Lok Sabha Elections 2024: PM Modi Leaves Raj Bhavan To Cast His Vote | English News | News18

He was there, he stepped out and he had the Kamalgarh symbol around and they made a huge deal about it. The next time he said, OK, not just a symbol, I’ll also do a walkabout in that area. What’s planned today, Aman? Well, Anand, behind me you can see the Shant, Shikshan, Shankul. This is where the Prime Minister will be coming at about 7:30 AM to cast his vote for the Prime Minister coming in early. That’s also his appeal to voters to come out early and cast their votes because its very hot temperature is rising and he’s been pressing that upon everybody in the first two phases to come out early and vote on this is prime ministers polling booth. He will be coming in, casting his vote here, standing in a queue with normal people and you know then he will be casting and coming out and showing the finger. Maybe he will give us a bite. Last time in the assembly elections, he had spoken to the media briefly. Will have to wait. We are waiting for the Prime Minister here. But Gujarat Anand has been a fortress for the for the BJP and we see some movement here right now. And Gujarat has been a fortress for the BJP. I said 26 out of 26 seats in 2014 as well as 2019. This time the BJP has already won the Surat seat unopposed 60% plus vote share for the BJP, both in 2014, 2019. In Gujarat. You know, even in the Assembly elections 2 years back, we saw the BJP winning a record number of 156 seats. Aman, we’ve got Amit Shah behind you. Just behind those. The special task force dressed looking very very sharp in their newly new gear that they’ve all got its Amit Shah who’s come to the Prime ministers polling booth. He’s also got to cast his ballot in a short while. But he’s a candidate. Yeah but he’s the candidate from Gandhinagar. Yes this is the seat of Mr. Amit Shah he’s here and he’s here to review the preparation before the Prime Minister comes. And the Amit Shah will be going about will be casting his vote short distance away from here at around 9:30 AM. But Amit Shah here to review the preparations ahead of the Prime Minister visit. The Prime Minister expected in the next 5 to 10 minutes Anand here and other was saying Amit Shah himself the candidate here from the Gandhi Nagar seat, a seat which he you know took over from his. Let me also get get a quick word in with Payal also Payal Amit Shah exactly 10 minutes before the Prime ministers arrival. How does this happen? Like clockwork between the PM and the HM, Well, the Home Minister is here. He’s seeking the mandate from the public and because he’s a, he’s a contestant from Gandhinagar, a neighboring constituency from there. But his vote is going to be essentially in Ahmedabad, Naranpura, when Amit has voted from 1989 onwards as well. He, of course, is overseeing the preparation. I remember very distinctly Amit Shah was also here, Anand, in the last Lok Sabha election when the Prime Minister came out to vote. There, you see, and I can actually ask my camera person to show you that there you see crowds sharing people clicking pictures while Amit Shah waves out to them. And last time around was very interesting visuals. While the Prime Minister was waiting for his turn to vote, he was seeing, you know, he was seen playing with Amit Shahs elder grandchild. So that is something also which is which we have seen Amit Shah over there shaking hands with a young kid over there. Of course I don’t really know what that conversation released. But Amit Shah actually has a has a very, very good, you know, connect with kids as well, which is something which is not known about him, which is not something which has not been part of his personality, which is there very much there in the public domain. But that is Amit Shah waving out to the crowd, waving out to the public key of course is there for the Prime Minister to come out and vote in a bit from now. It is Amit Shahs big day today. He of course will be seeking the mandate from the people and you know importantly Anand, he’s seeking a huge mandate this time around. He’s seeking to get a leader of at least 10,00,000 is what we are given to understand from sources close to his office as well. So a big day for Gujarat, big day for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, big day for Amit Shah, big day for Gujarat given the fact that the top two leaders of the party, the top leaders of the government, both hail from Gujarat. While the Prime Minister comes out to do his do his duty as a citizen of the country, Amit Shah is obviously hoping and that