Gurdaspur (Punjab) [India], June 1 (ANI): Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Punjab, Partap Singh Bajwa, arrived with his family at the designated polling booth at Sikh National College in Gurdaspur to cast their votes in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
On responding to the questions of election trends, Bajwa stated, "70 per cent of the Punjab's population resides in rural areas. I have been to various places and observed that the overall trend is Anti-BJP and Anti-Modi. People no longer want to support the BJP and Narendra Modi."
He further added, "Since there are three options against the BJP, i.e., Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). People don't want to go with SAD, as they are close allies of the BJP and will likely support them upon winning. The only competition left is between Congress and AAP, and the only suitable alternative to Modi is the Congress."
Speaking about competition with AAP, he said, "AAP is contesting elections in 20 seats, while Congress is contesting around 350 seats. Kejriwal himself stated in his Patna rally that if the INDIA alliance gains a majority, the Prime Minister will be from Congress. Therefore, I appeal to people to vote for Congress."
Bajwa claimed that according to Congress' survey report, the INDIA alliance is likely to gain a majority while the BJP is expected to win around 230-240 seats.
He stated, "According to our survey reports, we are getting a lead of 50 plus seats than NDA alliance. We are securing the majority while NDA is getting around 230-240 seats and they don't have any other external allies supporting them from outside, because the remaining parties have joined hands with the INDIA alliance. To prevent any chances of horse-trading by the BJP, we are having a meeting in Delhi with various parties today, as we have a feeling that they can stoop to any level to form their government.
Commenting on Prime Minister Modi's meditational journey, he remarked, "PM Modi is himself signalling the end of his political career. When a person initiates a spiritual journey, it indicates a desire to be freed from regular life. This is a sign that he is initiating a new phase of life and ending his political journey."
The Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency falls under the unreserved category. Congress from the INDIA bloc has fielded Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa while BJP has given a ticket to Dinesh Singh. Amansher Singh from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is seeking his first term from this seat.
Gurdaspur has been a constituency linked to celebrities with the late Vinod Khanna having represented it. In 2019, BJP candidate and actor Sunny Deol won the 2019 election with a victory margin of 82,459 votes, securing 5,58,719 votes. While Sunil Jakhar of the INC got 4,76,260 votes. The constituency witnessed a significant voter turnout of 69.36% in 2019.
The seventh phase marks a grand finish to the world's largest polling marathon that began on the 19th of last month and has already covered six phases and 486 Lok Sabha seats.
Voting started in the last 57 parliamentary constituencies at 7 am today across seven states and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
According to the Election Commission of India, over 10.06 crore electors including approximately 5.24 crore male, 4.82 crore female and 3574 third gender electors are expected to exercise their franchise.
Polling began at 7 am in 8 states which include Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
A total of 904 candidates are in the fray for the final phase of polling. The prominent candidates in the fray in this phase include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad, Nishikant Dubey, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Congress leaders Manish Tewari, Charanjit Singh Channi, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Misa Bharti.
Polling for the earlier six phases of Lok Sabha elections was held on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20 and May 25. The results of the polls will be declared on June 4. (ANI)
