Lok Sabha Election 2024 Live Updates: BJP to contest on 17 seats, JD(U) on 16, LJP gets 5 seats in Bihar

Former Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai says, “There is a competition for tickets in BJP because it wins. See Congress’s desperate condition where no one is asking for a ticket so there is no descent there. After the Lok Sabha elections, there will be distress in the Congress in the whole country. As per my political experience, after PM Modi takes the oath as PM, the Congress will split on a national level. That will also affect in Karnataka, that’s why the govt in Karnataka will not stay for long, and the Congress will split at the state level also.”

Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur on Monday, March 18, said the BJP has filed a complaint with the State Election Commission alleging that forms to get ₹1,500 per month are being filled in the offices of the block development office and panchayats to woo the voters by the Congress. Read here 

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Monday said the list of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidates for Lok Sabha elections will be out in the next two to three days. He also said the Congress has decided to field Vishal Patil from the Sangli parliamentary constituency. Sangli Lok Sabha seat in western Maharashtra is currently represented by BJP’s Sanjaykaka Patil.

#WATCH | Delhi: UP Deputy CMs KP Maurya and Brajesh Pathak leave the BJP headquarters after attending the core group meeting pic.twitter.com/zBbGkrvsiH

— ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2024

#WATCH | Former IPS officer RS Praveen Kumar joins the BRS Party in the presence of former Telangana CM KCR. pic.twitter.com/ACQHqwoVwn

— ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2024

Tamil Nadu’s political party, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), on Monday announced that it has decided to go with the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The party would firm up electoral ties with the BJP-led NDA and a formal announcement on the number of Lok Sabha constituencies and the candidates to be fielded would be made by PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss, PMK general secretary Vadivel Ravanan said.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that given the history of the Modi government, as shown by the “electoral bond scam”, one can only speculate that the lack of transparency was deliberately engineered to give the prime minister an unsupervised pool of funds to spend as he wishes. Read here 

#WATCH | Patna, Bihar: Lovely Mohan, wife of gangster turned politician Anand Mohan, joins JDU pic.twitter.com/Azu8GYIqGF

— ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2024

Congress Spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said on Monday, March 18, these guarantees, with the youth, women and the marginalised in mind, have been crafted after understanding the people’s problems and aim to lead India back to the path of prosperity. Here’s what the party’s ‘Paanch NYAY’ guarantees include.  Read here

#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducts a roadshow in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. pic.twitter.com/1y5cWk8RSW

— ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2024

The Election Commission has announced the voting dates for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The general election will take place in seven phases, starting on April 19 and concluding on June 1. Haryana will go to polls in a single phase on May 25. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recently parted ways with its coalition partner Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) in the state and it replaced Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini as the new Chief Minister. Read more here

According to the announcement, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest for 17 seats, while Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) will field candidates in 16 constituencies.The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), led by late Ram Vilas Paswan’s son Chirag, has been allotted 5 seats. Additionally, NDA allies including Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha will each contest one seat. Check full list of seats here

BJP to contest on 17 seats in Bihar, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) gets 16 seats. Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), led by late Ram Vilas Paswan’s son Chirag Paswan gets 5 seats, while NDA allies including Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha will get one seat each respectively.

BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde addresses Bihar NDA press conference at party headquarters in New Delhi.

IPS officer Vivek Sahay appointed as the next DGP of West Bengal after the Election Commission today removed the DGP of West Bengal.