India General Elections 2024 updates | Highlights on May 22, 2024

Of the 8,337 candidates contesting in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, as many as 1,644 have criminal cases registered against them, according to an analysis of the data shared by the poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Among these candidates, 1,188 face serious criminal charges, including allegations related to murder, attempted murder, crimes against women and hate speech.

In phase 1, out of 1,618 candidates analysed, 252 have criminal cases and 161 serious criminal cases.

In the second phase, 1,192 candidates were analysed with 250 of them facing criminal charges and 167 serious criminal cases.

In phase 3, out of 1,352 candidates, 244 have criminal cases and 172 serious criminal cases.

Phase 4 had the highest number -- of the 1,710 candidates analysed, 360 have criminal charges against them and 274 serious criminal charges.

Phase 5 included 695 candidates, of which 159 have criminal cases and 122 serious criminal cases.

In phase 6, out of 866 candidates analysed, 180 have criminal cases and 141 have serious criminal cases.

In phase 7, 199 out of 904 candidates face criminal charges and 151 have serious criminal cases against them.

Overall, affidavits of 8,337 candidates out of a total of 8,360 candidates were analysed by the ADR. - PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday tore into the INDIA bloc accusing it of being extremely “communal, casteist and nepotistic” as he alleged that all parties which are with the Congress are to be blamed for the anti-Sikh riots.

Addressing a rally in Dwarka, he said the BJP’s development model is committed to ‘nation first’ but for the Congress and the INDIA grouping, the only agenda is ‘family first’.

“The country also understands that if by mistake any vote is cast in favour of INDI alliance, that vote is not going to be of any use to the country. Every vote given to BJP will strengthen the resolve of ‘Viksit Bharat’. That is why this huge sea of people is also saying in one voice ‘Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar’,” he said.

Attacking the Congress and the INDIA bloc, he said in Delhi, Sikhs were burnt alive. - PTI

An FIR has been registered against unknown persons in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul and Spiti for allegedly obstructing a rally of BJP candidate from Mandi Lok Sabha seat Kangana Ranaut, officials said on May 22.

The case was registered under sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of IPC at Kaza police station on a complaint by the BJP, they said.

Also, office bearers of the Youth Congress have been issued a notice by the returning officer in connection with the incident.

The BJP alleged that the Ms. Ranaut’s rally was obstructed on May 20 in Kaza and she was was shown black flags by Congress workers and locals.

The BJP had filed a complaint with the chief electoral officer demanding an investigation into the incident in which they claimed a party worker was injured. The BJP also alleged that the district administration gave permission to the ruling Congress for a public meeting adjacent to the place already allotted to hold the Ms. Ranaut’s rally at Kaza. - PTI

Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on May 22 lodged a complaint with the Election Commission (EC) against BJP’s Puri Parliamentary Constituency candidate Sambit Patra for using a photo of Sri Jagannath temple in an advertisement issued by him in the local media.

In a petition to the chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar, the BJD highlighted that the full-page advertisement featuring Mr. Patra’s picture with Sri Jagannath Temple in the background also had the BJP’s “lotus” symbol.

The BJD also noted that on Monday, Mr. Patra made an “offensive” comment stating that “Lord Jagannath is the devotee of Modi,” which severely affected the sentiments of millions of Odias worldwide.

Although Mr. Patra later clarified that his remark was inadvertently made and expressed regret, the BJD argued that the advertisement violated the Model Code of Conduct for political parties and candidates.

“But the issue here is issuing a full page advertisement with his photo and the temple in background along with party symbol. We strongly object to it and consider this to be a violation of the poll code for political parties and candidates,” the BJD said. The party demanded that immediate action be taken against Mr. Patra, with a formal notice issued and made public. - PTI

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah highlighted the absence of prominent Muslim leaders on the national stage when the community faces challenges, and said Ghulam Nabi Azad could have played the leadership role within the Congress, but his fledgling DPAP is limited to just the Chenab Valley now.

Mr. Abdullah emphasised the need for a strong national-level Muslim leader to give Muslims in the rest of the country “some reassurance”.

