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In Rajasthan Lok Sabha Election Result 2019, BJP and Congress Try to Ride High on the Spirit of Nationalism

After being completely wiped out by BJP in last general polls, Congress has tried to get its act together in Rajasthan. Recent victory of Congress, led by Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot, in assembly polls was one indication of that. However assembly polls, where an anti-incumbency sentiment could be heard in refrains like ‘Vasundhara [Raje] teri khair nahi, Modi tujhse bair nahi’, and Lok Sabha polls where Narendra Modi is still the most popular name, could play out very differently.

BJP has been hoping that the spirit of nationalism rides high in the Pakistan bordering state. Pulwama strikes and Balakot strikes have come as a shot in the arm for the state BJP unit. In a Modi rally in Churu names and faces of CRPF soldiers who lost their lives in the Pulwama terror attack were displayed in the backdrop. In Barmer, IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was downed and captured in Pakistani territory, was seen on a BJP hoarding.

Follow all the LIVE updates of Lok Sabha Election Results 2019 here However Congress, which has often been marred with factionalism, has tried to unite and break the Presidential style contest into 25 smaller contests. How successful it was, we will soon find out. Meanwhile let’s look at 10 important facts about this state – -Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot made his electoral debut this election from his father’s stronghold, Jodhpur. He, however, faced a tough contest from BJP’s Gajendra Shekhawat.

-The other such seat is Jhalawar-Baran in Hadauti region, where Vasundhara Raje has spent half of her total campaigning, in order to see her son through.

-Another interesting battle was fought in Nagaur, where Congress’ Jyoti Mirdha challenged for her family’s legacy against BJP-backed aggressive Jat leader Hanuman Beniwal. BJP has, by allying with Beniwal, risked counter-mobilisation of several other communities against Jats.

-A similar played out for the BJP in Ajmer where BJP has put up a Jat candidate at the risk of polarising members of the other dominant communities – Gujjars, Vaishyas, Brahmins and most prominently the Rajputs – against itself. But BJP’s Bhagirath Chaudhary is banking on ‘Namo Again’ to see him through.

-Congress needs to open an account from Mewar, a politically significant region about which it is often said ‘whoever wins Mewar, wins Rajasthan’. Mewar has become a BJP fortress now. Gains for Congress in Mewar would mean a better showing for the party in the rest of the state.

-Rajasthan’s southernmost Lok Sabha constituency, Banswara-Dungarpur, a seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes, which comprises 73% of the electorate, saw a strong contest from Chhotubhai Vasava’s Bhartiya Tribal Party.

-Congress tried to influence the tribal vote share in the state by fielding several Meena candidates from general seats also.

-An interesting contest unfolded in Jaipur Rural where two Olympians – BJP’s Rajyavardhan Rathore and Congress’ Krishna Poonia – were up against each other.

-To battle BJP’s themes of Modi and nationalism Congress opened its state coffers just in time. First it increased the compensation to the families of the deceased CRPF personnel from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. It also issued letters promising loan waivers to small farmers. And furthermore promised more cash transfers through its Nyay scheme.

-BJP will need to keep farm distress and its relatively weak performance in rural areas in check, also if SCs and STs, don’t fall away from BJP, Congress could again look at a wipe out in Rajasthan.

(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)

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Exit Polls Have Predicted BJP to Sweep Rajasthan. Will the Desert State Witness a Lotus Bloom Again?

As the Lok Sabha election ended on May 19, News18-IPSOS, an exit poll survey by Network 18 predicted that NDA may sweep maximum number seats in Rajasthan. News18-IPSOS exit poll predicts that NDA may win 22-23 seats out of total 25 seats while Congress may win 2-3 seats.

According to exit poll ,NDA’s probable vote share may be 60 per cent which is 5 per cent more than 2014. While Congress may get 35 per cent vote share with an increase of 6 per cent from 2014. Others may get 5 per cent vote share with an increase of 16 per cent than previous in the state. Earlier in 2014 under Modi wave, BJP had swept all 25 seats with 55.6 per cent vote share.

