As India is almost halfway through the election season, scandals, political stunts, and sting videos are reaching an all-time high.
In the first two phases of the election conducted so far, voter turnout has dipped by almost 3-4% from the previous election held in 2019. Many attribute it to the ongoing heat wave, but it could also pose a concern for PM Narendra Modi, who is seeking a third term with a huge majority.
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Experts’ views are mixed. Some say that perhaps people presume the BJP will win, so they’re not voting. Some also say that it could be a sense of frustration over bigger election issues such as unemployment and the rising cost of food.
But what is clearly happening, is that the political heat rising to a fever pitch, with sharp rhetoric from both the camps, the BJP-led NDA and the opposition Congress-led INDIA bloc.
Sleaze scandals, incendiary speeches, sting videos, this election is seeing it all.
Prajwal Revanna sleaze scandal case
In the thick of it all, is Prajwal Revanna, a sitting MP from Hassan, in the southern state of Karnataka. He is also the grandson of former PM HD Deve Gowda. Revanna is also seeking re-election from the constituency as the NDA candidate.
A day after the phase 2 polling in Karnataka was held, the state government constituted a special investigation team to conduct a probe into alleged video clips of sexual abuse and exploitation involving Revanna.
Local media reports suggest pen drives with thousands of explicit video clips featuring multiple women, allegedly recorded by Revanna himself, had been doing the rounds from way before in Hassan and surrounding regions.
Revanna is believed to have fled to Germany.
But what does this scandal mean for the future of his party, JD(S), the Janata Dal (Secular)? And its recent alliance with the BJP? How will this affect the women victims?
With five more phases of the election due to take place, the heat seems to be just getting started.
“Poll stunt” allegation: Attack on a convoy in J&K
A recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch, in which a soldier of the Indian Air Force died, has become the latest to get embroiled in political controversy.
Opposition leaders are drawing parallels to the 2019 Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) men had died, and alleging that this attack is also a poll “stunt” to help the BJP win.
“These are all stunts and not terrorist attacks. There is no truth in it. The BJP is playing with the lives of people and bodies,” former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, member of the Congress party has alleged, while campaigning in Jalandhar, from where he is contesting.
In Bihar’s Patna, opposition leader Tej Pratap Yadav has toed a similar line. “Whenever elections come, Pulwama and terrorist attacks take place,” he said.
The BJP has retorted, countering the allegations with how the opposition Congress party has always let down the armed forces.
Sandeshkhali sting video
The Sandeshkhali sting from West Bengal exploded in the middle of the polls.
Attacks and counter-attacks, allegations and counter-allegations are doing the rounds as West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) released a sting video that accuses the ruling BJP of the Sandeshkhali conspiracy in March.
Sandeshkhali, an island in Sunderbans in West Bengal, had emerged as a centre of political storm and protests in March when villagers, particularly women of the region alleged sexual assault and land grab by local TMC leaders.
Now on 4 May, the TMC released a sting video on social media, in which a man, who claimed to be a BJP mandal president in Sandeshkhali, was heard saying that it was conspiracy hatched by his party.
The authenticity of the video hasn’t been verified.
The BJP is taking legal avenues including a complaint lodged with the CBI to counter the charges, and plans to tell people that the latest sting video is “morphed and edited” to malign the party.
Campaigning ends for third phase
Meanwhile, a 48-hour silence period at 94 Lok Sabha constituencies started from 5 May evening as campaigning for the third phase of the Indian election concluded.
Voting will take place on 7 May.
Among the prominent contestants in the third phase are Union Home Minister Amit Shah (Gandhinagar, Gujarat); Union Minister Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad, Karnataka); Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna, Madhya Pradesh); former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh); Congress leader Digvijaya Singh (Rajgarh, Madhya Pradesh); Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav (Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh); and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule (Baramati, Maharashtra).
The third phase will include 11 States and Union Territories. These include Assam (4 of 14 seats); Bihar (5 of 40 seats); Chhattisgarh (7 seats of 11 seats); Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (all 2 seats); Goa (all 2 seats); Gujarat (25 seats); Karnataka (14 of 28 seats); Madhya Pradesh (9 of 29 seats); Maharashtra (11 of 48 seats); Uttar Pradesh (10 of 80 seats); and West Bengal (4 of 42 seats).
Voting in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag-Rajouri constituency, which was to be part of phase 3 polling, has been rescheduled to 25 May in the sixth phase.
