From Rahul Gandhi to Arvind Kejriwal, opposition leaders voted, see what foreign media said

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi along with his/her mother Sonia Gandhi cast their vote at a polling booth in Delhi today. Voting for the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections was completed today. Foreign media have also published news regarding this. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s opponents have accused his/her government of unfairly targeting him/her in a criminal investigation. Prime Minister Modi, 73, remains extremely popular despite being in office for a decade and his/her ruling BJP is widely expected to win for the third time in next month’s elections. Apart from this, there is severe heat during elections in most of the states of India, due to which the elections are being affected.

In India, several opposition leaders were recently investigated in criminal cases, for which the opposition blamed the Modi government. This has increased the concerns of UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk.

Rahul Gandhi was punished in defamation case last year
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi cast his/her vote at a polling booth in Delhi, where the temperature was expected to reach 43 degrees Celsius. After voting, Rahul Gandhi stopped to take a selfie with his/her mother Sonia Gandhi, but did not talk to reporters. A scion of the Gandhi family, which has dominated Indian politics for decades, was convicted of criminal defamation last year following a complaint by a BJP leader. The two-year prison sentence caused him/her to be disqualified from Parliament, until his/her decision was postponed by the Supreme Court.

Arvind Kejriwal also out on bail
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party chief, who was detained in March in a long-running corruption case, also voted today. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court granted bail to Kejriwal and he/she returned to the election campaign. Soon after his/her release, he/she said, “Modi has started a very dangerous mission. Modi will send all opposition leaders to jail.

AAP is struggling to reach the national level
Congress is leading the opposition alliance of more than two dozen parties, which are jointly contesting against Prime Minister Modi, including AAP. Kejriwal’s party emerged from an anti-corruption movement a decade ago and is now in power in Delhi and Punjab, but AAP is struggling to establish itself as a nationwide force.

Many bank accounts of Congress were also frozen
In February, authorities had frozen several bank accounts of the Congress as part of the ongoing dispute over income tax returns filed five years ago. The Gandhi family had said that this step has seriously affected the party’s ability to contest elections. Rahul Gandhi had said in March, ‘We do not have money for campaigning, we cannot support our candidates.

Red alert of heat wave in many places
India is voting in seven phases over six weeks to ease the heavy burden of conducting elections in the world’s most populous country. Polling declined by several percentage points compared to the previous national survey in 2019, which analysts attributed to widespread expectations of Prime Minister Modi’s victory as well as above-average temperatures in the summer. The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a ‘red alert’ for Delhi and surrounding states this week. People cast their votes in Delhi in this scorching heat.