The Telugu Desam Party on Friday released its final list of candidates for the general elections in Andhra Pradesh. The party led by the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is contesting 17 out of the state’s 25 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress will begin its protest against the Income Tax Department’s notice of Rs 1,823 crore to the party, for tax reassessment proceedings, from Saturday.

Here’s a look at today’s top developments:

  • The Telugu Desam Party on Friday released a list of four candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in Andhra Pradesh, reported The Hindu. The Lok Sabha candidates are Ambica Lakshminarayana from Anantapur, Chadipiralla Bhupesh Reddy from Kadapa and Kalisetti Appala Naidu from Vizianagaram. The party has fielded former YSR Congress MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy from Ongole. The Telugu Desam Party had earlier announced the names of 13 candidates that it is fielding in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Jana Sena.
  • The Congress on Friday announced that it will hold nationwide protests against the Income Tax Department’s notice of Rs 1,823 crore to the party for tax reassessment proceedings for the financial years 2017-’18 to 2020-’21. The Opposition party said that the ruling BJP is thwarting Indian democracy by illegally freezing the bank accounts of the Congress ahead of the general elections. The protests will begin from Saturday.
  • In Odisha, three-time Titlagarh MLA Surendra Singh Bhoi left the Congress on Friday and joined the Biju Janata Dal, reported The Indian Express. Bhoi had joined the Congress in 1986 and had lost to Biju Janata Dal’s Tukuni Sahu in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
  • In Maharashtra, Union minister Ramdas Athawale met with Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday as his party, Republican Party of India (Athawale), was left out of seat-sharing talks, reported PTI. The Republican Party of India (Athawale) was keen on contesting the polls from Shirdi, Athawale told PTI. “But Fadnavis said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde wanted Shirdi since sitting MP Sadashiv Lokhande is from the latter’s Shiv Sena,” he said.

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