Furthermore, among popular faces in the fray, exit poll suggests that incumbent MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is likely to come back on BJP ticket again from Jodhpur. Besides, BJP’s sitting MLA Kailash Choudhary and incumbent MP Rana Dushyant Singh may also win from Barmer and Jhalawar-Baran constituencies, respectively. Rajasthan went on polls in phase fourth and fifth where a face-to-face battle was between the Congress and the BJP. The ruling BJP’s battle was for prestige of retaining all seats it swept over the last time. However Congress was hopeful considering its victory in the December 2018 assembly elections. Though it is important to note that BJP’s defeat in the desert state in the recent assembly polls was a result of the growing resentment and the wave of anti-incumbency against former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, and not against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However the exit polls suggested opposite to the trends regarding the alternate results of the election.

The trends over the years suggest that electoral fortunes in Rajasthan turn out to be lopsided, that is, if one party gets majority in a state or general elections, the results for the next election gets reversed. For example, in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had won the largest number of seats (21), but could only win four in the next general elections in 2009 as against the grand old party, which registered a victory by winning 20 seats.

These fortunes were turned once again in 2014, when the saffron party came back with full force and swept all 25 seats with an impressive 55.6 per cent vote share in a drubbing to the Congress which, despite getting 30.7 per cent vote share, failed to open its account.

The Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) was a new entrant in this election. BTP won two state assembly constituencies — Sagwara and Chorasi in the southern region of the state that is originally considered a BJP stronghold.

However, no exit poll has given any seats to the BTP.?
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)

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Lok Sabha Election Results 2019: Vijay Goel Prays at Gandhi’s Memorial For ‘Sanity’ to Oppn Leaders Questioning EVMs

New Delhi: Union minister Vijay Goel Wednesday held a prayer meeting at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial here for “sanity” to opposition parties, saying they were raising questions over EVMs sensing their defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.

“It is “ironical” that EVMs were fine when the leaders like Arvind Kejriwal, Amarinder Singh, Mamata Banerjee, and Chandra Babu Naidu won elections and became chief ministers, but the machines turned unreliable when the BJP is predicted to win Lok Sabha polls,” Goel said.

He said, “Almost every party blaming EVMs today has come to the power once or multiple times using the same machines, but now when they are set to face defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, they have started blaming the same machines for their loss”. The minister, who was accompanied by sitting BJP MP and party candidate from South Delhi Ramesh Bidhuri and other leaders, administered an oath on the occasion to fight the forces trying to weaken democracy in the country. Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta “condemned” the opposition parties saying they were “hunting for excuses” in the face of “impending defeat” in the parliamentary polls.

BJP’s Chandni Chowk candidate and Union minister Harsh Vardhan said Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Delhi chief minister should learn to respect the mandate by people.

“Heads I win and tails you loose will not work anyome Rahul ji and Arvind Kejriwal ji. People of the country are well aware of the trick to hide the defeat by finding faults with EVMs. Learn to respect peoples’ mandate,” Vardhan tweeted in Hindi.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said the opposition parties were “baffled” due to fear of defeat.

“Why did not Kejriwal question the EVMs when his party won 67 seats in Delhi Assembly elections in 2015,” he said.

Leaders of 22 opposition parties, including Kejriwal, had met the Election Commission on Tuesday and demanded verification of VVPAT slips of randomly-selected polling stations before the counting of votes begins Thursday. The EC on Wednesday rejected the demand.

The leaders of Congress and AAP have been hitting out at the EC and the BJP over the issue raising questions over the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)

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IPFT MLA Booked for Raping, Deceiving Woman in West Tripura

Agartala: An IPFT MLA has been booked here for allegedly raping and deceiving a woman with promise of marriage in West Tripura district, a police officer said.

