Today in Politics: PM Modi’s rallies in Rajasthan and Uttarakhand — two states the BJP swept in 2014, 19

Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues his Lok Sabha poll campaign on Tuesday, with rallies scheduled in Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.

Modi will address a public meeting at 1:50 pm in Kotputli to draw support for the Jaipur Rural Lok Sabha seat where the BJP has fielded Rao Rajendra Singh. This will be the PM’s first programme in Rajasthan since the announcement of polls.

Jaipur Rural is among the 12 seats in Rajasthan going for polls in the first phase scheduled for April 19 alongside Ganganagar, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaipur, Alwar Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa and Nagaur.

Following this, the PM will be in Uttarakhand to speak at a rally in Rudrapur that falls within the Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar constituency. Ajay Bhatt, the Union Minister of State (MoS) for defence and tourism, is contesting from the seat, which he had won in 2019 defeating former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat.

The BJP swept both Rajasthan and Uttarakhand last time, winning all the 25 and five seats respectively. In fact, the BJP had won all of the seats in the two states in the 2014 elections too, increasing its vote shares as well. In this landscape of total dominance, the PM’s speeches will be watched for their symbolism. What are the themes that he will underline – will it be vikas or development, welfare schemes, Hindutva or all of the above?

Amit Shah in Karnataka

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be in Karnataka to hold a meeting with senior leaders of the Janata Dal (Secular), its alliance partner.

The leaders will sit down for a joint breakfast meeting, an exercise that is being seen as a way of resolving and ironing out issues that might remain as we head for polls.

The BJP will contest on 25 constituencies in