10.45 pm: Here are the top updates from the day:

  • The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has written to the Election Commission to complain against Narendra Modi’s comments at a rally earlier in the day, where he urged first-time voters to dedicate their votes to the defence forces in the wake of the Pulwama attack and the Balakot air strike.
  • The Election Commission replaced the police chief in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district before the Lok Sabha polls on April 11. The poll panel’s decision to replace Abhishek Gupta with Amit Kumar Singh drew criticism from the Trinamool Congress-led state government.
  • West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called Prime Minister Narendra Modi the “king of fascists” and claimed that Adolf Hitler would have committed suicide if he witnessed Modi’s activities. Addressing a public meeting in Raiganj, Banerjee said, “Modi was baptised in politics through violence and riots.”
  • The Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking a stay on the release of a biopic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The biopic, PM Narendra Modi, will be released on April 11, the first day of voting for the Lok Sabha elections.

9.43 pm: Speaking in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath says that if the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party “have faith in Ali, then we too have faith in Bajrang Bali”, PTI reports.

9.40 pm: The Election Commission directs investigation agencies under the central department of revenue to “come down heavily” on those who indulge in using black money and illegal inducements during the elections, PTI reports.

9.11 pm: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik says no party will get absolute majority in the Lok Sabha elections and that his state will play an important role in the formation of the next government at the Centre, reports PTI.

9.09 pm: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) writes to the Election Commission to complain against Narendra Modi’s comments at a rally earlier in the day, where he urged first-time voters to dedicate their votes to the defence forces in the wake of the Pulwama attack and the Balakot air strike.

Read more here:

CPI(M) moves Election Commission against Modi’s plea to dedicate votes to Pulwama, Balakot soldiers

9.05 pm: The Chhattisgarh chief electoral officer speaks to collectors and police superintendents via video conferencing after the Maoist attack that killed a BJP MLA. The officers were asked to take utmost precautions over the next few days. The polling in the state will take place in the first two phases.

7.56 pm: Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah conducts a road show in Odisha’s Puri with BJP’s MP candidate Sambit Patra and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, ANI reports.

7.48 pm: Modi says the BJP “was nationalist, is nationalist, and will remain nationalist”, ANI reports. “I just do not understand our friends in opposition, they are always suspecting our Army and Air Force. An alliance with such thinking can never protect India. The Opposition has started asking why Modi is talking about nationalism. Is it a crime to be a nationalist?”

7.47 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses public rally in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore in the presence of Chief Minister Edapaddi Palaniswami, ANI reports.

7.46 pm: Election Commission says polling will be conducted in 91 out of 543 Lok Sabha constituencies in 20 states and Union Territories in the first phase on April 11, ANI reports. The polling time for most of the constituencies has been scheduled between 7am-6pm with a slight variation for areas affected by “Left wing extremism”, the poll panel says.

6.25 pm: BJP President Amit Shah asks party workers in Uttar Pradesh to focus on the Dalit votes and the beneficiaries of the Centre and state government’s various welfare schemes, PTI reports. “The party president told us about the preparations for the Lok Sabha polls and our target,” Suresh Chandra Tiwari, president of BJP’s Awadh region, tells PTI. “We were told to focus on the Dalit voters and also on the beneficiaries of various welfare schemes of the Centre and state government.”

6.20 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan dismisses election surveys, claiming that the Left government will win 18 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats, IANS reports. “These election surveys fail to bring out the correct perspective and is far from reality,” Vijayan says at a rally in Thiruvananthapuram. “It is just a vehicle to ensure that those who are down get a new lease of life, but it never happens at all. The BJP and now the Congress has been trying to influence the media.”

6.03 pm: A BJP convoy in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh attacked by suspected Maoists, ANI reports. BJP MLA Bheema Mandavi was also in the convoy. Reports say five people were killed in the attack.

The Bastar Lok Sabha seat, in which Dantewada is located, votes on Thursday in the parliamentary elections.