The legislator, however, maintained that he was “wrongfully framed” in the case and opposition parties were trying to “malign his image”.

In her complaint, the woman said she was “socially engaged” to the IPFT MLA from Rimavalley constituency, Dhananjoy Tripura. “The complainant stated she was engaged to the MLA. She also said that the accused maintained an intimate relationship with her, but later refused to tie the knot. The MLA has been booked for raping and deceiving the woman. We have forwarded the complaint to a women’s police station in Agartala,” the officer said. Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Puneet Rastogi said an investigation has been initiated in the case.

“We have received a complaint from a woman against MLA Dhananjoy Tripura. The complaint was received at Mandai police station. As of now, we are carrying out a probe into the case and action will be taken based on the content of the complaint,” he added.

Denying all charges, the MLA said he would move the high court if necessary.

“This is a conspiracy hatched by opposition parties to malign my image as well as that of my party. The allegations against me and wrong and baseless,” he told reporters in Dhalai district, 100 km from here.

Mangal Debbarma, the spokesperson of Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), said he was yet to learn the details of the case.

“I have heard that a complaint has been lodged against one of our MLAs. But I do not have the details to make a comment on the issue,” he told reporters here.

The IPFT is an ally of the ruling BJP in the state. Together, they had secured 44 seats in the 60-member Assembly last year.
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)

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No Transit Accommodation in Hotels for Newly-elected Lok Sabha Members; to be Lodged in Parliament’s Hostel, State Bhawans

New Delhi Newly elected members of the 17th Lok Sabha will not be provided hotels as transit accommodation, but will be lodged in parliament’s hostel — the Western Court and its annexe building — and various state bhawans, a top official said Wednesday.

With the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls scheduled for Thursday, the newly-elected members are expected to start arriving in the national capital from Friday, and for that the secretariat has already started making arrangements.

At a press conference here, the Lower House’s Secretary General Snehlata Shrivastava said the Lok Sabha secretariat has done away with system of transit accommodation in hotels. This system, at times, invited criticism for the money it cost the exchequer. “The newly-elected members will be accommodated in Western Court, its newly-built annexe and various state bhawans. Thus, the Lok Sabha secretariat has done away with the system of transit accommodation in hotels,” Shrivastava said.

Sources said that in the 2014 general elections more than 300 new MPs were elected, causing accommodation crisis as some former members had not vacated their official residences.

The Lok Sabha secretariat was therefore forced to make accommodation arrangements for the newly elected MPs in hotels which had cost the exchequer Rs 30 crore in 2014.
Following this, the Lok Sabha’s housing committee had proposed to build 88 new blocks in the Western Court. It also has two levels of parking.

According to an official, accommodation arrangements for 100 new MPs have been made in the Western Court and its annex building, while 265 new parliamentarians would be lodged in state bhawans.

Shrivastava informed reporters that a series of initiatives have been taken by the Lok Sabha secretariat to make registration formalities seamless and technology-oriented and all paper-work related to salaries, allowances and a host of other matters would be completed at a single desk.

The secretariat has also set up help desks at all three terminals of the Indira Gandhi International Airport and railway stations in the national capital, she said, adding that 56 nodal officers have been assigned around eight to 10 constituencies each to get in touch with the newly elected parliamentarians.
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)

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Amid Widening Rift Between Congress and JD(S), Litmus Test for Karnataka Coalition Today

Bengaluru: Thursday will be a litmus test for the tumultuous Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka, days after most exit polls predicted a near collapse of the ruling alliance.

In a sign of increasing trouble, seven-time MLA and a former minister R Roshan Baig launched a scathing attack on the party, calling state Congress president Dinesh Gundurao a “flop show” and former chief minister Siddaramaiah an arrogant leader.

Baig, a popular Muslim face of Congress, has said exit polls are close to reality. Speaking to News18, he said Muslims should look beyond Congress and in the current scenario, even the BJP was acceptable. “Muslims are not Congress vote bank. The party should not take them for granted. Muslims can even support the BJP if the situation demands,” he said. Baig’s open revolt did not go down well with the party, which issued him a showcause notice and asked him to respond within a week.

