The campaign is in full swing for eight Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, which will go to polls in the second phase on Friday. These seats include Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, and Mathura.
Senior BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address an election rally in Aligarh this afternoon in favour of party candidate Satish Gautam.
BSP Chief Mayawati is also going to address rallies in Bulandshahr and Gautam Buddha Nagar Parliamentary constituencies, while several Samajwadi Party and Congress leaders and candidates are also campaigning in different areas to woo the voters.
Akashvani correspondent reports that after the first phase of polling in eight Lok Sabha seats, all parties are leaving no stone unturned to garner the support in the second phase of polling.
This phase is very crucial for both ruling BJP and opposition as out of eight, seven seats were won by the BJP in the last Lok Sabha polls. Through his rally, Prime Minister Modi will try to ensure maximum support of the people in Aligarh and adjoining areas so that BJP can maintain its tally.
On the other hand, opposition Samajwadi Party, Congress and BSP are trying hard to improve their performance in these Lok Sabha seats.
The Aligarh Parliamentary Constituency where Mr. Modi is going to address the rally in a short while from now is significant as BJP has emerged victorious twice in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the party has again given ticket to its sitting MP Satish Gautam on this seat.
Samajwadi Party has fielded Chaudhary Bijendra Singh on this seat while from Bahujan Samaj Party’s side Hitendra Kumar is trying his political fate.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has cancelled his public programmes in Thrissur and Alappuzha in Kerala due to illness.
CPI-M leaders Prakash Karat will participate in public meetings at Kasaragod, Brinda Karat in Pathanamthitta and Subhashini Ali in Attingal. On the other hand, addressed a public meeting at Balurghat yesterday.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Minister Amit Shah has said that naxalism is now on the verge of extinction in the country. Addressing an election rally in Kanker town of Chhattisgarh today, he assured that if BJP government is formed again at the Center under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then Naxalism will be eliminated from Chhattisgarh in the next two years.
He said that in the last 4 months after the formation of BJP government in Chhattisgarh, more than 90 Naxalites have been killed, 123 Naxalites have been arrested and about 250 Naxalites have surrendered.
The Union Home Minister called upon the Naxalites to surrender and join the mainstream of the society, otherwise their destruction is certain.Mr. Shah said that during the last 10 years, the Modi government at the Center has taken many steps for the welfare of tribals. He said that poor, tribals and backward classes have the first right on the country’s resources.
BJP National President J.P. Nadda is also addressing election rallies in Chhattisgarh today.
Karnataka, the election campaign heats up in the 14 constituencies going to the polls on April 26th. The Congress National President Mallikarjuna Kharge campaigned in Channapatna in Bangalore Rural constituency and in Yelahanka that is part of Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha constituency.
Senior Congress leaders D K Shivakumar and Jairam Ramesh will campaign for their Bangalore North candidate Rajeev Gowda.
Tamilnadu BJP President Annamalai took part in a road show with Bangalore South candidate Tejasvi Surya today. Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Amit Shah will be campaigning in Bengaluru tomorrow. He will be part of a road show in Bangalore South constituency.
The BJP held a protest across the state today against alleged appeasement politics of the Congress Government in the state.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has declared that the Neha Hiremath murder case will be given to CID and tried in a special court. It was alleged by the BJP that the murder was due to Love Jihad.
Meanwhile, Today is the last date of withdrawal of candidature for the third phase of Lok Sabha polls. A total of 94 Lok Sabha seats in 10 States and two Union Territories will go to polls in this phase on the 7th of next month.
All 26 Parliamentary seats of Gujarat, 14 seats of Karnataka, 11 seats of Maharashtra, ten seats of Uttar Pradesh will go to poll in this phase.
Besides, eight seats of Madhya Pradesh, seven seats of Chhattisgarh, five seats of Bihar, Four seats each in Assam and West Bengal, two seats each in Goa and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir will go to polls in this phase.
Disclaimer: This press release is sourced from News On AIR, Prasar Bharti and Press Information Bureau India (PIB).