Read more here: Chhattisgarh: Five killed in suspected Maoist attack on BJP MLA’s convoy in Dantewada, say reports

5.05 pm: Election Commission of India transfers Abhishek Gupta from the post of superintendent of police of Cooch Behar in West Bengal and posts Amit Kumar Singh in his place.

5 pm: BJP chief Amit Shah says the biggest achievement of the Narendra Modi government was making the country secure. “The UPA government, the Sonia-Manmohan government, was there at the Centre for 10 years...heads of soldiers used to be taken away,” Shah claims in Hyderabad, PTI reports. “But there was no one held accountable for it.”

4.50 pm: The Election Commission announces May 19 as date for Assembly bye-elections for Panaji in Goa, Sulur, Aravakurichi, Thiruparankundram, Ottapidaram in Tamil Nadu, and Kundgol in Karnataka, ANI reports.

The votes will be counted on May 23.

4.48 pm: The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party says the state administration’s decision to withdraw and downgrade security of its top leaders was against the democratic norms, PTI reports. The leaders include five candidates who are fighting the Lok Sabha polls.

The move has made it difficult for the leaders to move freely in the Valley. “The JKNPP is one of the oldest registered regional parties in the state and withdrawing or downgrading the security of its leaders at the time of elections is against the democratic norms,” the spokesperson said.

4.45 pm: Seven BJP leaders in Madhya Pradesh have been booked for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct, PTI reports. The leaders included former Union minister Prahlad Patel and city mayor Swati Godbole, district collector and returning officer Chhavi Bharadwaj says.

The leaders were booked after more than five people accompanied BJP’s Jabalpur Lok Sabha seat candidate Rakesh Singh during filing of nomination papers. According to rules, only five people including the party candidate are allowed to enter office of the returning officer, Bharadwaj says.

Singh was also among those BJP leaders who were booked.

4.37 pm: Rahul Gandhi says Narendra Modi is a coward as he avoids having a direct debate about corruption with him. “Chowkidar is not only chor, but also a coward. I told the Chowkidar to debate with me as he talks about corruption. He does not have the guts and fled away,” Gandhi says at a rally in Hailakandi in Assam, according to PTI.

The Congress president alleges that the prime minister had made false promises over giving two crore jobs, fair prices to farmers and depositing Rs 15 lakh in everyone’s bank accounts. “Chowkidar took away your money by demonetisation and GST. The keys of the banks were handed over to thieves like Anil Ambani. Once we will come to power, we will snatch that key from Anil Ambani and give it to the youths of the Barak valley,” he says.

4.35 pm: Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari says Narendra Modi will become the prime minister once again, PTI reports.

There has been speculation that Gadkari could become the likely prime ministerial candidate of the BJP in case BJP does not manage to secure majority in the Lok sabha elections. However, Gadkari dismissed that he harboured any such ambitions.

4.22 pm: All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi says Modi would be best remembered for incidents of mob lynching during his tenure. His comment came a day after there were reports of man being heckled by a mob for allegedly selling beef in Assam.

“These incidents will haunt Modi in his entire life that being a Prime Minister he was unable to stop such incidents,” Owaisi says, according to PTI.

He further says: “Mr Narendra Modi’s legacy...the top most thing he would be remembered for is during his tenure as prime minister of this great country and it is because of him being in power mob-lynching happened and such incidents increased.”

He alleged that people involved in mob lynchings were all Modi supporters.

3.55 pm: Addressing a rally in Islampur in Uttar Dinajpur district, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says Modi is urging people to vote by highlighting achievements of soldiers. “Army is not fiefdom of Modi and the BJP,” she says.

“In five years, Modi could not build Ram temple, whenever election approaches he rakes up the issue,” she says, according to PTI.

3.40 pm: Jammu and Kashmir BJP leader Sham Lal Sharma says those raising anti-national remarks should be booked under sedition and banned from contesting polls, PTI reports. Sharma, a two-time minister who recently resigned from the Congress to join the BJP, accused his former party of being in a “habit of backing anti-Indian forces”.

