Campaigning gains momentum in poll-bound States and UT

PM Modi to address rallies in Assam, West Bengal today

Campaigning for the next phase of assembly election in West Bengal reached its feverish peak as senior BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trinamool Congress leader and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will address rallies in the same districts today. According to the that Bharatiya Janata Party is leaving no stone unturned to oust the decade-old Trinamool Congress government from power in West Bengal and it is evident from the back-to-back campaigning schedules of the topmost leaders of the party.

After Home Minister Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the state again within a short span. He will be addressing two rallies in Hooghly and South 24 parganas this afternoon.

Star campaigners like Yogi Adiyanath, Jyotiraditya Schindhia and Goutam Gambhir are also expected to take part in campaigns in favour of party candidates. Ruling Trinamool Congress is mostly banking on the charisma and popularity of party Supremo Mamata Banerjee, usually addressed as DIDI, to remain in power. Ms Banerjee has been seeking votes on behalf of TMC candidates in 291 seats. She will be addressing three rallies in South 24 Parganas and another one in Hooghly along with a roadshow in Howrah.

Star campaigner of the party Abhishek Banerjee will also be taking part in meetings and roadshows in the same districts. On the other hand, leaders of Sanjukta Morcha, the alliance of left parties, congress and ISF will be attending road shows at Chanditala and Singur of Hooghly in support of CPIM candidates while Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will be addressing a rally at Basirhat and a road show at Panihati in North 24 Parganas. Madhuparna Dhar Chowdhuri,

All eyes are on the Baruipur Paschim assembly segment of South 24 Pargana district in the assembly elections. Polling on this seat will be held in the third phase on 6th April. Senior Trinamool Congress leader and speaker of West Bengal assembly Biman Banerjee is toiling hard for his third consecutive victory. Baruipur Paschim was created in 2011 following multiple fragmentation of erstwhile Baruipur assembly constituency. It comprises a size of two lakh fifty-three thousand (2.53 Lakh) voters.

In this year’s assembly elections BJP and CPM have pitted new candidates against the Trinamool nominee. Debopam Chattopadhyaya is the fresh face from BJP whereas CPM has exuded it’s confidence in 39 years old Md. Lahek Ali. A high polling turnout constituency Baruipur Paschim has a previous trend of direct contest of winner and first runner up. On the other hand side-lining the rest of the contestants.

In 2016 assembly elections over 90 percent of total polled votes went to the kitty of winner and first runner up. Biman Chatterjee had defeated CPM candidate Saifuddin Khan by a comfortable margin of more than 36 thousand votes. Apart from other issues, rising unemployment is a major concern for the voters of this constituency.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address an election rally at Tamulpur in Assam today. Congress leader and Chattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will attend couple of meetings today at Barpeta and Bongaigaon districts.

In Assam, East Kokrajhar has become one of the most attractive constituency with the arrival of several star campaigners. This seat is likely to see a straight fight between the NDA and Mahajath. Prime Minister and senior BJP leader Narendra Modi has recently addressed an election rally at Kokrajhar.

After the creation of the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts and now Bodoland Territorial Region, Kokrajhar has become one of the most important place of political importance. Polling will be held on 6th of this month.

According to the reports, senior BPF leader and minister in the Sonowal government, Pramila Rani Brahma is representing the East Kokrajhar seat for the last 30 years. In 2016, she defeated her nearest rival with a margin of 40 thousand votes. This time, BPF is in coalition with Congress. The NDA has fielded former student leader Lawrance Islary in UPPL ticket. The close associate of UPPL Chief Promod Bodo, Mr. Islary left the All Bodo Students Union and has joined active politics after the signing of the BTR accord.

Pramila Rani Brahma is facing a tough challenge from Lawrance Islary backed by star-studded campaigners of the BJP. However, BPF President Hagrama Mahilary along with senior Congress leaders are also making all-out efforts to retain the seat. Though there are a total of 5 candidates are in the fray, but the main contest is likely to have between the 2 Bodo political fronts -BPF and UPPL.

In Kerala, with just two days left to end the public campaign for the Assembly elections, all the major fronts are intensively campaigning with full vigour and enthusiasm.

All the necessary election preparations are also underway, for the assembly polls on April 6th. According to the reports, As the State is in the final phase of campaigning, all the three major fronts are ensuring the presence of their national leaders.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani and Prahlad Joshi will arrive in Kerala today for NDA campaign. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will participate in various election campaigns of UDF today. Senior national CPM Leaders are also actively campaigning in various constituencies for LDF.

All the major fronts are making every effort to popularise their election manifestos.

Meanwhile, on account of Covid pandemic, the Election Commission banned the “kalashakottu” this time, which is the mass campaigning of party workers in the last hours of public campaign in the center of town or city. The commission instead permitted campaigning till 7pm on Sunday. Due to the covid scenario, it is directed that strict covid guidelines need to be followed in the entire election process and prohibited any kind of campaigning process involving children.

Senior BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the ruling LDF and Opposition UDF, saying that they are twins in areas of misgovernance and corruption. PM Modi was addressing NDA’s election rally at Karyavattom Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram yesterday evening.

The Prime Minister said that the left government in Kerala is not positive towards Central initiatives. He also said that the people are identifying NDA as a suitable alliance to address the developmental needs of society. Thiruvananthapuram is the district where BJP expects a big leap in the upcoming Assembly elections.

All 14 constituencies in the Capital district are likely to witness a strong triangular fight. BJP’s lone Assembly seat in Kerala, Nemom is also situated in Thiruvananthapuram. Earlier yesterday, the Prime Minister addressed a rally at Konni in the Pathanamthitta district. Thiruvananthapuram rally is the final rally of PM Modi in this campaign season in South India.

In Tamil Nadu, electioneering in all the 234 constituencies comes to a close tomorrow at seven in the evening. The State goes to a single-phase poll on the 6th of this month. Bye poll for the lone Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat will also be held on the same day. The constituency fell vacant after the death of Congress MP Vasanthakumar.

Campaigning is vigorous all through the State. Star campaigners of all the parties do not want to leave any stone unturned during campaigning. Parties continue their tirade against each other while garnering votes for their alliances during electioneering.

According to the reports, senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will have road shows in Chennai and Thirunelveli to garner votes for his alliance partners. Senior Aiadmk leader and chief minister Palanisami is campaigning at Salem.

DMK leader Stalin is visiting constituencies at Chennai and surrounding areas. Candidates are involved in door-to-door canvassing to meet the voters.

Election officials are involved in checking out the areas in which voters list have to be distributed. Flying squads and monitoring officials are also vigilant to check violators of the model code of conduct.