Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is set to step up his party’s Odisha campaign Sunday, the birth anniversary of Madhusudan Das, known as the epitome of “Odia asmita and swabhiman (Odia pride and self-esteem)”.
Rahul is scheduled to visit Satyabhamapur in Cuttack district, the native place of Madhu Babu, to garland his statue before addressing a rally at Salipur that falls under the Kendrapada Lok Sabha seat. This time, Odia pride is a major poll plank for the Congress in Odisha, where it has been struggling to revive its organisation for several years.
Odisha will see simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in four phases starting May 13. The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD has been ruling the state since 2000. The BJP, the former ally of the BJD, has emerged as the principal Opposition in the state since 2019 polls.
Modi, Nadda campaigns
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Karnataka, addressing public rallies in Belagavi, Uttara Kannada, Davanagere and Ballari.
BJP national president J P Nadda will address a public meeting at Berhampur in south Odisha. He is also scheduled to chair a meeting of party workers of four Lok Sabha constituencies. He will be arriving from West Bengal, where he will address public rallies in Berhampore and Ranaghat earlier in the day.
Sunita Kejriwal roadshow
With her husband Arvind Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and Delhi Chief Minister in the Tihar jail in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case, Sunita Kejriwal will continue to spearhead the AAP’s poll campaign, holding a roadshow in the West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency on Sunday.
According to the AAP leaders, she will also campaign for the party candidates in South Delhi and New Delhi constituencies, as well as in Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab.
Sunita held her maiden poll roadshow in Delhi Saturday, saying her husband is a “lion” and that nobody could break him and make him bow down.
Through the sunroof of a car, Sunita greeted people in the Kondli area of the East Delhi constituency with folded hands as she campaigned for AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar.
She called her husband “Bharat Ma ka lal”, who has been sent to jail, she charged, for opening schools and mohalla clinics, and providing free electricity to the people of Delhi. She raised the slogan “jail ka jawab vote se” as the crowd joined her in repeating what has become the mainstay of the AAP’s campaign in the Lok Sabha polls.
BJP ramps up campaign
In Uttar Pradesh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address rallies in Kasganj, Mainpuri, Etawah and Kanpur on Sunday, while CM Yogi Adityanath will address rallies in Bareilly, Badaun and Etah.
Among the Opposition leaders, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav will address rallies in Bareilly and Moradabad.
In Gujarat non-resident Indians (NRIs), including Gujaratis, are holding a car rally Sunday from Ahmedabad to Surat as part of their campaign for the BJP and PM Modi. NRIs from USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Europe and Africa will participate in the rally organised by the outfit Overseas Friends of India.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will campaign in Bhavnagar and Anand Lok Sabha constituencies in Gujarat on Sunday. The BJP is hoping that Singh, a Kshatriya, would be able to mitigate the grievances of Kshatriyas in the belt, who have been protesting for weeks over alleged derogatory comments made by Union minister Parshottam Rupala about members of their caste.
— With PTI inputs
