Lok Sabha polls: Narendra Modi should get a ‘tight slap of democracy’, says Mamata Banerjee

India’s General Elections will take place in two more phases until May 19, and the results will be declared on May 23. For the full schedule click here, and to subscribe to our newsletter about the elections, click here.

11 pm: Here are the day’s top updates:

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said Narendra Modi needed a “slap of democracy” for alleging that her government was made of extortionists. Meanwhile, Amit Shah asked Banerjee: ‘Will we chant Jai Shri Ram in Pakistan, if not in India?’ He also hit out at Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi’s remark likening the prime minister to Duryodhana, a character in the Mahabharata.
The Supreme Court rejected Opposition’s review plea seeking to validate 50% of votes. Meanwhile, Chandrababu Naidu said the EC has assured the Opposition that it will examine discrepancies in the VVPAT system.
Modi and Shah’s hate speeches promote enmity, Congress MP Sushmita Dev alleged in the Supreme Court. The court will hear the MP’s petition challenging the EC’s clean chits to the prime minister and BJP chief on Wednesday.
The Election Commission, meanwhile, issued a showcause notice to Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia for a tweet about AAP candidate Atishi Marlena’s caste.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said former Anti Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare never used the term “Hindu terror”. Fadnavis claimed that previous Congress governments at the Centre and in the state had coined the phrase as part of the party’s vote-bank politics.
The Election Commission said that allegations of booth capturing in Amethi Lok Sabha constituency were baseless. The poll commission was responding to Union minister Smriti Irani’s accusation that Congress workers had captured booths.

10.05 pm: Congress workers burnt an effigy of Modi in Agartala, Tripura, for his comments against Rahul Gandhi, PTI reports.

Modi had said in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district on Saturday that Rajiv Gandhi had died a corrupt person. “Your [Rahul Gandhi’s] father was termed ‘Mr Clean’ by his courtiers, but his life ended as ‘Bhrashtachari No. 1’ [corrupt no. 1].” Modi was purportedly referring to the Bofors scam, in which Gandhi was implicated. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991 in Sriperumbudur near Chennai.

The following day, the Congress had appealed to the Election Commission, seeking a campaign ban on Modi.

10 pm: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh claims terrorism in India is limited to Kashmir now because of the Narendra Modi government, PTI reports. “The Narendra Modi government has taken some strong actions due to which terrorism has now been limited only to Kashmir,” Singh says at a rally in Dhanbad in Jharkhand. “Earlier, it used to prevail across the country.”

9.56 pm: Congress leader Hardik Patel says Prime Minister Narendra Modi is staring at a defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, PTI reports. “After the five phases of Lok Sabha elections, the smile on Modi’s face has worn out,” Modi says. “The BJP and Modi know they are staring at defeat.”

“I don’t claim the Congress will sweep the Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat. But I am sure the Congress will get one seat more than the BJP in Gujarat,” he says. He also criticises Modi for saying former PM Rajiv Gandhi died a corrupt man.

9 pm: BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma says 20 motorcycles were damaged by TMC workers. “CRPF personnel are helping us to gradually move away from here,” Sarma tweets.

8.57 pm: A group attacks BJP leaders Himanta Biswa Sarma and Dilip Ghosh convoy in Purba Medinipur, ANI reports. BJP alleges that the Trinamool Congress is responsible for the attack.

8.35 pm: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tells PTI that South Indian states have received “step-motherly treatment” from the Narendra Modi-led government. Tharoor says the south will play a key role in voting out the BJP and “overwhelmingly” back the Congress.

8.31 pm: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu says the Election Commission has assured Opposition leaders that it will look into future discrepancies between VVPATs and EVMs. Naidu and other Opposition leaders say they met Election Commission officials to ask the panel what action will be taken after a discrepancy is found.

8.25 pm: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh says that Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife, Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, are a “corrupt and power-hungry couple”, PTI reports. Singh has made the remarks at a rally in Ferozepur constituency, from where Badal is contesting the polls.

8.20 pm: Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi claims Opposition leaders have cast doubts over the functioning of EVMs because they know they are going to lose the elections, PTI reports. He was referring to the Supreme Court’s dismissal of an Opposition petition seeking that at least 25% of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail slips should be matched with EVMs.

8.17 pm: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara rubbishes reports that the Congress is preparing for Assembly elections after the results of the Lok Sabha polls are declared, PTI reports. “Some unwanted people are spreading news about going for the polls,” he tells reporters in Kalburgi. “We have formed an alliance with an intention to run the government for five years and will complete the full term.”

