The curtains came down on campaigning for the seventh and last phase of voting in the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday evening. On the last day of campaigning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed
a rally in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held rallies in several places in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab in support of the BJP candidates.
Later in the day, Mr. Modi headed to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to undertake a two-day meditation at the iconic Vivekananda Rock Memorial. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally in support of the party candidate in Odisha’s Balasore and later interacted with farmers in Punjab’s Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar.
Party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also held a road show in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan.
The day also saw an open letter from Prime Minister and Congress veteran Manmohan Singh criticizing his successor, Mr. Modi, and the ruling BJP. In the seventh phase, polling will be held in 57 legislative constituencies across eight states and Union territories (UTS). Of the 57 parliamentary sets, 13 each are in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand, and one in Chandigarh. Additionally, 42 Assembly seats in Odisha would also hold elections. A total of 904 candidates are in the fray in the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Varanasi, UP), prominent candidates from the BJP are Union Minister Anurag Thakur (Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh), Ravi Shankar Prasad (Patna Sahib, Bihar), and Kangana Ranaut (Mandi, Himachal Pradesh), while from the Congress, ten candidates include Manish Tewari (Chandi-Garh), Vikramaditya Singh (Mandi), and Ajay Rai (Varanasi). Other prominent candidates are Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Misa Bharti (Pataliputra, Bihar) and Trinamul Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee (Diamond Harbour, West Bengal).
The Lok Sabha election phases between April 19 and April 20 are being held in seven
and 1 June. The first phase of polling was held on April 19, the second phase on April 26, the third phase on May 7, the fourth phase on May 13, the fifth phase on May 20, and the sixth phase on May 25.