New Delhi, May 14 (TIWN): Lok Sabha Election 2019 LATEST Updates: In an extended address through the NaMo app, prime minister Narendra Modi made a drawn out appeal to people of Varanasi (which he repeatedly referred to as 'Kashi') ahead of its polls on 19 May. He admitted that while he has done a lot, there is a "lot left to do, but we have to do it together." He also asked people to click selfies after voting and post them on social media. "Between all the running around, I will see your photos and feel your blessings travelling to me," he said. Modi also asked Varanasi voters to "break the record" of maximum votes polled.

Faction wars in the Congress' ranks in Punjab have kept Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has been drawing huge crowds wherever he has campaigned across the country, from campaigning in Punjab, his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu. She said it was Congress leader and Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh who had expressly asked Sidhu not to campaign in the state. It had earlier been reported that Sidhu will not be campaigning in the state because his vocal chords had been damaged after 80 rallies in 28 days.

The Supreme Court has told Priyanka Sharma, the BJP youth leader in Howrah who was arrested for sharing a meme which had an image of Mamata Banerjee morphed onto the body of Priyanka Chopra's Met Gala look, that she must apologise after her release on conditional bail. The court had first held that there would be no bail if Priyanka did not apologise and added that her situation is "different" as she is a BJP member. Senior advocate NK Kaul appearing for Priyanka said "asking for apology is amount to infringement of right to freedom of speech."

The unrelenting, often violent, back and forth between BJP and TMC in West Bengal continued well into Tuesday, a day after police raided the house of a BJP worker in Barasat. Police, reported ANI, were acting on a complaint lodged by TMC candidate from Barasat, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar who alleged that the BJP was distributing money for votes. BJP leader Mukul Roy, meanwhile, said cars belonging to BJP leaders were attacked by TMC workers in Barasat. "BJP's Arvind Menon was holding a meeting with few leaders in Barasat. Few people led by Kakoli came there and attacked the cars parked outside. There is no democracy in this state," he added.

A day after she hogging headlines with her personal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati took to Twitter to say that temple visits had become the new election fashion adopted by leaders, along with roadshows. She also said the expenses of these were quite a lot and that these should ideally be borne by the candidates themselves. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are among many who have made frequent visits to temples. Mayawati also commented on leaders visiting temples during campaign bans, something Adityanath could be accused of having done.