Elections 2021: Votes will be counted for all states on May 2. (Representational)
New Delhi:
Today is the last day of poll campaign in three states -Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala- and Puducherry, a union territory. As Assam and Bengal vote for third phase on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry will vote in a single phase.
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In Kerala, more than 27 lakh people are eligible to vote across the state. The ruling Left Democratic Front, the United Democratic Front, of which the Congress is a part, and the BJP are the three key contenders that are figthing in all 140 constituencies.
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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was elected as Lok Sabha MP from Kerala’s Wayanad in 2019, will be campaigning today in the southern state.
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In Assam, BJP leader and state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will resume his campaign after the Election Commission halved the ban on him from 48 to 24 hours. The ban was handed down late Friday night for threatening to send BPF chief Hagrama Mohilary, an opposition leader whose party had formerly allied with his, to jail. On Tuesday, voting will be held in 40 seats in Assam.
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Tamil Nadu too has witnessed a hectic campaign over the last few weeks. Voting will be held for 234 seats in the state on Tuesday. The AIADMK-BJP combine is eyeing re-election as the DMK-Congress coalition, actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam, and TTV Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam give it a tough fight.
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On Tuesday, voting will also be held in Puducherry for 30 seats two months after the V Narayanasamy-led Congress government slipped into majority in a huge embarrassment for the party. Mr Narayanasamy accused the opposition BJP and NR Congress of bringing down his government and also blamed former Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi of “colluding with the opposition”.
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Last month, the Madras High Court wanted to know if the Puducherry election could be deferred in light of allegations the BJP had wrongfully accessed and misused voters’ Aadhaar details, including phone numbers, for campaigning purposes.
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The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) informed the Madras High Court on Wednesday that no Aadhaar data, more particularly the cell phone numbers of voters in Puducherry, has been furnished to the BJP for campaigning for the April 6 elections.
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In Bengal, polling will be held on Tuesday for the third phase. The state has been witnessing a vitriolic campaign in a closely-fought election between the ruling Trinamool Congress, the BJP and the Congress-Left alliance.
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Today, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is in Bengal to campaign for the BJP.
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Last week, Mamata Banerjee urged Congress’s Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar and several other top opposition leaders to unite against the BJP. The West Bengal Chief Minister was stuck at a poll booth for two hours in Nandigram on Thursday as unprecedented chaos unfolded on the day second phase of voting was held.