Lok Sabha poll din ends; Modi, Priyanka, Rahul make final push in region

Aditi Tandon &

Animesh Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 30

The gruelling and high-decibel campaign for the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections concluded on Thursday with PM Narendra Modi leading the last-minute push for BJP candidates in Punjab and Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi holding the fort for party nominees in Himachal Pradesh. Rahul Gandhi addressed voters at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, in Nawanshahr district of Punjab.

Set record: PM to varanasi voters

In a video message to voters of his Varanasi seat, Modi urged them to set a turnout record. “This poll for Kashi is one for the creation of a developed India…,” he said.

Polling will be held on June 1 for 13 seats each in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha, four in Himachal, three in Jharkhand and one in Chandigarh.

While Punjab is witnessing a multi-cornered contest on most seats, Himachal is mostly a direct fight between traditional rivals — the BJP and Congress. Chandigarh is witnessing a clash between two prominent leaders — BJP’s Sanjay Tandon, son of late RSS stalwart Balramji Das Tandon, and Congress’ Manish Tewari, former Union Minister.

PM Modi will defend his Varanasi segment as he leads the list of top guns contesting in the final phase. Other prominent candidates include ministers Anurag Thakur (Hamirpur), Mahendra Nath Pandey (Chandauli, UP), Pankaj Chaudhary (Maharajganj, UP) and Anupriya Patel (Mirzapur, UP); Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan (Gorakhpur); and former ministers Preneet Kaur (Patiala), Harsimrat Badal (Bathinda), Anand Sharma (Kangra) and Ravi Shankar Prasad (Patna Sahib).

The PM spent the last day of the campaign in Punjab, addressing a rally in Hoshiarpur in Doaba region, while BJP president JP Nadda campaigned in Amritsar in Majha region.

The PM’s first Punjab rally was in Patiala in Malwa belt, which, with its eight LS seats of the state’s 13, is key to any party’s electoral fortunes. The Congress had won five of these eight seats in 2019.

Priyanka held a roadshow in Solan for Congress’ Shimla nominee Vinod Sultanpuri and later prayed at the famous Lord Hanuman temple at Jakhu.

The overall campaign cycle saw the Election Commission receiving a whopping 425 major complaints over violations of the Model Code of Conduct. Of these, 170 complaints were filed by the Congress, 160 by other parties and 95 by the BJP. Among these complaints were Congress’ petition against PM Modi’s “ghuspethiye” remark made in Rajasthan’s Banswara and BJP’s counter-complaint against Rahul Gandhi for his “BJP will change the Constitution if elected” remark.

The EC, in a delayed response, only asked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Nadda to ensure their star campaigners refrained from making potentially divisive statements.

PM Modi addressed a record 206 election rallies and meetings in all, surpassing his own record of 2014 and 2019, and a feat so far achieved only by late Jawaharlal Nehru.

In Bihar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav carried the burden of campaigning, holding about 250 meetings and rallies, while TMC president and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee held 150 rallies in her state.

A day after the PM held his first-ever roadshow in Kolkata on Wednesday, Mamata walked 12 km through a sultry Thursday afternoon covering two segments — Jadavpur and Kolkata Dakshin.