Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Prime Minister Modi’s Visit to Ayodhya

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Prime Minister Modi’s Visit to Ayodhya

On May 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be traveling to Ayodhya, where he is scheduled to do a massive roadshow in the city and offer prayers at the Ram Temple. This visit will mark PM Modi’s first visit to Ayodhya after performing the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ – Ram Lalla’s consecration ceremony – on January 22. The timing of this visit is significant as it coincides with the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Campaigning for the Third Phase of Lok Sabha Elections

Today marks the end of campaigning for the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections. A total of 94 constituencies from 12 states will go to the polls on May 7. This phase of the elections includes the remaining 14 constituencies of Karnataka and all 26 constituencies of Gujarat. Additionally, polls will also be conducted in several seats in Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh.

Politicians across party lines are busy campaigning today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, where he addressed a public rally in Etawah and will hold another rally in Sitapur before participating in a roadshow in Ayodhya. Union Ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh will campaign in Andhra Pradesh, while the Congress’ Rahul Gandhi will visit Telangana. Rahul Gandhi’s sister and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi will campaign in Rae Bareli and Amethi. West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee will conduct several rallies in Bardhaman Durgapur, Birbhum, and Bolpur. Veteran politician Sharad Pawar is scheduled to campaign in Baramati for his daughter Supriya Sule.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh expressed confidence that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will cross 400 seats. He also assured that the BJP government will never change the constitution or end reservation, and accused the Congress of creating “fear psychosis” and spreading misinformation for “vote bank” politics.

Updates on Lok Sabha Election 2024

The political parties have intensified their poll campaigns ahead of the voting for the third phase of the Lok Sabha polls on May 7. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a poll-bound rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah, which is considered a Samajwadi Party stronghold. In the midst of the campaign, a complaint has been filed against Rahul Gandhi for filing his nomination from the Raebareli seat in Uttar Pradesh. The complaint raises questions about Rahul Gandhi’s nationality and his recent conviction in a defamation case, questioning the validity of his nomination as deemed by the Election Commission.

A total of 94 Lok Sabha seats across 12 states and union territories will go to polls on May 7. All eyes are on two major political alliances – the India Bloc and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA – as they are the major competitors in the Lok Sabha Election 2024. The India Bloc comprises political parties like the Congress, the AAP, and the TMC, while the NDA has the BJP, the PMK, and the JDU as its member parties. The NDA is eyeing its third consecutive term in this general election, with echoes of ‘Abki Baar 400 Paar’, while the opposition India Bloc is taking an economical approach to their campaign, promising MSP for farmers and cash handouts to women in their manifesto.

Overview of Lok Sabha Elections 2024

The 73-year-old Modi first swept to power in 2014 on promises of economic development, presenting himself as an outsider cracking down on corruption. Since then, he has fused religion with politics in a formula that has attracted wide support from the country’s majority Hindu population. India under Modi is a rising global power, but his rule has also been marked by rising unemployment, attacks by Hindu nationalists against minorities, particularly Muslims, and a shrinking space for dissent and free media.

The Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases, and ballots will be cast at more than a million polling stations. Each phase will last a single day, with several constituencies across multiple states voting on that day. The staggered polling allows the government to deploy tens of thousands of troops to prevent violence and transport election officials and voting machines. India has a first-past-the-post multiparty electoral system, in which the candidate who receives the most votes wins. To secure a majority, a party or coalition must breach the mark of 272 seats.