Relief for Congress in Tumkur; Hardik Patel can't contest LS polls

In a relief to the JD(S)-Congress coalition in Karnataka, rebel Congress MP SP Muddahanumegowda withdrew his nomination paper against ally Deve Gowda. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held rallies in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where he criticised the ruling parties and continued his chowkidar rhetoric. The Election Commission of India said the Prime Minister’s address to the nation on Mission Shakti did not violate the model code of conduct.

Here are the latest election updates from various states across the country:

Karnataka

Incumbent Congress MP from Tumkur, SP Muddahanumegowda, who filed nomination papers, breaking the coalition orders, decided to withdraw his candidature on Friday. JD(S) leader Deve Gowda will contest from the seat.

BJP on March 29 finalised candidates for three more constituencies in Karnataka. It nominated the sitting MP Sanganna Karadi from Koppal and gave ticket to Raja Amresh Nayak and Anna Saheb Jolle from Raichur and Chikkodi partliamentary seats respectively.

The Congress filed a complaint with Election Commission against Tejasvi Surya, BJP candidate from Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency, over his earlier statement, ‘If you are not with Modi, you are anti-India.’

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at Mahbubnagar, Telangana, and Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, where he took digs at the ruling parties — Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He said that both parties, along with the Congress, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and YSRCP, had led the two states astray.

TDP suspended nine rebel members who filed nominations after not getting tickets from the party. The nine are: KPRK Phaneeswari, K Srinivasa Rao, Kantamaneni Ravi Shankar, M Madhava Reddy, Bommanacheruvu Sriramulu, N Vijaya Jyothi, A Raja Gopal Reddy, Sarva Srinivasarao and N Viswanadha Reddy.

Maharashtra

Actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar began her election campaign on March 29. She joined the Congress recently and will contest from the Mumbai North parliamentary constituency.

As many as 116 candidates were left in the fray for seven Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, election officials said. Prominent among them are union ministers Nitin Gadkari (Nagpur) and Hansraj Ahir (Chandrapur). March 28 was the last date of withdrawal of nominations. A total of 184 candidates had filed papers for Wardha, Nagpur, Ramtek, Bhandara-Gondia, Gadchiroli-Chimur, Chandrapur and Yavatmal-Washim seats.

Tamil Nadu

The Tamil Nadu government approached Madras High Court to issue a gag order, restraining DMK chief MK Stalin from speaking about the Kodanad Estate heist during election campaigns. The High Court sought response from Stalin in this regard by April 3.

Bihar

The opposition Grand Alliance in Bihar March 28 appeared to be heading towards a crisis, with a number of Congress leaders claiming the party was “not getting a fair deal” in seat-sharing arrangement and urged the high command to step in before it was too late. The opposition Grand Alliance, comprising the RJD, Congress, RLSP, HAM (S) and former Bollywood set designer Mukesh Sahni’s VIP, has announced the names of nine candidates so far. Elections to the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar will be held in seen phases between April 11 and May 19.

Gujarat

The Gujarat High court rejected Congress leader Hardik Patel’s plea seeking suspension of his conviction in a rioting case of 2015 in Mehsana. As per the Representation of the People Act, 1951, Patel won’t be able to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election due to his conviction.

Odisha

Biju Janata Dal released a list of 18 candidates for the state legislative assembly.

BJP’s Sambit Patra filed his nomination for Puri Lok Sabha constituency, at the district collector and magistrate’s office in Puri.

Delhi

The Congress’ President Rahul Gandhi on March 28 said new ventures will not require any regulatory permissions for three years and will get easy access to bank credit if his party is voted to power. He proposed to remove the existing ‘angel tax’ imposed on start-ups. Angel tax is levied on investment in start-ups. Currently, angel tax is charged at a maximum rate of 30%.  Gandhi said promoting domestic industry will be a key priority for the Congress and it will ensure that all new businesses are freed from the clutches of red tape to give a boost to the economy.