As the seventh and final phase of voting for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections began on Saturday, June 1, Himachal Pradesh Congress president Pratibha Singh notably said, it is difficult for the BJP to surpass even 200 seats out of 543.
One (a party/alliance) has to win a minimum of 272 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha to be considered a majority.
“I am hopeful that a large number of people will vote for the Congress party because they want a change in the central government. It is difficult for them (the BJP) to cross even 200 seats,” Pratibha Singh told ANI.
Vikramaditya Singh, Pratibha Singh’s son and Congress candidate for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, has taken on actor-politician Kangana Ranaut of the BJP.
On the eve of Phase 7 of the 2024 Indian General Election, Pratibha Singh and her son Vikramaditya Singh offered their prayers at Shani Mandir in Rampur before casting their votes.
Vikramaditya questions Kangana Ranaut’s absence amid the natural calamity that hit Mandi, in conversations with ANI.
While talking to ANI, Vikramaditya said, “I want to ask Kangana Ranaut that when Mandi was hit by a natural calamity and there was a loss of crores of rupees, it was Mandi MP Pratibha Singh who met the people there and took carried out an inspection….Did Kangana Ranaut come to meet the people (in Mandi)?
Meanwhile, Kangana Ranaut declared that there is a complete ‘Modi wave’ in Himachal Pradesh, expressing confidence that the BJP will win all four seats.
There will be a high-profile contest in Mandi constituency as actor Kangana Ranaut, who is entering politics for the first time, hopes to topple the Congress Party.
“We are soldiers of Prime Minister Modi and we will win all four seats in Himachal Pradesh,” Kangana said, excusing reliance on the BJP’s ‘400 peers’ slogan for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Ranaut arrived at the Mandi polling station on Saturday to cast her vote in the seventh round of the Lok Sabha elections.
Kangana appealed to everyone to use their right to vote in this celebration of democracy, urging them to do so. “There has been so much bloodshed for us to exercise this right,” he said.
In a strong response to the opposition criticizing Prime Minister Modi for holding meditation in Kanyakumari, Kangana said, “Meditation is not new for the Prime Minister. Even when he was not a politician he used to meditate. Now these people also have a problem with it “.
Since Mandi constituency is seen as a stronghold of the Virbhadra family, it is symbolic for the Congress.
With two big names entering the race for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has announced Himachal Pradesh minister and Virbhadra Singh’s son Vikramaditya Singh as the party’s candidate for the seat.
Pratibha Devi Singh, the widow of late CM Virbhadra Singh, is currently holding the seat in Mandi constituency. She fought for the Congress in the by-elections held after the demise of then BJP MP Swaroop Sharma.
Besides voting in six assembly seats in the state, all four Lok Sabha constituencies of Himachal Pradesh – Kangra, Mandi, Hamirpur and Shimla – are voting today in the seventh and final phase of the elections.
There are 904 candidates competing in the latest round of voting. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Ravneet Singh Bittu, Nishikant Dubey, Congress leaders Charanjit Singh Channi, Manish Tewari, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Misa Bharti are among the prominent candidates in this latest phase of the elections.