Mr. Azad had ended his more than five-decade-long association with the Congress in August 2022 and launched his own party — the Democratic Azad party (DAP) — the next month.

“Unfortunately, he (Azad) was a man who would have been on the forefront of the Congress campaign. He would have been on the forefront of the leadership role within the Congress. I don’t know what went wrong but I feel bad...we don’t have many many Muslim leaders on the national stage,” Mr. Abdullah said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he has no “intention” of becoming the next prime minister of the country if the INDIA bloc wins the Lok Sabha polls, saying his aim was to save the country and democracy from the prevailing “dictatorship”.

In an interview to PTI Videos, the AAP national convener also alleged that if the BJP comes back to power, all opposition leaders will be in jail and it will hijack the elections.

Mr. Kejriwal said the opposition INDIA bloc’s prime minister will be decided after the results of the Lok Sabha polls are announced on June 4.

He said he felt the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc was gradually inching towards the 300 mark. “It will form the government on its own. The alliance will give a good, stable government,” he added.

The AAP convener said he has no intention of becoming the next prime minister of the country.

“I have no such intention. We (AAP) are a very small party contesting only 22 seats,” he said when asked if he considered himself a PM face of the INDIA bloc. - PTI

Attacking both parties, BSP chief Mayawati on May 22 said the Congress was thrown out of power over policies against the deprived sections and the BJP is wasting time in “theatrics”.

She was addressing an election rally here in support of party’s Lok Sabha poll candidates -- Uday Raj Verma from Sultanpur and Qamar Hyat Ansari from Ambedkar Nagar.

“The BJP is wasting time in ‘natakbazi’ and ‘jumlebazi’ and people now understand this,” the former chief minister said.

Ms. Mayawati said her party is fighting the elections alone and exuded confidence of good performance “provided the polls are free and fair”. - PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Odisha on May 29, aiming to provide a final boost to BJP’s electioneering efforts in the state, party sources said.

Mr. Modi’s upcoming visit will include addresses at two election rallies in Balasore and Kendrapada Parliamentary constituencies, BJP’s election in-charge for Odisha, Vijay Pal Singh Tomar said.

This will mark Mr. Modi’s fourth visit to Odisha within a month, highlighting BJP’s concerted efforts to strengthen its electoral prospects in the state. - PTI

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on May 22 those who praise Pakistan should pack their bags by June 4 and stop being a burden on India, apparently referring to remarks by Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar that surfaced recently.

“They should seek refuge in Pakistan,” he said, addressing a rally at the Government Inter College Mungarbadshahpur ground to seek votes for the BJP’s Jaunpur Lok Sabha candidate Kripashankar Singh.

The BJP leader’s remark alluded to an old video in which Mr. Aiyar was heard saying that India should give respect to Pakistan as it is a sovereign nation and engage with it as it also possesses an atom bomb. The clip sparked a row amid the ongoing election season.

Mr. Adityanath reiterated his ‘Rambhakt versus Ramdrohi’ tirade against the opposition.

“They say, ‘Don’t provoke Pakistan; it has atomic bombs.’ Can a struggling country like Pakistan be a threat to a vast nation such as India which has the largest emerging economy? Ramdrohis engage in casteist and dynastic politics and also incite caste-based conflicts,” he claimed.

Mr. Adityanath said the Congress has intentionally aligned with tainted, corrupt and dynastic parties, committing to causing chaos and disorder in the country. - PTI

A new film will be released on June 4 which the country will see with greater enthusiasm, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said on May 22, exuding confidence about the victory of the opposition alliance in the ongoing parliamentary polls.

Mr. Yadav alleged that Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha elections.

The BSP is helping the saffron party by splitting the opposition SP votes, he added.

“The INDIA alliance is surging ahead with the passing of every round of voting. A new film will be released on June 4 which the country will see with enthusiasm,” Mr. Yadav said, addressing a rally in favour of SP nominee Dharmendra Yadav.

Counting of votes will take place on June 4. - PTI

In a show of strength ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah participated in a roadshow in West Bengal’s Bankura constituency.

The BJP has renominated Dr. Subhas Sarkar, Union Minister of State for Education, from the constituency, while the TMC has fielded its district president and advocate Arup Chakraborty. The CPI(M) has nominated lawyer Nilanjan Dasgupta. A total of 12 candidates are contesting from this seat.