8.07 pm: The Supreme Court will hear on Wednesday Samajwadi Party leader and former Army officer Tej Bahadur Yadav’s plea against the disqualification of his candidature from the Varanasi seat, ANI reports.

8 pm: Congress leader Udit Raj, who quit the BJP last month, claims that the saffron party wants “deaf and dumb Dalits” in its ranks, PTI reports. “If any Dalit votes for BJP, then he/she will be jeopardising lives of their future generations,” Raj alleges. The Congress leader is the MP from North West Delhi constituency.

7.53 pm: Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu asks whether the Indian Army is meant to fight for the country or for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. In an interview with NDTV, he also defends his remark calling Narendra Modi a liar. “Should I call him Satyawadi Harishchandra then? [Harishchandra was a king known for speaking the truth],” Sidhu asks. “Where is the Rs 15 lakh? He is a liar, what else should we call them?”

7.50 pm: Rahul Gandhi claims that the NYAY scheme is a “surgical strike on poverty”, PTI reports. “Modi failed to keep his promise of depositing Rs 15 lakh into the bank accounts of people,” he says at a rally in Purulia town in West Bengal. “I do not believe in making false promises like him.”

7.45 pm: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati claims at a rally in Jaunpur town in Uttar Pradesh that Narendra Modi is the “chowkidar [watchman] of capitalists”, PTI reports. “BJP is going out of power in these elections... it has failed to fulfil the promises made in 2014 to the poor and middle class... despite all this, how can the prime minister seek votes again?” she asks.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav says the BJP is standing on a “foundation of lies”. “The BJP is standing on a foundation of lies and our alliance will shake its very roots... perhaps the BJP is not aware of the alliance storm,” he says.

7.40 pm: Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Suresh Pachouri has dumped several documents at former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s residence, as proof that the Congress has waived loans of 21 lakh farmers after coming to power in December, PTI reports. However, Chouhan tells reporters that the documents are “a bundle of lies”.

7.35 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has backed state Chief Electoral Officer Teeka Ram Meena, who the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has attacked for his report on bogus voting, PTI reports. The officer had on April 29 said that three women, including a panchayat member, had cast bogus votes in Kasargod constituency.

“Our democratic system is very secure,” Vijayan, a CPI(M) leader himself, says in a press meet. “If there is any wrongdoing, there are mechanisms in our democracy to initiate action against such incidents.” The chief minister says Meena was operating within the legal framework.

7.30 pm: The Congress has alleged that the BJP has accessed documents in Tripura which it is not supposed to, PTI reports. Tripura Congress Vice President Tapas Dey says the party has filed a complaint with the Election Commission.

“Documents attached in the BJP memorandum to the chief election commissioner [on May 2] include a letter of the returning officer addressed to the chief secretary of Tripura, a representation by Tripura Civil Service Association and the chief secretary’s letter to the Election Commission,” he says. A BJP delegation had met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on May 2 demanding that the Tripura chief electoral officer be sacked.

7.26 pm: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut agrees with Ram Madhav’s remark on Monday that the BJP may or may not win a majority on its own, News18 reports. “The NDA will form the next government,” he says. “The BJP will be the single largest party. As of now it looks a bit difficult for the BJP to reach the 280-282 figure on its own but our NDA family will cross the majority mark.

7.20 pm: Former Indian Air Force officer Anil Kumar Kaushik has joined the Congress, PTI reports. Kaushik, who retired from the IAF as a sergeant in the 1990s, says the Congress, unlike Narendra Modi, never politicised the military’s operations in the past.

“The Congress never took credit for several important army operations, such as liberation of Goa and East Pakistan [now Bangladesh],” he says in the presence of Gujarat Congress President Amit Chavda. “Surgical strikes also took place in the past. But, the party [Congress] never used such army operations to get political mileage.”

7.16 pm: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath says the Congress government has so far waived off loans of 21 farmers in the state, PTI reports. Former Chief Minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan has claimed the ruling Congress has failed to implement the farm loan waiver scheme, which it promised before the Assembly polls last year.

7.10 pm: Ram Madhav attacks Congress MP Shashi Tharoor for his remarks praising Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, ANI reports. Tharoor had praised Khan for remembering erstwhile Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan on his death anniversary on May 4.

“His love for the neighbours and hate for our leaders is very well known,” Madhav says. “He uses choicest abuses for our leaders; and he has great love for people across the border. He has to think what he is doing is right or not.”

