Election Tracker LIVE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will once again contest from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP announced on Thursday as it released its first list of 184 Lok Sabha candidates after a long wait. BJP president Amit Shah will contest the Lok Sabha poll from Gujarat’s Gandhinagar. Shah’s contesting from the seat is a virtual signal that BJP stalwart LK Advani’s political career is over. Advani is the MP from Gandhinagar, and has held the seat six times.
Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari have been fielded from Lucknow and Nagpur again respectively. Union minister Smriti Irani will once again take on Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, as she has been fielded from the Gandhi bastion after giving the Congress chief a tough fight in 2014.
The list comes a day after the BJP’s central election panel met for a third time to finalise names for the Lok Sabha elections. The party has named 182 candidates. The Congress has already announced its candidates for 146 seats across several states in six lists for the election starting April 11.
The BJP has also released the candidates list for the upcoming Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim which will coincide with the Lok Sabha polls.
The Election Commission, meanwhile, has said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s interaction with students at a women’s college in Chennai did not violate the model code of conduct, though it has sought a report on his speech. Tamil Nadu’s Chief Electoral Officer said local election officials have reported that there was no violation in terms of permission obtained by Stella Maris College for Women to host the interaction on March 13.
Earlier, the Tamil Nadu government had ordered an inquiry as to how the college gave its approval for Rahul Gandhi to interact with its students when the model code for elections was in force. The Director of Collegiate Education had directed a subordinate official to inquire into the matter.
In his interaction with the students, the Congress president had promised 33 per cent reservation in government jobs for women and answered several of their questions.
He had also brought up the issue of the Rafale deal and reiterated his allegations about the pricing of the aircraft and the process.
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