During the roadshow, which started from Lalbazar Chowk area around 4:40 pm, Shah was seen standing on top of a decorated lorry along with state BJP leaders. Hundreds of people lined both sides of the road, waving to Shah. The constituency will go to polls in the sixth phase on May 25. - PTI

As many as 20 crorepatis are contesting in the six Lok Sabha constituencies in Odisha scheduled to go to the polls in the last phase of the elections on June 1, Odisha Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said.

According to the ADR, out of the 66 candidates contesting in these six constituencies — Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, and Mayurbhanj — 20 have assets worth more than ₹1 crore, with the average assets of the nominees in this phase amounting to ₹3.83 crore.

Among the major parties, BJP candidates have an average asset value of ₹27.12 crore, followed by BJD candidates with ₹6.61 crore, and Congress aspirants with ₹2.37 crore.

ADR also reported that 15 candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves, with 10 facing serious criminal charges.

Educational qualifications among the candidates vary, with 19 having completed education between class V and XII, and 43 being graduates or holding higher degrees. Additionally, two candidates hold diplomas, and two have declared themselves as just literate. - PTI

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday asserted that she “will not accept” the Calcutta High Court order scrapping the OBC status of several classes in the State.

Addressing a poll rally at Khardah under the Dumdum Lok Sabha constituency, Ms. Banerjee said the OBC reservation will continue in the State, as the Bill concerned was passed within the framework of the Constitution.

“The OBC reservation quota introduced by the West Bengal government will continue. We had drafted the Bill after conducting a house-to-house survey, and it was passed by the Cabinet and the Assembly,” she said.

“The BJP has conspired to stall it by using central agencies. How can the saffron party show such audacity?” the TMC boss said.

- PTI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of compromising national security for the sake of vote bank politics and “committing a sin” by allowing infiltrators to change the demography of the State.

Addressing back-to-back rallies in Kanthi, Ghatal, and Purulia Lok Sabha constituencies, Mr. Shah said the TMC will “disintegrate” and there will be a “farewell of Mamata Banerjee’s government” after the BJP wins 30 Lok Sabha seats in the State.

“Bengal has become a safe haven for infiltrators. Due to infiltration, the State’s demography is changing, impacting not only this state, but the entire country. Ms. Banerjee is committing a sin by helping to change the demography of Bengal. She is compromising national security for sake of vote bank politics,” he said.

- PTI

Exuding confidence in winning the Lok Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh, Congress leader Sachin Pilot said on Wednesday that the environment is one-sided in Congress favour and party’s candidate from Mandir Vikramaditya Singh will win with a huge margin.

Mr. Pilot was campaigning for Mandi Lok Sabha seat candidate from Congress Vikramaditya Singh. 

“We are in the Mandi Lok Sabha Constituency right now. The environment is one-sided in Congress’ favour. Vikramaditya will win with a huge margin. Our candidates are ahead in all four seats in Himachal Pradesh,” Mr. Pilot said.

- PTI

Addressing his first Lok Sabha election rally in Haryana, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on May 22 launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that he had “lost his reputation”, besides reiterating the party’s promises to scrap the Agniveer Scheme for recruitment to Armed forces and to waive farmers’ debt if voted to power.

Read more here.

The BJP is supporting a party which has been involved in Hawala money pumped in from Pakistan to fund militancy in Kashmir, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said on Wednesday, in a veiled attack on Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari.

Mr. Bukhari, a former PDP leader, was expelled from the party in January 2019. His Apni Party has fielded Zafar Iqbal Khan Manhas from the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency against Mehbooba and National Conference leader Mian Altaf.

“The first-of-its-kind attack on tourists in Pahalgam (on Saturday night that left a tourist couple from Rajasthan injured) should be investigated with a focus on the role of a party which brought Hawala money in large quantities from Pakistan for funding militancy (in Kashmir),” the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) president told reporters in Poonch district.

“I do not want to name anyone but if you try to find out, you will come to know who is behind handing over money to militants and (separatist) leaders. The connections are still intact and they can use those connections to do anything to ensure low polling percentage in Kashmir,” she said.