“If the Kashmir-based leaders are raising anti-India statement, they should face the sedition law”, he says.

3.24 pm: Actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth says people of Tamil Nadu will be happier if the interlinking of rivers like Mahanadi, Krishna, Cauvery, Krishna and Palaru is facilitated. “I have been advocating the project of interlinking of rivers since the time Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister,” he tells reporters, according to ANI. “He had accepted my idea. BJP in their 2019 manifesto has promised to undertake the project.”

3.20 pm: Modi hits out at the coalition government of Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka. “No one knows who is running Karnataka’s government because both defeated parties have come together for the power in the state,” he says.

“For votes, Congress has created divide in the society based on religion and caste. They did same in Karnataka during state assembly elections,” he adds.

3.18 pm: Referring to Mission Shakti, Modi claims the Congress did not have the courage to sanction missile tests. “They neither respect soldiers nor science,” Modi says while addressing in Chitradurga, Karnataka. “It’s about time to teach a lesson to such parties and people.”

The prime minister tells voters that they have to elect a strong government this elections. “Only a strong government can take decisions in favour of the country,” he says.

3.15 pm: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holds a road show in Saharanpur.

3.07 pm: Bhim Army appeals to members of the Dalit community to vote for Congress candidate in Saharanpur seat, Imran Masood, PTI reports. It comes days after Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati described Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar Azad as a “BJP agent”.

Azad is contesting from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

3.05 pm: Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Kandhamal district in Odisha scheduled for Tuesday is cancelled, PTI reports quoting unidentified party leaders. The visit was cancelled in view of a possible thunderstorm in Kandhamal area. Polling for the Lok Sabha and the Odisha Assembly in the district will be held on April 18.

3 pm: The Election Commission of India calls on revenue secretary and chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes to discuss the Income Tax Department’s searches in Madhya Pradesh. The poll body says the officials discussed the advisory it issued on April 7 regarding all enforcement agencies being neutral, impartial and non-discriminatory and it’s implementation.

The meeting came amid allegations raised by the Congress that the BJP was using agencies to target it during the election season.

On Sunday, the Election Commission had advised the finance ministry that any action by its enforcement agencies during election time should be neutral and non-discriminatory and asked that the officials of the poll panel be kept in loop about such actions.

2.55 pm: Congress President Rahul Gandhi challenges Narendra Modi for an “open book” debate on corruption. “Dear PM, Scared of debating me on corruption?” Gandhi says on Twitter. “I can make it easier for you. Let’s go open book, so you can prepare: 1. RAFALE+Anil Ambani 2. Nirav Modi 3. Amit Shah+Demonetisation.”

2.50 pm: Rajnath Singh says surgical strikes against terror camps in Pakistan and airstrike across the Line of Control were not similar to the “hot pursuit strategy” which was first initiated by former Home Minister LK Advani.

In Hot pursuit strategy, commando teams cross the Line of Control to carry out strikes at camps where mercenaries group before crossing the border, according to Outlook. In 2001, Advani had said that hot pursuit against terrorists is legitimate as it is in accordance with international law.

“It is not about hot pursuit or cold pursuit,” he tells ANI. “We only targeted the terror training camps while carrying out the strikes in Pakistan. We did not attack innocent civilians during the strikes. Besides, the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan were also preserved.”

2.37 pm: On reports that Nitin Gadkari or he can become prime minister if the BJP fails to get full majority, Rajnath Singh says it is “imaginary situation”. “We will get clear majority or even 2/3 rd, the prime minister will be Modi ji, no doubt about that,” Singh tells ANI.

2.30 pm: Congress leader Vaibhav Gehlot, son of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, files nomination from the Jodhpur Lok Sabha seat, PTI reports. “I know issues of Jodhpur well, what are needs of people, where bridges and underpasses are required and how issues of water supply and electricity are to be addressed,” Vaibhav Gehlot tells PTI. “They all are on my mind. I am going to win elections.”

The BJP has fielded Union minister of state – and sitting Jodhpur MP – Gajendra Singh.

