Assembly Election 2023 Highlights: In MP, Modi says Congress expert in ‘reverse gear’, will drive development backwards

Caste census is an "X-ray" that is necessary to ensure the participation of Other Backward Classes, Dalits and tribals in the government as per their proportion in population, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.

The Congress has included caste census as one of its promises in its poll manifesto and has accused the BJP-led Union government of opposing such an exercise. "When a person gets injured, we take him for an X-ray to find out if he has suffered a bone fracture or not. In the same way, I call the caste census an X-ray. It will reveal the proportion of OBCs. Dalits and tribals in the population and ensure their participation in government," he said in a rally.

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— MP Congress (@INCMP) November 9, 2023

For reaching the polling station at Jhandana village ahead of the November 17 Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, poll officials will have to first ride in a boat carrying the electronic voting machines (EVMs) with them, and then undertake a difficult journey on foot in a hilly area.

There are 763 registered voters among around a thousand residents of this remote village in Alirajpur assembly constituency, reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, but no candidate has bothered to visit the place, locals said on Thursday.

The village is surrounded by the backwaters of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river in neighbouring Gujarat. While much of the Jhandana village was inundated years ago, its tribal residents are not ready to leave even though it means they have to live without basic facilities like a motorable road. The village is barely 60 km from the district headquarters of Alirajpur, but seems to be decades behind in terms of development and infrastructure.

The only sign of elections is the flags of political parties seen over a couple of houses. The ruling BJP has fielded Nagar Singh Chouhan from the Alirajpur constituency while the Congress has given ticket to incumbent MLA Mukesh Patel. (PTI)

Telangana Pradesh Congress President Revanth Reddy campaigns in Rajendranagar assembly constituency last evening. 

Campaign in #Rajendranagar assembly constituency last evening. #MaarpuKavaliCongressRavali#CongressVijayabheriYatra #CongressWinningTelangana#Congress6Guarantees#KCRNeverAgain #ByeByeKCR pic.twitter.com/6smdAC7KfB

— Revanth Reddy (@revanth_anumula) November 9, 2023

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today termed the Congress an expert in using reverse gear. "(If voted to power,) The party will drive the vehicle of development in Madhya Pradesh backwards," Modi said while speaking at a rally in Chhatarpur.

#WATCH | PM Modi during a public rally in Chhatarpur, MP says, "There is a reverse gear in vehicles that take them backwards. The Congress is an expert in reverse gear. Congress will reverse Madhya Pradesh's development journey." pic.twitter.com/lsKH8fGEVL

— ANI (@ANI) November 9, 2023

Narendra Modi slammed the Congress, saying, the party brings destruction with it wherever it goes. 'Congress aayi, tabahi laayi...," he says. "If Congress comes to power, you will stop erceiving all the gpvernment benefits," he says in Satna.

#WATCH | "...Congress aayi, tabahi laayi...," says PM Modi as he slams Congress in his speech at a public rally in Madhya Pradesh's Satna. pic.twitter.com/m5x08Yzx4y

— ANI (@ANI) November 9, 2023

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said Congress government failed to provide pucca houses to the people of Madhya Pradesh. "It is Modi's promise to provide pucca houses to all," PM Modi said while speaking at a public rally in Satna.

Election officials checked BRS leader and Telangana Minister Harish Rao's vehicle.

#WATCH | Jagtial, Telangana: Election officials checked BRS leader and Telangana Minister Harish Rao's vehicle pic.twitter.com/6vjRrDaWjA

— ANI (@ANI) November 9, 2023

Telangana Chief Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) supremo K Chandrashekar Rao or KCR will file his nomination papers today from both the Gajwel and Kamareddy Assembly seats. He has been spearheading the BRS’s campaign throughout the state.

“Let them touch the power lines anywhere in Telangana and check if there is power supply or not. After they do it, I will also hold those wires,’’ Energy Minister G Jagdish said Wednesday, when asked about the Congress claim that the BRS government does not provide 24 hours of free power.