- PTI

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has rubbished Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charge that the Congress will run a bulldozer on the Ram temple if it comes to power, saying it is a “complete lie” and the party respects all sects, religions and honours everyone’s faith.

He also asserted that the Congress has been in power for 55 years but has never stopped anyone from worshipping anyone or has taken away anyone’s mangalsutra, as claimed by the Prime Minister.

“This is a complete lie. They talk like this only. No one from our party has spoken like this and neither is it written in the Constitution. We respect all sects and religions and honour everyone’s faith,” Mr. Kharge said.

- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday hit out at the Opposition and said they “did nothing for 60 years and are united to stop Modi and his work”.

PM Modi addressed an election rally in support of BJP candidate from Shravasti in Uttar Pradesh, Saket Mishra.

“The people who did nothing for 60 years have united to stop Modi and his work. In U.P., the flop film of two boys has been launched again,” said the Prime Minister, adding that the “ do shehzade” (two princes) will “undo the work done by Modi”.

By saying “ do shehzade”, the Prime Minister was alluding to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav who had contested the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections as alliance partners.

The SP and the Congress will take back the people’s houses which have been built by Mr. Modi, the two parties will close the people’s Jan Dhan accounts, withdraw their money, cut off their electricity connections and even take away their “tonti” (taps), alleged the Prime Minister.

Mr. Modi stressed that the Congress will cancel the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and impose Article 370 again in Kashmir.

- PTI

The Congress on May 22 raised questions over the big difference between the real-time voter turnout data and the final figures released by the Election Commission of India (ECI), and said voters are worried over the “strange goings-on” in the poll body.

Read more here.

The Election Commission of India on May 22 wrote separate letters to the BJP and the Congress, directing them to issue a formal notice to its “star campaigners” disallowing them from making statements that “divide the society” and may cause tension between different castes and communities.

Read more here.

Trading barbs over black flags shown to the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Mandi Kangana Ranaut in Lahaul and Spiti’s Kaza two days back, the Congress’ Vikramaditya Singh targeted the actor Wednesday over her remark against the Dalai Lama from April last year.

“People of the tribal area worship Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama as their God and if someone passes any remarks against their God, they will surely not like it and protest,” Mr. Singh, who contesting the election against Ms. Ranaut, said in Mandi in response to a question.

Hitting back at Mr. Singh, Ms. Ranaut alleged that the Congress was behind the protest against her. The Congress has stooped to hooliganism and the Kaza incident would prove to be the last nail in its coffin and contribute to her winning margin, the BJP candidate added.

“I feel sad to see such hooliganism which reflects the Congress’ character... people have seen the true face of the Congress, which is indulging in violence and hooliganism,” she told media persons in Lahaul and Spiti’s Udaipur.

Mr. Singh, however, said his party had nothing to do with the incident and accused the BJP of blaming the Congress as it was losing the elections.

- PTI

The Congress has put up posters against Akshay Bam, who withdrew his nomination as a candidate of the party from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore Lok Sabha seat at the last moment before joining the BJP, describing him to be an “absconder” in a 17-year-old alleged attempt to murder case.

These posters also announced a cash reward of Rs 5,100 for anyone providing information about him leading to his arrest.

A sessions court had issued an arrest warrant against Bam and his 75-year-old father Kantilal Bam on May 10.

-PTI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Agniveer scheme, reiterating that the party would scrap the scheme after it forms the government at the Centre after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. 

Addressing a public meeting in Haryana’s Mahendragarh, the former Congress president said, “...Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made the Jawans of India like labourers... The Army doesn’t want the Agniveer scheme, it’s a scheme made by the Prime Minister’s Office. Once Congress comes to power (forms government at the Centre) we will throw this scheme in the dustbin...” 

“The farmers of Haryana work in the fields of the country; the Modi government snatched away your rights and abolished the Land Tribunal Bill to help the billionaires; then three (farm) laws came, but the government had to step back,” Mr. Gandhi added.

- ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday here called Congress and Samajwadi Party “sympathisers of Pakistan” and alleged that these parties are “scaring the country” with its nuclear power status.

