High stakes for BJP in 92 seats over 11 States
Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva dances with folk artists during the Delhi Tamil Sangamam organised by Delhi BJP, in New Delhi on Sunday
New Delhi: The high-octane campaign for the third phase of Lok Sabha elections that saw the BJP-led NDA and the INDIA bloc fiercely attacking each other on issues like reservations and sexual harassment charges against JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna concluded on Sunday evening in 92 seats spread over 11 states and Union Territories.
Among the bigwigs are Union ministers Amit Shah (Gandhinagar), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna),Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra).
Former MP chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Vidisha) and Digvijaya Singh (Rajgarh) have also returned to the Lok Sabha electoral fray this time.
The fate of former Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai (Haveri) and Badruddin Ajmal (Dhubri) will also be decided on May 7 . Several members of Mulayam Singh Yadav's family are also contesting in this phase in UP.
With the BJP bagging Surat unopposed, 25 seats in Modi's home state of Gujarat will go to polls on May 7, besides 11 seats in Maharashtra, 10 seats in UP, the remaining 14 of the 28 in Karnataka, seven in Chhattisgarh, eight in MP, five in Bihar, four each in Assam and WB, and all two in Goa. The Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2 seats) will also go to polls in the third phase.
Meanwhile, The Congress on Sunday said the attack in Poonch is part of a worrying trend of terror attacks in the area and asserted that after Lok Sabha election results, the party and its INDIA bloc partners will leave no stone unturned in strengthening the counter-terrorism grid in Jammu and Kashmir.
Five IAF personnel were injured in the attack on Saturday evening near Shahsitar in the district's Surankote area and one of them succumbed to injuries at a military hospital, officials said. "We strongly and unequivocally condemn this dastardly terror attack and join the nation in standing unitedly against terrorism," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
Several people were detained for questioning on Sunday as a massive search operation for terrorists behind the Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district entered the second day, officials said.