Lok Sabha Election 2019 Updates: ‘Which U-turn?’ asks Kejriwal after Rahul blames AAP chief for delay in Delhi alliance talks – Firstpost

Lok Sabha Election 2019 LATEST Updates: Amid the uncertainty over an alliance between the AAP and Congress, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal sparred on Twitter over the issue. “An alliance between the Congress and AAP in Delhi would mean the rout of the BJP. The Congress is willing to give up 4 Delhi seats to the AAP to ensure this. But, Kejriwal has done yet another U turn! Our doors are still open, but the clock is running out,” Rahul first tweeted. To this, Kejriwal said, “Which U-turn? The discussion was still going on till now. Your tweet indicates that the coalition is not your will but just a show. I am sad that you are making statements.”

Election Commission has taken cognisance of Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan’s remarks reportedly aimed at BJP candidate Jaya Prada. The poll panel has reportedly sought the video footage of Khan’s speech.

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said at a press conference that the Election Commission should take cognisance of Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s “chowkidar chor hai” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 April. At a separate media briefing at the same time, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the party accused the BJP of holding “distortion campaign”.

National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Srinagar over claims of dividing India. “I challenge Narendra Modi, you will break but India won’t. You claim that I want to divide India. If I wanted to do so then Hindustan wouldn’t have existed,” he said. “Keep your tribe so strong that even the devil won’t succeed in breaking it.”

Bharatiya Janata Party announced list of seven candidates for Uttar Pradesh, naming Ravi Kishan as its candidate from Gorakhpur and Praveen Nishad from Sant Kabir Nagar.

The Election Commission on Monday “strongly condemned” Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and BSP supremo Mayawati for their communal remarks and temporarily barred them from campaigning for different periods.

The Supreme Court criticised the EC for allowing “hate speeches” and said that it was duty-bound to take action against politicians using “polarising” language.

The bench also referred to submissions of the EC that they can issue notices, then advisory and finally lodge a complaint against an errant politician for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by giving hate speeches based on caste and religion during campaign.

“The EC says they are toothless. They say that they first issue notice, then advisory and then complain,” the bench said, adding it would examine the aspect relating to poll panel’s power to deal with hate speeches during poll campaign.

The Election Commission has banned Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and BSP chief Mayawati from campaigning in a penalising action over their “hate” speeches. Adityanath has been banned for 72 hours while Mayawati has been banned for 48 hours.

BJP president Amit Shah, in a rally in Gujarat’s Kodinar, slammed the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) over SP leader Azam Khan’s “khaki underwear” comment which was allegedly directed at BJP candidate Jaya Prada.

He said,”Not only Azam Khan, but both Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party should apologize to the crores of women in our country.”

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday, in a joint rally with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur Sikri, slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over fugitives Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, and others. “Earlier, Narendra Modi said ‘Acche Din’, but now people are saying ‘Chowkidar chor hai’.”

“Narendra Modi is criticising the NYAY scheme, and saying that it will burden the middle class but I want to say: It will not come from the middle class, it will come from the pockets of the industrialists,” he said.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, in a Lok Sabha election rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur Sikri on Monday, launched an attack on the BJP party’s poll plank of nationalism. She said that if the party is nationalistic, the leaders should be speaking about India and not Pakistan. She said, “If you are nationalistic, speak about India.

If you are nationalistic, speak about the farmers who protested at your door. If you are nationalistic, stop hate speech. If you are nationalistic, stop insulting the Indian Army and respect them. If you are nationalistic, respect the Constitution.”
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi began her address in a public rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur Sikri. She said that in her campaigns in the state over the last month, she has seen the “truth” of the BJP government’s governance in the eyes of the people.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s convoy was attacked in a stone pelting incident in Anantnag on Monday, CNN-News18 reported. Mufti was whisked out of the area by security forces and was not injured, the report added.

The Supreme Court on Monday took up the contempt charge filed against Congress president Rahul Gandhi by BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi and asked for an explanation from Rahul in seven days. Lekhi had filed a contempt plea against Rahul for attributing his remarks on the recent Rafale verdict to the apex court. BJP claimed that Rahul, in response to the apex court’s judgment, said, “Supreme Court has said, chowkidar chor hai”.

“The comment has been inappropriately attributed to us by Rahul Gandhi, we didn’t say that,” the apex court said.

