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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and candidate from Hooghly, Locket Chatterjee said that while there are instances of threats at some places in her constituency, the overall situation is peaceful and everyone will be exercising their franchise.

fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections covering 49 constituencies in six states and two UTs, and 35 assembly seats in Odisha, will be held today. This round will mark the completion of voting exercise in around 78% (427) of parliamentary seats. Voting for the remaining seats will be held on May 25 (58 seats) and June 1 (57 seats). While Arunachal and Sikkim results will be out on June 2, Lok Sabha, Andhra and Odisha results will be declared on June 4. A look at the key numbers:

Modi on Sunday said that a batch of 300 people has already received citizenship through the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and that people of West Bengal will also receive citizenship in the coming days while attacking the Trinamool Congress for opposing the CAA. «CAA is for giving citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christians who fled religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh,» Modi said. «People have lost faith in TMC...Trinamool has raised questions about the character of women in Sandeshkhali. Women will reply through votes and take every revenge against the torture through votes,» Modi said at public rallies in tribal dominated Purulia and Bishnupur today. «Trinamool came to power with the slogan 'Ma, Mati and Manush' (Mother, land and people) and today they are exploiting the Ma, Mati and Manush.»

BJP, Ajaz Sheikh, who was killed in his native village of Herpora in Shopian of southern Kashmir late Saturday evening. Around the same time on Saturday, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Yanier area near the famous tourist spot of Pahalgam. Both of them are stated to be stable. Locals claim that four attackers had come to Sheik's house and two of them barged inside and opened fire at Sheikh who has been a vocal advocate of BJP's policies in Kashmir. Political parties, across the spectrum, condemned the attack but questioned the timing of such attacks as Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency is going for polls on May 25.

Yechury on Sunday wrote to the Election Commission alleging poll code violations by BJP leaders, and claimed more and more leaders of the saffron party are now «resorting to inciting hatred using anti-Muslim tropes». Yechury, in a post on X, shared a copy of his complaint to the EC, and said the poll panel must act immediately. «The ECI must act immediately. ECI cannot consciously remain silent which is tantamount to the betrayal of its constitutional mandate to conduct free and fair polls,» Yechury said. In his letter, he said the CPI(M) has filed a series of complaints against BJP leaders for Model Code of Conduct violation.

BJP in Odisha, BJD Nimapara MLA Samir Ranjan Dash on Sunday joined the saffron party after quitting the regional outfit. BJP Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal, party's Odisha in-charge Vijay Pal Singh Tomar and other leaders welcomed Dash at the party headquarters here. Dash had earlier in the day resigned from the regional outfit. The three-time legislator was annoyed after being denied a party ticket to contest the 2024 Assembly elections. «I have joined the BJP after losing confidence in the BJD leadership. I will ensure that BJP candidate Pravati Parida wins elections in Nimapara assembly segment,» Dash told reporters.

Prime Minister Modi's 'Khata-khat' remark on INDIA bloc, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday that one woman from every poor family will get Rs 1 lakh per year which will be deposited into her bank account, 'Taka-tak, Taka-tak'. Addressing a joint rally with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav today, Rahul Gandhi said this election is the fight for the Constitution. "BJP-RSS are attacking this and I want to tell them that no power can tear apart the Constitution of Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi. Narendra Modi ji has made 22 people billionaires. All the benefits were given to these people only. But now we are going to make crores of people 'lakhpatis'. A list of all the poor in India will be made. 'Har gareeb parivar mein se ek mahila ko chunkar unke bank account mein 'taka-tak taka-tak' saal ke 1 lakh rupee daal diye jayenge. (One woman from every poor family will be selected and Rs 1 lakh per year will be deposited into her bank account)" Rahul said.

Ayodhya gears up to vote for the first time after the Ram temple consecration, Muslim voters in the pilgrim town say «mandir-masjid» (temple-mosque) is not an issue for them and employment and development are their primary concerns. Some, including Iqbal Ansari, who was a litigant in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, give the BJP «due credit» for the development of Ayodhya while others feel much needs to be done to ensure that the gains percolate to all parts of the temple town. «When elections come, political leaders start remembering God, irrespective of their party. But people want health and education facilities and security,» Ansari told PTI. «The BJP has done good work in Ayodhya and hence it should get the due credit. The BJP has an edge here. Though I do not have much interest in elections, I will definitely cast my vote on polling day,» he said.

BJP candidate several times, the Election Commission of India, Uttar Pradesh has directed the concerned District Election Officer to take prompt and effective action. «Cognizance of the circulating video has been taken. Concerned District Election Officer has been directed to take prompt and effective action,» said the poll panel in a post on X.

Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for questioning TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee's loyalty to the INDIA bloc, several posters and hoardings of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge were defaced with ink in front of the party's state headquarters here on Sunday. Unidentified persons also wrote 'agent of Trinamool Congress' on Kharge's posters and hoardings. Sources in the Congress said that Chowdhury, who is in his hometown Baharampur, expressed displeasure over the incident and asked party workers to lodge a police complaint, which was registered, and the defaced posters were also removed. «The incident might have happened on Saturday night. This is the handiwork of the TMC which wants to create differences between senior Congress leaders and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury,» a party leader alleged.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday abandoned a joint poll meeting in Phulpur area here without delivering speech as their supporters broke through barricades trying to reach the dais. According to police sources, scores of Congress and SP supporters had reached the venue to attend the rally. When Yadav arrived at the venue, the crowd standing in front of the stage broke through the barricades to reach it, creating a «stampede-like» situation, they said. In a video clip shared on the official social media handle of both the SP and the Congress, people on the stage can be heard asking the supporters to move back. The appeals made from the stage failed to have any effect on the crowd.

