Patna (Bihar) [India], June 1 (ANI): Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Lok Sabha candidate Misa Bharti from Patliputra seat arrived at the designated polling booth to cast her ballot in the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha Elections, 2024.
Showing her inked finger, the RJD candidate appealed to all voters to come out and cast their votes in large numbers to exercise their democratic rights and celebrate the grand festival of democracy.
Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's '400 Paar' slogan, Bharti said, "I think PM Modi gave this slogan only until the first phase, as the nation's public has taught him a lesson."
Responding to Modi's remarks about taking stricter actions against the corrupt and putting them to jail, Bharti said, "For the last 10 years, he has been doing the same thing--using the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to send opposition leaders to jail."
She criticized Modi for not sharing his visions or plans for his third term during his campaign, stating, "He has only emphasized how strict actions can be taken against opposition leaders and not on his visions for seeking next term. Those who were intimidated by their false allegations are either in his party or in jail. Those who are still outside of jail are fighting against him. We are fighting for the public and will not be intimidated, whether they put us in jail or lodge cases against us."
She further remarked that a lot of things are going to happen on June 4, including the formation of the INDIA alliance government in the centre.
"This nation has only two enemies, unemployment and inflation. This time, the public has decided to elect a government that will address these issues, and the INDIA alliance will form the government on June 4. A lot of things are going to take place on June 4," she said."
Expressing confidence in the public of Patliputra, Bharti said, "There are six assembly constituencies in the Patliputra Lok Sabha constituency, and I have visited each of them. The warm responses I have received, especially from the youth, are tremendous. The work Tejashwi has done in 17 months, by providing five lakh government jobs, has created faith among the people. They believe that if the INDIA alliance wins the majority, they will work for the people."
Misa Bharti is the daughter of the former Chief Minister of Bihar and RJD's supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and she has been fielded by the party and INDIA bloc from Patliputra seat while BJP has fielded one of its senior leaders Ram Kripal Yadav from this seat.
Yadav won the last two elections by a small margin. This time, Misa Bharti is backed by a coalition including the RJD, Congress, CPI, CPM, CPI-ML, etc.
In 2019, Misa Bharti again contested against Ram Kripal Yadav in Pataliputra. Despite being nominated by the RJD, she faced defeat, with Ram Kripal Yadav securing a victory margin of over 39,000 votes.
The seventh and final phase of polling in the largest festival of democracy started on Saturday as voting started in the last 57 parliamentary constituencies at 7 am across seven states and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
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.
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.
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. (ANI)
