POLL-SNIPPETS MVA will win over 50pc seats in Maharashtra: Pawar
Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the opposition MVA will win over 50 per cent of the Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra and claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speeches project him as "BJP's PM" and not of India
Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the opposition MVA will win over 50 per cent of the Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra and claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speeches project him as "BJP's PM" and not of India.
Maharashtra BJP election in-charge Dinesh Sharma countered Pawar's claim, asserting that the NCP (SP) chief has the right to dream and that PM Modi's charisma will hand a resounding defeat to the corrupt Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state.
There are 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. As per the seat-sharing agreement among the three MVA parties, the Shiv Sena (UBT) is contesting 21 seats, Congress 17 and NCP (SP) 10. These three parties are fighting the national elections as part of the opposition INDIA bloc.
Talking to reporters in Ahmednagar, Pawar said there could be disagreements among the INDIA bloc partners over certain seats but the broader understanding is to win the polls to provide a stable government.
The opposition won six seats in Maharashtra in the 2019 parliamentary polls four by the undivided NCP and one each by the Congress and the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
"We will win more than 50 per cent of seats in Maharashtra," Pawar said.
Cong-SP combine wiped out in first phase: Amit Shah
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday claimed that Congress-SP combine was wiped out in the first phase of polling held on eight seats of Uttar Pradesh. Polling in Saharanpur, Bijnor, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Nagina (reserved), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit seats was held on Friday.
Addressing an election rally in Mathura in support of BJP candidate Hema Malini, he said, "Let me tell you the result of the first phase, don't tell it to anyone, I will tell you - Congress, SP have been wiped out in the first phase."
Earlier in the day in an election meeting in Meerut, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav claimed that the atmosphere had changed in the state and that people had rejected the BJP after the first day of polling.
Shah in turn said, "On the one hand, there is the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, which are involved in scams and corruption worth Rs 12 lakh crores and on the other hand, there is Narendra Modi, who despite being a chief minister for 23 years, is not guilty of corruption of even a penny."
He added, "There are two camps. On one side is our leader Narendra Modi who was born in a poor family and on the other side is Rahul Baba who was born with a silver spoon. You have to decide between the two."
National Democratic Alliance constituent Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary also shared the dias with Shah at the meeting.
In the second phase on April 26, voting will be held in Mathura, Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, and Aligarh.
Low voting in Bihar because NDA faces no challenge here: Chirag Paswan
Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan on Saturday attributed a relatively low voter turnout in Bihar in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls to "no challenge faced by the NDA" in the state.
Paswan, whose party is fighting five out of the state's 40 seats, as part of the coalition led by the BJP, claimed that the INDIA bloc's performance will be "worse" than in 2019, when it could win only one seat in Bihar. "The voter turnout in Bihar is low because the opposition here is in a state of atrophy. Although the NDA is going to do well everywhere, at least it has some competition in, say, West Bengal, which is a reason why voters there turned up in large numbers yesterday, he told reporters in Patna.
The four seats in Bihar where voting took place included Jamui, represented by Paswan twice on the trot. However, he has now shifted base to his late father Ram Vilas Paswan's pocket borough Hajipur, and fielded Arun Bharti, his sister's husband from Jamui. Bihar recorded a 48.23 per cent turnout in the four seats -- Jamui, Nawada, Gaya, and Aurangabad that went to polls in the first phase on Friday.
He too has read writing on wall: Cong on Musk's India visit postponement
The Congress on Saturday took a swipe at the Narendra Modi government over the postponement of Elon Musk's India visit, saying it was odd the Tesla CEO was coming to meet an outgoing prime minister and that he too has now read the "writing on the wall". Musk on Saturday said his proposed visit to India has been postponed due to "very heavy Tesla obligations".
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X, "It was odd that @elonmusk was coming all the way to India to meet an outgoing prime minister. He too has now read the writing on the wall and decided to put off his visit." Ramesh said an INDIA bloc prime minister will welcome Musk soon.
He added, "The INDIA government will promote electric vehicles even more aggressively -- I myself am a user of one!"
Musk -- the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla who was expected to be in India on April 21-22 and scheduled to meet Modi -- said in a post on X that he is looking forward to coming to India later this year.
Earlier this month, Musk had confirmed his visit to India with a post on X, saying, "Looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister @NarendraModi in India."
Big and powerful people in India, abroad joined hands to remove me from power: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said big and powerful people in India and abroad have joined hands to remove him from power.Addressing a mega public meeting in Chikkaballapura (Karnataka), he said, "Mothers and sisters have come in a large number here. Your struggle and the challenges you face to nurture your family, Modi has seen this in his house. These days big and powerful people in the country and abroad have united to remove Modi."
"But, because of Nari Shakti and Maatru Shakti's blessings and Suraksha kavach (safety armour), Modi is able to move on fighting challenges." "Serving mothers, sisters and daughters and protecting them is Modi's priority," he said, listing out measures taken by his government for women's welfare in ten years, like supporting their self help groups and creating 'Lakhpati Didis'.
Former Minister K Sudhakar is the BJP candidate from Chikkaballapur, while its alliance partner JD(S) has fielded M Mallesh Babu from the neighbouring Kolar. The prime minister said the first phase of voting for Lok Sabha on Friday has gone in favour of NDA and 'Viksit Bharat'.
Targeting the INDIA bloc, he said the opposition alliance doesn't have a leader at present, and has no vision for future, and "their history was of scams."
Praising JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda who shared the stage with him, for his energy and commitment at the age of 90, Modi said he too draws inspiration from him.
The JD(S) joined the NDA in September last year.