“I challenge them to touch power lines for a second. I am willing to go to Karnataka, where there is a Congress government, and hold their power lines for 19 hours because I know there is no power supply. The question is, are Telangana Congress leaders willing to touch any of Telangana’s power lines? After they touch I will also hold those power lines,’’ Jagdish said. “Unlike in Karnataka, farmers of Telangana are not on the road protesting against the lack of power supply.”.

On Tuesday, state Congress president A Revanth Reddy said the BRS government was falsely claiming to provide 24 hours of power supply to the farm sector. Speaking at a public meeting in Alampur, Reddy said that he and other Congress candidates would not file nomination papers for the Assembly polls if Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao proved there was 24-hour power supply to the farm sector. Read More

The Congress on Wednesday sought the Election Commission’s intervention to stop what it called  the “misuse” of Central agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, by the government to target Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot’s son, Vaibhav Gehlot.

In a memorandum given to the commission, the Congress alleged the ED was acting at the behest of the BJP to tarnish the image of its leaders. 

The memorandum cited the ED’s November 3 press release, just days before polling for the first phase of Chhattisgarh elections on Tuesday, that “falsely” linked Baghel to “ill-gotten money being attributed to the Mahadev app case”. Read More

Aiming to oust the Congress from power in Rajasthan in the November 25 Assembly elections, the BJP is trying to get its “social engineering” arithmetic right in the state known for caste-driven politics.

Rajasthan has seen the incumbent government being voted out after every five years for nearly three decades.

With the non-BJP parties again trying to combat the BJP’s Hindutva plank or Kamandal with Mandal politics calling for social justice and adequate representation of backward castes in the run-up to the the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress-led Rajasthan government led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has also announced a caste survey.

A caste analysis of the list of candidates fielded by the BJP for the state’s 200 Assembly seats shows the party’s efforts to woo the backward class communities while also maintaining its outreach to the party’s traditional vote banks among upper castes such as Rajputs, Brahmins and Baniyas. Read More

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday targeted the ruling BJP saying the issue of religion is raked up during the elections, and urged people to avoid giving their votes on religious lines.

She was addressing a public meeting in favour of Congress candidate Deepak Joshi in Khategaon of Dewas district. "People say that Madhya Pradesh is a laboratory of RSS… Whenever elections come, the issue of religion is raked up... Everybody's feelings are associated with religion irrespective of one's faiths. Will you not open your eyes when religion is being used and votes are sought?" she asked the attendees.

"The biggest political objective is that you (people) should be served, there should be progress, the country should be strong," she said. But people are being made to fight among themselves on religious lines for the sake of politics, Gandhi Vadra alleged. (PTI)

Two elderly men are engaged in a conversation on politics at a tea stall on the outskirts of Jabalpur. Both are praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Earlier, money used to come to the village and was unevenly distributed. We did not even have bank accounts. Now it directly comes into Jan-Dhan accounts and we can also check the bank balance on the mobile phone,” says Rajkumar Patel. Shankar nods, “Desh mein Modi ka vikalp nahin hai (There is no alternative to Modi in the country).”

However, when it comes to the state, the group is less vociferous: “Yahaan kaante ki takkar hai (The contest is close here).”

In neighbouring Chhattisgarh too, the opinion is as divided along Lok Sabha and Assembly lines: vote for Modi in the general elections next year, but for polls that are coming in days, somewhat undecided. Read More

"Congress model for Madhya Pradesh was 'laapata model'. Water supply, development, electricity, employment, everything was missing," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a rally in Guna in the Gwalior-Chambal region.

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— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 8, 2023

"Once we come to power in Madhya Pradesh, farmers' loans will be waived. Along with that, there will be no electricity bills till 100 units and cooking gas cylinder will be given at Rs 500. Old Pension Scheme will also be implemented," Congress leader underlined poll promises in Madhya Pradesh's Sanwer.

'If the government's intentions are not right, then they government will loot you. Congress wants to make a suraksha chakra (protective field) around you," Priyanka Gandhi said in MP.

"Today, we have started expecting less from our politicians. We think 'It's fine if you're corrupt, as long as you're doing a little bit of work'. This needs to change," said Priyanka Gandhi in Sanwer.

Priyanka Gandhi is set to address a rally in MP's Sewar.