“This patron of terrorism which once used to make eyes at us, its condition has become such that its people are hard up even for grain. Pakistan is finished, but its sympathisers, SP and Congress, are busy scaring the country,” Modi said at a poll rally while campaigning for BJP’s Basti Lok Sabha candidate Harish Dwivedi.

“They say one needs to be scared of Pakistan because it has an atom bomb. Don’t they know what is 56-inch (chest)? It’s not the weak Congress government ... but the strong government of Modi,” Mr. Modi said.

“India does not spare those who tries to bully it. India today beats them in their own homes,” he said.

- PTI

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh slammed the Congress, reminding them of how former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi choked democracy by imposing an emergency in the country.

His comments came amid allegations by the Congress that if PM Modi-led BJP gets 400 seats after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, “democracy would be in danger.”

Addressing a public meeting in Haryana’s Karnal, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, “...They (the Congress) say if Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets more than 400 seats, it will put democracy in danger; he will become a dictator. But when Indira Gandhi lost her election before 1975, morally she should’ve resigned as a PM but she imposed the emergency and choked democracy...” 

“Lakhs of people were put behind bars. At the age of 24, I was also jailed for two and a half months. Whoever wants to verify it, can do it. They (Congress) choked the democracy. My mother died due to shock when it was declared that the emergency had been extended by one year,” Mr. Singh added.

- ANI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of compromising national security for the sake of vote-bank politics, and “committing a sin” by allowing infiltrators to change the state’s demography.

Addressing a poll rally at Kanthi in East Midnapore district, Mr. Shah also asserted that the Trinamool Congress will “disintegrate”, resulting in the “farewell” of the Mamata Banerjee government after the BJP wins 30 Lok Sabha seats in the State.

“Bengal has become a safe haven for infiltrators. Due to infiltration, the demography of the state is changing, which is impacting not only Bengal but the entire country.

“Mamata Banerjee is committing a sin by allowing infiltrators to change the demography of Bengal. She is compromising national security for the sake of vote-bank politics,” he alleged.

The BJP has maintained that “infiltrators are the vote bank of the TMC”.

- PTI

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expelled Bhojpuri singer-turned-politician Pawan Singh for running as an independent candidate in the Karakat Lok Sabha constituency, defying the party’s official candidate from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).Pawan Singh had previously announced his intention to contest the Karakat seat independently, a move that has now led to his expulsion.

In a letter to Singh, the Bihar BJP said, “You are contesting the Lok Sabha elections against the official candidate of the NDA. This act of yours is against the party, which has tarnished the party’s image and violated party discipline. Therefore, as per the orders of the Honorable State President, you are expelled from the party for this anti-party activity.”

- ANI

The Congress on Wednesday raised questions over the big difference between the real time voter turnout data and the final figures released by the Election Commission, and said voters are worried over the “strange goings-on” in the poll body.

Congress leader and head of the media and publicity department of the party Pawan Khera said the difference is around 1.7 crore votes, and termed it as unprecedented.

“Voters are worried about the strange goings on in the Election Commission through the four phases of voting. First, the Election Commission takes 10-11 days to bring out the final figure of voting and then the difference between real-time data and the final figure turns out to be 1.7 crore votes. This is truly unprecedented,” Mr. Khera said on X.

“Unanswered questions about the missing EVMs are also very worrying,” he added. 

PTI

NCP (SP) candidate from Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat, Nilesh Lanke, on Wednesday claimed a person breached the three-tier security and tried to reach a godown where the EVMs were kept after polling in the constituency. 

Mr. Lanke posted on X a CCTV grab while claiming the person tried to tamper with the close-circuit camera and reach the godown.

The Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader raised questions over the security deployed there.

“A person easily breached the three-tier security around one of the godowns where EVMs are stored. He tried to tamper with the CCTV cameras, but my colleagues intervened in time,” he claimed in the post on X. 

The Congress has consciously contested on a lesser number of seats in this Lok Sabha election as part of a strategy to keep the INDIA bloc together and defeat the BJP, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has said.