AAP on Sunday said the Delhi Police has seized the DVR of CCTV cameras installed inside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence in connection with its probe into the "assault" on Swati Maliwal and accused the cops of planting stories to tarnish the party's image ahead of the elections. There was no immediate reaction from the Delhi Police. Maliwal, an AAP Rajya Sabha member, has alleged that Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar assaulted her on May 13 when she had gone to the chief minister's residence to meet him. AAP has rubbished her allegations and claimed that Maliwal is acting at the behest of the BJP to frame Kejriwal. Kumar was arrested on Saturday and produced in a court, which remanded him in five-day police custody.

INDIA bloc leaders, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused the Congress and RJD leaders of not attending the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya due to their 'Ghushpathiye' (infiltrator) vote bank. Addressing an election rally at Bettiah in West Champaran district in support of BJP's Sanjay Jaiswal, who is seeking re-election from Paschim Champaran Lok Sabha constituency, Shah said, «Congress and RJD were against the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya from the very beginning. Invitations for the ceremony were sent to them, but they did not come because of their 'Ghushpathiye' vote bank.» Shah accused Congress and RJD leaders of being scared that attending the ceremony would offend their vote bank. He also criticised the Congress-led opposition for raising fears about Pakistan's atomic power, stating, «Congress leader Manishankar Aiyar and ally Farooq Abdullah tried to scare us by saying that we cannot take back PoK because Pakistan has atom bombs. PoK belongs to India. It will remain so. We will claim it back.»

This phase includes key constituencies like Mumbai North, Mumbai North-West, Mumbai North-East, Mumbai North-Central, Mumbai South-Central, Mumbai South, Kalyan, and Thane. Notable candidates in this phase include:

Hooghly constituency will see an intense clash between the parties for the Lok Sabha elections on May 20, marking the fifth phase of the electoral process. To elect 42 members of Lower House of Parliament, West Bengal will witness voting across all seven phases, spanning from April 19 to June 1. Hooghly Lok Sabha Election 2024: Important dates The election results will be announced on June 4, 2024. Hoogly will see voting on May 20. Hooghly Lok Sabha Election 2024: Candidates

Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency, the Congress on Sunday alleged that over the last 10 years, the union territory has been at the receiving end of the Modi government's «malicious and step-motherly treatment». Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said Ladakhis have been protesting in freezing temperatures over the lack of control over their land and water. «The protests have been ongoing for months, including all 8 tribes and over 30,000 people, coming together for hunger strikes and huge marches,» he said. The Modi government's only response has been continued silence and apathy, Ramesh claimed.

Lok Sabha election 2024 will take place on May 20, covering 49 constituencies across eight states and Union territories. Polling stations will open at 7 am and close at 6 pm on Monday. In this phase, voters from the following areas will cast their ballots: Uttar Pradesh: 14 constituencies (Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Amethi, Jalaun, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Faizabad, Kaiserganj, Gonda)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that the BJP is winning only one seat in Uttar Pradesh. «Have you heard (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi is winning only one BJP seat of Kyoto (Varanasi) in Uttar Pradesh,» said Gandhi while addressing a joint poll meeting with Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav in Prayagraj in support of INDIA bloc candidate Ujjawal Raman Singh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said that he will turn Varanasi into Kyoto, a picturesque town in Japan. «The fight is to save the Constitution. The BJP and the RSS are attacking it, and I want to tell them that no power can tear and throw the Constitution away,» Gandhi said while waiving a copy of the Indian Constitution.

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Sunday urged the Centre to order a probe into the twin terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir a day earlier and also asked Pakistan to stop supporting terrorism in the region. The former chief minister said if a probe is not ordered into the two gruesome incidents, his party would «invite an international committee» to conduct an investigation to find out the culprits behind such attacks. Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing Aijaz Sheikh, a former sarpanch affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag. «I have been repeatedly saying that those sitting in Delhi are misleading the people by saying Article 370 was responsible for terrorism. How many years have passed since the abrogation of the Article? Has terrorism stopped?» Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of an election rally in the Mendhar area of Poonch district.

high-profile candidates, from ministers to actors, would test their luck in the hustings on Monday as seven Lok Sabha constituencies in the southern part of West Bengal go for polls in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections. A total of 1,25,23,702 voters — 63,51,320 men, 61,72,034 women and 348 third-genders — are eligible to exercise their franchise in 13,481 polling stations across the seven constituencies. The EC has identified over 57 per cent of the polling booths as sensitive and decided to deploy over 60,000 central forces besides 29,172 state police personnel for this phase, according to an official. Reopening of closed industries, poor health of jute mills and demand for jobs are the main demands of the electorate in Howrah, Hooghly, Serampore and Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituencies, situated on both sides of the banks of River Hooghly.

Jharkhand Lok Sabha constituencies — Chatra, Koderma and Hazaribag — and by-poll in Gandey assembly seat will take place on Monday amid tight security, officials said. Over 58.22 lakh electors including 28.29 lakh female voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the three Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, while 3.15 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in Gandey by-poll, an election official said. As many as 54 candidates are in the fray for polls in three Lok Sabha seats, while 11 candidates including Kalpana Soren, wife of jailed former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, are contesting in the Gandey assembly by-election, the official said. Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar told PTI, «In a bid to conduct free and fair polls, all preparations have almost been completed including the security arrangements.