It’s Raebareli for Rahul Gandhi!
After weeks of speculation, the Congress announced that Rahul Gandhi will be contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Raebareli seat in Uttar Pradesh. A reminder: In 2019, Gandhi had lost his family seat Amethi to Smriti Irani by less than 50,000 votes. The Raebareli constituency—another bastion of the Gandhi parivaar—was secured by his mother Sonia Gandhi. Veteran Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma, who has managed elections for the Gandhis in both the family seats for about 40 years—and he is known to have extensive ground networks in Amethi. Indian Express has more on the reasons behind this decision.
A sex scandal in Karnataka
The context: First, we start with the family tree. Prajwal Revanna is the grandson of Janata Dal (Secular) founder HD Deve Gowda—and an MP from Hassan who is up for reelection. His father HD Revanna is former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy’s brother. On April 21, five days before polls kicked off in the state, hundreds of pen drives containing over 2,900 videos of sexual violence were circulated in Hassan—and eventually shared on social media. A number of these show Revanna Jr sexually abusing several women—and seem to be filmed by Prajwal himself.
What happened next: The story first broke on April 27—when Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe. On April 28, a woman—formerly employed as a cook by the Revannas—filed a complaint alleging she had been sexually abused by father and son.
The kicker: These videos first surfaced last year—but Prajwal got a gag order to suppress them from a Karnataka civil court. Even more interestingly, BJP leader Devaraje Gowda filed a complaint in January—demanding the “dirty fellow” Prajwal’s disqualification because of them. And yet on March 30—the BJP in alliance with JD(S) gave him a ticket to seek reelection.
What happened now: Yesterday, the JD(S) suspended Prajwal from the party—after his uncle Kumaraswamy threw his nephew under the bus (after he safely fled to Germany, of course). According to Indian Express, Prajwal is the black sheep of the Gowda family—egged on by an ambitious mother—always at odds with his relatives. The Karnataka Police issued a lookout notice against him on Thursday.
As for the election: The BJP has claimed innocence: “We cannot tell the alliance partner not to field this or that candidate. It is left to the party." In a stroke of good luck for JD(S), the story broke after the first phase of elections—which included the three Lok Sabha seats assigned to it. But it could hurt the BJP in the second phase—when women’s safety is expected to be a key issue. The Hindu explains why.
Voting figures finally out
Voting figures for the first two phases—April 19 and April 26—were finally released 11 days after the first phase of polls earlier this week. The Election Commission announced that of the 190 constituencies, at least 153 registered a drop in voting percentage—of up to 25%—compared to the 2019 general elections.
Overall, 66.14% cast their vote in the first phase and 66.71% in the second phase—which is lower by 4% and 3% respectively, compared to the last elections, which averaged a 70% turnout. The highest voting percentage was recorded in Tripura (78.53%) while the lowest turnout was in Uttar Pradesh (53.80%). Also, men came out more to vote than women.
A reminder: The remaining five phases are scheduled for May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. The final vote count will take place on June 4. The Hindu has the state-specific breakdown. Scroll looks at why there are doubts being raised about the data. (Indian Express)
Telangana in the crosshairs
The context: On April 27, the Congress party unit in Telangana shared a video of Home Minister Amit Shah saying that he will abolish all reservations—including those for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (SCs, STs, and OBCs). The BJP immediately called it out as fake. The tweet has since been deleted. AltNews confirmed the fact that the video was doctored.
What happened now: Now, here’s the weird—and worrying bit. The Delhi Police has now registered an FIR—and summoned Telangana CM Revanth Reddy to “join the probe”—a vague, made-in-India phrase that can mean anything. There are zero details on why he has been called—or his possible role—or why he’s been asked to bring his mobile phone. The unspoken question: Will he end up in jail in time for the elections in Telangana—slated for May 13. Reddy was asked to appear in Delhi on May 1 by the police. His lawyer represented him and denied all allegations. You can see the deepfaked vid below. (The Hindu)
Speaking of videos: This advertisement by the Congress is a must-watch.
A rude shock in Delhi for Congress
Congress party’s Delhi chief Arvinder Singh Lovely quit the party and joined the BJP in less than a week. He had allegedly quit the Congress in protest against the party’s alliance with AAP. Also at issue: Giving tickets to outsiders like the former JNU activist Kanhaiya Kumar. Three other leaders Neeraj Basoya, Naseeb Singh and Om Prakash Bidhuri also resigned from the party because of similar reasons. Indian Express has more on why this is a big blow to Congress.
A list of good reads
One: Carnegie Endowment has an in-depth feature on why women vote for the BJP in such large numbers.
Two: Al Jazeera looks at political consultants hired by political parties who are often jobless engineering and MBA grads.
Three: Rest of the World explores the rise in the use of artificial intelligence by political parties.
Four: M. Rajshekhar in The Wire reports on the mismatch between the donations declared by the BJP and the money it has drawn on to construct its swanky offices.
Five: We missed flagging this interview—and flattering write-up—that Newsweek did with Prime Minister Modi.