7.06 pm: BJP Vice President Baijayant Jay Panda claims that the Opposition has been abusing Modi become of frustration about its “poor” performance in the Lok Sabha elections, PTI reports. He says the “Modi wave” will help the BJP gain many seats from states like Odisha and West Bengal, leading it to better its tally of 282 seats in 2014.

6.55 pm: The TTV Dhinakaran-led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam has sought the support of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to “send home” the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after the Lok Sabha results and results of 22 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu are announced on May 23, PTI reports.

AMMK leader Thangatamilselvan has said that his party will win all 22 seats, after which the AIADMK government will lose its majority in the legislature. Thangatamilselvan says if the DMK does not support the AMMK in seeking a motion, it would mean that the MK Stalin party is “afraid of us”.

6.45 pm: BJP leader Ram Madhav claims that based on ground reports from party workers, it seems the party will do as well as it did in the 2014 polls (winning 282 seats), if not better, ANI reports.

6.32 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath says the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has turned the national Capital into a “city of potholes” and has hurt the sentiments of people of the city, according to News18. “Kejriwal has nothing to do with ‘vikas’ [development] and he does not have any interest in working in collaboration with the central government for the betterment of national capital,” he says.

6.28 pm: Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Deepender Singh Hooda hold a roadshow in Haryana’s Rohtak constituency, ANI reports.

6.14 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says the Bharatiya Janata Party has lakhs of rupees at its disposal and indulges in violence. “This is their politics, they don’t have any ideology,” Banerjee says at a rally in Purulia in West Bengal, according to ANI. “Money doesn’t matter to me. That is why when Narendra Modi came to Bengal and accused my party of being tolabaaz [extortionist], I wanted to give him a tight slap of democracy.”

6 pm: Congress MP Sushmita Dev files an additional affidavit in the Supreme Court stating: “The respondent ECI failed to appreciate that the hate speeches delivered by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are ‘corrupt practices’ under Section 123A of the Representation of People Act, 1951”, ANI reports.

The Supreme Court will on Wednesday hear Dev’s plea seeking expeditious action by the Election Commission against Modi and Shah for allegedly indulging in hate speech and repeatedly using the armed forces for “political propaganda”.

5.51 pm: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ram Madhav claims there is no civility in West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s discourse. “Unfortunately for her, everything is politics, there’s no civility in discourse,” Madhav tells ANI. “It’s ‘jungle raj’ and dictatorship in Bengal, [there’s so much] violence that EC is forced to deploy central forces at polling booths.”

4.58 pm: Congress President Rahul Gandhi holds a roadshow in Dhanbad with party candidate Kirti Azad.

4.21 pm: Shah challenges Mamata Banerjee to take action against him for chanting Jai Shri Ram. “You want to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ or not?” he asks the crowd in Bishnupur. “I want Mamata to listen to this loud and clear that this is West Bengal and not Pakistan..”

4.18 pm: Responding to Priyanka Gandhi’s Duryodhana jibe, BJP President Amit Shah says only time will prove it. “Priyanka ji this is democracy, nobody becomes Duryodhana just because you called them so,” Shah says at a rally in Bishnupur, West Bengal. “We will find out on May 23 who is Duryodhana and who is Arjuna.”

3.49 pm: The BJP criticises the Opposition for remaining silent over a video in which sacked BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav is purportedly talking about assassinating Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reports PTI. Yadav was given a ticket by the Samajwadi Party but his candidature has been rejected.

“It’s a very serious matter,” says BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra. “It is about the prime minister’s safety. It is about conspiracy to assassinate an elected prime minister. Why is the opposition silent?” He asks if Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati will apologise for projecting him as their alliance’s candidate against Modi.

3.42 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath campaigns in Delhi. He hits out at Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, and alleges that she teaches abuses to children.

3.41 pm: East Delhi Returning Officer issues a notice to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct with a tweet on religion of AAP’s East Delhi candidate Atishi, reports ANI.

3.11 pm: Priyanka Gandhi compares Modi with Mahabharata character Duryodhana, and says he too will be defeated because of his ego.

3.06 pm: At the Ambala rally, Priyanka Gandhi says the BJP promised two crore jobs every year but added five crore unemployed. “Not even a paisa of black money was recovered,” she says. “While people lost jobs, BJP harassed unemployed youth.”

2.53 pm: Chief Judicial Magistrate Thakur Aman Kumar grants bail to Union minister and BJP’s Begusarai candidate Giriraj Singh after he surrendered before the court for his remark against the Muslim community during an election rally in the state.

