Jodhpur(Rajasthan): Exuding confidence over the outcome of Lok Sabha polls, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Friday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party will comfortably register victory in all 25 constituencies in Rajasthan adding that it will also cross 400 mark in the Lok Sabha.
BJP has fielded Gajendra Singh Shekhawat from the Jodhpur constituency. He is facing Congress leader Karan Singh Uchiyarda. Speaking to reporters, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said, "Voter turnout will be high today. People are impressed with the schemes laid down by PM Modi. We will win the Jodhpur seat, and also comfortably win all 25 seats in Rajasthan and over 400 seats in the country."
Meanwhile, former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and his family also cast their vote in Jodhpur. Speaking to reporters Gehlot took on PM Modi claiming that the PM had deliberately dragged the polls into non-issues. "It is just sad that where is democracy heading? What the Prime Minister has said...he analysed and he himself was mocked...I don't want to get into what he said about 'mangalsutra', election has to be fought on the basis of development - on the issues of unemployment, inflation, widening gap between poor and the rich...He is deliberately dragging it to 'mangalsutra'. What has that to do with manifesto?...With the kind of language he is using. I think for the first time, the credibility of the Prime Minister has suffered a blow. People came to know that he lies," he said.
"The situation of BJP is very bad. The atmosphere is in favour of Congress, of INDIA...Results in the first phase of elections were good. Today too, it will be in favour. This is the situation not just in Rajasthan but across the country," he added. On BJP's '400 paar' slogan the former Rajasthan CM said "You can see that the PM and Amit Shah will never raise that slogan. They will stop it. That slogan is not being raised after the first phase. They have understood that they will not succeed."
Phase 2 of polling on April 26 is underway in Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Kota, and Jhalawar-Baran. The BJP won all 25 parliamentary seats in Rajasthan in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. However, in 2019, the BJP bagged 24 seats while the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) managed to secure the other remaining seat.
Initially, 89 constituencies were scheduled to go to polls today. However, the EC later announced that the voting in Madhya Pradesh's Betul would not take place during the second phase due to the death of a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate.
Read More
