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Narendra Modi will file his nomination from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency later today. As per reports, PM Modi will visit Kaal Bhairav Temple at 10:15 AM. Later he will meet with NDA leaders at 10:45 AM. Notably, Modi will file his nomination at sharp 11:40 AM today. Now many are saying that PM Modi has decided to file nomination at 11.40 am because as it is the 'Abhijit Mahurat' and 'Anand Yog’ as per Hindu Panchang. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be present for Modi's nomination filing.

leader the BJP has produced in Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi shall be remembered for patiently working towards the party's ascendance in a state where it is on its way to become a dominant force. Born in a Vaishya family in Bihar, Modi got involved in student politics while pursuing his BSc at Patna University and had played a key role in the Bihar movement of 1974 led by legendary socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, during which he also came in touch with his future collaborator Nitish Kumar and would be adversary Lalu Prasad. He went on to become one of the most prominent leaders of the ABVP, the RSS's students' wing, in Bihar, and often credited his entry into politics to the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. According to an anecdote Modi often shared, it was at his marriage ceremony in 1986 that the former prime minister, who at that time headed the BJP, told him that it was time to give up student politics and become a «full time political activist».

Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP on Monday shot off a complaint to the Election Commission of India raising concerns after the CCTVs monitoring the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used in the Baramati Lok Sabha polls and kept in a strong room, went off. On Monday, Supriya Sule posted a short video on X which showed CCTV cameras monitoring the strong room where the EVMs were kept, not displaying any images. Sule claimed that «the CCTVs going off for 45 minutes is suspicious; when we contacted the election department officials and the administration, we didn't get a satisfactory reply. There is no technician present, and our party functionary is not allowed to survey the EVMs. This is a very serious issue and the Election Commission should take immediate cognizance and disclose why the CCTVs went off». She also asked the EC to take action against those involved in switching off the CCTVs.

Trinamool Congress will ensure that the INDIA bloc comes to power, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that «INDIA bloc will win at least 315 seats while the BJP will win a maximum of 195 seats.». «There will be no Modi in Delhi. Didi is with the people here. Didi will ensure that the INDIA bloc comes to power at the Centre. Based on the numbers I received till yesterday, they will get around 190-195 seats. INDIA bloc will get 315 seats,» Banerjee said while speaking at a rally in Bangaon Lok Sabha constituency in North 24 Parganas district. «Modi Is not coming to power this time… The polling so far has been good. That is why the leaders of the ruling party at the Centre are scared. They have realised that Modi will not be back as the Pm. They should not brag about 400 seats anymore,» Banerjee said.

assault on AAP MP Swati Maliwal at Delhi CM's residence here, the BJP on Monday said that women safety was not assured in the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal's residence has become a «boxing ring». Reacting sharply to reports of alleged assault on Maliwal, Union minister Anurag Thakur took a dig at the AAP saying, «Once known as Arvind Advertisements Party, it has now become the Arvind Assault Party, demonstrating the degradation of its founder Arvind Kejriwal and his associates.» Women's safety is not assured in the AAP, he said.

Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency witnessed a record turnout of 38%, highest in the last 25 years, on Monday. The pre-delimitation turnout was 15% in 2019. Electors ET spoke with said their vote represented “anger on the ground and a democratic response against the decisions of August 5, 2019”. This was the first election in the last three decades when no separatist organisation had called for boycott, which also played a role in improving the numbers. Political parties, however, complained that their election agents were not allowed by the administration to function smoothly at several booths. Voting went peacefully in all the areas and police and paramilitary for ces reported no major violent incident.

voter turnout of more than 66% was recorded on Monday in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections covering 96 constituencies. With the conclusion of this round, polling for general elections has crossed the halfway mark as it is completed in 23 states/UTs and 379 Lok Sabha constituencies out of 543. Also, assembly elections have been completed in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh, apart from 28 assembly seats of Odisha.

polling across eight constituencies of south-central West Bengal saw sporadic incidents of violence on Monday, although the state led other regions of the country in voter participation. Several people, including three CISF personnel in charge of the security of Dilip Ghosh, BJP's Bardhaman-Durgapur candidate, and a Trinamool worker, were injured in Monteswar and Kalna Gate areas, respectively, of Purba Bardhaman district. Two vehicles carrying Ghosh's security personnel were also vandalised. Separately, a Trinamool worker in Purba Bardhaman's Ketugram, which is part of the Bolpur Lok Sabha seat in Birbhum district, was reportedly murdered on Sunday night.

Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party's Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal on Monday alleged that she was assaulted by the personal assistant of DelhiCM Arvind Kejriwal at his official residence following a request by Kejriwal that she quit from the Upper House to pave the way for the party's lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi. Maliwal, former chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, went to the Civil Lines police station and alleged that a close aide of Kejriwal had assaulted her on the chief minister's directions at his official residence. Police said a formal complaint had not yet been received.

DELHI: With the conclusion of the fourth phase of polling on Monday, the Lok Sabha elections now move towards the Gangetic plains, having concluded in south and central India barring 13 seats in Maharashtra. Accordingly, political parties are shifting their campaign focus. In Uttar Pradesh, 41 seats will vote in the remaining three phases including hot seats like Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Ballia, and Ghazipur. BJP did extremely well in the last two elections, winning most these seats. In West Bengal, polling will take place for 24 seats out of total 42 seats in the remaining phases. BJP and Trinamool Congress are locked in a high-stake battle in the state where the former has deployed several union ministers to oversee election campaigning. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is leading the campaign for Trinamool.

voter turnout of more than 36 per cent took place in the redrawn Srinagar Lok Sabha seat without any untoward incident on Monday, the highest since 1996 when the constituency in Jammu and Kashmir recorded nearly 41 per cent polling. The Srinagar constituency recorded 36.58 per cent voting till 8 pm, the Election Commission of India said.

Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday passed away. Modi had earlier disclosed that he was battling with cancer for the last six months.

Hyderabad: A voter turnout of 61.54 per cent was registered in the election to 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana on Monday, which went off peacefully.

Varanasi (UP): A day before filing his nomination papers from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a six-kilometre-long roadshow on Monday evening and said the warmth and affection of people is «unbelievable». People lined the barricaded roads, some of them holding saffron flags, balloons and small «trishuls». Small stages were set up along the route where cultural performances were held. Cutouts of famous people from Kashi were installed in many places.

voter turnout of approximately 57.55 per cent was recorded till 6 pm on Monday in Uttar Pradesh where polling was held in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in the fourth round of the seven-phase general elections. Polling was held between 7 am and 6 pm.

Congress on Monday accused the Narendra Modi-led central government of being "anti-MSME" and alleged that thousands of small businesses have shut down in the past 10 years. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed that the vital MSME sector accounts for 30 per cent of GDP, 40 per cent of exports and employs 12 crore people.

Kolkata, Days after his removal as the party's West Bengal unit general secretary, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh was back as its star campaigner for the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections. The TMC on Monday submitted its list of star campaigners to the Election Commission and Ghosh's name was figured on the list.

special court for people's representatives in Bengaluru on Monday granted bail to senior JDS MLA HD Revanna after concluding a hearing on his bail petition.

Adityanath said Monday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will again form the government, asserting that even Lord Ram wants his «ardent devotee» to win. He was addressing rallies in Barabanki and Rae Bareli, from where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is contesting the Lok Sabha elections.

Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate from Patliputra Lok Sabha constituency, Misa Bharti, filed her nomination for Lok Sabha Elections on Monday.

Delhi chief Devender Yadav on Monday said the party will hold around five to seven town halls in the national capital ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Congress leader Rahil Gandhi will take part in one of the town halls, he said.