April 24th 2024.
As the sun set on Wednesday evening, the curtains closed on the intense campaigning for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls in 89 seats across 13 states on April 26. The first phase of elections, held on Friday, saw a turnout of approximately 65.5% for 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories.
The second phase will see polling in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, 8 seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, 7 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 5 seats each in Assam and Bihar, 3 seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and 1 seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir. Many prominent leaders are contesting in this phase, including Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, BJP's Tejasvi Surya, Hema Malini, Arun Govil, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor, and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's brother DK Suresh.
During the campaigning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sparked controversy with his remarks at a rally in Rajasthan's Banswara on Sunday. He criticized the Congress manifesto, alleging that they planned to give money and valuables to "infiltrators" and "those who have more children". He also referred to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech in 2006 where he allegedly said that Muslims have the "first claim" on the country's resources. The Congress responded quickly, accusing Modi of resorting to "lies" and "hate speech" to divert attention from the real issues and urging the Election Commission to take action against him.
The next day, Modi once again accused the Congress of planning to redistribute people's property if they come to power, but did not mention anything about it going to Muslims. In a rally in Aligarh, a constituency in Uttar Pradesh with a significant Muslim population, Modi warned people about the "intentions" of the Congress and the opposition INDIA bloc. Meanwhile, Congress leader Sam Pitroda's comments on inheritance tax gave Modi and other BJP leaders an opportunity to attack the issue of "wealth redistribution". Modi used Pitroda's comments to further criticize the Congress, claiming that they have exposed their hidden agenda and that the party wants to legally rob people of their assets and savings that they intend to pass on to their children.
As the campaigning drew to a close, the Congress distanced itself from Pitroda's comments, stating that they were the personal views of the US-based president of their overseas wing. After the second phase, polling will be completed in Kerala, Rajasthan, and Tripura. In the first phase on April 19, polling was completed in all seats of Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, and Lakshadweep. In the 2019 elections, the NDA won 56 out of these 89 seats, while the UPA won 24. Six of these seats have been redrawn as part of the delimitation exercise.
Authorities in these constituencies have been instructed to ensure that no outsider remains in the area 48 hours before polling. All forms of electioneering, public meetings, press conferences, interviews, and panel discussions by political parties have also been strictly prohibited in the 48-hour period leading up to the polling. The second phase of polling for 94 seats in 12 states and Union territories will take place on May 7.
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