2.28 pm: The BJP has denied ticket to its sitting lawmaker in Shimla (Reserved) constituency Virendra Kashyap. The party has fielded Suresh Kashyap, a sitting legislator from PAchhad in Sirmaur district, IANS reports.

2.11 pm: Former JNU Students’ Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar files nomination from Begusarai constituency as Communist Party of India, ANI reports. Begusarai will go to polls on April 29 in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections.

2 pm: Banerjee claims Modi was “baptised in politics through violence and riots”, PTI reports. “He [Modi] is the king of fascists,” she says. “Had Adolf Hitler been alive, he would have committed suicide seeing Modi’s activities.”

Read more here: ‘Adolf Hitler would have committed suicide if he witnessed Modi’s activities,’ says Mamata Banerjee

1.57 pm: Banerjee says Congress cannot form government on its own and the party will have to seek help from others. “It is because the Congress failed to put up a fight against the BJP, the saffron party grew from strength to strength,” she says, according to PTI.

1.55 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says alliance have been formed in every state to oust Modi. “Once he is voted out of power, all of us can work together to build a new India,” she says at a public meeting in Raiganj, reports PTI.

Banerjee claims BJP does not like West Bengal and Bengalis and that is why they have stopped the process to rename the state to Bangla.

1.40 pm: Congress leader Kapil Sibal accuses the Modi government of threatening democracy in the country. “Mr Modi started his tenure by fooling and he is ending his tenure by traumatising us,” Sibal adds.

Sibal claims Modi has used agencies to target the people who are opposed to him. “The Income Tax, ED, CBI are all in Modi’s clutches,” Sibal says at a press conference. “When these agencies and the government come on the same stage, there is no place for democracy.”

1.30 pm: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray says Narendra Modi should deal “such a blot to Pakistan” that nothing of it remains to mess (with India) again, PTI reports. Thackeray, who addressed a poll rally with Modi in Latur district of Maharashtra, welcomes BJP’s manifesto.

1.21 pm: Commenting on Rahul Gandhi’s criticism about BJP’s manifesto, Rajnath Singh says, “I don’t think in India’s political history so many people were involved in the making of a manifesto, so what he is saying is baseless, he keeps saying such things, don’t take it seriously.”

1.20 pm: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh says it is unfair to ask security forces to give proof about Indian armed forces’ air strike. “Why should one ask for proof from Indian Air Force, who only bombed the terrorist centre?” Singh tells ANI in an interview. “Should they count the bodies and give proof?”

He says there is no harm in asking the government questions related to the strikes, but not the Army. “As a home minister of the country, I am saying that the operation in Balakot took place on the basis of credible intelligence input,” he says.

1 pm: Kamal Nath accuses Modi of overlooking the scams that took place during the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh. “Modi is scared and has forgotten the Vyapam scam, e-tendering scam and several such other scams,” Kamal Nath’s office tells News18. “Nothing will be found in the raids as it is a political attack.”

The Chief Minister’s Office was responding to Modi’s comments about the searches conducted by the Income Tax Department in Madhya Pradesh over the last two days. Referring to Kamal Nath as “Bhrasht Nath” during an interview with News18, Modi said, “Action needs to be taken on scams and corruption.”

12.52 pm: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath files his nomination for bye-election from Chhindwara Assembly seat. His son Nakul Nath files nomination to the Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency, ANI reports.

12.50 pm: The Supreme Court dismisses a plea seeking stay on release of biopic on Narendra Modi. The bench says Central Board Of Film Certification has not yet issued the certificate to Vivek Oberoi-starrer PM Narendra Modi, ANI reports. The top court says it is to be decided by the Election Commission whether the movie can violate Model Code of Conduct.

Read more here: Supreme Court dismisses plea seeking stay on release of ‘PM Narendra Modi’ biopic

12.45 pm: Corruption is Congress’ policy, claims Modi. He also refers to searches conducted in Madhya Pradesh which, according to the Income Tax Department, exposed a racket involving unaccounted cash of Rs 281 crore. “It has not even been six months since the government in Madhya Pradesh was formed, but there is already proof that they were involved in loot,” he says.

