The campaigning for the first and largest phase of the Lok Sabha elections, in which 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union territories will go to polls, ended on Wednesday. Before the campaigning ended, PM Modi invoked Lord Ram on the occasion of Ram Navami and said he is approaching the people with the “guarantee” for a third straight term in office.
In Assam, PM Modi stepped up his attack on the Opposition INDIA alliance and said while he went to the people with hope in 2014, trust in 2019, he was now approaching them with a guarantee for a third straight term in office.
On the other hand, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday downplayed the BJP’s expectations and said the BJP will be reduced to 150 seats in the Lok Sabha polls and claimed that there is a strong undercurrent in favour of the Opposition as he addressed a press conference with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav two days before general elections kick off.
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Asked how many seats he expects the Congress-SP alliance to win, Gandhi said he does not want to predict the number of seats but can definitely say that the coalition will do very well in Uttar Pradesh. On the overall scenario, he said, “15-20 days ago, it seemed that the BJP would go up to 180 seats. Now it seems that it will go up to 150 seats only. We are getting reports from every state that our position is getting stronger and there is an undercurrent (in favour of the INDIA bloc).”
“This election is an ideological one. On the one hand, there is the RSS and the BJP who are trying to end the Constitution and the democratic system of the country. And on the other hand is the INDIA bloc which is protecting and defending the Constitution and the democratic system,” he added.
Gandhi’s comments came a day after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, another prominent member of the opposition bloc, said that the BJP was going to be restricted under 200 seats. The back-to-back statements suggested the opposition was looking to undercut the BJP’s campaign narrative that it was on course to win 370 seats on its own and over 400 with allies.
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Yadav said that “winds of change” were blowing from western Uttar Pradesh and there would be an opposition bloc “clean sweep” from Ghaziabad to Ghazipur.
Congress communication head Jairam Ramesh said, “PM Modi claims he came to the people in 2014 with hope, in 2019 with trust, and in 2024 with his guarantees. In reality, he has dashed the hopes of 2014, betrayed the people’s trust since 2019, and his exit is now guaranteed in 2024.”
While the BJP has based its campaign on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Opposition INDIA bloc targeted the ruling party by raising issues such as unemployment, farmers’ distress, and price rise.
In the high-decibel first phase — Tamil Nadu (39 seats) and Uttarakhand (5 seats) are two states where voting will be completed on Friday. The first phase also includes 12 seats in Rajasthan, 8 in Uttar Pradesh, 6 in Madhya Pradesh, 5 each in Assam and Maharashtra, 4 in Bihar, 3 in West Bengal, 2 each in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and 1 seat each in Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.
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In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, as many as 49 of the 102 seats, including 38 alone in Tamil Nadu, were won by parties that are now a part of the INDIA bloc. The BJP and allies, including parties in the North-East, had won 48 seats. Three were won by the BSP and one each by the AIADMK and the undivided Shiv Sena.
