Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold electoral rallies in Uttar Pradesh’s Basti and Shravasti districts, as well as in Dwarka, west Delhi. Amit Shah, the home minister, and J.P. Nadda, the chief of the BJP, will campaign in West Bengal.
Rahul Gandhi, the Congress leader, will address election rallies in Bhiwani-Mahendergarh and Sonipat, Haryana. He will attend an event in Panchkula this evening. Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress chairman, will hold a poll rally at Yamunanagar district’s Jagadhri area.
Abhijit Gangopadhyay, a former Calcutta High Court judge and BJP candidate from Tamluk in West Bengal, was stopped from campaigning for 24 hours by the Election Commission of India beginning at 5 p.m. yesterday for his remarks against Trinamool chief and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
PM Modi spoke at a women’s conference in his parliamentary seat of Varanasi yesterday, praising the Uttar Pradesh government for its efforts to ensure women’s safety in the state. He also spoke at election rallies in Mahrajganj and Purvi Champaran, both in Bihar.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kharge expressed optimism that the INDIA group will win a majority in the elections and stated that the people believe the fight is now on to safeguard democracy and the Constitution.
Highlights from Lok Sabha elections on May 20 Here are the most recent updates.
Conscious decision by Congress to contest on lesser seats to keep Oppn together: Kharge
According to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress deliberately ran for fewer seats in this Lok Sabha election in order to keep the INDIA bloc intact and beat the BJP.
In an interview with PTI, he stated that this does not demonstrate “under-confidence” on the part of the party because the “compromise was struck to ensure the victory of the united Opposition while giving space to other parties which have strengths in different parts of the country”.
Mr. Kharge also referred to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as a “asset” and a star campaigner, justifying her decision not to run in the election. Mr. Kharge was asked which seat Rahul Gandhi should vacate if he wins both Wayanad and Rae Bareli. He said that it is his own choice.
Security beefed up in Delhi ahead of PM’s Dwarka rally
Security has been increased in portions of the national capital ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Dwarka, southwest Delhi, police said on Wednesday.
The Delhi Police has issued an advice informing the public about traffic diversions and advising commuters to avoid specific roadways. To preserve law and order, a large number of forces have been deployed. According to the advise, the Prime Minister will address a gathering at DDA Park in Dwarka’s Sector-14, opposite Vegas Mall, at 6 p.m.
In pitched capital battle, AAP and Congress find synergies
In a bid to prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party from winning all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital for the third time, the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress have formed the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). The AAP is contesting four seats, while the Congress is vying for three.
The campaign leading up to the May 25 election has seen its fair share of twists and turns, including the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal days after the election was announced, followed by his return to the campaign trail 50 days later, raising the stakes even higher. Mr. Kejriwal has emerged as the INDIA bloc’s star campaigner, both inside and outside of jail.
Mr. Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on charges of corruption in the now-defunct Delhi Excise policy, and the BJP has built its campaign around questioning the anti-corruption crusader’s credentials as an honest leader, as well as projecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development model to win back the electorate.
The AAP, on its part, has launched a campaign called “Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se” (Answer to Jail by Vote), calling their leader’s arrest a “political conspiracy” orchestrated by the BJP to “destroy” the party.
The Supreme Court granted Mr. Kejriwal interim bail until June 1 to campaign, and he has transformed the narrative with frontal attacks on Mr. Modi. He has queried whether the Prime Minister intends to retire at the age of 75, implying a power struggle inside the BJP. Mr. Kejriwal has addressed multiple public events, urging people to vote for the INDIA bloc if they want him to stay out of jail and continue working for the people of Delhi.
Jagannath temple takes centre stage in Odisha poll discourse as voting crosses halfway mark
With the election in Odisha approaching its halfway point, the mystery surrounding the treasure of the Jagannath temple in Puri has taken center stage in the state’s poll discourse.
Politics was not my first choice as a job; I always wanted to serve the nation: Bansuri Swaraj.
Bansuri Swaraj, a BJP candidate from New Delhi, is determined to continue her late mother Sushma Swaraj’s political legacy.
In eastern U.P, INDIA bloc going all out for victory
Soaring temperatures do not bother Jagananth Tiwari; in fact, it is the only time he does good business. He expresses his political views by pouring extra sweet lassi into earthen tumblers and topping the tumblers with an extra layer of cream.
Mr. Tiwari’s small roadside shop is located in the Manikpur Gram Sabha of the Bhadohi Lok Sabha constituency in eastern Uttar Pradesh. He describes the struggle as a bipolar one between the BJP and the “gathbandhan,” which is the term used to describe the INDIA bloc here.
Is it the Samajwadi Party or the Congress? Mr. Tiwari replies emphatically, “No.” “It is that Bengal party,” he explains. For a while, he cannot remember the name of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is running for the seat as part of the INDIA bloc.
But he is certain about the candidate: Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, a Congress renegade who defected to the TMC. Does he know the symbol? “Of course, it is two branches and six petals,” he says, as he pulls out a small slip of paper with a photo of EVM showing Mr. Tripathi’s face and TMC’s symbol. Bhadohi will go to the elections on May 25.
Mr. Tiwari is not alone; across the seat, Mr. Tripathi is designated as the “gathbandhan” candidate. This seat was created after the 2008 delimitation exercise, and the BJP has won it twice in the last three elections, while the BSP has won once.
In the last two general elections, the SP and Congress competed for third place. Both SP and Congress voters are not hesitant to vote for the TMC, a relatively unknown group in the region. “The day my candidacy was revealed, the SP leadership here turned over their entire organisational network, down to the booth level.
I had previous connections with the Congress workers, so it was simple to get them started. Surprisingly, even AAP workers, who may be few but highly determined, have been campaigning for the coalition since day one,” Mr. Tripathi added.
Since its inception in March 2023 as the overarching anti-BJP platform, the INDIA group has faced significant failures, including the departure of a few of its initial member parties, notably Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United).
In Uttar Pradesh, the partnership also had a difficult start. After weeks of agonizing discussions, a final seat-sharing agreement was revealed on February 21, with the Samajwadi Party yielding 17 seats to the Congress.
Bihar polls enter NDA’s 2019 clean-sweep territory
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity is likely to improve the prospects of NDA candidates contesting the Lok Sabha election from eight seats in Bihar that go to the polls in the sixth round.
Rajnath Singh claims Kejriwal brought shame on Delhi by running the government from jail.
Election Updates in Delhi: BJP politicians condemn AAP, highlight achievements, and offer capital development projects.