From Page 1 ‘No crime bigger...

“They are crying after the third phase of polls. Just wait and watch what transpires in the coming days,” she said. She alleged that Trinamool Congress leaders were constantly receiving threat calls, warning them of dire consequences if they do not stay out of the polls. “We are not scared of anyone. If we can end the 34-year-long Left Front rule in West Bengal, we can surely throw BJP out of power in the country,” she said.

Mamata on Sandeshkhali said: “You have seen that they did drama over Sandeshkhali for the past few days. The conspiracy has come to light. Modi babu used to say everyday that it should continue. What they think we don’t understand. We can’t see and hear. Don’t we have ears and eyes. We have everything. What should continue?”

“Self-respect of the women does not return if gone once. This is a heinous crime that women were kept in the dark as what they were forced to write. They did not know that they were giving undertaking that they were raped,” She added further.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress on Saturday said it has become imperative for the party to apprise President Droupadi Murmu of the true unfolding of incidents at Sandeshkhali which had led to narratives and counter-narratives between the ruling party and the BJP.

TMC leader Shashi Panja told reporters that it is surprising that the BJP had taken a team from Sandeshkhali in Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district and gave a “false portrayal” to none other than the President of the country.

“I feel there is a need to take a team from Sandeshkhali on our behalf and apprise the President of what had happened actually on the ground. We will seek the go-ahead from our top leadership for this”, Panja said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held election rallies in Unnao, Kannauj, and Kanpur on Saturday, while the Samajwadi Party (SP) conducted a public outreach program in the Kannauj Lok Sabha constituency.

Among the 13 constituencies going to the polls, a tight race is expected between SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and incumbent BJP MP Subrat Pathak in Kannauj. In Unnao, sitting BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj is facing off against SP’s Annu Tandon.

Prime Minister Modi accused the Congress of having a “deal” with businessmen Ambani and Adani on Wednesday, questioning if the party received “tempo loads of black money” from them for its leader Rahul Gandhi to stop “abusing” them.

In response, Gandhi challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to initiate a CBI or ED investigation into whether Adani and Ambani sent black money to his party. He mockingly asked if Modi was speaking from his “personal experience” that they send their “money in a tempo.”

On the same day, Pitroda resigned as the Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress following his controversial remarks, which led the BJP to label the Congress “racist” and left it scrambling to control the damage.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the Congress and INDIA bloc on May 5, stating that Muslims now understand that the Congress and INDIA bloc are using them as pawns. He asserted that the community is distancing itself from them after witnessing the development carried out by the BJP.

On Friday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi predicted an INDIA bloc storm in Uttar Pradesh and claimed that Narendra Modi will not return as prime minister this time.

Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav held joint rallies in Kannauj and Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, where the two parties are contesting as allies. Under their seat-sharing agreement, the Congress is contesting 17 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

In his address in Kanpur, Gandhi predicted that the Congress will win at least 50 seats in UP.

The SP chief termed the ongoing Lok Sabha elections as a “national movement” for the cause of the Constitution and to protect reservations on Saturday.

On May 4, Modi held a roadshow in Kanpur to campaign for the BJP’s candidates from the Kanpur and Akbarpur constituencies.

Campaigning also concluded for bypolls to the Dadraul Assembly constituency in Shahjahanpur district, which became vacant following the death of BJP MLA Manvendra Singh on January 5.

In Andhra Pradesh, the ruling YSRCP is contesting

all 175 Assembly seats and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.

As part of a seat-sharing agreement among NDA partners, the TDP was allocated 144 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha constituencies, while the BJP will contest from six Lok Sabha and 10 Assembly seats.

The Janasena will contest two Lok Sabha and 21 Assembly seats.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the YSRCP won 22 seats while the TDP was reduced to just 3.

YSRCP president and Chief Minister YS

Jagan Mohan Reddy (Pulivendla), TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu (Kuppam), and Janasena chief and actor Pawan Kalyan (Pithapuram), among others, are in the Assembly poll race.

Leaders of all political parties made a lastditch effort to woo voters in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, where 24 candidates are in the fray.

The National Conference has fielded influential Shia leader Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, while youth leader Waheed Para is contesting on a People’s Democratic Party ticket. The Apni Party has fielded Ashraf Mir.

In Bihar, three of the seats are currently held by the BJP, and the party is optimistic following rallies of Prime Minister Modi in Darbhanga and Munger.

Of the 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh, polling is over in 21 in the first three phases of the general elections. The eight constituencies in Madhya Pradesh, spread over 64 assembly segments in 15 districts in the state’s Malwa-Nimar region, are considered the bastion of the BJP.

In Indore, after Congress candidate Akshay Bam withdrew his nomination at the last minute and joined the saffron party, setting the stage for a one-sided contest for BJP’s Shankar Lalwani, who won by nearly 5.4 lakh votes in 2019, the Congress urged voters to hit NOTA.

Polling for the next three phases is on May

20, May 25, and June 1. Counting of votes is on June 4.

Kejriwal along with his wife Sunita and Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann offered prayers at the Hanuman temple in Central Delhi’s Connaught Place.

“These people ask the INDIA bloc about their (PM) face. I am asking the BJP who will be their PM. Modi ji is turning 75 on September 17 next year. He had made the rule that people aged 75 would be retired. They retired LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sumitra Mahajan,” Kejriwal said at the AAP headquarters.

“Modi will retire next year. He is seeking votes for making Amit Shah the prime minister. Will Shah fulfil Modiji’s guarantee?” he asked.

Brushing aside Kejriwal’s remarks, Shah asserted at a press conference in Hyderabad that Modi will continue to lead the country and there is “no confusion in the BJP” on the issue.

Shah asserted PM Modi will continue to lead the country post-2024 Lok Sabha polls and hit out at Kejriwal for claiming the PM was seeking votes for making Shah his successor, citing the 75-year age ‘rule’.

There was nothing written in the BJP’s constitution on any such age ceiling, Shah told reporters here. There was no confusion in the BJP over the matter.

“I would like to tell Arvind Kejriwal and company and the whole Indi alliance, Modi becomes 75, there is no need for you to feel happy. It is not written anywhere in BJP’s constitution. Modi will complete the term and will continue to lead the country. There is no confusion in BJP on this,” Shah told reporters here.

In Delhi, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi also took a swipe at Kejriwal, saying his remarks about Shah are an acknowledgement that the BJP is set to retain power for a third straight term.

He also said that Kejriwal is speaking of the BJP’s succession plan but could not have trust in any of his AAP colleagues to succeed him when he was jailed on money laundering charges.