Follow LIVE updates from the Lok Sabha election on May 30, 2024The two constants in the nearly two-month-long campaign were the searing heat and low voter turnout as compared to 2019.
Mr. Modi, who led the show for his ruling BJP, held 206 rallies, events and roadshows during the campaign period.
The Prime Minister will now head to Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu where he will meditate on the Vivekananda Memorial Rock till June 1.
Nine Lok Sabha constituencies of the State — Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar would vote on June 1.
The BJD chief hit back, saying Mr. Modi was just “trying to garner votes” during election time.
Curtains came down on Thursday on the high-octane campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which saw political parties try and weave narratives, often acrimonious, over issues ranging from caste, religion, reservation and citizenship.
The seventh and the last phase of voting will be held on Saturday (June 1) for 57 seats in eight States and union territories, including in Varanasi, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking re-election for a third term. Among these seats, the BJP had won 25 in 2019. The poll process had begun on April 19 and the counting will be held on June 4.
Follow LIVE updates from the Lok Sabha election on May 30, 2024
The two constants in the nearly two-month-long campaign were the searing heat and low voter turnout as compared to 2019. Voting is already over in 486 seats in 28 States and union territories. The turnout in the first six phases was 66.14%, 66.71%, 65.68%, 69.16%, 62.2% and 63.36% respectively.
Mr. Modi, who led the show for his ruling BJP, held 206 rallies, events and roadshows during the campaign period. He held his last rally in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur, a reserved seat. The Prime Minister will now head to Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu where he will meditate on the Vivekananda Memorial Rock till June 1. However, opposition parties have raised concerns and approached the Election Commission regarding the Prime Minister’s spiritual retreat as the meditation coincides with the silent period.
Controversial speeches
Mr. Modi’s campaign pitches were also marked by controversial speeches such as the one in Banswara in which he had claimed that the Congress would snatch away ‘Mangalsutras’ worn by women and redistribute wealth among Muslims. The Election Commission, following a complaint by the Congress, sent a notice to BJP president J.P. Nadda asking him to explain the speech made by the party’s “star campaigner”.
On Thursday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about ‘mandir-masjid’ and other ‘divisive issues’ 421 times, referred to himself in the third person 758 times, referred to the Congress 232 times and mentioned the INDIA bloc 573 times but did not refer to the issue of unemployment and inflation even once in his election speeches of the past 15 days”. Mr. Kharge also claimed at a rally in Odisha that BJP leaders were trying to project Mr. Modi as the “eleventh avatar” of Lord Vishnu.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh penned a letter to the people of Punjab in which he alleged that Mr. Modi indulged in the “most vicious form of hate speeches that are purely divisive in nature”.
The Opposition INDIA bloc claimed in its campaign pitch that the BJP was anti-farmer, anti-youth and wanted to change the Constitution if they win the polls. It also promised to scrap the ‘Agnipath’ scheme of recruitment in armed forces.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed his last public programme in a village in Punjab’s Khatkar Kalan, the birthplace of Bhagat Singh.
Battleground Bengal
In the battleground State of West Bengal, while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) kept the focus on its welfare schemes, including ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’, through which women above 60 years are given ₹1,000 per month, the BJP, which is the main challenger, spoke about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The BJP also attacked the TMC government on the issues of corruption and the State teachers’ recruitment scam.
TMC chief Ms. Banerjee, while addressing the crowd at the beginning of a 12-km-long road show in Jadavpur and South Kolkata Lok Sabha constituencies, said the saffron camp did not care about the constitutional responsibilities that come with the Prime Minister’s chair. Nine Lok Sabha constituencies of the State — Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar would vote on June 1.
In Bihar, another crucial State, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was the star campaigner, who held 251 public meetings, sometimes even on a wheelchair.
Naveen clarifies
In Odisha, the campaign ended for an intensely fought Assembly election along with the Lok Sabha polls during which Mr. Modi questioned over Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal supremo Naveen Patnaik’s health. The BJD chief hit back, saying Mr. Modi was just “trying to garner votes” during election time.
Mr. Patnaik also clarified on Thursday that former bureaucrat V.K. Pandian was not his political successor.
Another high point of the long campaign was the arrest and release on bail till June 1 of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who campaigned extensively for his party as well as the INDIA alliance in the national capital and in Punjab.