12.34 pm: “I want to ask the first-time voter, can your vote go to those soldiers who conducted air strike on Balakot in Pakistan?” BJP’s Twitter page quotes Modi as saying. “Can your first vote be dedicated to those soldiers who were killed in Pulwama attack?”

Last month, the Election Commission had directed political parties to keep the country’s defence personnel out of election campaigning. The poll body had asked parties not to use photographs of defence personnel for advertisement. propaganda or campaigning. “They are apolitical and neutral stakeholders in a modern democracy,” the Election Commission had said. “It is therefore necessary that political parties and leaders exercise great caution while making any reference to the armed forces in their political campaigns.”

Read more here: PM Modi urges first-time voters to dedicate votes to soldiers who carried out Balakot air strike

12.27 pm: Modi claims the Congress manifesto is aimed at securing the future of the fourth generation of the family [Gandhi family]. “But the BJP manifesto is to secure the future of the next generation of the country,” he says.

The prime minister claims that the expiry date of Congress’ manifesto is May 23, the day when votes will be counted.

12.21 pm: Criticising the Congress for its promise to repeal sedition law, Modi says the Opposition party “should look in a mirror”. “It was the Congress that deprived Balasaheb Thackeray [founder of Shiv Sena] from voting,” he says.

In 1999, Thackeray had been banned from voting and contesting polls for six years for allegedly seeking votes in the name of religion while campaigning for an Assembly bye-election in 1987 in Mumbai. The ban was valid from 1995 to 2001.

12.10 pm: Modi criticises Congress for promising in its poll manifesto to repeal AFSPA if it comes to power. “What Congress has said in its ‘fraud manifesto’, Pakistan is also saying the same,” Modi says.

11.56 am: Modi says that the Congress manifesto speaks for Pakistan when it says that Article 370 will never be scrapped. “Congress wants to give an open licence to anti nationals,” he says. “This is exactly what Pakistan wants. How can you trust such a party?”

11.55 am: “We have ensured that terrorists are identified and killed, even if we have to enter other countries to do so,” says Modi.

11.52 am: Modi thanks the people who have been waiting at the venue since 9.30 am. “You are sitting here in this extreme heat,” he says. “I won’t let your tapasya go in vain. I will return this to you with interest.”

11.50 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his speech in Latur, Maharashtra.

11.48 am: Jammu and Kashmir leaders warn BJP not to scrap Article 370. The article grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir. While Peoples Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti says abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution would lead to Jammu and Kashmir’s “freedom” from India, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah took a jibe at Governor Satya Pal Malik for suggesting that there was no threat to Article 370 and Article 35A.

Read more here

J&K: Local leaders warn BJP not to scrap Article 370, ex-CM says it could ‘free’ state from India

11.42 am: In an interview to PTI, BJP’s Darjeeling candidate Raju Singh Bisht says he will ensure smooth implementation of National Register of Citizens in the region if his party is voted to power in West Bengal. “People here will vote for restoration of democracy in the Hills,” he tells PTI. “They haven’t forgotten the atrocities committed by the TMC during the 104-day-long agitation [over statehood].”

11.34 am: The police book three Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists for allegedly beating a BJP worker in Thane district, reports PTI. Pradeep Rane was allegedly thrashed for forwarding a WhatsApp message about the MNS along with a picture of party chief Raj Thackeray.

10.46 am: Union minister Smriti Irani says there is a question mark on Rahul Gandhi’s efficiency. “On one hand there’s an efficient government which has taken resolution to build a New India, on the other there’s a man who stays restricted to making announcements,” she adds.

10.45 am: The Election Commission will meet Revenue Secretary AB Pandey and Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman PC Mody today to discuss the ongoing income tax raids, reports PTI. This comes amid allegations by the Congress that the ruling BJP was using enforcement agencies to target it during the poll season.

