Campaigning intensifies for Lok Sabha elections

With the election days fast approaching, campaigning by political parties intensifies across the country. 

Senior BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address an election rally at Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday. This will be his second visit to the state within a week. 

Later, Prime Minister Modi will launch the party’s election campaign in West Bengal. He will address a public rally near Siliguri in North Bengal. He is also scheduled to address an election rally at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata. 

Star Campaigners of Ruling Trinamool Congress and BJP will hit the election campaign in North Bengal. Virtually both parties will try to show their strength centring over the two rallies. 

Election Commission appointed Special Police Observer, Vivek Dubey also paid a visit to Siliguri to take stock of the situation in North Bengal. Altogether 60 candidates are in the fray for first two phases of elections in North Bengal.

Prime Minister will also hold a public meeting at Gondia in Maharashtra in the evening.

The West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee will address a public rally in Cooch Behar district of North Bengal. The first two phases of polls in five Lok Sabha seats in the region will take place on 11th and 18th of this month. 

Congress President Rahul Gandhi will campaign at  Dimapur in Nagaland and Golaghat and North Lakhimpur in Assam today.

In Uttar Pradesh, BJP leader Yogi Adityanath will hold 3 rallies in Meerut, Baghpat and Ghaziabad of western UP on



Wednesday.

Chief election officer of the state L. Venkateshwar Lu informed that 25 candidates filed their nomination for the third phase which includes political heavyweights Mohammad Azam Khan of Samajwadi Party from Rampur, BJP leader and union minister Santosh Gangwar from Bareilly, Daughter of BJP leader Swami Prasad Maurya and candidate from Badayun seat Sanghmitra Maurya. Only one nomination for the fourth phase was filed yesterday on Kheeri seat by incumbent MP and BJP candidate Ajay Mishra. Meanwhile, Election commission has intensified the voter awareness program in all districts of the state. 

Meanwhile, the Congress yesterday released a list of 20 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. The list includes four candidates from Gujarat, six from Punjab, two each from Odisha and Karnataka, three from Jharkhand and one each from Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The party has also released a list of nine candidates for Odisha Assembly election.

Bharatiya Janata Party announced a list of candidates for  Mahesana and Surat in Gujarat and Thrissur in Kerala. The party has fielded Rajya Sabha member Suresh Gopi as its candidate for Thrissur. From Surat, sitting MP Darshana Jardosh has been fielded and Mrs.Sharda Ben Patel will be the party candidate from Mahesana. 

In Bihar, CPI(ML) has announced it's a support to Grand alliance candidates in 34 other seats where the left parties are not in the fray.  The Party General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said his party is fighting in four seats and it is supporting the candidates of the two other parties.