2.37 pm: Rahul Gandhi addresses a rally in Jharkhand. He says the Congress will protect the “jal, jungle, zameen” of tribals, reports PTI.

2.27 pm: Union minister and BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman campaigns in West Bengal. She accuses Mamata Banerjee of spreading violence in the state, reports News18. “You should protect the people - but you have problems if people chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’,” says Sitharaman. She adds that Narendra Modi performs his duties as a prime minister. “He did the same when cyclone Fani came,” says Sitharaman. “He called up Mamata [Banerjee] and offered his help to the people and the state. But she didn’t answer the calls instead she lied to the people that he [Modi] never called.”

2.24 pm: She says this election is not about one family but about BJP’s failure. “Prime minister has no time to listen to the farmers but has time to ask for votes by taking the name of martyr of my family,” says Gandhi.

2.23 pm: Priyanka Gandhi addresses a rally in Ambala, Haryana. “Today the biggest challenge in front of country is job opportunity, farmer development, women security,” she says.

2.22 pm: Actor Swara Bhaskar campaigns for AAP’s East Delhi candidate Atishi. “AAP government has worked on education and health in Delhi,” says Bhaskar, according to News18. “Politics has also been polarised, words like anti-nationals and naxalites have been formed which is demeaning. They use nationalism when they have no answers.”

1.33 pm: Amit Shah reiterates that the BJP government will bring the Citizenship Amendment Bill to give citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Christian refugees from the neighbouring countries. “We will ensure that ever infiltrator is identified and deported out of India.”

1.30 pm: BJP President Amit Shah takes on Mamata Banerjee at a rally in Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal. “Mamata didi, why do you want to stop us from chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ in India? Shree Ram is the idol of every Indian, he exists in the culture and ethos of India. No one can stop us from worshipping him,” he says.

Shah comments come days after three people were taken into police custody in West Midnapore district for allegedly chanting “Jai Shri Ram” as her convoy passed by.

1.15 pm: BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir general secretary Ashok Kaul surrenders his security as a mark of protest against the killing of a party leader last week and the withdrawal of security to the party activists by the government, PTI reports. Kaul says the murder of Gul Mohammed Mir in Anantnag was a failure of the state administration.

“He [Mir] was given security in June 2018 after we requested the government,” Kaul says, according to PTI. “A constable and a SPO were provided to him. But unfortunately, the constable was withdrawn in December 2018. After that, his house was attacked, but he fought and saved not only himself but the SPO as well.”

Kaul says he had written to the Senior Superintendent of Police of Anantnag in January to provide security to Mir once again. “I was told that he had no threat and should return home as he was putting up at party office at Jawahar Nagar [in Srinagar]. Afterwards, the SPO was also withdrawn. The [government’s] grievance cell also wrote to the police last month to provide him security, but it was not. This is the failure of the administration.”

12.55 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan says his meeting with his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday was significant. “We discussed the national political scenario. According to KC Rao, both the fronts [NDA and UPA] may not get a majority,” ANI quotes Vijayan as saying. “So, the regional parties will play a prominent role. There were no discussions about the PM candidate.”

12.45 pm: Computer Baba, a religious leader who was accorded minister of state status in the Madhya Pradesh government last year, campaigns for Congress leader Digvijay Singh. In October 2018, he had resigned from his post, accusing the government of being “anti-religion”.

“The BJP government was unable to construct Ram temple in the last five years...No Ram temple, no Modi,” Computer Baba tells ANI.

12.35 pm: Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan says Malegaon blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur was nominated the BJP candidate from Bhopal as the party feels she is “not guilty” but was made a scapegoat by the previous Congress government, IANS reports.

Congress coined the word ‘bhagwa aatanki’ (saffron terror), he alleges. “This was brought under a conspiracy to defame Hindutva,” Chouhan tells IANS. “And Sadhvi Pragya was made the scapegoat. She was tortured and despite being a woman she was beaten up mercilessly.”

12.27 pm: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief MK Stalin may not meet Telangana Chief Minister K Chandasekhar Rao on May 13, PTI reports. The chief minister’s office had earlier said that Rao would meet Stalin in Chennai.

“There is no appointment fixed between Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and DMK President MK Stalin yet,” Telangana Rashtra Samithi legislator K Kavitha tells ANI.

Rao has been pushing for a a non-Congress, non-BJP front at the Centre for some time and had met Stalin last year reportedly to discuss the same. However, the DMK later formed an alliance with the Congress for the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu.

