War of words escalates on BJP, Congress campaign trail

Leaders of India’s major political parties are in hectic campaign in favour of their respective party candidates ahead of the first phase of the 17th Lok Sabha election slated on April 11.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s campaign have drawn media attention as the two leaders on their campaign trail escalated their war of words during the last couple of days by attacking and counter attacking each other.

Apart from addressing public rallies and small gatherings, they are also using social media and other forms of electronic mechanism to interact with the people especially the new generation voters to gain their support.

The main stream Indian newspapers had run different stories on the campaign where the two leaders were engaged in their war of words attacking each other.

Modi, at a public gathering in Maharashtra said yesterday that the Congress was a “sinking ship like the Titanic” and its “dynast” had run away to find a safe seat to contest.

Rahul hit back, accusing Modi of having favoured fugitive businessmen and mistreating his own guru, the veteran politician Lal Krishna Advani, media report said.

Rahul filed his nomination papers from Kerala’s Wayanad, and said he would also run for election from his family bastion of Amethi.

Earlier, at a rally in Odisha, Modi launched an attack on Congress’s promise of a minimum income guarantee scheme that the opposition party said will entitle the poorest Indian families to an annual income of Rs 72,000.

On April 1, at a rally in Wardha in Maharashtra, Modi had said Congress leaders were afraid of contesting “constituencies dominated by majority population (Hindus)” – a speech the opposition party flagged to the Election Commission for being a violation of campaign rules that prohibit, among other things, claims that are communally sensitive, The Hindustan Times reported.

Addressing a rally in Uttarakhand, which goes to polls in the first phase on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi reiterated his allegations against Modi. He also spoke on the issue of BJP senior leader LK Advani not being a party candidate in this general election.

In Bengal, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said Modi has been “blabbering lies in the last five years and has not fulfilled a single promise made during the last general election in 2014”.

Congress General Secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi also took aim at the Prime Minister and his party.

However, different speculations have surfaced about the result of the upcoming general election in India.

The first phase of polling in the seven-phase election is scheduled to take place on April 11. The last phase is due on May 19 and counting will be taken up on May 23.

In the first phase, election will be held in 91 constituencies in 20 states. Among those, 25 constituencies are in Andhra, two in Arunachal, five in Assam, four in Bihar, one in Chhattisgarh, two in Jammu and Kashmir, seven in Maharastra, two in Meghalaya, one each in Monipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Andaman and Lakshadweep, four in Odisha, 17 in Telengana,
Eight in Uttar Pradesh, five in Uttarakhand and two in West Bengal.

According to election commission, nearly 90 crore voters will be eligible to vote for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies across the country.