Day after Lok Sabha elections' phase 1, PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi turn up the heat

A day after over a hundred million people voted across 21 states in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, senior leaders across the political spectrum stepped up their campaigning, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the Congress has already accepted defeat, and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi hitting back by accusing the BJP-RSS combine of posing a threat to democracy.

Voting was held for 102 constituencies in the first phase on Friday, heralding the beginning of the world’s largest democratic exercise. The other six phases will take place over the next six weeks, with the results on June 4.

Addressing a rally in Nanded in Maharashtra for the candidates of Nanded and Hingoli Lok Sabha seats, Modi accused the Congress of being a barrier in the path of development and said that it cannot be trust to work for the country’s progress. He also addressed a public meeting in Parbhani.

In a direct attack at Gandhi, the PM said the “Congress’s shehzade” will lose the Wayanad parliamentary seat just as he lost from Amethi in 2019.

“The Congress’s shehzada sees a problem in Wayanad. He is waiting for the voting on April 26, after which he and his gang will look for a safe seat because after Amethi, he will have to leave Wayanad as well,” Modi said.

Read Here | India votes: Fate sealed in Phase 1 of Lok Sabha elections

Voting for Wayanad constituency will be held in the second phase on April 26, where Gandhi is vying for a second term in a contest against Communist Party of India’s Annie Raja and the NDA’s K Surendran.

Some leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc, the PM said, have left the Lower House of Parliament after serving as MPs for several years and found seats in Rajya Sabha as they lack the confidence to contest elections this time.

“Some INDI alliance leaders have left the Lok Sabha and entered the Rajya Sabha as they don’t have the courage and confidence to contest elections. They are not even campaigning. Congress can’t find candidates as well,” he said, without naming any specific leader.

The INDIA bloc does not have a face to project whom the people see to entrust the country’s future to, he said. They may claim anything, but the reality is that Congress leaders have accepted defeat even before announcement of polls, he said.

“After June 4, an all-out fight will break out among the INDIA bloc members. You need to teach them a lesson in elections,” Modi said, before adding that INDIA bloc parties are contesting the Lok Sabha polls against each other in 25 per cent seats.

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The PM also alleged that the agricultural crisis did not arise in a single day, and was a result of the flawed policies of the Congress. “Will any voter waste their vote for such people? They will instead vote for ‘Viksit Bharat’ (developed India). Congress has been a barrier in development of farmers, poor and women... Can’t trust the party will work for the country’s progress,” he said.

He asked people to step out to vote in large numbers despite the summer heat. “Soldiers always do their duty of protecting the country’s borders irrespective of any season. By voting, you are not doing anybody a favour but securing the country’s future,” he said. Later in the day, the PM addressed two other rallies in Bengaluru and Chikkaballapura in Karnataka.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a historic third consecutive term, hoping to become only the second PM after Jawaharlal Nehru to achieve this feat.

While there was no direct response to the PM’s comments, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi stepped up his attack on the ruling party as he addressed a rally in Bhagalpur — his first in Bihar.

The BJP, along with his ideological fount Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and a handful of billionaires are trying to scrap the country’s Constitution to which “Dalits, tribals and the poor owe all that they have”, the Congress leader said.

Read Here: 64% turnout in Lok Sabha Phase 1 elections, most states see dip from 2019

Gandhi also drew a contrast with the previous Congress-led UPA government, saying that the amount of debt written off under the Narendra Modi regime was “25 times the farmers’ loans we had waived”.

“I would like to give you some startling statistics. The country has 22 individuals who own wealth that is equivalent to the holdings of 70 crore people. There are 70 crore people in the country who are surviving on less than ₹100 a day,” he said.

“Modi has waived debts of not more than 25 people, which amounts to about ₹16 lakh crore,” he said.

“Do you realise it is 25 times the amount of farmers’ loans we had waived? It may also be seen as equivalent to 25 years’ outlay for MGNREGA,” he added.

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The INDIA bloc is committed to “distributing the wealth among the poor people”, Gandhi said, before he referred to the Mahalaxmi scheme that his party has proposed in its manifesto. The scheme will give the head woman from each family ₹1 lakh annually . “The money will be remitted into the bank account of one person but will be utilised for the entire family,” he said.

Accusing the BJP-led government of failing to deal with the problem of unemployment, Gandhi said, “In any part of the country, you can see youngsters idling away hours on their smartphones, glued to social media sites. The reason is India has turned into a centre of unemployment.”

Demonetisation and faulty implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has hit job creation in the country, he added.

The Congress, he said, would tackle the problem of unemployment by guaranteeing a “right to apprenticeship” which would “generate trained manpower in the country, in the private sector as well as the public sector”.

He also said the Congress would do away with the Agnipath scheme of recruitment in the armed forces.

Read Here: PM Modi says 'great response' from 1st phase, '...voting for NDA in record numbers'

Gandhi also reiterated his party’s stand that this round of elections is a fight to save the country’s democracy.

“INDIA bloc is treating the elections as a fight to save democracy and the Constitution. All that the country’s poor, Dalits and tribals have got, is because of the Constitution. But the Constitution is under threat, from the BJP-RSS combine and their favoured four or five billionaires,” he said.

He also mocked the BJP’s claims that it will win more than 370 seats on its own and with allies achieve a 400-plus tally. “They make outlandish claims but let me tell you they are not going to cross 150 seats,” Gandhi said. Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav addressed the first joint rally, in Amroha in Uttar Pradesh.

Launching a blistering attack on the BJP over a range of issues including electoral bonds, farmers’ issues and unemployment, the two leaders promised to conduct a caste census in Uttar Pradesh if the INDIA bloc formed government at the Centre.

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is hoping to use a mix of regional leaders, local issues and discontent over jobs to deny the BJP a third straight victory.