one more people will come out and vote for him. Well of course this is his second term as a Lok Sabha MP that is seeking. The other aspect is the sartorial choice is also something which one needs to keep. Keep an eye on Aman because this time around Bhagwa is being very proudly and openly flaunted the Prime Minister also we spotted him in the car as I think wearing a saffron jacket. This time around, Amit Shah has got the flag and and the entire saffron gamcha around his shoulder. That’s the BJP also its got the BJP and the Prime Minister face on the one side. But this is something which is very, very obvious this time around. The Bhagwa there that is also directly linked to the BJPS party colors, main color or the core color. OK, yes Anand definitely. And you know this is something that if you go around in Ahmedabad, you know as I’ve been in the last two days, you can see the saffron imprint here, very, very prominent. Can you see the Mr. Home Minister Amit Shah also, you know, wearing this saffron gamcha around his neck, will see the Prime Minister also shortly and well see what he’s wearing. But, you know, this is the BJPS Fortress Anand there is no doubt about it. You know, you move around anywhere to speak to people. The limited people we could speak to yesterday in Ahmedabad, people are very, very clear that they are voting for Narendra Modi. They are voting to make him the Prime Minister for the third time. He is the son of the soil. And clearly the vote is for Mr. Modi. And the that is a factor which matters, you know, in the assembly elections, that showed that when BJP people thought that the BJP was going to backfoot after the 2017 assembly election, the BJP had dropped to about 99 seats. BJP made a roaring comeback and that was also on the back of the Prime ministers, very, very strong campaign in the last assembly elections 2 years back when the BJP launched up a record margin of 156 seats in the Gujarat Assembly. And now we see the Home Minister and Mr. the Prime Minister, both have held a very, very big campaign in Gujarat for the Lok Sabha elections as well. We saw the Surat seat being won unopposed by the BJP and the BJP is very confident this time of sweeping Gujarat yet again, even in the last Lok Sabha elections. Anand if you remember 2019, BJP had won each seat by over 2 to 3,00,000. Average marathon gap here is huge. So they want to win by 10,00,000 votes this time around. Bringing it into the studio here as we stay with those visuals as Amit Shah has just briskly walked towards the direction where the Prime Minister is going to come through. There, there they are. The last time that when the Kamal showing happened, one of the explanations was that the party symbol is orange Kamal, but the Prime Minister had shown a Lotus which is white, so it cannot be directly so. These loopholes, plugging in the loophole certain level of gamesmanship, one has to admit that the BJP has tried to become a past master. As far as this gamesmanship is concerned, just push the ante to the line where you just on the bottom line. That’s a very good point Anand because remember, the stakes are very high. The stakes are very high and this phase is critical. Let me tell you to use a phrase that was popularized by Rahul Gandhi, escape velocity. If the BJP wants escape velocity, it must not just do as well, but perhaps even look to improve. Remember, in this particular phase, the India alliance as a whole has only 10 seats to defend. Its very weak. You’re talking about Gujarat. BJP, yes is favorite in Gujarat. Its not as if it doesn’t have its problems. There is a little bit of a Rajput backlash that Purshotam Rupala has not covered himself in glory. Absolutely. A large number of the M PS were not repeated from last time. So there is absolutely so here there is anti incumbency also. I’m not saying that that’s going to sort of change equation. The BJP is expecting those 26 and look, the Prime Minister is from Gujarat, Its about his Asmita, its about Gujarati pride, lot of other factors. So I don’t think there will be a problem. But you know, just trying to tell you that even in Gujarat there is a bit of anti incumbency. Remember the Congress still has around 25 or 30% of the vote. I think in Gujarat. Its not exactly a completely dead duck, you know, kind of enterprise. But if Zaka, let’s be honest, there are two states here which will be the key for the BJP. One is Maharashtra and one is Karnataka. And that Lingayat belt, I think, is proving to be an enigma for the BJP. We’ve had the Prajwal tapes. Yeah, we’ve had a lot of other stuff go.