Lok Sabha polls: Sonia-Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra cast votes in Delhi
New Delhi/IBNS: Congress top leaders, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her husband Robert Vadra cast their votes in Delhi as the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls are underway on Saturday.
After casting their votes, Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka clicked pictures. Priyanka was accompanied by her children- Raihan Rajiv Vadra and Miraya Vadra.
#WATCH | Delhi: Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party MP Rahul Gandhi click a selfie as they leave from a polling station after casting their votes for #LokSabhaElections2024 pic.twitter.com/PIvovnGPdJ
— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2024
When asked about AAP and Congress voting for each other, Priyanka said, "We are keeping aside our grievances and casting votes for our Constitution and democracy. I feel proud of it."
"I urge everyone to vote and bring a change," she added.
#WATCH | Congress General Secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra arrives at a polling station in Delhi to cast her vote for the sixth phase of #LokSabhaElections2024 pic.twitter.com/0eIKzsHPyc
— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2024
11.13 crore people are expected to exercise their franchise in this phase and decide the fates of 889 candidates across 1.14 lakh polling stations.
Among those in the fray for the BJP are Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Maneka Gandhi, former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, party spokesman Sambit Patra, late External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's daughter Bansuri Swaraj and actor-turned-politician Manoj Tiwari.
The star Congress candidates include Deepender Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja, Raj Babbar and Kanhaiya Kumar. The heavyweight list also includes Samajwadi Party leader Dharmendra Yadav and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti.
The states voting in this phase are Bihar (8 seats), Haryana (all 10 seats), Jharkhand (4 seats),, Odisha (6 seats), Uttar Pradesh (14 seats) and West Bengal (8 seats).
Completing the list are the two Union Territories -- Delhi (all 7 seats) and Jammu and Kashmir (one seat) will also vote.
The election to the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency of Jammu and Kashmir, deferred from May 7 following logistical, communication, and natural barriers related to connectivity, is being held in this phase.
The most riveting contest will be for the national capital Delhi, where the BJP swept all seven seats in 2019. This time, Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party is leaving no stone unturned with its "Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se" campaign. AAP is contesting four seats in the national capital, its ally Congress three.
This phase will be crucial for NDA, which has to keep its score intact to meet its "400-plus" target. In 2019, the BJP alone won 40 of the 58 constituencies going to polls in this phase in the Hindi heartland and the east. Its NDA allies won five more seats.
The parties of the Opposition INDIA bloc -- Trinamool Congress, National Conference and Samajwadi Party – had won five seats, the Congress none.
The last phase i.e. seventh phase of polling will be held on June 1 with counting of votes scheduled on June 4. Polling for 25 States/UTs and 428 constituencies was completed in the first five phases of the general elections.