Today in Politics: PM Modi roadshow in Varanasi; and what will Phase 4 turnout be?

Plus, Modi will canvass for Chirag Paswan, and Rahul Gandhi to hit the campaign trail in Rae Bareli.

A day after holding a massive roadshow in Patna, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a similar roadshow in his constituency Varanasi. (PTI)

Four down, three to go. We are officially in the second half of the Lok Sabha elections as 96 constituencies in 10 states and Union Territories vote in the fourth phase. As in the first three phases, our eyes will peeled on, among other things, the turnout figures.

After the first two phases of the elections saw turnout falling by just under 4 percentage points and 3 percentage points, respectively, compared to 2019, the voting percentage in Phase 3 edged closer to the 2019 figure with the turnout figure for the seats that went to polls registering a 1.32 percentage point drop. The provisional figures will be out by Monday night and the final turnout data in a few days. It remains to be seen how the Opposition reacts this time given that last week saw Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge raise concerns about the delay in releasing the final turnout numbers, drawing a strong response from the polling body that in turn drew a strong response from the Congress.

But leave aside the row over the timing of the release of final turnout figures, the dip in turnout has the BJP concerned. As a senior BJP leader in Madhya Pradesh told Anand Mohan J, “The central BJP team analysed the data and found that the women voters, who are the beneficiaries of the Ladli Behna scheme, did not turn up in large numbers in the first two phases as they did during the Assembly elections. Many workers also did not campaign with full force. The central leadership had to shake up the party to prevent them from being over-confident in several quarters.”

Meanwhile, here is a complete breakdown of the fourth phase by Anjishnu Das who looks at the 2019 results in these seats, the candidates in the fray this time, the key contests and more.

In campaign news

A day after holding a massive roadshow in Patna, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a similar roadshow in his constituency Varanasi. The PM will file his nomination papers on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, Modi is expected to address an event in Hajipur, Ram Vilas Paswan’s former seat where the candidate is the late leader’s son and Lok Janskhakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan. Modi is also scheduled to address public meetings in Muzaffarpur and Saran.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will also be in Uttar Pradesh during the day, hitting the campaign trail in Rae Bareli, which votes in the fifth phase on May 20.

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