BHOPAL: Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the BJP’s campaign, built around the development plank, in Madhya Pradesh for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections that ended on Wednesday, with the Congress promising financial dole to women, caste census and the “right” price to farmers for their produce.
With the first phase scheduled for April 19, the fate of 88 candidates contesting in six seats in the state, including Congress’ Chhindwara MP Nakul Nath and Union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste, nominated from Mandla (ST), will now be sealed by voters. The campaigning ended at 6 pm in Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Mandla, Balaghat and Chhindwara seats. In the Baihar, Lanjhi and Paraswada assembly segments, which are a part of the Naxal-affected Balaghat district, it came to an end at 4 pm, an official said.
MP’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anupam Rajan has directed poll authorities in these constituencies to ensure that no outsider remains in these areas 48 hours before the polling, the official said. Nearly 1.12 crore electorates, including 57.02 lakh men, 55.66 lakh women and 184 third-gender individuals, are eligible to exercise their franchise during the first phase on Friday for which 13,570 polling booths have been set up, the official said.
PM Modi began his campaigning for the first phase with a huge roadshow in Jabalpur on April 7. Jabalpur is a part of the state’s Mahakoshal region and comprises Chhindwara, the only Lok Sabha seat the BJP had failed to win in the 2019 polls. The ruling party had swept the remaining 28 seats in MP. On April 9, Modi at a rally in Balaghat district hit out at the opposition INDIA bloc saying its constituents were working to protect the corrupt and abusing and threatening him to stop the country’s development.
He also said the upcoming Lok Sabha elections were a mission for building a new India and sought people’s blessings to take big and historic decisions in the BJP-led NDA’s third term. Congress’ star campaigner and former president Rahul Gandhi began his poll campaign for the first phase by addressing rallies in Mandla and Shahdol Lok Sabha constituencies.
Gandhi exuded confidence in winning the elections promising the transfer Rs 1 lakh into the accounts of women belonging to SC, ST and backward categories every year. The former Congress chief addressed his first meeting at Dhanora in Seoni district, which is part of the Mandla constituency, assuring that his party would provide guaranteed apprenticeships to unemployed youths if voted to power.
“Our manifesto mentions three to four revolutionary steps taken by us like transferring Rs 1 lakh into (bank) accounts of women belonging to SC and ST categories, backward classes, and for women from poor families. This way we will provide thousands of rupees in their accounts every month,” he claimed.
Congress has fielded former minister and MLA Omkar Singh Markam from the Mandla constituency against the sitting MP and Union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste. Besides Modi, a battery of top BJP leaders, including party president JP Nadda, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani and Anurag Thakur, campaigned for the saffron outfit in the first phase.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the state BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma also canvassed for their party candidates. Shah held a roadshow in Chhindwara, the home turf of Congress leader Kamal Nath and his family, which BJP is striving to wrest in its bid for a clean sweep in MP.
Other than Rahul Gandhi, no other big Congress leader visited Madhya Pradesh to campaign ahead of the first phase. Among the top state Congress leaders, while Nath is confined to Chhindwara, former CM Digvijaya Singh’s focus is now on the Rajgarh Lok Sabha seat from where he is pitted against the BJP’s two-time MP Rodmal Nagar.
State Congress president Jitu Patwari and former Union minister Arun Yadav were among others who took part in the campaigning during the first phase. If the BJP’s campaign revolved around the developmental plank weaved by PM Modi, Congress also focused on conducting a caste census and providing farmers with the “right” price for their produce.
Modi also targeted Gandhi over the Congress leader’s claim of removing poverty from the country in just one stroke, saying the grand old party was in power for a long time but did nothing on the issue except coining the slogan of ‘Garibi Hatao’.
