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After fierce campaigning, PM meditates for victory at Vivekananda Rock
The PM launched scathing attacks on the opposition even till the last minute before taking off to Kanyakumari, where he will be meditating till the evening of June 1
A gruelling 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign spanning 70 days has finally come to an end. It was a high-octane exercise that saw clash of ideologies, leaders trading barbs and accusations and parties competing in making promises and offering sops.
Narendra Modi, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial candidate for the third time in a row and their most popular leader, is on a two-day meditation break at Kanyakumari’s Vivekananda Rock. The PM launched scathing attacks on the opposition even till the last minute before taking off to Kanyakumari, where he will be meditating till the evening of June 1.
Speaking in Punjab, the PM said India was pained during Partition, referring to how the Congress failed to claim Kartarpur Sahib, which is now in Pakistan. The Aam Aadmi Party which is in power in Punjab also earned the prime minister’s opprobrium for being part of the INDIA Bloc.
The Congress returned the fire with fire. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh accused PM Modi of lowering the dignity of the office with “hate speeches” and said he had never singled out any community for special treatment till he held the post 10 years ago. The BJP has accused the Congress of fostering appeasement politics, claiming Singh said that minorities and Muslims have the first right on the country’s resources. The former PM denied the claim and said Modi “indulged in the most vicious form of hate speeches, which are purely divisive in nature”.
Polls
The seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha polls will be held on Saturday in 57 constituencies across eight states. Among the constituencies are Varanasi, from where Prime Minister Modi is seeking a third term as parliamentarian.
Another seat that will be closely watched is Amritsar in Punjab, where former diplomat Taranjeet Singh Sandhu is contesting on a BJP ticket against Congress sitting MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla.
Eight seats will go to polls in Punjab, including Patiala, where former Congress minister Preneet Kaur will take on her old colleague Dharamveer Gandhi. Kaur, along with her husband, former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, have severed ties with the Congress. She is now a BJP candidate.
Elections will also be held in West Bengal’s Basirhat, which became the epicentre of an all-out battle between the BJP and the ruling TMC. The BJP attacked the TMC government for failing to protect the dignity of women and enforce law order, referring to the alleged violence against women in Sandeshkhali, part of the Lok Sabha constituency. Rekha Patra, one of the victims in Sandeshkhali, is the BJP candidate.
Rallies
The prime minister, who is the biggest crowd puller for the BJP, travelled across the length and breadth of the country to canvass for his party. According to his office, he addressed 206 rallies and gave over 80 interviews to various organisations.
Union home minister Amit Shah, who is the party’s chief strategist, addressed 188 rallies and travelled to every state in India.
Party president JP Nadda travelled to 23 states and four UTs, where he addressed 134 rallies and public events covering 85,957km.
