Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah will launch his Lok Sabha elections campaign in Uttar Pradesh with a rally in Muzaffarnagar's Shahpur town on Wednesday, Sudhir Saini, the BJP's district unit chief, said.
The home minister will address a public rally at National Inter College Ground in Shahpur.
After the rally, Shah will attend a meeting of the BJP's Lok Sabha core group of Uttar Pradesh in the town. The BJP has renominated MP and Union Minister Sanjeev Kumar Balyan from Muzaffarnagar.
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary will also address the rally, Saini said.
The RLD recently parted ways with the opposition INDIA bloc and joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from two seats in Uttar Pradesh as part of the NDA.
Eight Lok Sabha constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh -- Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Kairana, Bijnor, Nagina (SC), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit -- will go to the polls in the first phase of the elections on April 19.
The party's candidates from the eight constituencies where polling will be held on April 19 are expected to take part in Shah's rally.
Cong complains to EC against BJP's ad campaign
The Congress complained to the Election Commission against BJP's advertisement campaign, alleging it was maligning the opposition party through the use of cropped and distorted videos, and urged the poll body to take immediate action against the authors and issue instructions for recall.
It also filed a complaint against what it called the BJP's "malicious attempts" to link the Congress campaign to billionaire financier George Soros.
AICC General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said, "The party lodged a complaint against the BJP's repeated and malicious use of cropped and distorted videos to malign the INC. The ECI was requested to take immediate action against the authors of this low-level campaign, as well as issue instructions for its recall."
A delegation of party leaders comprising Salman Khurshid, Pawan Khera and Gurdeep Sappal met the poll panel and handed over a memorandum of their complaints to them.
"The Congress Party lodged a complaint against the BJP's malicious attempts to link the Congress campaign to George Soros," Ramesh said in a post on X, adding, "This complaint covers other examples of false propaganda that target the INC as well. Not only are these materials patently false, they are also mala fide and knowingly defamatory. The ECI was requested to take immediate action against the authors of this low-level campaign, as well as issue instructions for its recall."
BJP's '400 plus seats' slogan aimed at changing Constitution: Gehlot
Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has claimed that the BJP has given the slogan 'Abki baar 400 paar' because it wants to make several changes in the Constitution.
Citing the reactions of the UN and Germany over the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Gehlot said there is criticism of India world over for stifling democracy. Suspecting abolition of reservation by the BJP, Gehlot also questioned the monopoly of the ruling party over Lord Ram.
The senior Congress leader was addressing the nomination rally of party's Jodhpur Lok Sabha candidate Karan Singh Uchiyarda at Ummed Stadium along with Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasara and All India Congress Committee general secretary Sachin Pilot.
He said the BJP leaders always create an atmosphere in their favour by misleading the voters and giving distorted facts. "The BJP leaders are so frightened of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah that they do not share the problems and issues of their regions with both of them," alleged Gehlot, adding that now is the time to change all this.
Won't contest elections anymore, enough: CM Siddaramaiah
Citing advancing age, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said he has decided not to contest elections anymore, as he won't have the health and enthusiasm needed to work after four years with advancing age.
During the 2023 assembly polls itself, he had declared that it would be his last election, but he will continue to remain in politics.
"People in Varuna want me to contest once again for Assembly polls from there, but I have decided not to contest in elections anymore. Now I'm 77 years old, still, have four years (assembly tenure), I will be 81-82 years old by then. I won't have health, and I will not be able to work happily. Can I work with enthusiasm? Enough," Siddaramaiah said.
"By 2028 (when Assembly elections are due in Karnataka), I will be 82 years old, and I will complete 50 years in politics. In 1978, I became the taluk board member," he told reporters in Mysuru.
When told he doesn't look old, he said, "I may not look old, but who can experience ageing, you or me?"
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Modi ended politics of caste, appeasement: Nadda; 'INDIA bloc a group of corrupt, dynasts'
BJP chief JP Nadda has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought a change in the political culture which was dominated by the politics of caste, dynasty and appeasement in the past and replaced it by setting the trend of development.
Addressing a meeting of intellectuals in Jabalpur in the run-up to Lok Sabha elections, Nadda alleged the opposition INDI alliance is a group of corrupt and dynast leaders.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought a political change in the political culture of the country. I want people to recall old political style which focused on caste, whether a person is forward (caste) or backward, which castes are supporting him and vote bank politics," Nadda said.
He alleged that caste-based politics used to be the main agenda of politics in the past. "Another way of doing politics in those days was through dynastic rule. Only members of one family continued to remain in the front while the rest were supposed to just clap," he said.
Nadda further said politics of appeasement was the trend in the country in the past. "But today we can say that after Modi ji arrived, the dynastic politics, caste politics and the politics of appeasement is ended and a new politics of development has started in the country," the BJP president said.