ST Hasan, a leader from the Samajwadi Party, strongly criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for holding an election rally on the same day as the first phase of the 2024 general election.
“The election commission should take cognizance of the matter. I believe that this is not justified for free and fair elections,” Hasan told ANI.
Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to conduct public rallies in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, Damoh in Madhya Pradesh, and Wardha in Maharashtra on Friday.
Hasan urged voters to exercise their rights to cast their votes.
“This is the festival of democracy in which people cast their vote. Casting votes is required to save democracy and the Constitution. The kind of ‘jumle’ they (BJP) provide and messages they deliver to fool people,” he said
Initially, ST Hasan submitted his nomination for the Moradabad seat, but later withdrew it when the SP announced Ruchi Vira as the candidate.
Today, elections are taking place in Saharanpur, Bijnor, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Nagina (reserved for Scheduled Castes), Moradabad, Rampur, and Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh. In the first phase, voting is underway in 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories.
Over 16 crore eligible voters are participating in the first phase of elections. Polling for assembly elections in the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim began concurrently with the commencement of voting for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday morning.
Arunachal Pradesh is conducting elections for two Lok Sabha seats and its 60-member Assembly. Additionally, Sikkim is voting for 32 assembly seats and a single Lok Sabha seat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is vying for his third consecutive term, while the opposition bloc, INDIA, a coalition of opposing parties formed to challenge the BJP in the general elections, is aiming to remove him from office.
A total of 16.63 crore voters are going to vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, deciding the fate of 1625 candidates, with Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju, Bhupendra Yadav, and Arjun Ram Meghwal among several Union ministers in the fray.