slogan is ‘Har haath Shakti, Har haath Tarraki’.

12:10 pm: Sonia Gandhi addressing a rally in Lakhimpur, Assam.

11:44 am: Congress Lok Sabha candidate Imran Masood  has five pending cases in various courts on charges of forgery and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace among others.

READ MORE: Five pending cases against Congress’ Imran Masood

10:50 am: With voters not favouring national political parties in recent elections, TMC and JMM with headquarters in neighbouring West Bengal and Jharkhand, have jumped into fray in the 2014 twin elections in Odisha.

10:49 am: BJP on Sunday said that TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee was targeting the party as it has realised that it would pose a tough challenge.

READ MORE: BJP will play role of game changer in West Bengal: Sinha

10:29 am: The BJP is using saffron coloured bindis, bracelets, caps, badges, sari, kurta, T-shirt, masks and other items to woo voters for its candidates in Jharkhand.

10:04 am: AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa’s electioneering using helicopter to criss-cross Tamil Nadu has become a poll plank for opposition parties in the state as the campaign gathers momentum.

9:00 am: Eighteen candidates are in the fray for the Lok Sabha elections in two constituencies of  Manipur, state election office said on Sunday.

8:00 am: 

#UPCong announces its candidates for bye elections to 3 #Assemblyseats.

— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) March 30, 2014