A day before 72 seats across nine states go to polls in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Rahul Gandhi renewed his attack on the Centre over issues faced by farmers on Sunday, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) treated them as “liability”.
“Our farmers are our pride and strength,” he wrote on Twitter. “India’s farmers are now rising up to demand NYAY...,” he added, referring to the Congress’s proposed minimum income guarantee scheme, or Nyay. The Congress has been focusing on the agrarian distress in its rallies.
Earlier in the day, campaigning for his party in Bihar, BJP chief Amit Shah continued with his narrative of national security, saying all anti-national elements will end up behind the bars once the Modi government returns to power. He hit out at Gandhi over the Congress manifesto that promised to scrap the sedition law. He said Modi has shown he is a man with a “56-inch chest” by destroying terrorist hideouts in Pakistan. In Uttar Pradesh, Shah said while criminals roamed freely when the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ruled the state, they are now seen moving around with a “patta (placard)” reading “arrest us but don’t do encounter” since Yogi Adityanath became chief minister. The Yogi Adityanath government had come in for criticism last year after the UP Police launched a crackdown across the state, killing dozens of criminals.
Meanwhile, a day before the last phase of polling in Maharashtra, the Congress said ally Sharad Pawar’s remark on the top contenders for the PM post could be his “personal opinion”. Nationalist Congress Party leader Pawar said on Saturday that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu and former UP CM Mayawati could be top contenders for the post if the BJP-led NDA did not get majority. “We are sure about getting a clear majority in the Lok Sabha polls and our president Rahul Gandhi is our choice for the post,” said Congress leader Sachin Sawant.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, a day before the last phase of polling in Maharashtra, the Congress said ally Sharad Pawar’s remark on the top contenders for the PM post could be his “personal opinion”. Nationalist Congress Party leader Pawar said on Saturday that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu and former UP CM Mayawati could be top contenders for the post if the BJP-led NDA did not get majority. “We are sure about getting a clear majority in the Lok Sabha polls and our president Rahul Gandhi is our choice for the post,” said Congress leader Sachin Sawant.
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