Raebareli
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has been canvassing continuously every day in Amethi and Rae Bareli simultaneously, is highlighting the strong bond the Gandhi family has with both constituencies since the days of former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. This effort comes as her sibling Rahul Gandhi contests in Amethi, having taken over from his mother, Sonia Gandhi.
Priyanka said the grand old party follows the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi who uttered “Hey Ram” before dying and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is wrong in accusing it of being anti-religion. She alleged that while the saffron party claims to be a “champion of Hindu religion,” the condition of the State-run cowsheds in Uttar Pradesh remains pitiable.
She accused the Modi Government of trying to take credit for the free ration scheme by putting his photograph on the papers related to the scheme, saying it was the Congress-led UPA Government that brought the Right to Food Act.
The Congress leader also lambasted the BJP over frequent question papers leak in UP and promised stringent laws to stop such leaks. She promised to do away with GST on education and scrap the Agni-Veer scheme for recruitment in the armed forces if her party comes to power at the Centre.
She said her party will restore the earlier method of permanent appointment with pension provision for the army personnel. The Congress general secretary also spoke about creating a Rs 5,000 crore fund to help small entrepreneurs.
Voting in both the constituencies is scheduled in the fifth phase on May 20.
Jaunpur/Azamgarh
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that the Samajwadi Party and the Congress want to adopt the ‘Trinamool politics,’ terming it a strategy of appeasement and harassment of Dalits and women. While addressing an election rally in Bhadohi, where the Opposition has fielded a TMC candidate, Modi attacked the INDIA Bloc partners, accusing them of attempting to replicate West Bengal’s ‘TMC politics’ in Uttar Pradesh.”
Modi said the TMC’s politics includes calling Ram temple “impure”, banning Ramnavami celebrations, sheltering Bangladeshi intruders, promising “poisonous arrow of appeasement” and calling for “vote jihad”.
Referring to the alliance between the SP and the BSP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Modi said, “The previous bua (hinting at Mayawati) identified the SP people and left them. They have now brought a bua (aunt) from Bengal (hinting at Mamata Banerjee).”
In another rally in Jaunpur, Moid said this Lok Sabha election is an opportunity for the country to choose a leader who can run a strong Government which “makes the world aware of India’s strength”.
Amid slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Har Har Modi’, the Prime Minister said, “Your enthusiasm shows that you have made it difficult for the INDI alliance to win even a single seat in Uttar Pradesh.”
Attacking SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Modi said, “SP’s shehzade also makes fun of Kashi. They are crossing every limit to please their vote bank. I am surprised that it is the 21st century and they are roaming around with the flag of triple talaq.”
Accusing the leaders of the INDIA Bloc of advocating reservation on the basis of religion, Modi said, “They advocate reservation on the basis of religion. They want to take away the right of reservation of the SCs, STs and OBCs by changing the Constitution of the country.”
Lucknow
On a day when AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made his presence known in the INDIA Bloc alliance, partnering with the Samajwadi Party (SP), which is contesting the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh alongside the Congress coalition, he faced criticism from the grand old party’s former Chief Minister of Punjab, Charanjit Singh Channi, who termed Kejriwal as untrustworthy. Released on bail to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls, Kejriwal embarked on a whirlwind tour, reaching Lucknow on Thursday to express solidarity with SP chief and former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav, before moving on to campaign in Punjab.
Congress candidate from Jalandhar Parliamentary seat, Charanjit Singh Channi, said Kejriwal can’t be trusted and that he should be opposed. Congress and AAP are alliance partners under INDIA Bloc elsewhere, including Delhi except for Punjab where the current Government is of AAP. “Kejriwal, who is involved in a liquor scam and is out of jail for only 15 days, can’t be trusted. A big liquor scam happened in Delhi and the same happened in Punjab as well. We demand an inquiry into it. He should be opposed,” Channi said. At a joint Press conference with Yadav, Kejriwal reiterated his claim that Home Minister Amit Shah will be made the next Prime Minister and Yogi Adiyanath will be removed as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister if the BJP returns to power.
Lucknow
Kejriwal claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had implemented a rule stating that individuals over 75 years of age would not be appointed to any position in the government or organisation and would be retired.
“LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were retired as per this rule and several BJP leaders, as per this rule, were removed or not given tickets. Modi is going to cross the age of 75 next year and has decided to make Shah the Prime Minister of the country,” Kejriwal said.
The leaders who could have caused hindrance were sidelined. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vasundhra Raje, Raman Singh, Devendra Fadnvis and Manohar Lal Khattar have been finished, he asserted.
“There is only one person who could prove to be a thorn in the way of Shah and he is Yogi. They have now decided to remove Yogi within two months if their Government is formed,” Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal said trends coming from across the country show that the BJP is getting less than 220 seats. The seats of BJP in Haryana, Delhi, Karnataka, UP, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar and Jahrkhand are reducing and the party is not winning a single seat in Punjab, he claimed.
