Campaigning for the seventh and last phase of the Lok Sabha elections will end this evening. 57 parliamentary constituencies spread over seven states and one union territory will go to the polls in this phase on June 1st. These include 13 seats each in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, 9 in West Bengal, 8 in Bihar, 6 in Odisha, 4 in Himachal Pradesh, 3 in Jharkhand, and one seat in the union territory of Chandigarh. 42 Assembly seats in Odisha will also go to the polls in this phase simultaneously. A total of 904 candidates are in the fray for 57 Lok Sabha seats. The top leaders of various political parties are leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters.
Prime Minister and senior BJP leader Narendra Modi addressed an election rally in Hoshiarpur town, Punjab. He accused Congress and the INDI Alliance of appeasement and vote-bank politics. Mr Modi said that for the sake of the vote bank, Congress continuously opposed the construction of the Ram Temple and also opposed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The Prime Minister said his government would not allow anyone to snatch away the reservations of Dalits, OBCs, and backward classes and give them to Muslims only.
The BJP National President, JP Nadda, is also scheduled to address rallies in Amritsar, Faridkot, and Roopnagar in favour of party candidates. Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Maan is scheduled to hold road shows in various districts.
In Uttar Pradesh, Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh will campaign in Kushinagar, Robertsganj, and Chandauli constituencies, while Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav will hold road shows in Kushinagar and Sonbhadra constituencies. Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav will campaign in Maharajganj and Ghosi constituencies today.
Jharkhand BJP Chief Babulal Marandi will hold rallies in Godda and Sahibganj. Chief Minister and JMM leader Champai Soren will address a series of meetings in Godda, Dumka, and Sahibganj in favour of party candidates. In Bihar, BJP state president Samrat Choudhary will hold public meetings in poll-bound areas. Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha will hold a door-to-door campaign in Nalanda, Jehanabad, and Pataliputra constituencies. LJP (Ramvilas) Party Chief Chirag Paswan will also hold public meetings in support of NDA candidates.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad will hold a roadshow and voter outreach programme in the Pataliputra constituency. RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav will take a whirlwind tour of all eight parliamentary constituencies and address public meetings. In Odisha, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed a huge public meeting at Simulia under Balasore Lok Sabha constituency this morning, where he alleged that the ruling BJD in Odisha and the BJP have a hidden partnership for their mutual political benefits. He said 24 cases have been lodged against him for fighting against the BJP.