12.15 pm: Two EVMs and VVPATs were recovered from a hotel near a polling booth on Monday in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar, The Times of India reports. The incident took place during the election process of Muzaffarpur parliamentary constituency.

District Magistrate Alok Ranjan Ghosh says the seized machines were reserved to be used in case any fault machines needed to be replaced, the Hindustan Times reports. Ghosh says a showcause notice has been issued to the polling officer to explain why he took the machines to a hotel.

11.53 am: BJP General Secretary Ram Mandhav says the party will be able to form the government on its own. “We won’t need anyone to form the next government, we are confident,” he tells NDTV in an interview. Madhav claims the BJP will retain its seats in the north, and add more to its tally from states like West Bengal, Odisha and in the North East. “Many leaders like KCR, Chandrababu Naidu dream of becoming kingmaker,” he says. “When we have king, where is the need for a kingmaker?”

11.47 am: The Supreme Court allows Congress candidate Karti Chidambaram to travel abroad in May and June. A bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asks him to deposit Rs 10 crore security money. The Congress leader is under investigation in the INX Media and Aircel-Maxis cases.

11.27 am: The Election Commission rejects a complaint against a BJP hoarding that allegedly sought votes by invoking the defence forces. The poll panel rules the hoarding does not violate its instructions. The Model Code of Conduct guidelines “pertain to advertisements that are published or displayed at the cost of the public exchequer”, says the Election Commission.

11.21 am: After the Supreme Court dismissed the review petition on VVPATs, Farooq Abdullah says their aim is election should be fair for every party. “We respect the court’s order but we have to still take this to the people of the country,” he says, according to News18.

11.01 am: The Election Commission has written to NITI Aayog, seeking its comments on the Congress’ allegation that the Prime Minister’s Office was misusing it for election purposes, The Indian Express reports.

10.58 am: The Supreme Court rejects the review petition filed by 21 Opposition leaders demanding that at least 50% votes are matched with VVPAT slips, reports Bar and Bench.

10.34 am: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and CPI leader D Raja are present in the court, reports Live Law.

10.29 am: The Supreme Court will hear a review petition submitted by 21 Opposition parties asking it to direct the Election Commission to cross-check at least 50% votes using Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail slips today.

10.24 am: Chandrababu Naidu writes to the Election Commission demanding verification of 50% EVMs using VVPAT slips, reports ANI.

10.24 am: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor praises Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for his “genuine and far-reaching” interest in Indian history.

10.22 am: Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan says the Congress should do something for the farmers instead of giving him proof, reports News18. A delegation of Congress leaders had gone to Chouhan’s home with a list of farmers whose loans have been waived. “The Congress claims that they have waived farmers loan while the farmers still receive notices from bank,” says Chouhan.

10.19 am: Muzaffarpur District Magistrate Alok Ranjan Ghosh says investigation will be done after EVMs and VVPAT were found from a hotel during polling on Monday. “Sector officer was given some reserved machines so that it could be replaced with faulty ones,” Ghosh tells ANI. “After replacing EVMs he was left with 2 balloting unit, one control unit and two VVPAT in his car.”

10.14 am: The overall polling percentage in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections in 51 constituencies was 62.56%, says Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena, according to India Today.

10.11 am: BJP’s South Bengaluru candidate Tejasvi Surya has claimed that a Hindu can never be a terrorist, reports India Today. He made the comments while campaigning in Delhi along with actor Vivek Oberoi and former Aam Aadmi Party leader Kapil Mishra.

10.08 am: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath has alleged that the previous state governments supplied electricity to people on the basis of caste and religion, reports The Indian Express. “During Eid, electricity was provided and during Diwali, it was not,” he said at a rally in Dumariyaganj Lok Sabha constituency. “During Muharram, electricity would be there but it disappeared at the time of Holi. We said no to this.”

10.04 am: BJP’s West Bengal President Dilip Ghosh assets have gone up by nearly 50% from 2016, reports IANS. In his latest affidavit, the BJP’s Medinipur candidate declared assets worth Rs.45.36 lakh. In 2016 it was Rs 30.29 lakh.

10.01 am: Navjot Singh Sidhu has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “will drown in a wave created by lies”, reports The Hindu. Sidhu said most of the Central schemes had failed to meet their targets.

9.46 am: A Congress delegation reaches former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s home with documents containing details of farmers whose loans have been waived off by the current state government, reports ANI.

