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As all eyes remain peeled for who the Congress names from Amethi and Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh — till the early hours of Friday there were no indications from the party — and if the Gandhi siblings enter the fray, a political firestorm has hit West Bengal.
The Kolkata Police on Thursday evening received a sexual harassment complaint against Governor C V Ananda Bose. The allegation has been levelled by a Raj Bhavan staffer. Bose and the Trinamool Congress (TMC)-led state government have often engaged in bitter feuds in the past and after the allegation surfaced the party took aim at the Governor, calling it shameful. Bose, in his response, hit back at “engineered narratives” and said his fight against “corruption and violence in Bengal” would continue.
Among the things to watch out for will be how this row plays out on Friday in the middle of a bitter election campaign and the developments in the case.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Bengal. He stayed the night at the Raj Bhavan and will address election rallies in the constituencies of Krishnanagar, where the TMC candidate is Mahua Moitra, Bardhaman Purba, and Bolpur.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will address rallies in the Aonla, Badaun, and Sambhal Lok Sabha constituencies. In Badaun and Sambhal, he will be accompanied by Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav whom the BJP has been deploying to reach out to Yadav votes and break the Samajwadi Party’s hold over them.
BJP president J P Nadda will address a public rally at the BJP district headquarters in Gujarat’s Dahod district, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address an election rally in North Goa. Shah is scheduled to address the rally in Mapusa town around 5 pm.
The BJP has fielded four-time MP Shripad Naik from North Goa where his main rival is Congress candidate Ramakant Khalap. Revolutionary Goans Party leader Manoj Parab is also in the fray.
As Pavneet Chadha wrote in his despatch from the constituency, the lack of jobs despite the restart of mining operations after a six-year ban is a major issue in North Goa.
Ujjwal Nikam who on Thursday stepped down as special public prosecutor in all cases where he was representing the state of Maharashtra, is likely to submit his nomination papers on Friday as the BJP candidate from the Mumbai North Central constituency.
In Uttar Pradesh, Kaiserganj MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s youngest son Karan will file his nomination papers from the seat. Karan has replaced his father who faces allegations of sexual assault.
Recommended reading: Three reasons why BJP dropped Brij Bhushan Singh, opted for his son in Kaiserganj
A special MP-MLA court in Bengaluru is expected to hear an anticipatory bail plea that former Karnataka minister H D Revanna filed in connection with a sexual abuse case in which his son Prajwal Revanna, the sitting Hassan MP, is also an accused.
Revanna, the son of former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Deve Gowda, moved the court after the SIT formed by the Karnataka government to probe a sexual harassment case against Prajwal served a notice to both of them. Prajwal is presently in Germany and has sought seven days to return to the country, while the police have issued a lookout notice against him.
With PTI inputs