Baig’s statement just days before the Lok Sabha results followed a war of words between the Congress and the JD(S), with both warning of a possible collapse. Speaking to News18, JD(S) spokesperson Tanvir Ahmed said: “If the numbers on result day don’t favour us, then there will be trouble for the coalition in Karnataka.”

Responding to the threat, Congress leader Brijesh Kalappa too said the results were bound to have an effect on the coalition.

Saddled with an agitated JD(S) and rebellion within the ranks, a beleaguered Congress is struggling to save the coalition government post Parliament election results.

The opposition BJP, which is expected to do exceedingly well in the polls, has already started attempts to topple the one-year-old HD Kumaraswamy-led government in the state and Baig’s open revolt has brought in much cheer for the party.

The BJP is also hoping to win two more assembly seats in the bypolls, votes for which will be counted along with Parliament seats on Thursday. Kundagol and Chincholi assembly seats voted on May 19 to elect new MLAs. Kundagol Congress MLA and minister CS Shivalli had passed away and Chincholi Congress MLA Dr. Umesh Jadhav defected to BJP to take on senior party leader M Mallikarjuna Kharge in Gulbarga Lok Sabha seat.

If it wins both, its current tally in the Assembly will touch 106. Two independent MLAs are also backing them. The half-way mark is 113 in the 224-member Assembly.

JD(S) insiders, meanwhile, claim that if the coalition tally goes below 10 and chief minister’s son Nikhil loses from Mandya, the coalition will surely collapse. They even hint at JD(S) going with the BJP to save its existence.

Despite Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s orders to save the government at any cost, the state unit has realised that it is a tough job and the party is on a slippery slope.

A senior Congress MLA told News18 that it would be better if the assembly was dissolved. “Joining hands with the JD(S) has caused huge damage to us and strengthened the BJP in Old Mysore region where it was a minor player till last elections. If we go to elections again, we can at least save our vote share and party structure,” he said.

Speaking to the media, KPCC president Dinesh Gundurao said he was confident of a decent performance by the coalition in Lok Sabha polls and the government is safe. He even downplayed Roshan Baig’s remarks.
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)

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Kejriwal Dials Akhilesh to Discuss Post-results Strategy as Exit Polls Predict NDA Sweep

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal talked to Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav over phone on Tuesday to discuss the strategy to be followed after the announcement of the Lok Sabha poll results on Thursday.

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh told reporters here that the two leaders held talks over phone. Singh also met Yadav in Lucknow and discussed the political situation prevailing in the country.

He said Kejriwal and Yadav talked about the strategy to be followed after the announcement of the poll results. Singh added that their priority was to stop the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from forming the government. On May 17, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu had paid a “courtesy visit” to Kejriwal.

The results of the just-concluded, seven-phased Lok Sabha polls will be announced on May 23.

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First Lok Sabha Poll Result Expected Only by 10pm in Madhya Pradesh on May 23, Says CEO

Bhopal: Hinting at a delay in announcement of results due to matching of VVPAT slips with votes polled in corresponding EVMs, the Chief Electoral Officer of Madhya Pradesh, VL Kantha Rao, said the first result could only be out in the state as late as 10pm on May 23.

Briefing the media about counting preparations, the CEO said on Tuesday Indore could be the last in terms of announcement of results.

The process shall start with the counting of postal ballots at 8am on May 23, the CEO said. However, with the mandatory matching of slips of five VVPATs in every Assembly seat with the votes polled in corresponding EVMs, the first result is only expected to be out by 10pm on May 23, said Rao, adding that Indore could be the last to have its result announced with 29 rounds of counting scheduled in the constituency. Bhopal’s results could also be delayed as there are 30 candidates in the Lok Sabha seat, while Indore’s result could be as late as May 24 morning.