9.44 am: Congress President Rahul Gandhi has said that he only has love for Narendra Modi despite the prime minister insulting his father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, reports PTI. At a rally in Chandni Chowk in Delhi on Monday, Gandhi said Modi as prime minister had insulted a martyr. “Whatever hatred you direct against me, I will only return it with love,” he said. “Hatred can only be defeated by love. Remember, the same love will defeat you Narendra Modi ji on May 23.”

9.36 am: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis claims that former ATS chief Hemant Karkare had never used the term “Hindu terror”. “This word had been used by three persons Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, the then Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and NCP chief Sharad Pawar,” he tells reporters in Indore. Fadnavis says Karkare is a hero for the entire country. “The BJP has already stated that it does not agree with Pragya’s controversial remark against Karkare,” he adds.

9.31 am: Actors Swara Bhaskar and Gul Panag will campaign for the Aam Aadmi Party today, according to News18. While Bhaskar will take part in a bike rally for East Delhi candidate Atishi, Panag will campaign for South Delhi candidate Raghav Chadha.

9.30 am: BJP President Amit Shah will hold three rallies in West Bengal while Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is also scheduled to address a public meeting in the state.

9.29 am: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to address a public meeting in West Bengal.

9.28 am: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi will hold a roadshow in Rohtak, Haryana, today, reports News18. She will address two public meetings in Hisar and Ambala also.

9.22 am: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav says he would want the prime minister to be from Uttar Pradesh. This comes after BSP President Mayawati said she may have to contest the elections. “I want the prime minister to be from Uttar Pradesh,” he tells NDTV. “While it could be from any part of the country, still, I’d prefer UP.”

9.16 am: Actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol says he does not know much about Balakot strikes or India’s relations with Pakistan. “I am here to serve people; if I win maybe I will have an opinion, right now I don’t,” he tells NDTV.

8.38 am: Asked if listing of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist help the BJP, Shah says, “It is an achievement of the Modi government, so why should we not take electoral advantage of it?”

8.33 am: Shah says one of the reasons people will vote for Modi government is that the prime minister has assured them that his government is committed to national security, which is the topmost priority of his regime.

8.32 am: BJP President, in an interview to Hindustan Times, claims that BJP will win over 282 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. “Our analysis of the rounds of voting complete shows that not only the number of seats but also the winning margin will increase and the spread of the BJP/NDA will increase in terms of area,” he adds.

8.23 am: Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Lakku Venkateshwarlu rubbishes allegations of booth capturing in Amethi, reports News18. Union minister Smriti Irani had alerted the poll panel and tweeted a video of a woman who claimed that she was made to vote for the Congress.

“Following the complaint, the sector officer, senior officials and even observers rushed to the booth and spoke to the polling agents of the political parties, other officials in the polling booth following which it was conclusively found that the charges in the video clip were fabricated,” Venkateshwarlu tells reporters. “Due to prima facie allegations in the clip, the presiding officer was summarily removed while the probe was going on.”

8.22 am: The Election Commission stops the screening of a short film featuring Bharatiya Janata Party leader and terror accused Pragya Singh Thakur in Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal, reports PTI. The film, titled Bhagwa Aatankwad Bhramjaal, is based on the Samjhauta Express, Malegaon, Ajmer Dargah and Mecca Masjid blasts.

8.20 am: Here are the top stories from Monday:

The fifth phase of voting for the Lok Sabha elections were held on Monday in which voters across seven states in 51 constituencies cast their ballot. The Election Commission said that the total turnout in the fifth phase was 62.56%.
Modi challenged the Congress to fight the Lok Sabha elections in the name of “Bofors accused” former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. “I will wait and see if the Congress and other Opposition parties will accept this challenge or not.”
AAP legislator Devinder Singh Sehrawat joined the BJP. Sehrawat is the second AAP MLA to join the BJP after Gandhi Nagar legislator Anil Bajpai switched camps on Friday.
Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee traded bards over Cyclone Fani. Speaking at an election rally in Tamluk in East Medinipur district, Modi claimed Banerjee did not take his call when he tried to talk to her about the storm. Banerjee said she could not take Modi’s call as she was in Kharagpur monitoring the situation.
The BJP candidate in West Bengal’s Barrackpore constituency, Arjun Singh, accused Trinamool Congress workers of assaulting him. Singh, who was earlier in the ruling party, is contesting the elections against former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi.
Suspected militants threw a grenade towards a polling station in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, where polling is underway for the Anantnag constituency in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections

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Election watch: Narendra Modi should get a ‘tight slap of democracy’, says Mamata Banerjee

All of the day’s Lok Sabha poll updates, as they happened.