The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on the Election Commission saying it was duty-bound to keep “hate speeches” made by politicians in check. The apex court also asserted that the EC “cannot sleep” on hate speeches by politicians, taking note of the recent speeches made by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and BSP chief Mayawati.

The EC officials have been summoned by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The apex court has also agreed to examine the EC’s powers to deal with hate speeches based on caste and religion during poll campaign.

 Former actor and BJP candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur, Jaya Prada on Monday slammed Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan for his sexist remark allegedly directed at her. She said, “He shouldn’t be allowed to contest elections. Because if this man wins, what will happen to democracy?

“There’ll be no place for women in society. Where will we go? Should I die, then you’ll (Khan) be satisfied? You think that I’ll get scared and leave Rampur? But I won’t leave.”

The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Monday sent a notice to Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan for his “khaki underwear” comment directed at BJP candidate in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur.

NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma termed Khan’s alleged below-the-belt remarks against the actor as “extremely disgraceful” and said the women panel will be sending a show cause notice to him.

Reacting to Khan’s remarks, she tweeted that the NCW would also be requesting the Election Commission to bar him from contesting elections.

Amid the row caused by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan’s sexist remark against BJP candidate Jaya Prada, she has responded saying that sexism is “nothing new” for Khan. She also said that he had made similar comments in 2009, when Prada was a part of the SP.

Prada was quoted by ANI as saying, “It isn’t new for me, you might remember that I was a candidate from his party in 2009 when no one supported me after he made comments against me.I’m a woman and I can’t even repeat what he said. I don’t know what I did to him that he is saying such things.”

With the second phase of polling a few days away, political leaders have their campaign rallies planned all across the country — Rahul Gandhi is expected to travel to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala; Amit Shah is expected to address three rallies in Gujarat; Priyanka Gandhi to address party workers in Amethi and host a joint rally with Rahul in Fatehpur Sikri. Meanwhile, a day after Azam Khan stoked a controversy with his ‘khaki underwear’ remark, the Samajwadi Party leader Monday clarified that he was not referring to actor and BJP candidate Jaya Prada in his election speech, and that he will not contest polls if proven guilty, news agency ANI reported.

Rahul will also begin his three-day poll campaign in Kerala and is scheduled to address a rally in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. The Congress president will also address rallies in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar and Maharashtra’s Nanded.

Meanwhile, Priyanka will also begin her two-day visit to Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi on Monday. She is likely to hold meetings with party workers and also undertake a tour of the town which is one of the constituencies Rahul is contesting from.

Priyanka is the Congress’ big hope for the General Elections and she is trying to revive the party’s fortunes in Uttar Pradesh, especially in the eastern part of the state.

On Sunday, Priyanka campaigned for the Congress candidate in Silchar’s Assam. Coming down heavily on the BJP, she said that the Constitution is not being respected and an attempt is being made to destroy it by the present dispensation. During the roadshow, she also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has toured the world over, but hardly spent time in his own constituency in Varanasi.

“It is Mahapurush (BR) Ambedkarji’s birth anniversary. He laid the foundation of this country through the Constitution. It is the duty of every leader to respect that Constitution. “Today, you are seeing that the Constitution is not respected and an attempt is being made to destroy it,” said Priyanka, who is Congress’s general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh East.

Slamming the BJP manifesto, she said there is no space for different cultures and religions in it, as well as any respect for the Constitution. “On the other hand, the Congress manifesto has the ‘NYAY’ scheme, under which a poor family will get Rs 72,000 annually… In every word, there is respect for the Constitution,” she said.

Priyanka said she was told by people in Varanasi that Modi did not spend even five minutes with anyone there in the last five years. “He went to America and hugged there, went to China and hugged there, too. He went and hugged in Russia and Africa. He went to Japan and played the drum. In Pakistan, he had biryani.

“But in his own constituency, he did not go once to a family’s house to enquire about their condition,” she alleged. The Congress leader appealed to people to defeat the BJP-led government, which she said does not listen to public voice, does not try to understand their problems, does not believe it is peoples’ governance, and only wants to enjoy power.

BJP president Amit Shah will also be on the campaign trail on Monday and will address three rallies in Gujarat’s Gir Somnath and Banaskantha. Modi on Sunday addressed election rallies in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.

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Lok Sabha Election 2019 Updates: ‘Which U-turn?’ asks Kejriwal after Rahul blames AAP chief for delay in Delhi alliance talks – Firstpost