BJP on Monday issued a show cause notice to former Union Minister Jayant Sinha for not participating in the Lok Sabha elections after Manish Jaiswal was declared candidate from the Hazaribagh Lok Sabha seat and thereby maligning the party’s image. Jayant Sinha is the son of former union finance minister Yashwant Sinha and is the sitting MP of Hazaribag. Sinha did not participate in elections in Hazaribag Lok Sabha seat.

Sinha has been accused of not paying attention to his organizational duties and did not participate in the election campaigning since Jaiswal’s candidacy was announced. His absence during elections in Hazaribag Lok Sabha seat on Monday has further intensified the situation in BJP. The notice issued on Monday requires Sinha to provide an explanation within 2 days, as per instructions from state BJP president and former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi. Sahu said further actions will depend on Sinha’s response.

Attempts were made to reach him for his comments but Sinha remained unavailable and did not respond to calls and messages. Earlier Sinha took to X and expressed his desire to shift his focus towards combating global climatic change and highlighting his attention to continue working with economic and governance issues.

In the past Hazaribag has been represented by both Yashwant Sinha and his son Jayant Sinha and holds substantial political weight in Jharkhand. In the 2019 general elections Jayant Sinha was victorious by a margin of 4.79 lakh votes and defeated Congress’s Gopal Sahu. Jaiswal whose nomination sparked controversy had earlier contested elections from the Mandu assembly seat on a JVM ticket.

 Earlier Jayant Sinha has served on India’s council of ministers from 2014 and 2019, and also as the minister of state for finance and minister of state of civil aviation. The BJP MP is also known for helping launch the UDAN regional connectivity scheme that increased the number of operational airports in India by 50% in 3 years.

A voter turnout of 56.68 % was recorded in phase 5 till 5 pm as per the Election Commission’s Voter Turnout App, with the highest voting percentage in West Bengal (73 %) and the lowest in Maharashtra (48.66 %). Lok Sabha elections are taking place in 49 constituencies across 8 states and Union Territories in the 5th phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Voter turnout of 56.68% was recorded till 5pm. The breakup is as follows: J&K: 54.21%, Bihar: 52.35%, Ladakh: 67.15%, Jharkhand: 61.90%, Maharashtra: 48.66%, UP: 55.80%, Odisha: 60.55% and West Bengal: 73%. The fate of 4 Union ministers, including Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani, as well as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be decided in the ongoing Lok Sabha election. Former UP CM Mayawati, BJP’s Rae Bareli candidate Dinesh Pratep Singh, Smriti Irani were among the early voters today who cast their vote in the morning.

 The Lucknow East Lok Sabha seat will also hold a bypoll on the same day. The Lok Sabha seats which are participating in this phase include Rae Bareli, Mohanlalganj, Jalaun (SC), Amethi, Hamirpur, Jhansi, Banda, Kaushambi (SC), Fatehpur, Faizabad, Barabanki (SC), Gonda  and Kaisarganj. The candidates also include and minister of state of consumer affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur) and minister of state for housing and urban affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj). Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat which was previously held by his mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

 The total number of voters expected to cast their vote in this phase is over 2.68 crore voters, with 144 candidates looking for their support. 11 BJP incumbent Lok Sabha MPs are contesting in this phase, while nominating new candidates in Kaisarganj and Barabanki (SC) Lok Sabha seats.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Monday accused BJP of planning an attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Singh was addressing a press conference in New Delhi where he said the BJP has been in a state of panic ever since Arvind Kejriwal came out of jail.

He said BJP is now plotting to launch a deadly attack on Arvind Kejriwal. This conspiracy is being conducted directly from the Prime Minister’s Office. A threat of attack on Kejriwal ji has been written at Rajiv Chowk and Patel Nagar Metro stations.

The AAP leader accused PM Modi and the BJP of being immersed in hatred so much that they are conspiring to kill the Delhi Chief Minister. He added that the Prime Minister Office, BJP and PM Modi will be responsible if anything happens to Kejriwal. He pointed out that Kejriwal had not been given insulin for 23 days when he was in judicial custody in Tihar jail.

Singh said a 3 time elected chief minister is being openly threatened with attacks and murder, and nobody is saying anything. He said AAP leaders are writing letters to the Election Commission and if Kejiriwal gets a scratch, the PMO, BJP and PM Modi will be held responsible.

The Supreme Court has given interim bail to the Aam Aadmi Party supremo till June 1 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in New Delhi. But according to the terms of his bail, the Delhi chief minister cannot make any comments about his role in the Delhi liquor scam case.

 Kejriwal has spent over 50 days in Tihar Jail and the Enforcement Directorate arrested him in an excise policy case on March 21, days after the election schedule for the general elections was announced. The bail is applicable until June 1 and Kejriwal has to surrender to authorities on June 2.