Lok Sabha polls top updates: EC bars K Chandrashekar Rao from campaigning for 48 hours

The Election Commission on Wednesday banned Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief and former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao from election campaigning for 48 hours, saying that his remarks on April 5 about the Congress were “objectionable” and “derogatory”.

In Delhi, former Congress MLAs Neeraj Basoya and Naseeb Singh quit the party on Wednesday, citing its alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party.

Here’s a look at today’s top developments:

• Former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao was on Wednesday barred by the Election Commission from campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections for 48 hours in view of his comments against the Congress. The poll body said that Rao’s statements on April 5 at a rally in Telangana’s Sircilla district were violative of the Model Code of Conduct, which is a set of norms that political parties have to follow while campaigning. The Election Commission said that it had received a complaint from Congress leader G Niranjan alleging that Rao had made derogatory statements against the party. Subsequently, a show cause notice was issued to Rao. In response, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief on April 23 told the poll body that the “complaint is made by the Congress by picking some sentences from the press conference out of context”. However, the poll body issued...

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