Five phases have been completed in the ongoing seven-phase Lok Sabha elections. All seven phases of voting will end on 19 May, results for which will be declared on 23 May.
Catch all the updates on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections here.
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BJP as Corrupt as Congress: Mayawati
Alleging that the BJP is "as corrupt as the Congress", BSP supremo Mayawati Thursday sought people's support for her party and its allies in the Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing a joint rally of the BSP and its ally the Loktantra Suraksha Party floated by rebel BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini, she claimed that both the Congress and the BJP had come to power with the support of Dalits "but did nothing for them".
"The Dalits and backward communities have always been used as vote bank by the Congress and the BJP, but they failed to improve their condition," Mayawati claimed.
"We must not allow them to come to power again," she told the rally.
Balakot Biggest Anti-Terror Operation in India's History: Rajnath
The Balakot air strikes on the Jaish-e-Muhammed terror training camp in Pakistan was the "biggest" anti-terrorist operation in the history of India, Union Home minister Rajnath Singh said in an election rally in south Delhi on Thursday.
"They (opposition parties) say the air force should have counted the bodies. Being the home minister and having solid intelligence input, I can say with full conviction that the Balakot air strikes was the biggest anti-terrorist operation in the history of India," Singh claimed.
Heavy Security Deployment in West Bengal Ahead of Sixth Phase of LS Polls
Taking into consideration the past poll violence seen in the eight constituencies going to polls in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, the administration has decided to deploy heavy security.
“Given the fact that the eight constituencies going to vote are in Left wing extremist areas, around 602 Central Armed Police Forces are being deployed. In addition, 112 state armed police personnel from different states are also being deployed,” IG CRPF (West Bengal) S Ravindran said, as per ANI.
'Vote Cast for NCP Went to BJP': Sharad Pawar Raises Concern Over EVM Again
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday, 9 May, raised concerns over the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in polls, claiming he himself had once seen during a presentation that a vote cast for his party went in the BJP’s favour.
Pawar, however, said he did not claim that all EVMs function in such a way.
“I am also concerned about the machine. In Hyderabad and Gujarat, some people kept an EVM before me and asked me to press a button. I pressed the button against ‘watch’ (the NCP’s symbol) and the vote got cast in favour of ‘lotus’ (the BJP’s symbol). I saw it happening myself,” Pawar told reporters, as per PTI.