'They are fighting it out, but they have deeply traumatised; they are alive and they are carrying on in life.'
The Lok Sabha is set to witness a fierce debate on the no-confidence motion against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government on Tuesday with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, whose membership was restored following a Supreme Court direction, likely to be the lead speaker of the opposition bloc INDIA.
Here are the 10 key issues likely to be the centre of discussion in the seven-phase general elections that begin on April 19.
Re-elected MLAs from the ruling party added more wealth in the last five years than re-elected candidates from other political parties, shows an analysis of ADR electoral data.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party leaving its rivals comfortably behind in states like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the initial rounds of vote counting, its leaders credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance model for the expected win and said "new history" is being created in UP.
On poll eve, both the BJP and the Congress claimed they were headed towards a majority and would form the government.
From Indian poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar to English great William Shakespeare, Lok Sabha members quoted extensively from literature to put across their arguments as they raised the Manipur issue during a debate on the no-confidence motion over the past two days.
Chowdhury said the schedule of the yatra was submitted to the state administration long ago.
BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar's wife and son who keep themselves far from the political limelight reveal what it is like to campaign for the first time.
Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held on Friday for 88 seats in 13 states with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala.
Polling is scheduled in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, eight seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, six seats in Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.
Around 1.72 crore voters, including 94.60 lakh men and 77.84 lakh women, are eligible to cast their votes in this round to decide the fate of 635 candidates.
'His way of communication is different than the first yatra.' 'Maybe his anger and frustration stems from the fact that no one is asking hard questions to the government and he is trying to do that.'
It's just not a date. It's just not about selecting a candidate. It's not about helping some candidate win. It's about expressing emotion, after ten years, that could reach out in India and beyond it, notes Sheela Bhatt.
For the Mizo people, tribal and family identity are important. But so are jobs, farmers' access to markets, roads, and health facilities for a young population where drugs are a big affliction.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said talks are on with "like-minded parties' to jointly oust the Bharatiya Janata Party from power in next month's assembly elections in the coastal state.
The BJP has changed five chief ministers since 2019, including in Gujarat and Karnataka.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the people have given his government a mandate for stability and continuity for the third consecutive term after seeing its work of 10 years and accused the Congress of trying to build a narrative that it has defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha polls.
Modi wants the BJP to gets an additional 10% of the vote share from what it won in 2019. Plans are afoot to get new faces to replace MPs with poor chances of winning. Sources say more than 100 MPs are like to be axed, notes Modi biographer Ramesh Menon.
'Both Modi and Yogi are contesting this election together.' 'Both bring their individual strengths to BJP in UP.'
'The Congress is not pragmatic about politics or about people.' 'Rahul's intention is good, but good intention does not win you elections.'
In the chair was Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader of the old school with friends across parties unlike the duo who currently run the BJP.
'It's unfortunate that the prime minister prioritises his own image over the humanitarian situation that is unfolding in Manipur, prioritising his ego over the atrocities that women and tribals have had to suffer in Manipur.'
Out of the 167 candidates, 54 are crorepatis. Manipur Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms ADR said.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi cited a viral video on social media platforms, claiming that in it Modi's voice is heard in a call with BJP rebel Kripal Parmar.
"There are clearly two sides. On one side, there is an organisation of patriots in the form of BJP and on the other side, tukde-tukde gang have come together under the leadership of the Congress. It is for the people of Karnataka to decide now whether they are with the patriots or those who support people who want to divide this country," he added.
Rahul claimed that the Assam CM has taken land in Kaziranga National Park.
A controversy erupted on Tuesday after the opposition parties tagged a video of DMK leader A Raja purportedly showing him making remarks that India has never been a nation, but a subcontinent with diverse practices and cultures, prompting strong response from the BJP which described the comments as a call for 'balkanisation' of the the country and demanded for his arrest.
Ten Manipur tribal MLAs Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to withdraw Assam Rifles from security duties in the violence-hit state, saying its personnel have been putting their lives at risks to create buffer zones between the two warring communities.
Vadra said he keeps away from politics but "I will speak to fight for my name because if there is anything they say they have to prove it".
Modi was severe in his criticism of the opposition amid the continuing logjam in Parliament and also sounded confident of the ruling dispensation retaining power at the Centre for a third term after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
'Hygiene is very bad, there is no medicine and there is no electricity.' 'I fear that there will be a breakout of some disease.'
This is the first time that the House is meeting after the BJP's overwhelming victory in the recent series of assembly elections held in February-March.
Without making two-thirds of the country's population a development partner, India's prosperity is impossible, the Congress leader added.
Seventy-seven MLAs were present in the assembly during the voting.
'Earlier, a lot of fear was in the minds of people that the BJP is anti-Christian and anti-minority, but over the years people have learnt to accept that the BJP is just another national party.'
In a veiled attack on Modi, Rahul said he has never come across a senior public representative who has constantly chosen silence in the face of untold violence against women.
BJP president JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh were among those who attended the meeting.
'It is this fear that is behind all that has happened to Rahul Gandhi.'
Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik on Tuesday said any decision on the opposition's candidate for the post of the country's next President will be taken collectively by leaders of various parties, and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's name could be considered only if his party Janata Dal-United snaps ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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