India News | Seven-phase Election Will Mark Modi's Departure from Centre in as Many Steps: Akhilesh

Lucknow, Mar 17 (PTI) Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday welcomed the Election Commission's decision to hold general election in seven phases, and said the duration will mark the seven-phase departure of the BJP from the Centre.

Polling is scheduled to be held on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha, will vote in all the phases.

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"The Election Commission's announcement is welcome. The seven-phase elections are actually the chronology of the seven-phase departure of the BJP government, which has become a symbol of sorrow, pain and oppression," Yadav said in a statement.

He added, "The public will defeat the BJP in these seven phases of the elections and will remove it from the Centre. This is the only wish and aspiration of the people."

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The EC has reserved June 4 for the counting of votes.

The BJP has expressed confidence that it and its allies will win more than 400 of 543 seats in the lower house of Parliament and get a third term at the Centre.

UP BJP spokesperson Hero Bajpai, earlier in the day, said the number seven will bode well for the party for several reasons.

"We are looking forward to the third term of Narendra Modi as prime minister. The BJP has been winning the Lok Sabha as well as the assembly elections in the state since 2014," he told PTI.

In 2019, the BJP and its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) won 64 seats -- 62 and two respectively -- from UP. The SP-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance managed 15 seats and the Congress one from the state.

Bajpai said, "The 'saptarishis' (seven sages) and the 'saptapuris' (seven holy cities) will bless the BJP this time as well."

Another BJP spokesperson, Rakesh Tripathi, said the election result will be such that it will catapult the party and its workers to the "seventh heaven."

"In Hindu religion, the number seven has a special significance. The sunlight can be dispersed into a seven-colour spectrum," he said.

"Then there are seven basic nodes in music, which are the constituents of each and every song. These seven phases of Lok Sabha polls will prove to be lucky for the party," Tripathi told PTI.

Riffing, in his turn, on number 7, Congress's Ashok Singh said, "There is a strong anti-incumbency wave in the country. The public has made up its mind to throw the ruling NDA beyond the seven seas ('saat samundar paar')."

He added, "The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra of Rahul Gandhi has proved to be a seven-coloured rainbow, and has touched the lives of people from different sections of the society across the country."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)