Pawan will be an X-factor in Andhra, Cong will win in Assam: Rawat

Andhra Pradesh

Despite Pawan’s disdain for caste identities, he is largely seen as an icon of kapus, a numerically strong and influential community in coastal Andhra yearning to take control of the levers of political power. He has a cult following among the Kapu youth. While the main contest is between the Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP and YSR Congress Party, headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the maverick star with a mass appeal may well be an X-factor in a tight race. Known for his impulsive ways and outspoken views, Pawan is not a politician in a conventional sense. His party still does not have a proper organisational structure nor is he a 24/7 politician. His brand of politics is marked by a burst of activity followed by a prolonged lull.

Karnataka

Two rallies Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed on April 13 were held in Karnataka — Mangaluru and Bengaluru. The PM invoked a sense of nationalism in both places ahead of the state going to polls in two phases on April 18 and 23. The day’s speeches were no different from the earlier ones where he mocked the Congress and its legacy. To woo the local audience, he spoke of welfare schemes for the fishing community in Mangaluru, and he highlighted the tax rebate on income up to ₹5 lakh announced in the last Budget, in Bengaluru.

Assam

The Congress-in-charge of Assam, Harish Rawat, on Saturday(April 13) claimed that the people of Assam will not vote for the BJP in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, as the saffron party is committed to bring the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. “Our president Rahul Gandhi has been voicing the agenda of our party that if voted to power, we will throw the bill into the dustbin. We have clearly stated this in our manifesto, too. “As the people are protesting against the bill, I dont see the BJP winning this time,” Rawat claimed. He asserted that the Congress will win 10 out of the 14 parliamentary seats in Assam.

Odisha

Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Saturday asked the BJP to name its chief ministerial candidate for the state. “The people of Odisha want to know who the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate is and from where s/he is contesting the elections,” Patnaik said. Alleging that the BJP was afraid of announcing the name of its leader in Odisha, he also took a dig at the saffron party’s “double engine” slogan.

West Bengal

Malda, the medieval capital of Bengal, remains a Congress stronghold despite the grand-old party being turned into a relic elsewhere in the state. In 2014, it won both the Lok Sabha seats of the district. The Congress’s dominance here is to do with another “dynast” Abu Barkat Ataul Ghani Khan Choudhury, a former Union minister, who lorded over the area until his demise in 2006. The ruling Trinamool Congress is now trying to usurp this much endured legacy of Ghani Khan to breach the Congress citadel. It has pitted Barkatda’s niece Mausam Benazir Noor from the Malda North Lok Sabha seat against his nephew Isha Khan Choudhury of the Congress.

Tripura

Over one thousand Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) youth workers joined the opposition Congress in the state on Saturday (April 13), its leaders said. Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Pradyot Kishore Deb Burman said 300 youth IPFT supporters joined the Congress from Khowai district, while another group of 700 at Kamalpur in Dhalai district.