With the elections taking course towards Avadh, Doab and Bundelkhand regions of central Uttar Pradesh, the INDIA bloc leaders from Congress and Samajwadi Party have magnified their joint outreach towards non-Yadav OBCs and non-Jatav Dalit vote bank of the BJP. The SP has pushed the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge into the intensified heat of the campaign, so as to reach out to the Dalits and other backward caste communities. On Wednesday, Kharge addressed a joint press conference with former UP Chief Minister and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow, and announced a new poll promise: if voted to power, the INDIA bloc promises 10kg free ration every month to the poor, doubling the BJP governments 5 kg scheme. After the press conference, Kharge also addressed rallies in the State. However, the SP gave tickets only to four Muslim candidates out of 62 seats it’s contesting in the state. But for the five members of his immediate family who have been allocated tickets in Kannuaj, Mainpuri, Badaun, Firozabad, and Azamgarh, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has avoided fielding other Yadav candidates. Instead, the SP has fielded 26 representatives from other castes such as Kurmis, Kushwaha, Maurya and Shakya.
NITISH’S ABSENCE FROM MODI’S VARANASI NOMINATION TRIGGERS SPECULATIONS
The intriguing absence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar when PM Narendra Modi filed his nomination from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, where he was accompanied by most prominent allies, including coalition partners from the Bihar like Pashupati Kumar Paras, Chirag Paswan, Upendra Kushwaha and Jitan Ram Manjhi, has triggered the speculations in the political circle of Bihar that Nitish might make a switch over to Mahagathbandhan after the result of Lok Sabha polls. Political observers foretell that Nitish felt slighted over the treatment he got at Modi’s roadshow in Patna on 12 May, when the JD(U) president was made to stand quietly beside the PM, as he waved at the crowds and obliged a couple of channels with interviews. Kumar was also conspicuous by his absence at the Vidhan Sabha premises, where mortal remains of Sushil Kumar Modi were brought, though senior JD(U) leaders like Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Devesh Chandra Thakur were present to pay tributes to the late leader who passed away at a Delhi hospital, battling cancer. On the other hand, Chief Minister’s office came out with a statement declaring that Nitish Kumar’s “programmes for the day have been cancelled because of illness”. Meanwhile, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav claimed that he was getting “full support” from “uncle” Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) president who is a BJP ally, in his fight against the saffron party. “I know his blessings are with me because I am carrying forward his fight. Just take note, he has taken ill on the very day Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to file his nomination papers. It is clear I am getting his full support”, remarked Tejashwi Yadav.
SP CADRES THRONG PRIYANKA CAMPAIGNS TO ENSURE RAHUL, SHARMA WIN BIG
As Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra takes on a high-octane campaign in Amethi and Rae Bareli addressing all consecutive corner meetings and rallies, a pertinent feature in her public programmes is the presence of the SP’s red cap-clad cadre. The SP workers are getting more and more involved and committed to ensure that the I.N.D.I.A. bloc candidates – Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli and Kishori Lal Sharma in Amethi– score big and win. Priyanka Gandhi on Monday urged and called upon the people of Amethi to bring back the legacy of politics that her father, the late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, had initiated to serve the constituency. “This is the ‘karmbhoomi’ of my father. This is a holy land for us”, she said, addressing a public meeting at the Congress office in Amethi. While people discuss the Ram temple, Modi factor, free ration scheme, unemployment, price rise, the Congres
MODI INVITES SHARAD PAWAR, UDDHAV THACKERAY TO MERGE WITH BJP-NDA
Sharad Pawar’s remark that many regional parties may come closer to the Congress post elections has evoked speculations of a possible merger of NCP(SP) with the Congress. It seems to be the aftereffect of Sharad Pawar’s statement, which led Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s render an advice to NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray: to join the BJP-led NDA — by merging their parties, respectively, with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. This exchange of comments has charged up Maharashtra politics, which is already heated amidst the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. Some state BJP insiders believe that “Modi’s invite to Pawar and Uddhav to join the NDA is a political tactic to nurture confusion within their party workers who continue to be loyal to them.” While rejecting Modi’s advice, Pawar said he would never ditch the Nehru-Gandhi ideology and join hands with those who adopt an anti-Muslim stand. The Uddhav-led Sena also reacted sharply, saying Modi’s comments betrayed the BJP’s “nervousness”.
RAHUL TAUNTS MODI’S BILLIONAIRE RAJ, SAYS INDIA BLOC WILL MAKE LAKHPATIS
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on 15 May stated that the first priority of the India bloc would be to initiate task towards ensuring that crores of people become “lakhpatis”. He also assured the magnitude of the fact that if a caste census would be held and if the alliance wins will surely lead to give their due share to Dalits, tribals, minorities and poor belonging to the general castes. Addressing a rally at Balangir in Western Odisha, Rahul said that the Congress plans to re-commence the economic engine of the country. “Modiji had waived loans of 22 billionaires to the tune of ₹16 lakh crore. This amount comes around the wages of 24 years of MNREGS. However, the billionaires have spent money purchasing properties on foreign soil. But the money that would be credited to the account of the crores of women, will be spent in the villages and towns by them in purchasing mobile phones, scooty and other essential items. The factories will restart again and the people will get jobs.” (IPA Service)