The jury is still out on who will be the I.N.D.I.A. bloc Prime Ministerial candidate if the Congress-led INDIA bloc crossed the halfway mark of 272 seats in the Lok Sabha election. The political buzz is that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin, NCP (SP) Chief Sharad Pawar and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi are in line for the topmost elected office in the country. While Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal distanced himself from speculation about him becoming the next prime minister, he also sidestepped questions regarding Rahul Gandhi as a prime ministerial candidate, stating that no such discussion had taken place and that the INDIA bloc would arrive at a decision after the announcement of the election results.
KHARGE CHASTISES ADHIR OVER MAMATA BARB; DIDI SAYS TMC WITH INDIA BLOC
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge blew hot and cold with West Bengal Chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who is caught in the party’s crosshairs over his attack on TMC chief Mamata Banerjee. On one hand, Kharge addressed Adhir as a combative soldier of the party. While on the other hand, party issued a strict warning to those indulging in anti-party activities in Bengal and asked for an answer. Some state Congress leaders and workers even targeted Kharge and defaced his poster in front of the party’s state headquarters with ink. All started with Kharge’s comments at a press conference in Mumbai where he chided Chowdhury saying that it is not the West Bengal Congress leader but the national party leadership that takes a call on its ties with Trinamool Congress. Congress and the Left are in alliance in Bengal and fighting against Trinamool. Earlier, Adhir questioned Mamata’s loyalty to the opposition’s INDIA bloc, saying that Mamata is not faithful and could not be trusted and she could even join hands with the BJP. Meanwhile Banerjee, who had initially said she would extend outside support to the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) of opposition parties if it comes to power, has subsequently said she is very much part of the anti-BJP coalition at the national level and would form the next government at the Centre with it.
DISGRUNTLED JAYANT SINHA SHIRKS BJP CAMPAIGNING DUTIES, MAY TURN AGAIN
Former Union minister Jayant Sinha’s son Aashir Sinha participated in an INDIA bloc rally in Hazaribagh, leading to a buzz about his joining the Congress. However, senior leader and former Union minister Yashwant Sinha had refused and bluntly denied reports that his grandson Aashir had joined the Congress. The Jharkhand BJP had issued a show cause notice to Jayant Sinha, after he did not cast his vote on the polling day and neglected campaign duties, following Manish Jaiswal’s candidacy declaration in Hazaribagh Lok Sabha seat, which voted on May 20. Outgoing MP Jayant Sinha said that he was shocked to receive the BJP’s show cause notice asking him why he didn’t vote in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections and not take part in election campaigning. In response to BJP’s Jharkhand general secretary Aditya Sahu’s letter, Jayant Sinha cleared his stance by sharing that he “voted through the postal ballot process as he was overseas for personal commitments”. The buzz is that the BJP now turning the ire on Jayant, he might be headed on his father course.
INDIA SEAT-SHARING: RAHUL TO VOTE AAP, KEJRIWAL FOR CONGRESS ON MAY 25
The campaign in the run-up to the May 25 election in the national capital ended on May 23.Out on bail, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has emerged as a star campaigner of the INDIA bloc and he has urged people to vote for the INDIA bloc if they want to make him stay out of jail and carry on his work for the people of Delhi. Interestingly, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, speaking at an election rally on May 18 in the Chandni Chowk seat, hinted that for the first time he will be voting for an AAP candidate and Mr. Kejriwal will be voting for a Congress candidate due to the seat-sharing arrangement and that party workers must do the same. Meanwhile the BJP has strengthened its campaign by questioning the credentials of the anti-corruption crusader as an honest leader, and projected Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “development model” to win over the electorate once again.
INDIA BLOC LEADERS QUESTION EC’S REFUSAL TO RELEASE FORM 17C DATA
The Congress has strongly questioned the big difference between the real time voter turnout data versus the final figures released by the Election Commission. While Congress’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera, well versed in his work and is known for his feisty defence of the party line during TV debates and media interactions, said on X: First, the Election Commission takes 10-11 days to bring out the final figure of voting and then the difference between real time data and final figure turns out to be 1.7 crore votes. This is truly unprecedented.” AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said: “This difference of 1.07 crore overall translates into an increase of 28,000 in each LS seat. This is HUGE.” On the other hand, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale said while parties and candidates will compile Form 17C data, it is “very bizarre” as to why the ECI has suddenly refused to disclose these numbers, calling it “sinister” and saying it raises “many questions”. (IPA Service)