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.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday paid tributes to the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 33rd death anniversary. Taking  to social media X, formerly Twitter, PM Modi said, on his death anniversary, his tributes to our former PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi Ji.

Earlier in the day, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and party MP Rahul Gandhi remembered the former prime minister at Delhi’s Veer Bhumi on his death anniversary. In the national capital, other Congress leader such as P Chidambaram and Sachin Pilot, also paid their tributes to the former prime minister.

Rahul Gandhi wrote a post in memory of his late father in which he referred to his father’s dreams as his own. Rahul also uploaded a picture of himself and his father from when they were younger, in which Rajiv Gandhi is seen keeping his hand on Rahul’s shoulders. Rahul stated in the post that his father’s dreams are his dreams, and his father’s aspirations are his responsibilities. His father’s memories, today and always, always remain in his heart, Rahul added.

On May 21, 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a suicide bomber from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during an election rally in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. At Veer Bhumi, which is situated on the Yamuna River’s banks, he was cremated.

India observes National Anti-Terrorism Day on May 21st of each year to pay tribute to the former Prime Minister.

He was campaigning for his political party, the Congress, in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, when a lady from the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE) terrorist squad killed him in a suicide explosion in 1991. Following the death of his mother Indira Gandhi in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi assumed the role of India’s youngest prime minister. From 1984 to 1989, he served as the Prime Minister.

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.