With the campaigning for the phase 1 of the Lok Sabha polls drawing to a close Wednesday, top leaders across parties have now turned their focus on the seats going to the polls in the second and subsequent phases. On Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be in his home turf in Gandhinagar in Gujarat, where he will hold three roadshows and address a rally before filing his nomination from the constituency on Friday. "Home Minister Shah will hold his first roadshow in Sanand town of Ahmedabad district and the second one in Kalol town of Gandhinagar district. His third roadshow will be in Ahmedabad city covering areas like Ghatlodia, Naranpura and Vejalpur," state BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave said. Seeking re-election from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat for a second term, Shah will file his nomination papers Friday, he said. The prestigious constituency comprises seven Assembly segments - Gandhinagar North, Kalol, Sanand, Ghatlodiya, Vejalpur, Naranpura and Sabarmati. Ghatlodiya, Vejalpur, Naranpura and Sabarmati are located in Ahmedabad city, but fall in the Gandhinagar seat. The former BJP chief will address a rally in the Vejalpur area of Ahmedabad city after holding the roadshows, said Dave. He arrived in Ahmedabad Wednesday and held meetings with those managing his campaign. Shah had won from Gandhinagar in 2019 by over 5 lakh votes. In the past, the seat had been represented by BJP stalwart L K Advani. The principal Opposition Congress has fielded party secretary Sonal Patel against Shah. Patel filed her nomination papers Tuesday. The polling for Gujarat's all 26 seats will take place in a single phase on May 7. Meanwhile, BJP national president J P Nadda will hold three rallies in Kokrajhar, Guwahati and Darrang Udalguri in Assam Thursday. While Kokrajhar and Guwahati go to the polls in the third phase, Darrang Udalguri, which was formerly known as Mangaldoi, votes in the second phase on April 26. Rahul back in Kerala Wayanad MP and ex-Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who was in Karnataka on Wednesday following a two-day tour of his constituency, will resume his campaign in Kerala on Thursday. He will address three rallies across the state in Palakkad, Kannur and Kottayam. All 20 Lok Sabha seats of the state go to the polls in the second phase on April 26. KCR meeting with BRS leaders Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) supremo and ex-Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) will hold a meeting with the party's candidates for the Lok Sabha polls Thursday in Hyderabad, where he will hand out cheques of Rs 95 lakh – the poll expenditure limit set by the Election Commission (EC) – and B forms to each of them. The leaders are expected to deliberate on their strategies for the polls, sources said. The poll panel is expected to issue the notification of polls in Telangana on Thursday. The BRS is facing a tough challenge in the polls after it faced a drubbing at the hands of the Congress in the Assembly elections held in November last year. All 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana will go to the polls in the fourth phase on May 13. – With PTI inputs
