Indian Polls

Secunderabad, Mar 29 (PTI) The BJP faces a tough challenge in retaining its lone seat in Telangana after a dismal performance in the recent assembly polls, but the saffron party has pinned its hopes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charisma and its leaders say they are confident of pulling off victory.

The Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, where the BJP had 33.62 per cent vote share in 2014, has become a crucial battleground for all three main parties -- the BJP, the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

New Delhi, Mar 26; PTI/GANASHAKTI: A delegation of the CPI and the CPI(M) has met Election Commission officials and demanded that release of the film based on the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi be deferred, claiming it to be a "propaganda material".

CPI's D Raja and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Nilotpal Basu met the poll panel officials on Monday and also pointed out serious law and order situations in Tripura and West Bengal.

Kanpur: There remains a crowd of independent candidates in the general elections.

This tendency also appears at the present edition of the parlimentary polls.

The unique as well as odd symbols of the independepent candidates do attract the voters.

Capsicum, Bread, Air-conditioner and other things have been selected as the election symbol by them.

According to the Election Commission, as many as 178 symbols have been chosen for distributing to the independent candidats.

Jammu, March 26 (PTI) BSP state general secretary A S Mottan and 16 others, including retired officers, sarpanches and social activists, joined the Congress here Tuesday in the presence of Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief and former tourism minister Gulam Ahmed Mir.

Mottan was accompanied by his supporters, who joined the Congress too at an event at the party's headquarters in Shahidi Chowk.

Lucknow, Mar 26 (PTI) Nomination papers of 49 candidates for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls on the state's eight seats were rejected Tuesday after they were found invalid during scrutiny, election officials said.

In a statement issued here, an official said that out of the total 146 candidates who filed nominations for the first phase on April 11, 97 remain in the fray after scrutiny.

Lucknow, Mar 26 (PTI) The BJP has so far given Lok Sabha tickets to three Uttar Pradesh cabinet ministers, a move seen as the party's recognition of the work done by these leaders.

Names of two state cabinet ministers -- Rita Bhauguna Joshi (Allahabad) and Satyadev Pachauri (Kanpur) -- were announced by the party in its 10th list of candidates on Wednesday. The saffron party had in its first list named another state cabinet minister, S P Singh Baghel, as it candidate from Agra (SC).

New Delhi, Mar 25 (PTI) Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit and other leaders of the unit Monday discussed the possibility of an alliance with the AAP for the Lok Sabha polls in the city in a meeting with party chief Rahul Gandhi.

The opinion on the issue remained divided and everyone in the meeting was unanimous that Gandhi should take a final call on it in the larger interest of the party, said a participant of the meeting.

Lucknow, Mar 24 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party Sunday released its first list of candidates in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections.

Rajya Sabha MP and AAP state in-charge Sanjay Singh said the party has fielded Yogesh Dahiya from the Saharanpur parliamentary seat and Shweta Sharma from Gautam Buddh Nagar.

Satish Chandra Sharma is the AAP's candidate from Aligarh, he said.

The party is likely to contest the polls from 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

For rest of the seats, the process to select candidates is in the final stage, Singh said.

Imphal, Mar 24 (PTI) Congress' Manipur unit has accused the BJP of putting up an insurgent-backed candidate for a Lok Sabha seat here and compromising national integrity in a bid to win the upcoming elections at any cost, a charge rejected by the latter as an attempt to malign the party.

BJP's candidate H Shukhopao Mate for the Outer Manipur parliamentary constituency, which goes to polls on April 11, has been accused of being backed by insurgent groups in the state -- Zomi Re-unification Organisation (ZRO) and Kuki National Organisation (KNO).

Lucknow, Mar 24 ( PTI) Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav will contest from Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, the party announced Sunday.

An SP release also said the party will field senior leader Mohd Azam Khan from Rampur.