Lok Sabha elections 2024: PM Modi to hold rally, roadshow in UP today

Days after launching his campaign for the Lok Sabha polls in the state from Meerut, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold an election meeting at Saharanpur on Saturday followed by a roadshow in Ghaziabad, party sources informed.

PM Modi is scheduled to arrive at Saharanpur at 11.30 am.

After headlining the meeting at Saharanpur, he will leave for Ajmer in neighbouring Rajasthan where he is scheduled to address a public meeting.

Later in the day, he will return to Uttar Pradesh for the Ghaziabad roadshow that is scheduled to get underway at 5.15 pm.

Polling for Saharanpur will be held in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 19, while Ghaziabad will poll in the second phase on April 26.

Adressing a massive public rally at Rajasthan's Churu on Friday, PM Modi said the work accomplished by the Centre over the last 10 years was a mere appetizer, as the main course was yet to be served.

Underscoring the 'change' that the country has witnessed over the last decade under his leadership, PM Modi said, "All that we have accomplished till now is just a trailer. These days, when we go to big hotels to eat, they bring in a few appetizers at first. Similarly, what Modi has done (till now) is an appetizer and the main course is yet to come. We have to take the country forward. You have seen the country take many strides over the last 10 years. However, it was in a very bad state under previous regimes at the Centre."

The country's most populous state, which sends the maximum number of members to the Lok Sabha, at 80, will poll for the Lower House across seven phases, starting April 19.

Rajasthan, on the other hand, will poll in two phases--on April 19 and April 26. Polling for 12 Lok Sabha seats will be held in the first phase on April 19, while the remaining 13 seats will go to polls in the second phase on April 26.

In the 2014 general elections, the BJP recorded a near-sweep in UP, winning 71 seats. However, its tally in 2019 dropped to 62 in the face of a stiff challenge from the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party. The BSP secured 10 seats while the SP had to settle for 5.

However, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a landslide mandate in 2019, posting handsome wins in 303 seats while the Congress finished at a paltry 52 seats.

The elections to 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases, with nearly 97 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise, according to the Election Commission (EC). The counting of votes has been scheduled for June 4.