With the Election Commission (EC) announcing the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections 2019, political reactions were quick to pour in.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter soon after the announcement, saying, "The Festival of democracy, Elections are here."
Calling upon people to cast their vote, Modi also listed the achievements of his government in a series of tweets. He also took a dig at the previous UPA government, saying there was "unprecedented anger over the UPA's corruption, nepotism and policy paralysis."
BJP Leaders Urge People to Participate in ‘Festival of Democracy’
BJP president Amit Shah called upon people to turn out for the elections in record numbers and “bless” the BJP.
Catch all the updates on the Lok Sabha elections schedule here.
The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, tweeted after the election dates were announced, calling the upcoming polls the ‘Mahakumbh’ of democracy. In a series of tweets, he also said that Uttar Pradesh and India will vote for the leadership which is ‘tirelessly working to build New India and New Uttar Pradesh’.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh urged people to participate in the ‘festival of democracy’.
Omar Abdullah Slams Modi for ‘No’ to Simultaneous Polls in J&K
Meanwhile, soon after the EC's no to simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah said that PM Modi has "surrendered" before Pakistan, militants and separatists.
The EC cited security grounds for not holding the Assembly polls simultaneously with Lok Sabha polls in J&K.
‘Time to Throw Out the Most Dictatorial Govt in History of India’
AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also took to Twitter after the announcement of the poll schedule, saying the time has come to "throw out the most dictatorial and anti-federal government in the history of India".
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav also tweeted after the announcement by the EC.
‘Right to Vote Without Fear’
Lt Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi appealed to the public to exercise their right to vote in the forthcoming general elections "without fear or favour".
"All must exercise their right to vote without fear or favour. The rule of law shall prevail and all administrative systems shall work with utmost fairness and firmness," she said.
In a release, Bedi said her routine programmes of hearing of public grievances, visitors' hour, field visits and other official engagements on her part in Raj Nivas would wait till the completion of the election process.
"This was to ensure sanctity of electoral process and to comply with model code of conduct in letter and spirit," the Lt Governor said.
On the sidelines of an event, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, when asked by reporters on the declaration of the schedule for Lok Sabha elections, said Indian elections are one of the most attractive subjects for the world.
"India is the largest democracy in the world. And these are the biggest elections. People should happily take part in polling and exercise their right to vote. One should vote without thinking about caste, religion and language (of the candidate), and for strengthening our democracy," he added.
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