With the campaigning for the first phase of the high voltage 2019 elections on its last legs, leading lights of main political parties on Friday carried out a carpet bombing of constituencies across the country to reach out to people.
Candidates and political parties intensified their efforts to win voters’ hearts and minds as only four days are left for campaigning with Election Commission declaring 48 hours prior to polling date as “silent period”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party supremo Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday addressed five rallies in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
To reach out to youth voters, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi interacted with students at Pune in Maharashtra and also addressed two public meetings in Chandrapur and Wardha. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a road show in Ghaziabad in support of the party’s candidate Dolly Sharmain.
While Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee addressed an election rally in Assam’s Dhubri district, BSP chief Mayawati addressed a rally at Nagpur.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addressed two rallies in the national Capital, while former UP CM and Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav released a vision document in Lucknow.
Modi addressed two election rallies at Amroha and Saharanpur, while Yogi Adityanath also addressed rallies in Amroha and Saharanpur. The stakes are the highest for the BJP, which holds the seats right now. Modi’s rally in Saharanpur is being seen as his call to the entire region to vote for the BJP in the forthcoming election. Modi’s Friday rallies in these two Muslim stronghold constituencies have set the narrative for the BJP’s election campaign in the rest of western Uttar Pradesh.
Of the total population in western Uttar Pradesh, 72.29 per cent are Hindus and 26.21 per cent are Muslims. Although, the Hindus are a majority, the percentage of Muslims in western Uttar Pradesh is higher than that in the entire State.
Both Saharanpur and Amroha elected BJP candidates in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections despite the region being dominated by the minority community. It’s not a surprise then that Modi is making a stop in this area to ensure that the BJP’s seats from these constituencies remain secure even in the 2019 elections.
Deoband, one of the five Assembly segments in Saharanpur Lok Sabha constituency, is a centre of Islamic seminaries and exercises strong influence on the minority voters of this region. For these very reasons, the seats assume significance for the Congress and the SP-BSP alliance as well.
In the first phase of elections on April 11, voting will take place for Western UP’s Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar.
This is Modi’s second rally in the State for the first phase elections.
Shah addressed three public meetings in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Assam on Friday. The BJP is facing problem in north eastern States after the citizenship bill controversy. Praising the BJP Government, Shah said in Assam five years ago, northeast was disturbed and there was hardly any development.
Shah also challenged Rahul to make his stand clear on National Conference Omar Abdullah’s demand for a separate Prime Minister in Kashmir.
TMC chief Mamta Banerjee also addressed a rally in Assam. Although her party does not have a base in Assam, it is contesting nine of the State’s 14 Lok Sabha seats this time in the backdrop of protests against the National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship Bill.
Interacting with students at Pune, Rahul said around 27,000 jobs being lost per hour in India. He also said Congress poll manifesto made after speaking to all stakeholders.
Rahul also addressed at Chandrapur and Wardha parliamentary constituencies which go to poll on April 11. Voters in Wardha have been alternating between the BJP and Congress candidates since 2004 and all eyes are on the seat to see who they will pick this time while Chandrapur is stronghold of Hansraj Ahir of BJP.
Priyanka will hold a road show in Ghaziabad. The Congress supporters and party workers believe that Priyanka’s visit would bolster the prospects of their candidate and will also unite the party.