Modi to Maliwal, top newsmakers of 2024 General Elections

Narendra Modi

From making his controversial “infiltrator” remark at Muslims to calling himself God-send to sitting on a much-dramatised 24-hour ‘maun vrat’ (meditation) at Kanyakumari’s Vivekananda Rock on the conclusion of campaigning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, managed to stay the supreme subject of media attention since the election season kicked off in April.

In the course of the seven-phase polls, Modi stuck to bashing the Opposition on the issue of dynasty politics, minority appeasement, reservation and alleged intention to change the Constitution. The prime minister who addressed a record 206 rallies this year and gave 80 interviews to TV channels and agencies, took a new line of attack against the Opposition by alleging that the Congress would re-distribute the wealth of citizens if it comes to power, after the first phase of polls got over. While warning Hindu voters that the Congress will rob them of their assets and their women of their ‘mangalsutras’ and give their wealth to Muslims if it comes to power, Modi also accused the party of planning to snatch the reservation from ST, SC and OBCs and give it to Muslims.

Rahul Gandhi

The former Congress president, who took a leading role in stitching together a coalition of like-minded parties to take on the BJP-led NDA government, has been emphasising on INDIA bloc’s call to voters to oust the saffron party-led alliance from power for the sake of democracy.

At his poll rallies, the former Congress chief amplified the call to protect the Constitution, which the Opposition alleges could be altered or dumped for a new and draconian one if the NDA comes to power with a majority.

Rahul has also hit out at the BJP and Modi for the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, introduction of Citizenship Amendment Act, Agniveer scheme, and China’s incursion in Ladakh, while alleging that the prime minister has waived ₹16 lakh crore loans of his “billionaire friends”.

He has promised that the Congress will restore full statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, end the 50 per cent cap on reservation and create crores of ‘lakhpatis’ if it is voted to power.

Suspense prevailed over Rahul’s candidature in the initial phases of the polls with the BJP daring him to contest from the lost Gandhi bastion of Amethi. The former Congress president, however, filed nomination from Rae Bareli, another Gandhi bastion, besides the Lok Sabha seat of Wayanad.

Sam Pitroda

When emotions were already running high in the charged up poll scene, Congress leader Sam Pitroda added fuel to the fire with two comments which not only left his embattled party in a tough spot, but also cost him his position as Indian Overseas Congress chief.

The BJP came all guns blazing at the Congress when Pitroda in an interview mentioned “inheritance tax” while defending his party’s poll manifesto and trying to debunk the saffron party’s allegation that the Congress may redistribute wealth if it comes to power.

A few days later, Pitroda kicked off a bigger row when he compared South Indians with Africans and Northeast Indians with the Chinese in a bid to show India diversity, but in a comment which came across as racist.

VK Pandian

The Tamil Nadu-born bureaucrat, who was so far in the shadows, working quietly as the influential aide of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, became a talking point in Odisha politics at the time of polls.

Even though there were whispers of his influence in Odisha political circles, Pandian in October last year hit the headlines when he was appointed as chairman of 5T and Nabin Odisha, a post equal to the rank of a cabinet minister, 24 hours after resigning from his post as private secretary to the chief minister. He formally joined the BJD a month later.

The BJP, which has been merciless in its criticism against Patnaik this time, has found an easy target in Pandian to peddle its “outsider” narrative among Odia voters. The proximity of Pandian with Patnaik, the fact that he, a non-Odia, is leading the election campaign of the BJD even though he is not a candidate himself, and his alleged unpopularity among party colleagues, has given the BJP enough ammunition to accuse him of “hijacking” the government.

Among multiple videos, a viral clip showing Pandian hiding the chief minister’s trembling hands behind the podium while the latter is delivering a speech, has further fuelled rumours that he is “manipulating” the BJD chief.

Patnaik, on multiple occasions, however, has rubbished the allegations about the bureaucrat and rumours that Pandian is his political successor.

Mrs and Mr Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the liquor scam case on March 21, a month before the commencement of General Elections, has kept himself relevant while in jail.

While Kejriwal’s decision to remain chief minister and govern Delhi from jail enraged his critics, his diet became headline material after the ED told the court that the AAP chief, a diabetic was deliberately eating sweets and mangoes to raise his sugar levels to make grounds for bail.

The AAP on the other had rebutted the allegations and accused the BJP-led Centre of denying insulin to the Delhi chief minister.

After several bail petitions, the Supreme Court on May 10 granted him 21-day interim bail till June 1 to campaign for the general elections. He surrendered on June 2.

The incarceration of Kejriwal, considered one of Prime Minister Modi’s top rivals turned the spotlight on his wife, Sunita Kejriwal who handled the party in his absence.

Sunita Kejriwal took the lead when the AAP launched its election campaign with the slogan ‘Jail ka jawab vote se’ and was at the forefront of the ‘Kejriwal ko Ashirwad’ campaign in which the party urged supporters to share their messages with their jailed leader through a WhatsApp number.

She acted as a conduit between the chief minister and his followers, regularly relaying Kejirwal’s messages through video press meets, and led election rallies including INDIA bloc’s Loktantra Bachao rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi.

