Today is the second phase of polling. While the first phase witnessed less percentage of voting the second phase this morning has pickedup.
The election is being held amid a bitter face-off between the Congress and the BJP. The row was sparked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comment that the Congress, if voted to power, will redistribute the personal wealth of people among “infiltrators” and won’t even spare the mangalsutras of women. The Congress has questioned if the people had to fear for their wealth and mangalsutras in 55 years of the party’s rule, and accused the BJP of sidestepping issues that matter.
The next phase of the election is due on May 7. The counting of votes will be held on June 4 – three days after the seventh and last phase of election on June 1.
With north, west and northeast India saturated, the BJP is hoping to expand in the south and east in their quest for 370 seats. The party had won 303 seats in 2019, a majority of them from the Hindi heartland and bastions new and old, including Gujarat and the northeast.