In the last Assembly polls as well, the results were delayed in a constituency in Bhind and at Narela in Bhopal as there were a large number of candidates there who were to be given counting certificates after every round of counting.

“About 1,000 pages of paper were used in Narela,” the officer said on expected delays.

The process of counting of votes would be undertaken by a 15,000-strong civil workforce under the watchful eyes of 9,000 armed personnel.

On being asked about the arrest of Chhindwara Assembly bypoll candidate Bunty Sahu and his men ahead of counting, Rao said the commission usually didn’t take cognisance of such police action during elections, but the EC did take note of this matter as a complaint was received over the arrest.

As this was a bailable offence where the arrested men have been bailed out, Rao said they were free to be appointed as polling agents.
When compared to the 2014 parliamentary election, there was a surge of 9.5% voting in the state, along with a rise in 12% women voters.

The CEO further said the percentage of male voters was 73.54% in 2019 as against 66.05% in 2014.

Overall, 71.10% voters turned out at polling booths for the Lok Sabha election in the state in 2019.

With over 2.21 lakh polling machines being used in 2019, only 3,436 had to be replaced.

“Of these, only 0.5% machines were replaced when the polling was underway and rest of them were replaced at the time of mock polls at polling booths.”

Re-polling was only held at a booth each in Sidhi and Shivpurkalan, added the polling officer.

The Election Commission has arranged a three-layer security cordon for strong rooms where counting centres have also been set up.

The outer layer is guarded by the district police and inner circles are kept under vigil by the Special Armed Force and Central Armed Police Force.
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)

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Chalakudy Election Results 2019 Live Updates: Winner, Loser, Leading, Trailing

11. Chalakudy is a Lok Sabha / Parliamentary constituency in Cochin region of Kerala in South India. This semi-urban general constituency has an estimated Scheduled Caste population of 10.05% and a Scheduled Tribe population of 0.39%. The estimated literacy level of Chalakudy is 94.99%. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, there were a total of eligible electors and the voter turnout was calculated at %. The seat went to the polls on Phase 3 on Tuesday, April 23, 2019. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Innocent of IND won in this seat by defeating the INC candidate by a margin of 13,884 votes which was 1.57% of the total votes polled in the constituency. IND had a vote share of 40.55% in 2014 in the seat. There were a total of 15 contestants in 2014.

In 2009, K P Dhanapalan of INC emerged victorious in this seat by defeating the CPM candidate by a margin of 71,679 votes which was 9.04% of the total votes polled. INC had a vote share of 50.33% in 2019, in the constituency. There were 11 contestants in 2009.

The voter turnout in the 2014 Parliamentary polls in the seat was 76.95% and in 2009, the constituency registered 73.73% turnout during polling. As of December 2018, the Member of Parliament from Chalakudy was: Innocent (IND) . The 2019 Lok Sabha election results are scheduled for Thursday, May 23, 2019.

According to the 2014 electoral rolls, the electorate included 5,65,083 men, 5,85,414 women and 0 voters of the third gender.

Refer to the live updating results tables for the latest Chalakudy Lok Sabha results.

The geographic coordinates of Chalakudy is: 10.3024 76.3216

Constituency and state name in other Indian languages: ????????, ???? (Hindi); ????????, ???? (Bengali); ????????, ???? (Marathi); ???????, ????? (Gujarati); ?????????, ????? (Tamil); ????????, ???? (Telugu); ???????, ???? (Kannada); ?????????, ???? (Malayalam).
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)

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Lok Sabha Election Results 2019: Modi Govt Has Created Pro-incumbency Wave, Says BJP’s UP In-charge Gordhan Zadaphia

Ahmedabad: After spending three months in the electorally high-pitched Uttar Pradesh as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s in-charge for the Lok Sabha election, Gordhan Zadaphia is back home in Ahmedabad.

He is confident the saffron party would repeat its 2014 feat when it had won 71 of the 80 parliamentary seats in the northern state.

