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New Delhi: The mahagatbandhan in Uttar Pradesh held a historic rally in Deoband on Sunday, with Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav and Ajit Singh all taking the stage together for the first time. The Bahujan Samah Party, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal leaders took the stage, flanked by larger-than-life images of various leaders important to all three parties, such as B.R. Ambedkar, Kanshi Ram, Chaudhary Charan Singh and Ram Manohar Lohia.
Rainbow of faces at first alliance rally in Deoband — from Mayawati, Netaji, Akhilesh, Kanshi Ram, Ram Manohar Lohia, Bhimrao Ambedkar, Chaudhary Charan Singh and Shahu Ji Maharaj pic.twitter.com/HmIegkZTMQ
— Aman Sharma (@AmanKayamHai_ET) April 7, 2019
Mayawati reportedly appealed to Muslim voters and asked them not to vote for either the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party, because the Congress was certainly not going to be able to defeat the BJP on its own. Mayawati’s argument, thus, was that only the BSP-SP-RLD alliance could take down the BJP.
Congress also slammed in Madhya Pradesh
If Mayawati’s speech wasn’t scathing enough for the Congress, people close to party leader Kamal Nath found their houses and offices being raided by income tax officials from the early hours of Sunday morning.
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About 50 locations in India were raided. One of those whose house was raided in Madhya Pradesh was Praveen Kakkar, an officer on special duty assigned to chief minister Kamal Nath. Nath’s nephew’s property was also raided. Raids were also conducted against Ratul Puri, another close aide of Nath, who has also been questioned in relation to the AgustaWestland controversy.
From the BJP, no manifesto yet but a song
With four days until polls begin, the BJP still hasn’t released their manifesto. But they did release a slogan and theme song on Sunday. The slogan says “Phir ek baar, Modi sarkar (One more time, a Modi government)”. In 2014, the BJP had campaigned with nearly the same slogan – “Ab ki baar, Modi sarkar (This time, a Modi government)”.
The party also released a campaign song using the same slogan.
चलो फिर एक बार हम मोदी सरकार बनाते हैं,
चलो मिलकर साथ आगे देश को बढ़ाते हैं। #PhirEkBaarModiSarkar #IsBaarPhirModi pic.twitter.com/6I5vi6B71Y
— BJP (@BJP4India) April 7, 2019
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was, as usual, in several places on the same day.
In Cooch Behar, he repeated his jibes at chief minister Mamata Banerjee, calling her “speed breaker Didi”.
In Tripura, he offered prayers at a temple.
He also addressed a rally in Imphal.
EC continued to work with fear and favour
Over the last few weeks, the supposedly neutral Election Commission has been accused of working in fear of the BJP and favouring the party in several decisions.
Like the BJP, the Congress too released an election song. However, unlike the BJP, the Congress was pulled up for it by the EC. The EC asked the Congress to remove a line from the song, which they they did on Sunday. The EC said that the lines “disturbed communal harmony”. The Congress said the song is about the party’s proposed income guarantee “NYAY” scheme.
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Incidentally, the EC also sent an advisory to several government bodies asking them to keep the chief electoral officer in the loop if they were going for any raids to track illicit money meant for the polls. This advisory was sent to the department of revenue and thus covers agencies like the income tax department, the department of revenue and the enforcement directorate. These agencies have been asked to be “neutral and non discriminatory”.
Mamata Banerjee has also been sparring with the EC. She said that the EC was being biased in relation to the transfer of four senior police officers in West Bengal. The EC replied, calling this “unfortunate” and that it would not be dignified for them to respond at all.
The EC has also taken note of comments made by Mayawati on Sunday. It is not clear what comments might have been objectionable to the EC.
Congress says “Ab Hoga Nyay”
While the BJP has released just its slogan and song, the Congress released a hefty manifesto, a slogan and song. Their slogan says“Ab hoga nyay,” a hat tip to the NYAY scheme which Rahul Gandhi announced and promised. The lyrics for the song have reportedly been written by Javed Akhtar.
