Lok Sabha Polls 2024: BJP-TDP-Jana Sena To Share Seats In Andhra Pradesh; Kamal Hassan's MNM Joins DMK-Led Alliance

With few weeks left before the high-octane Lok Sabha polls to elect members of the 18th Lok Sabha, the final poll schedule of the Parliament Elections 2024 are yet to be announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The general elections are expected to take place in April and May. With several rallies and meetings and poll campaigns, all political parties across the nation are gearing up for the biggest nationwide festival of democracy. However, the primary focus is on the electoral battle between the ruling BJP-led NDA alliance and the newly formed Opposition bloc of 'INDIA'.

Congress on Friday announced its first list of 39 candidates with few weeks left for the high-octane Lok Sabha polls. As per the list, the party has fielded Rahul Gandhi once again from Kerala's Wayanad.

Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel has been fielded by the party from Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal from Alappuzha (Kerala) and Shashi Tharoor renominated from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.

After meeting with the top leader of the party in Delhi, Odisha BJP has said it may field candidates in all the 147 assembly and 21 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state as the nda">pre-poll alliance and seat-sharing talks with the BJD came to a halt.

According to BJP state president Manmohan Samal, who along with other senior leaders of the party returned to Bhubaneswar from the national capital on Friday evening, said, "There was no talk on alliance and we (BJP) will go to polls alone. We had gone to Delhi to hold discussions with the central leaders on our preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state. No talks on alliance or seat-sharing with any party were held during the meeting."

BJD leaders VK Pandian and Pranab Prakash Das, who had rushed to Delhi in a chartered flight on Thursday evening to discuss pre-poll alliance issues with BJP central leaders, also returned to Bhubaneswar. Upon their return, they maintained silence regarding the outcome of their discussions.

PM Modi is scheduled to embark on a day-long visit to Arunachal Pradesh today where he will inaugurate several development projects including the Sela Tunnel which will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang bordering China.

An official on Wednesday said that Modi will dedicate the tunnel to the nation at a function to be held at Baisakhi in West Kameng district.

He will also lay the foundation stone for around 20 development projects, before proceeding to neighbouring Assam, the official said

Stalemate continues on seat-sharing talks between the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the meeting between Chandrababu Naidu and Amit Shah remained inconclusive on Thursday.

Further meeting between Shah and Naidu is scheduled today.

PM Modi embarked on the elephant and jeep safari inside Assam's Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve this morning. He was accompanied by park director Sonali Ghosh and other senior forest officials.

Modi, on his maiden visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, first took the elephant safari in Mihimukh area of the Central Kohora Range of the park followed by the jeep safari inside the same range.

Two possible rivals in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, NCP (SP) leader and Baramati MP Supriya Sule, and Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar, on Friday were seen together hugging each other at a temple in Baramati tehsil.

Ahead of the polls, speculations are rife that Sunetra Pawar could be fielded by the Ajit Pawar-led NCP in the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency against Sule, who is Ajit's cousin and the daughter of party founder Sharad Pawar.

As per media reports, former Union Minister and Congress leader Suresh Pachouri joined BJP on Sturday morning in presence of former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Ahead of the party's seat-sharing talks with Union Minister Amit Shah for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, top NCP leaders gathered at the residence of former Union minister Praful Patel on Friday evening,

NCP president and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, and NCP Maharashtra unit chief Sunil Tatkare have already reached the national capital for the seat sharing talks.

Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis are also expected to be in the national capital for the talks with Shah.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut commented on seat sharing within the MVA alliance in Mumbai, stating, "I claim that we have offered those seats to Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi that their leaders told us in a list. We will try to solve all the issues they have. All the seats that Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi will get as an alliance of MVA, we will win all those seats."

Despite the fact that the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP are yet to come out with their full list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, the poll campaign preparations are going on in full swing in the state.

With the recent bomb blast at Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe, alleged raising of "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans in the corridors of 'Vidhana Soudha' and the ongoing water scarcity in Bengaluru, the BJP has many reasons to raise voice against the ruling Congress.

PM Modi on Saturday unveiled development projects worth rupees 55,600 crores in Arunachal Pradesh. The list of projects also included the strategic Sela tunnel designed to provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang.

Hailing the development work done by BJP in Arunachal Pradesh, PM Modi on Saturday said the kind of work done by his government in the last five years in the Northeast, the Congress would have taken 20 years to do it.

"Congress would have taken 20 years to do what we have done in the last five years in the Northeast", PM Modi said at a public meeting in Itanagar.

"The Northeast is going to become a strong link in India's trade, tourism and other relations with South Asia and East Asia. Today, projects worth over Rs 55,000 crore have been unveiled here," he said.

As per media reports, Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena have joined hands with BJP after reaching a mutually agreeable seat-sharing formula.

According to the deal, the Jana Sena and BJP are likely to get nearly eight seats, out of the total 24 Lok Sabha seats while the rest will go to TDP. Amongst the 175 assembly seats in the state, the two parties are likely to get between 28 and 32 seats.

The confirmation came from TDP senior leader Kinjarapu Atchannaidu who said,"Preliminary discussions are over," he said, adding, "The TDP, BJP, and the Jana Sena decided to contest the elections together."

Actor-politician Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) on Saturday announced that the party joined the DMK-led alliance for campaigning in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

It has been reported that the party also bagged one seat for the 2025 Rajya Sabha polls.

Former Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday confirmed that the three parties have agreed to form an alliance for the upcoming state assembly as well as the Lok Sabha polls and he reportedly said, ""Andhra Pradesh has been destroyed badly. The BJP and the TDP coming together is a win-win situation for the country and the state."

Ministry of Law & Justice in a notification announced that Election Commissioner Arun Goel has resigned with effect from March 9.