When BJP national president announced that Zadaphia would be lead the party in UP for the LS election, political pundits were taken by surprise. News18 talked to the senior BJP leader on a range of subjects, including the Lok Sabha election, Congress general secretary in charge of UP east Priyanka Gandhi, the grand alliance of Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Zadaphia, who was the minister of state for home under the then chief minister Narendra Modi during the 2002 riots, is known for his oratory and his exemplary organisational skills.

He was assigned to look after the Awadh area of Uttar Pradesh ahead of the general election. Besides strategising for the 16 parliamentary seats that falls in the Awadh area, he campaigned in another 28 constituencies of the state to break ‘the caste combination’ of the SP-BSP ‘Mahagathbandhan’.

Zadaphia told News18 that the ground reality was contrary to the hype that was created around the grand alliance in the state.

“A hype was created around the Mahagathbadhan and it was a propaganda whose sole base was caste and nothing else. It was needed to be diluted and we did it with the Modi government’s beneficiary schemes and work done by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Yogi brought law and order in the state and it was evident during the Lok Sabha election where there was not a single incident of violence. People have seen it. I have travelled to the remotest parts of the state where I have come across many villages where they have received electricity for the first time after Independence. People in UP are getting 18-hour electricity and in the next two-years, the government plans to provide round-the-clock electricity and voters have witnessed the change,” Zadaphia told News18.

“The Yogi government provided Rs 53,000 crore to sugarcane farmers and the amount was deposited directly into their bank accounts. As many as 19 sugarcane units (mills) have been revived, three new sugarcane co-operatives are being opened and 22 new ones are being started in the state. The government bought 54 lakh metric tonnes of rice by giving Rs 1,750 per quintal as minimum support price (MSP). I have been the BJP Kishan Morcha’s general secretary and I know farmers’ issues well. We have likened inflation with MSP calculation. All these beneficiary schemes of the BJP government have created a pro-incumbency wave in the country,” the BJP leader said.

The 65-year-old BJP leader said that in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, it was about expectation from Modi and in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it is about the confidence of voters in the PM who can protect the country and deliver his promises.

When asked if Priyanka Gandhi’s campaign in UP posed any challenge to the saffron party, Zadaphia said the Congress was nowhere in picture in the state.

“This was not the first time that she had campaigned in UP. But this time, it was a fight between the BJP and mahagathbandhan. Priyanka Gandhi lowered her dignity by campaigning against her own family member — Maneka Gandhi (the BJP candidate from Sultanpur). Manekaji did not campaign against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli and Amethi, respectively. People saw it and rejected her,” he said.

A resident of Gariyadhar town in Bhavnagar district in the Saurashtra region, Zadaphia belongs to the influential Leuva Patel community.

Another prominent face from Gujarat who campaigned nationally, but for the Congress was Patidar leader Hardik Patel. Patel had joined the Congress just before the Lok Sabha election.

“Patel did not campaign in UP. His quota stir was over after the Modi government brought in a law giving 10% reservation for economically poor people of all castes in the country,” he said.

Analysts in Gujarat are closely watching Zadaphia’s meteoric rise into the saffron party after he rejoined the BJP ahead of 2014 general election.

A close ally of former chief minister Keshubhai Patel, Zadaphia had refused a ministerial berth offered by Modi in 2004 and had floated his own outfit called Maha Gujarat Janta Party (MJP) in 2008.

However, it was merged with the Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) floated by former chief minister Keshubhai Patel before the 2012 Gujarat assembly election. The GPP had won two seats in the state. It soon merged with the BJP.

Now, analysts are keenly watching how many parliamentary seats the BJP would win in UP as it would reveal how much Zadaphia and his team could manage to hold the fort for the saffron camp in the country’s politically crucial state.

When asked if he planned to return to electoral politics anytime soon, Zadaphia told News18, “I am just a foot soldier of the party and the party will take a call on that.”

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