AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday said that BJP’s onslaught was not stopped by Congress, rather wherever there was Congress, BJP has claimed victory. “There is more importance of regional parties now,” he added. Owaisi further said that BJP will now have to work on their promises because of the massive mandate given by people.

The Election Commission on Wednesday refused to make any changes to the counting process as demanded by 22 Opposition parties. They had demanded the VVPAT of an entire assembly segment be counted even if one of the five samples doesn’t match the EVM. They also demanded that the EVM-VVPAT tally should be done at the beginning of the counting process.

The cave in Kedarnath, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi meditated, was WiFi and telephone-enabled, according to a report. It also had an adjoining toilet with basic facilities, the report added. PM Modi emerged from the cave on Sunday after meditating overnight. After offering morning prayers at the Kedarnath temple, the PM will head towards the Badrinath shrine.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged, “PM Narendra Modi locked his cabinet ministers inside the 7 Racecourse Road residence during the time of demonetisation.” He further targetted PM on his recent Balakot airstrike statement and said PM was living in his own dream world. “See how much knowledge PM has. He told IAF not to get nervous,” Gandhi added.

BJP MP Nalinkumar Kateel on Thursday tweeted, “(Nathuram) Godse killed one, (terrorist involved in 26/11) Kasab killed 72, (former PM) Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel in this?” The statement comes amid controversy over BJP leader Pragya Singh Thakur’s ‘Godse is a patriot’ remark, following which she was asked to apologise by the party.

Calling PM Narendra Modi the “greatest actor”, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Friday said that it would have been better to have elected actor Amitabh Bachchan as PM. “Eventually, none of them would have done anything for you,” she added. Urging voters to vote responsibly, Priyanka further said that this election is a fight to save democracy.

Slippers were hurled towards the car from which actor-politician Kamal Haasan was campaigning in Tamil Nadu’s Tirupparankundram on Wednesday. Police said they have detained one person in connection with the incident, adding that the slippers did not hit Haasan and fell into the crowd. This comes amid controversy over Haasan’s ‘Nathuram Godse was free India’s first Hindu terrorist’ remark.

Ponnani. A small Lok Sabha seat in Kerala has never voted Congress to power. It is a small coastal city which was once famous for its spice trade. In the middle ages, it developed as a prominent trading centre with the Arab world and later the Portuguese attacked it many times to control its spice trade. Today, Ponnani is famous as a fishing town and the Ponnani Canal that divides the city into two.

In the midst of the Lok Sabha election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received about three times more TV airtime than Congress President Rahul Gandhi during the April 1 to April 28 period, reveals data from television viewership monitoring agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC). Modi was shown by television news channels for more than 722 hours during this period, while Rahul Gandhi was shown for a little less than 252 hours during the same period, Dainik Bhaskar reported on Monday citing BARC data.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Wednesday shared a poem on PM Narendra Modi saying that in the future, the children of “Modi bhakts” will learn this poem. “Modi Modi yes papa…Any development? No papa…Farmer happy? No papa…Women safe? No papa…10 crore job? No papa…15 lakhs? No papa…Only jumla? Ha ha ha,” the RJD tweeted.

Harish Shankar’s upcoming directorial Valmiki, which happens to be the Telugu remake of the Tamil hit Jigarthanda, has been moving forward on the floors at a brisk pace. While Jigarthada features Lakshmi Menon in a rather limited female lead role, the makers of its Telugu version seem to have roped in Pooja Hegde to build hype around the movie. “Valmiki is no different, and Pooja’s role in it is just as limited, so they require her to be available to shoot for 15 days only. However, the actress has certainly charged them a bomb, Rs 2 cr, for her appearance,” said a source.

Ex-cricketer Gautam Gambhir has said, “I came into politics so that I don’t remain one of those people who sit in air-conditioned rooms and tweet opinions”. Contesting from East Delhi constituency, Gambhir said he joined the BJP because of its “decisive leadership”. Gambhir also spoke about his Twitter spat with PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti following which she had blocked him.

Bollywood actor Sunny Deol, son of veteran actor Dharmendra, on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Deol, who met BJP President Amit Shah last week, joined the party here in the presence of Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman. Deol entered the Hindi film industry with “Betaab” in 1983 and his best hits include “Border”, “Damini” and “Gadar…”.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday said that she will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi if Congress President Rahul Gandhi asks her to. Addressing a rally in Kerala’s Wayanad, she accused PM Narendra Modi of “dashing the hopes” of the farmers. She said that the Congress will “empower” all the farmers if came to power.

Actor-politician Rajinikanth on Friday said his party will surely contest the next Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Speaking to reporters here, Rajini said he will not disappoint his fans when the Assembly battle was fought. He said the polling of about 72 per cent in the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu was “good”. Raji had earlier announced that his party would contest in all the 234 Assembly constituencies in the state as and when the elections were held.