The high-voltage campaign for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections ended today as the silence period kicked in for parliamentary constituencies that will vote on April 19. The top leaders of the BJP-led NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc made a last-ditch effort to woo voters.
The BJP and the Congress party concluding their rallies for the first phase of the elections. On Friday, a total of 102 constituencies across 21 states will cast their votes for the general elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spearheaded the BJP’s campaign with whirlwind tours of several constituencies, pitching the ‘Modi ki guarantee’ against the Congress’s ‘Nyay’ schemes.
PM Modi covered the northeastern states of Assam and Tripura on Wednesday to campaign for the BJP-led NDA alliance, while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was present at two rallies in Karnataka today, as well as a joint press conference with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
The BJP focused its attack on issues such as corruption, dynasty politics, and alleged insults to the Constitution and Hinduism while opposition leaders centred its campaign on the issue of electoral bonds, alleged misuse of probe agencies, inflation, and unemployment.
The Congress party, on the other hand, focussed on five “pillars of justice” and 25 guarantees under them.
Eight Union ministers will go through the electoral test in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections. These include Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju, Sarbanada Sonowal, Sanjeev Baliyan, Jitendra Singh, Bhupendra Yadav, Arjun Ram Meghwal and L Murugan. Two former chief ministers – Biplab Kumar Deb (Tripura) and Nabam Tuki (Arunachal Pradesh), and former governor Tamilisai Soundararajan (Telangana) are also in the fray.
The Lok Sabha elections will be conducted in seven phases, starting on April 19 and followed by April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. The counting of the votes for the same will take place on June 4, as per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India.
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