Indian Lok Sabha Election Updates: Campaigns Intensify Across States as Key Phases Approach

 

Parties and politicians are now concentrating on 96 seats in 10 states and union territories where the next round of voting will take place on May 13 following the completion of the voting on 283 Lok Sabha seats in three phases.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will resume the BJP's southern campaign in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday. The party has partnered with the Jana Sena Party (JSP) of actor-politician Pawan Kalyan and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister will speak at three rallies in Rajamahendravaram, Karimnagar, and Warangal. He will also take part in a roadshow in Vijayawada. In Karimnagar, he would also go to the Sri Raj Rajeshwara Swamy Temple.

While the BJP is not very strong in Andhra Pradesh (it ran for all 25 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 and won none), its partners also had difficulty in the previous election, with TDP winning just three seats and JSP not winning any. In 2019, the ruling YSR Congress Party secured 151 seats in addition to the 22 Lok Sabha seats, while TDP, JSP, and BJP secured 23, 1, and 0 seats in the 175-member legislature, respectively.

TDP is running for 144 assembly seats and 17 Lok Sabha seats under the terms of the seat-sharing agreement among NDA partners, while BJP is running for six Lok Sabha seats and ten assembly seats. The JSP is running for 21 assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats.

The TDP and the BJP were once allies, but Naidu ended the coalition in 2018 because the Central government had not given Andhra Pradesh special category status. Since then, the TDP has been having difficulties in the state, and Naidu is making an effort to rejoin the NDA. at addition to gaining more votes, the BJP wants to use the backing of the TDP and JSP to unseat the YSRCP and provide Naidu a solid ally at the Center and protection from the numerous investigations he is subject to.

On Wednesday, other prominent BJP officials are holding campaign events in Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha. The party's national president JP Nadda is speaking at rallies in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, and defense minister Rajnath Singh is speaking at rallies in Kalahandi and Rayagada, Odisha, while home minister Amit Shah is speaking at events in Hardoi, Kannauj, and Jalna, Maharashtra. In addition to the Lok Sabha elections, Odisha is holding elections for a new legislature.

PriyankaGandhi, the party's general secretary, is expected to campaign in both of the Gandhi family's strongholds of Amethi and Raebareli on Wednesday, following a protracted delay by Congress in declaring its candidates. In contrast to his previous Amethi seat, where the party has fielded Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family after overseeing the elections there for decades, her brother and MP Rahul Gandhi is running from Raebareli.

Since Monday, Priyanka has been laying the groundwork for the celebration in the area. Additionally, the party has designated two of its top leaders to serve as supervisors for the constituencies: former chief minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot has been tasked with managing Amethi, and former chief minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel has been assigned to supervise Raebareli's election preparations.

Priyanka pushed Congress employees in Raebareli to use all of their remaining time—more than 329 hours—for canvassing in both constituencies. She thanked Kishori Lal Sharma, the Congress's Amethi candidate, with whom she had collaborated on her mother Sonia Gandhi's 1999 Amethi election campaign. On May 20, voting will begin in both constituencies during the fifth phase.

According to an official, re-elections will be held on Wednesday at one polling station in the Rajasthani constituency of Barmer for the Lok Sabha because of the violation of vote confidentiality. The polling party has suspended four poll workers in this regard. The Election Commission has given directions for a re-election at a polling place in the village of Dudhwa Khurd, according to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Praveen Gupta.