General Elections 2019 – Day 9

General Elections 2019 - Day 9

General Elections 2019 - Day 9

PM Modi reaches out to 25 lakh with ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ address

PM Modi took to an audio conference for making a personalized outreach to over 25 lakh party workers calling them dedicated ‘chowkidars’ of the nation. The Prime Minister called out to party workers to be vigilant as chowkidars in building a strong, vigilant and united nation. He spoke about the threat of terrorism, and how selfless service of the armed forces was helping keep the nation safe. He took questions from the people and used the opportunity to silence the opposition for questioning the armed forces and for misleading the people.

Pramod Sawant clears floor test in Goa

New Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant led the BJP coalition to win the crucial trust vote in the state assembly. 20 out of 36 MLAs voted in favour while 15 voted against. BJP with 12 seats got support for 6 seats – MGP 3 seats; GFP 3 seats; Independents 2 seats. The unfortunate passing away of CM Parikkar opened the opportunity for the Congress to stake a claim on account of being the single largest party. The floor test has laid that to rest. It’s now up to Dr. Pramod Sawant to ensure continuity of governance in the state while simultaneously facilitating an aggressive campaign for the forthcoming assembly and general elections.

Congress seals an alliance with NC in J&K

Congress and National Conference have finally arrived at a consensus on an alliance in J&K. Addressing a joint press conference, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and National Conference leader Dr. Farooq Abdullah announced both parties would have a friendly contest for the Baramulla and Anantnag seats, without hurting each other, and Dr. Farooq Abdullah will contest from Srinagar with the full support of the Congress. The two parties were engaged in hectic negotiations for some time and were stalled with NC insisting on contesting all valley seats. The announcement puts the PDP and BJP in a spot as neither can now appear to come together and yet fighting independently will only favour the Congress-NC alliance.

Is Mayawati in the race for PM’s chair?

BSP leader Mayawati announced in a press conference today that she will not be contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. She spoke on the need to support the BSP-SP alliance in U.P and other states and said she would retain the option to contest at a later date if required. She is expected to begin her campaigning in other states from 2 April.

In 2014, BSP contested all 80 Lok Sabha seats in U.P but failed to win a single seat. The party, however, received 20 percent votes, just behind the SP’s 22.2 percent, and BJP’s 42.3 percent votes. Mayawati is confident the alliance with SP this year will succeed in defeating BJP in the state, which brings up the question – why has Mayawati chosen not to contest in 2019?

It’s possible she plans to play kingmaker in the post result scenario, in case the opposition succeeds in collectively unseating the BJP. Mayawati seems to be positioning herself for a national role and may aim for the PM’s seat if the situation opens up in her favour. If so, she will have Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and others to contend with.