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Informist, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024

NEW DELHI - Campaigning for the second phase of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly election and the single-phase Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election ended Monday. Campaigning also ended for high-stakes by-elections for nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh and the Kedarnath assembly constituency in Uttarakhand.

Polling for 38 seats in Jharkhand, 288 seats in Maharashtra, and the 10 by-elections will be held Wednesday from 0700 IST to 1800 IST. Counting of votes polled, including those cast in the first phase of the Jharkhand election and various other by-polls, including for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, will begin Saturday at 0800 IST. In Wayanad, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Vadra is seeking to replace her brother Rahul Gandhi, who won the seat in the general election earlier this year, but gave it up to retain the Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh.

With the canvassing entering the final leg, leaders of various parties were seen making last-ditch attempts to mobilise support for their respective parties or alliances. In Maharashtra, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a rally in Navi Mumbai, while BJP President J.P. Nadda addressed public meetings in Thane, Solapur, and Ahmednagar. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari campaigned in Gondia and Nagpur.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi addressed a press conference while Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar campaigned for Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates in Pune and Ahmednagar. His daughter, Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule, campaigned in Solapur.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance comprising the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), NCP (SP), and Congress, pitched its campaign on rising discontent with the government at the Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in the state under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Attacking Thackeray for aligning with the Congress and the NCP (SP), Shah alleged that the Congress plans to extend reservation benefits to Muslims by curtailing the quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes.

Throughout the campaign, BJP leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, repeatedly raised the bogey of what they called "vote jihad" and claimed that the perceived consolidation of minority votes must be countered through a “dharma yuddh”, or holy war.

The BJP also used divisive slogans such as “Batenge toh katenge" and "Ek hain to safe hain” to try and consolidate Hindu votes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly used the latter slogan during his rallies in Maharashtra and cautioned voters of what he claimed was a “dangerous conspiracy” to divide the country on caste lines.

The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance countered the BJP campaign by raising the issues of dalits and tribals and claiming to be protectors of the Constitution. Gandhi said the polls were an ideological battle and promised to work for a countrywide caste census and removal of the 50% cap on reservations.

In Jharkhand, political heavyweights from various parties also made a last-ditch attempt to woo voters in the remaining 38 constituencies, mostly in the Santhal belt and Koyalanchal region. Among the high-profile seats that will go to the polls Wednesday are Dumka, Shikaripada, Deoghar, and Litipara.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader and state Chief Minister Hemant Soren addressed rallies for the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance in Sahebganj, Godda, Dumka, Deoghar, and Ranchi. Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejaswi Yadav also campaigned for the I.N.D.I.A. bloc.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath campaigned for the BJP in Sahebganj, Jamtara, and Deoghar. State BJP President and former chief minister Babulal Marandi addressed rallies in several constituencies. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan led road shows and addressed rallies in Barhait, Dhanbad, and Bokaro. All Jharkhand Students Union President Sudesh Kumar Mahto also campaigned for the National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP.

The nine by-polls in Uttar Pradesh are seen as an acid test of Adityanath’s popularity after the Samajwadi Party gave the BJP a shock in the state in the general election earlier this year. The by-election in Kedarnath was necessitated by the death of sitting member Shaila Rawat in July.  End

Reported by Shahid K. Abbas

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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