LIVE: Smt. @priyankagandhi ji addresses the public in Sanwer, Madhya Pradesh. https://t.co/dtOC756bss

— Congress (@INCIndia) November 8, 2023

Ramping up his electioneering for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a meeting in Damoh, where he intensified the attack on Congress, accusing them of rampant corruption. “In Chhattisgarh, there is betting and in Rajasthan, there is a ‘red diary’ of misdeeds… Congress means ‘barbaadi ki guarantee‘… In 2018, they promised a waiver of farmers’ loans but the farmers kept waiting for 15 months and still nothing was done.”

In the midst of hectic campaigning for Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that the central government would continue to provide free foodgrains to beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act, 2013 for the next five years — an announcement that drew a sharp reaction from the Congress.

The main opposition Congress slammed the move saying that the decision to extend the free ration scheme was an indication of the “continuing high level of economic distress and growing inequalities.” Congress communication head Jairam Ramesh said Prime Minister Modi as Chief Minister of Gujarat had “consistently opposed the National Food Security passed by Parliament in Sept 2013.”

The central government had launched the PMGKAY scheme in April 2020 under which 5 kilogram of free foodgrains was provided to every person on top of their NFSA entitlement of foodgrains at subsidised rates.

The PM went on to say in Damoh, "Congress saying it will complain to EC against me over announcement of free ration scheme extension, let them do this sin."

Ramping up his electioneering for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a meeting in Damoh, where he intensified the attack on Congress, accusing them of rampant corruption. “It is the party that snatches money belonging to the poor, indulges in scams, and divides the society for power… Congress’ president is controlled by a remote,” he said.

"In 10 years under Congress, no one knew what the Prime Minister of the country was doing, because everything was being run by a remote control. Even today Congress is using this 'remote control', at that time the Prime Minister used to use remote, these days the Congress President is being run by a remote control," he said.

"When we came to government in 2014, our country was the 10th economic power in the world. Today, by becoming the 5th largest economy, India has left behind the country which ruled us for 200 years," said PM Modi in Damoh. 

Addressing the rally in Damoh, PM Modi said, 'PM Modi is your servant only and only. Your life should be better, there should be less problems in your life, this is my priority. It has been so many years since the country got independence, but for so many years Congress has been telling the same lie to the country again and again, giving the slogan of ending poverty. Congress could never eliminate poverty because the intentions of the Congress leaders were not right.'

Ramping up his electioneering for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a meeting in Damoh, ahead of holding rallies in Guna and Morena in the Gwalior-Chambal region, considered to be the bastion of Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, the scion of the erstwhile Gwalior royal family.

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— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 8, 2023

Chhattisgarh recorded a provisional turnout of 70.87 per cent in the first phase of Assembly elections Tuesday, a day that also saw several instances of violence by Maoists.

Of the total 90 seats, 20 went to polls in the first phase. All but two of the constituencies in which voting was held on Tuesday saw a decrease in polling as per the provisional data. An Election Commission official said the final figures would be released on Wednesday.

Mizoram voted for all 40 seats of its legislative Assembly on Tuesday, with the polling taking place without any untoward incident.

The state witnessed a high voter turnout in the morning, with 49.2 per cent of registered voters casting their votes by 11 am. By 4 pm, the figure had gone up to 76.53 per cent. The final turnout figure was not available as of 9.05 pm, with state election officials saying polling was not yet closed in six polling stations.

Ramping up his electioneering for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on Wednesday set to address a meeting in Damoh before holding rallies in Guna and Morena in the Gwalior-Chambal region, considered to be the bastion of Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, the scion of the erstwhile Gwalior royal family. The elections to the 230-member MP Assembly are scheduled for November 17, with the incumbent BJP led by four-time Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan facing a stiff challenge from the Congress party led by Kamal Nath, former CM.

Stepping up her electioneering in MP, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi will also address rallies in Ujjain, Devas, Indore in the crucial Malwa region today. Addressing an election rally in Balod district, Priyanka pitched for a nationwide caste census to give proper representation to all sections of society and frame welfare policies for them. Meanwhile, Modi sharpened his attack on the Congress, saying that the party “boycotted” a meeting on the appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) because they “hate Dalits”.