Swati Maliwal

On May 13, the former Delhi Commission for Women chief created a flutter when she alleged that she was assaulted by Kejriwal’s personal secretary Bibhav Kumar at the chief minister’s residence.

While the party initially backed her with MP Sanjay Singh telling the media that Chief Minister Kejriwal has ordered strict action in the matter, it later withdrew its support after Maliwal filed an FIR in the case.

Maliwal has alleged that ever since she filed an FIR, AAP has victim-shamed her, assassinated her character and has painted her as a villain while projecting Bibhav as a hero. Alleging that her well-wishers in the party have been asked to distance themselves from her, Maliwal has accused Kejriwal of neither supporting her nor meeting her when he was out on bail.

Bibhav who was arrested on May 18, has been remanded to custody.

CEC Rajiv Kumar

With the Election Commission (EC) accused by the Opposition of holding the least transparent elections this time, at the receiving end of harsh brickbats has been its Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar.

The commission is facing flak for inordinately delaying the release of voter turnout data for the first two phases of polls, goofing up names on voter lists with many voters returning without casting their ballots, and has been accused of playing dumb to Model Code of Conduct violations by ruling party leaders including the prime minister.

The CEC on the other hand has been found busy waging a war of words with the Opposition. In a latest instance, Kumar on Monday dared the Opposition to share evidence of allegations that returning officers and district magistrates were being influenced by the ruling party ahead of counting day to alter results.

With voters on social media lambasting the commission for being literally ‘laapata’ (missing in action), Kumar has asserted that he and his fellow commissioners, Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, were very much present all along.

Dhruv Rathee

The social media influencer, often in news for being critical of the Modi government, waded into yet another controversy after releasing a 2-minute video explainer on the Swati Maliwal case.

Rathee in the video alleges that while Maliwal complained that she was in “extreme pain” after being kicked by Bibhav, a latter video showed her using foul language against him and another man.

A bigger row broke out after Maliwal in a social media post said that she was receiving rape and death threats after Rathee’s “one-sided video” against her.

Rathee on the other hand claimed that the fake allegations are being made against him and he was receiving “daily death threats” and “dehumanising insults” after posting the video.

Recently, recording of a purported telephonic chat between Rathee and Maliwal has been going viral in which the latter is said telling him how she was assaulted in front of Keriwal and his wife. It has been found that the audio has been made using Deepfake technology.

Sandeshkhali

Allegations of sexual assault of hundreds of women in the village of Sandeshkhali in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district against Trinamool Congress strongman Shahjahan Sheikh raked up a massive political storm in West Bengal in the poll season.

Local women have alleged that Shahjahan and his men not only grabbed their land used for prawn farming but would kidnap women – a young girl or wife – they found beautiful and subject them to sexual abuse for days.

While Shahjahan was eventually arrested, the issue has become a major talking point in the state, with the BJP hauling up the Mamata Banerjee government over it and the TMC releasing sting video footage to accuse the saffron party of scripting the scandal.

A woman in a sting video, released on May 4, claimed that no rapes happened and she was forced by local BJP leaders to sign on a blank paper. Calling the video doctored, the BJP put up another in which the same woman alleged that she was forced to tell lies to save her husband and child and that the video was an edited one.

Prajwal Revanna

The JD(S) MP dominated the political discourse in Karnataka, putting his party and alliance partner BJP in an embarrassing position, when sex tapes featuring him went viral on social media on April 21.

Sensing trouble, while the Hassan Lok Sabha MP, who is seeking a re-election from the seat, left for Germany on April 27, a day after voting took place in the constituency, an FIR was filed against him alleging sexual assault a day later.

While the JD(S) leader was suspended by his party, a Blue Corner notice was issued against him when he failed to appear before the Special Investigation Team probing the charges against him. Prajwal who continued to be on the run across the course of the elections was finally arrested when he landed at the Kempegowda Airport in Bengaluru on May 31.

Ayodhya Ram Mandir

The BJP began its voter appeasement early on – with the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22, strategically in the run up to the polls, and in a grand event which fulfilled the aspirations of thousands of devout Hindus. Construction of the temple, built on the ruins of the Babri Masjid, was one of the BJP’s key promises in its 2019 election manifesto.

While the issue was expected to dominate the BJP’s poll rhetoric in the elections, the BJP used it sparingly to paint the Congress in anti-Hindu colours. In his poll rallies, Modi questioned the Congress’ boycott of the temple inauguration ceremony and also alleged that the party has plans to demolish it and send ‘Ram Lalla’ to the tent if it comes to power.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court which tore into the government on the Electoral Bonds issue and scrapped the scheme altogether ahead of the polls, however, remained wishy-washy when it came to examining allegation of EVM tampering and hauling up the Election Commission.

Amid concerns over EVM tampering, the apex court in an April 26 verdict upheld the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) polling system and refused to direct hundred per cent cross-verification of votes cast on EVMs with the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) paper slips.

Dismissing allegations of discrepancies in voter turnout numbers published by the Election Commission after the polling in the first two phases, the Supreme Court on May 24 refused to direct the poll body to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website within 48 hours of polling for each phase.