Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday cited surveys and said the INDIA bloc will win over 300 of 543 Lok Sabha seats and form the next government.  He said the 5th phase of the Lok Sabha elections is over.

Kejriwal was addressing a digital press conference from his residence where he said as different phases of elections are over, it has become clear that on June 4, the INDIA bloc will win and form the next government at the centre. The findings of many surveys show that on June 4, the INDIA bloc is going to get over 300 seats. He added that the INDIA bloc is progressing and is on the way to give a clean and stable government.

The Delhi chief minister addressed the press conference days before Delhi’s all seven Lok Sabha seats are due to go for elections in the 6th phase of voting on May 25. The Aam Aadmi Party, a key constituent of the INDIA bloc, is contesting 4 of the 7 Lok Sabha seats in alliance with Congress. The BJP swept the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi in 2014 and 2019, winning all 7 seats.

Top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Yogi Adityanath , Amit Shah (BJP), Kejriwal, and Rahul Gandhi (Congress) have campaigned in New Delhi which is going to end on May 23. Earlier The Delhi Chief Minister had slammed Amit Shah a day after he addressed an election rally in Delhi on Monday. 

He slammed the union Home minister and said not even 500 people attended Amit Shah’s rally. He accused Shah of abusing the people of the country and Delhi. Kejriwal accused Shah of calling AAP supporters as Pakistanis. He said the people of Delhi gave AAP 62 out of 70 [assembly] seats and asked if they were Pakistanis?  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday paid tributes to the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 33rd death anniversary. Taking  to social media X, formerly Twitter, PM Modi said, on his death anniversary, his tributes to our former PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi Ji.

Earlier in the day, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and party MP Rahul Gandhi remembered the former prime minister at Delhi’s Veer Bhumi on his death anniversary. In the national capital, other Congress leader such as P Chidambaram and Sachin Pilot, also paid their tributes to the former prime minister.

Rahul Gandhi wrote a post in memory of his late father in which he referred to his father’s dreams as his own. Rahul also uploaded a picture of himself and his father from when they were younger, in which Rajiv Gandhi is seen keeping his hand on Rahul’s shoulders. Rahul stated in the post that his father’s dreams are his dreams, and his father’s aspirations are his responsibilities. His father’s memories, today and always, always remain in his heart, Rahul added.

On May 21, 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a suicide bomber from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during an election rally in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. At Veer Bhumi, which is situated on the Yamuna River’s banks, he was cremated.

India observes National Anti-Terrorism Day on May 21st of each year to pay tribute to the former Prime Minister.

He was campaigning for his political party, the Congress, in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, when a lady from the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE) terrorist squad killed him in a suicide explosion in 1991. Following the death of his mother Indira Gandhi in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi assumed the role of India’s youngest prime minister. From 1984 to 1989, he served as the Prime Minister.

A voter turnout of 56.68 % was recorded in phase 5 till 5 pm as per the Election Commission’s Voter Turnout App, with the highest voting percentage in West Bengal (73 %) and the lowest in Maharashtra (48.66 %). Lok Sabha elections are taking place in 49 constituencies across 8 states and Union Territories in the 5th phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Voter turnout of 56.68% was recorded till 5pm. The breakup is as follows: J&K: 54.21%, Bihar: 52.35%, Ladakh: 67.15%, Jharkhand: 61.90%, Maharashtra: 48.66%, UP: 55.80%, Odisha: 60.55% and West Bengal: 73%. The fate of 4 Union ministers, including Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani, as well as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be decided in the ongoing Lok Sabha election. Former UP CM Mayawati, BJP’s Rae Bareli candidate Dinesh Pratep Singh, Smriti Irani were among the early voters today who cast their vote in the morning.

 The Lucknow East Lok Sabha seat will also hold a bypoll on the same day. The Lok Sabha seats which are participating in this phase include Rae Bareli, Mohanlalganj, Jalaun (SC), Amethi, Hamirpur, Jhansi, Banda, Kaushambi (SC), Fatehpur, Faizabad, Barabanki (SC), Gonda  and Kaisarganj. The candidates also include and minister of state of consumer affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur) and minister of state for housing and urban affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj). Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat which was previously held by his mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

 The total number of voters expected to cast their vote in this phase is over 2.68 crore voters, with 144 candidates looking for their support. 11 BJP incumbent Lok Sabha MPs are contesting in this phase, while nominating new candidates in Kaisarganj and Barabanki (SC) Lok Sabha seats.