In an interview with PTI, he said this does not exhibit “under-confidence” on the part of the party as the “compromise was struck to ensure the victory of the united Opposition while giving space to other parties which have strengths in different parts of the country”.

Mr. Kharge also termed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra an “asset” and a star campaigner and justified her decision to not contest the elections. 

Asked which seat Rahul Gandhi should leave, in case he wins both Wayanad and Rae Bareli, Mr. Kharge said it is his personal choice.

PTI

Security has been beefed up in parts of the national capital ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in southwest Delhi’s Dwarka, police on Wednesday said.

The Delhi Police has issued an advisory informing the public about traffic diversions and asking commuters to avoid certain roads.

A heavy deployment of force has been made to maintain law and order.

According to the advisory, the PM will visit the DDA Park in Dwarka’s Sector-14, opposite Vegas Mall, at 6 p.m. to address a rally. 

PTI

In an attempt to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party from sweeping all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital for the third time, once bitter rivals the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress, have come together in a seat-sharing agreement under the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). The AAP is fighting on four seats and the Congress from three.

The campaign in the run-up to the May 25 election has had its fair share of twists and turns with the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal days after the announcement of the election, followed by his return to the campaign trail 50 days later, raising the stakes even further. Both from inside and outside jail, Mr. Kejriwal has emerged as the star campaigner of the INDIA bloc.

Mr. Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on charges of corruption in the now-scrapped Delhi Excise policy and the BJP has built its campaign by questioning the credentials of the anti-corruption crusader as a honest leader, and projected Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development model to win over the electorate once again. The AAP in turn has run a campaign titled “ Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se” (Answer to jail by vote), terming their leader’s arrest a “political conspiracy” hatched by the BJP to “destroy” the AAP.

On May 10, Mr. Kejriwal was given interim bail by the Supreme Court till June 1 to campaign and he has changed the narrative with direct attacks on Mr. Modi. He has asked whether the Prime Minster plans to retire at 75 and suggested a power struggle within the BJP. Addressing several public meetings, Mr. Kejriwal has asked people to vote for the INDIA bloc if they want to see him stay out of jail and continue to work for the people of Delhi.

Soaring temperatures do not trouble Jagananth Tiwari, in fact, it is the only time he does a brisk business. Pouring out extra sweet lassi in earthen tumblers, he is as generous with his political opinion as topping the tumblers with an extra layer of cream.

Mr. Tiwari’s little roadside kiosk is in the Manikpur Gram Sabha, in the Bhadohi Lok Sabha constituency in eastern Uttar Pradesh. It is a bipolar contest, he says, between the BJP and “ gathbandhan”, the word used to identify INDIA bloc here. So is it the Samajwadi Party or the Congress? Mr. Tiwari responds with an emphatic no. “It is that Bengal party,” he says. For a minute, he is lost for the name of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is contesting the seat as part of the INDIA bloc. But he is clear on the candidate — Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, a Congress rebel who switched over to the TMC. Does he know the symbol, one asks, “Of course, it is two branches and six petals,” pat comes the reply, as he fishes out the little slip of paper with a picture of EVM showing Mr. Tripathi’s face and TMC’s symbol. Bhadohi goes to polls on May 25.

Mr. Tiwari is not alone, across the seat, Mr. Tripathi is identified as the “ gathbandhan” candidate. This seat came into existence after the 2008 delimitation exercise and in the last three elections since, the BJP has held it twice and the BSP once. The SP and the Congress in the last two general elections are fighting for the third place. Both SP and Congress voters are not hesitating from voting for the TMC, a relatively unknown entity here. “The day my candidature was announced, the SP leadership here handed over to me their entire organisational network, going down till the booth level. It was easy to get the Congress workers going, since I have old links with them. Surprisingly, even AAP workers, who may be few, but highly motivated, have been campaigning from the first day for the alliance,” Mr. Tripathi said.

The INDIA bloc since its ambitious beginning in March 2023 as the overarching anti-BJP platform has suffered several setbacks, including exits of few of its founding member parties, such as Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United). In Uttar Pradesh too, the alliance had a rocky beginning. The agonised negotiations went on for weeks and a final seat sharing arrangement was announced on February 21, with the Samajwadi Party conceding 17 seats for the Congress.