10.33 am: The West Bengal government reportedly denies permission to BJP chief Amit Shah to address a rally in Darjeeling on April 10, reports News18. The state government cites security reasons for denying permission. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will also be holding a rally in the constituency the next day.

10.30 am: A group of former civil servants writes a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, pointing out what they called weak-kneed responses of the Election Commission ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. They allege that the Model Code of Conduct has been violated several times but the poll body has failed to take action.

Read more here

Former civil servants write to president on Election Commission’s ‘weak-kneed responses’

10.26 am: A report by the Association for Democratic Reforms says 29 of the 184 candidates contesting the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly elections have criminal records. Of these, nine are from the Congress and seven belong to BJP.

10.22 am: Today is the last day for political parties to campaign for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections to be held on April 11. It is also the last day of filing nomination for the fourth phase.

9.43 am: Modi says revoking the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, which was promised in the Congress party’s manifesto, would be like sending soldiers to the gallows, reports News18. “The government must have the power to protect its armed forces,” says the prime minister. “Only then will they have the morale to fight. Revoking AFSPA would be like sending our soldiers to the gallows. I won’t let this happen.”

9.39 am: Modi says former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s policies were an obstacle for development in the Kashmir Valley, reports News18. “It needs to be reviewed.”

9.35 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the people in Kashmir want a change, including Article 35A and Article 370. “The problem in Kashmir is largely due to the 50-odd political families there,” he tells News18 during an interview. “They have been milking the issue... People of Kashmir want freedom from such political families who have been preying on their emotions for 50 years. The situation in Kashmir is such that people want change, whether it is about Article 35A or 370.”

9.28 am: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said Congress President Rahul Gandhi should not give up his Special Protection Group cover is he believes terrorism is not an election issue, reports PTI “Opposition parties cannot feel the pulse of the nation like Prime Minister Narendra Modi can, which is why he managed to give Pakistan a befitting reply after the Uri and Pulwama terror attacks,” she said

9.16 am: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrsekhar Rao says his party’s MPs have always spoken in support of special category status for Andhra Pradesh and continue to support the same stand, reports ANI. He was speaking at Vikarabad on Monday.

9.13 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address rallies in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, while BJP chief Amit Shah will address rallies in Telangana and Maharashtra and take out a road show in Odisha.

9 am: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi says the BJP’s manifesto was “created in a closed room”. “The voice of an isolated man, it is short sighted and arrogant,” he says on Twitter.

8.55 am: Over 100 visual artists issued a joint statement appealing to Indians not to re-elect the Bharatiya Janata Party. They said the 2019 polls are a make-or-break election.

Read more: Over 100 visual artists ask Indians to vote out hate politics, call 2019 a make-or-break election

8.50 am: The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party for an error in the saffron party’s manifesto. Under the section “Women Empowerment”, the BJP manifesto stated: “We have constituted the Women’s Security Division in the Home Ministry, and have made strict provisions for transferring the laws in order to commit crimes against women, in particular in a time-bound investigation and trail for rape.”

Read more: ‘Commit crimes against women’: Congress, AAP mock error in BJP manifesto

8.45 am: The Income Tax department claimed that the raids conducted in Madhya Pradesh over the past two days exposed a “well-organised” racket involving unaccounted cash of Rs 281 crore.

Read more: Raids in Madhya Pradesh: Income Tax department claims Rs 281-crore racket exposed

8.40 am: Here are the top updates from Monday:

  • The Bharatiya Janata Party released its manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the manifesto is a document for good governance, a manifesto for national security and for prosperity. The Congress called the manifesto a “jumla manifesto” and a “balloon of lies”.
  • The Supreme Court ordered that Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail slips of five electronic voting machines in every constituency should be counted instead of just one EVM in the upcoming elections.
  • Mamata Banerjee said Narendra Modi should be ousted from politics and his mouth should be sealed with tape.
  • The Supreme Court refused to pass an order yet on a plea seeking a stay on the release of a biopic on Narendra Modi as the Central Board of Film Certification is yet to certify the film.
  • Facebook detailed its efforts to combat fake news and the spread of misinformation ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in India.