Lok Sabha elections Live Updates: Read on WhatsApp that Rahul Gandhi has escaped to Kerala, says Amit Shah

Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha 2019 elections, which are scheduled to be held in seven phases starting from April 1, political campaigns of leaders across party lines have gathered momentum. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing the biggest town hall programme at the Talkatora Stadium on Sunday, March 31, which will be attended by 5,000 people. PM Modi is set to interact with people across the nation, through video conferencing set up at more than 500 locations. On the other hand, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has announced to contest from a second seat from Kerala's Wayanad for the Lok Sabha polls. Stay with ibtimes.co.in for latest updates for news on the election campaign trail.

BJP President Amit Shah said, "I read on WhatsApp that Rahul Gandhi has run towards Kerala, leaving Amethi behind. Why has he escaped to Kerala? All of you know that this time Rahul Gandhi is done for in Amethi. So he is going to Kerala in a bid to win on the politics of polarisation."

Congress President Rahul Gandhi said, "Unemployment is one of the biggest challenges facing the country. It is the highest in 45 years. We will refund the money given by them to people like Anil Ambani and give to the youth of the country:

Congress President Rahul Gandhi said, "NYAY is a simple idea. We will identify the 20% poorest people of India whose income is less than Rs 12000 per month and they will be given Rs 72,000 annually. This will benefit 5 crore families, approximately 25 crore people."

"We introduced Land Acquisition Bill to protect the lands of farmers, tribals and Dalits. With all these policies we lifted 14 crore people out of poverty. In 2014, Mr Modi began to dismantle everything we had done," alleged Rahul Gandhi while addressing the rally in Andhra Pradesh.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said, "PM Modi has been Prime Minister for 5 years & he has not fulfilled this commitment and frankly I am surprised that the parties in Andhra Pradesh aren't aggressively pushing for Mr Modi to give Andhra what it has been promised."

Addressing a public meeting in Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, "Rs 72,000 a year....I'm not Mr Modi, I don't lie. He said he'll give you Rs 15 Lakh, that was a lie...Govt of India cannot give you Rs 15 Lakh in a bank account but Govt of India can give Rs 72,000 a year to the poorest people in India."

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh said, "It is not only a commitment made by Congress and Manmohan Singh, it's a commitment made by the country to Andhra Pradesh. It's our commitment that we'll give special status to Andhra Pradesh the moment we come to power in Delhi."

Prakash Karat, ex-general secretary of CPI(M) said, "To pick a candidate like Rahul Gandhi against Left means that Congress is going to target the Left in Kerala. This is something which we will strongly oppose and, in this election, we will work to ensure the defeat of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad."

"Decision of Congress to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad shows their priority is to fight against Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress's national commitment to fight BJP, as in Kerala its LDF which is the main force fighting BJP," Former CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat told a news agency.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi should have contested from a constituency where BJP is contesting. His coming to Kerala is nothing but a fight against Left, the CM added.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi will contest from Kerala's Wayanad in the upcoming Lok Sabha 2019 elections, the party announced officially on Sunday, March 31. This will be his second seat beside family stronghold Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

Senior Congress leader AK Antony announced, "Rahul ji has given his consent to contest from two seats, very happy to inform you that he will also contest from Wayanad in Kerala."