PM Modi addresses a rally in Rajasthan’s Barmer on Sunday. (Source: Twitter/BJP4India)
Lok Sabha Election 2019 HIGHLIGHTS: Addressing a poll rally in Rajasthan’s Barmer, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday said, “We have placed fear in the hearts of terrorists. We compelled Pakistan to go begging around the world. You all think I did right, but Congress and its allies think it was not.” He also accused the Congress of losing the upper hand India had after the 1971 war with Pakistan by surrendering the advantage at the Shimla round table conference.
Earlier, PM Modi addressed a rally in poll-bound Patan district of Gujarat and Chhitorgarh in Rajasthan where he urged the voters to take care of the “son of soil” and “push the lotus symbol” to eradicate terrorism. “It is the duty of the people of my home state to take care of the ‘son of soil’ by giving all the 26 seats in Gujarat to me. My government will come back to power but if Gujarat doesn’t give the BJP all the 26 seats, TV discussions will be held on May 23 as to why did this happen,” he told the crowd.
In Chittorgarh, BJP leader CP Joshi has been pitted against Congress’ Gopal Singh Idwa. BJP stalwart Jaswant Singh’s son and Congress leader Manvendra will fight the elections from Barmer seat and will face Kailash Chaudhry of the saffron party. Polling in Rajasthan will be held in two phases – on April 29 and May 6. All the constituencies in Gujarat will vote on April 23.
The BJP Sunday announced Shankar Lalwani as its candidate for the Indore Lok Sabha seat, a party stronghold held since 1989 by senior leader and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
Mahajan, who turned 76 in April, had announced on April 5 that she would not contest the elections, apparently in keeping with the BJP's reported diktat that leaders above the age of 75 opt out of electoral politics.
Lalwani, who has earlier been Indore Development Authority (IDA) chairman and Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) president, is from the Sindhi community and is making his Lok Sabha poll debut.
He is pitted against the Congress' Pankaj Sanghvi. (PTI)
The election for the Patkura assembly constituency in Odisha has adjourned due to the death of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate Bed Prakash Agarwalla. The election to the seat was scheduled to be held on 29th April.
The Congress Sunday said national security is an important issue but the issues dominating the narrative in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections were unemployment and farm distress.
Unveiling a report on national security by a task force headed by Lieutenant General (retd) D S Hooda, the Congress said it would be "completely wrong" to say that national security was dominating the poll narrative, though it is an important issue.
The Congress unveiled the report in the presence of senior Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh and said that its approach towards national security is "not ad hoc and not impulsive".
"As far as the election narrative is concerned, the number one issue remains unemployment. The number two issue is farm distress and the number three issue is security of various sections of the people, women, Dalits, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, forest dwellers, journalists, academicians and NGOs," Chidambaram told reporters. (PTI)
The BJP Sunday releases list of candidates for Delhi, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and UP; Dr Harsh Vardhan to contest from Delhi's Chandni Chowk, Manoj Tiwari- North East Delhi, Pravesh Verma- West Delhi, Ramesh Bidhuri -South Delhi and Hardeep Puri from Amritsar.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma Sunday described the Congress and the NCP as “paper tigers”, who he said would be wiped out in the Lok Sabha elections which are being held in seven phases.
Addressing a press conference here, Sharma said the BJP would improve its tally of Lok Sabha seats from Maharashtra under the leadership of state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
In 2014 general elections, the BJP had won 23 out of total 48 seats in Maharashtra while its ally Shiv Sena bagged 18 seats. Read more
PM Modi in Barmer: "Today India is hunting the terrorists in Pakistan without waging a war. Pakistan is crying in front of the whole world. The world now stands with India."
PM Modi accused the Congress of losing the upper hand India had after the 1971 war with Pakistan by surrendering the advantage at the Shimla round table conference.
More from Elections
PM Modi in Barmer: We have placed fear in the hearts of terrorists. We compelled Pakistan to go begging around the world. You all think I did right, but Congress and its allies think it was not.
PM Modi in Barmer: Terrorist activities were normal in India as Pakistan was given a free hand. Today terrorists killed innocent people in Sri Lanka. I have decided to teach the terror handlers a lesson; I hit them in their hideouts.
PM Modi in Barmer: From years there was a demand for a war memorial, but the Congress built memorials only for its family members. Your chowkidar made a war memorial in the memory of the soldiers who were martyred while serving the nation.
PM Modi in Barmer: "The demand to give 10% reservation to economically weaker families of the general category was going from a long time. The Congress was busy in dividing the society and it never gave any attention towards it. But your chowkidar implemented this decision without taking away anyone's rights."
Addressing a poll rally in Rajasthan’s Barmer, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday said, “Those who are going to vote for the first time, these elections are very important for them. One who is born in the 21st century, will vote for the 21st century. Because he has a whole century ahead of him. I am ready to sacrifice my dreams to fulfil yours.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is addressing a rally in Rajasthan's Barmer district. He earlier conducted rallies in Chittorgarh in Rajasthan and Patan district in Gujarat.
Rahul Gandhi will be the prime minister if our party gets the maximum seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said on Sunday.
“Leaders will decide who will be the next PM. It all depends on which party leads. If it is the Congress, then the next PM will be our chief Rahul Gandhi,” PTI quoted Sharma as saying. He also said that the party has made pre-poll alliances and will think about post-poll coalitions depending on the results. Read more
Congress General Secretary from UP East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Sunday said that she would not mind contesting from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat if Congress president Rahul Gandhi wishes. Varanasi is also the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Hardik Patel in Bajrangpur village: I thank you all for coming out in this hot afternoon. You're lucky that you've got chance to vote again in less than two years. You've not got water. We are here to fight on behalf of you. I request you to vote for Congress candidates.
Concluding his speech in Chittorgarh, PM Modi assured to form a 'Jal Shakti' Ministry to resolve the water crisis across the country.
"Congress has three realities 'naamdaar parivar', corruption and plenty of false promises," PM Modi said.