Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar unleashed political buzz across the country as he hinted that the 2024 Lok Sabha polls could be advanced later this year itself.

Kumar’s statement has sparked curiosity with people wondering whether general elections scheduled next year will take place this year.  Speaking at a school inauguration event in Patna, Kumar was replying to a question on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when he said the country can go to the polls this year itself.

Kumar said the earlier it happens, it will be best for everyone’s interest.

Reports said the Central government may organise the Lok Sabha general elections soon, authorities concerned have already been directed to complete the process for the country to go to polls, like preparation of voter lists etc.

Nitish Kumar’s statement is being watched closely as the Janata Dal (united) supremo for the past some months now is leading the joint opposition effort to mount a credible and strong challenge against the BJP.

Kumar has been in the headlines since his bid to unite the opposition started in April this year when he met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former president Rahul Gandhi in Delhi.

The Bihar CM since then has been meeting leaders of various opposition parties across the nation to hold talks with them for the opposition sitting at a table together.

A mega opposition parties’ meet, which was to be held on June 12, will now be held on June 23. The meeting is likely to see senior opposition leaders across India hobnob with each other.

Behind the scenes, the RJD founder Lalu Prasad has been at work trying to iron out differences between the opposition, some of which don’t want Rahul Gandhi to be the joint opposition candidate for PM. On the other hand, buoyed by the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress has been vocal in pushing his candidature for PM.

Gandhi himself has been noncommittal on whether he will be the man taking on PM Narendra Modi in the election.

The tension between the the Marashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Devendar Fadnavis BJP Deputy Chief Minister is at a all time high .

It all started when a full page advertisement came out that said Modi for India and Shinde for Maharashtra. The ad carried a survey which projected Shinde more popular than former state CM Fadnavis. The ad has upset the Maharashtra BJP unit.

The reason being. the BJP had projected Fadnavis as the CM face of the state in the 2019 assembly elections. The BJP in the past had run a similar advertisement in Marathi daily saying Deshat Narendre and Rajyat Devendre meaning Narendra for nation and Devendra for Maharashtra. The latest advertisement said 16.2% people prefer Shiv Sena and 30.2% prefer BJP and this shows 46.4% people trust the ruling Shinde-Fadnavis alliance for the growth and development of the state.

According to the survey done for the CM position, 23.2% give preference to Fadnavis as CM whereas 26.1% of the people prefer Shinde as CM. 49.3% of the state population wish to see a strong ruling alliance for the state’s leadership.

However the BJP state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said 2024 polls will tell who is more popular. He added such advertisements and surveys have no credibility. He said the advertisement does not have any  significance. He further added that the people of the state will give their final decision in the 2024 elections.

He said the people of Maharashtra are fond of the leadership of Fadnavis, PM Modi and CM Shinde. He said Fadnavis had sworn as CM twice and is popular among the people

Nationalist Congress party leader Chagan Bhujbal said  normally the advertisement given in the newspaper carries the photographs of both the leaders but this time surprisingly Fadnavis was missing in it. He questioned the authenticity of the figures mentioned in the advertisement.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday, began her election campaign for Madhya Pradesh by offering prayers on the banks of river Narmada in Jabalpur along with state Congress Chief Kamal Nath. Addressing the people of Madhya Pradesh she said the list of scams in Madhya Pradesh is longer than the abuses  that Prime Minister Narendra Modi said were used to target him.

She asked the list of works done by BJP in the past three years of its ruling in the state. She asked whether the life of the people improved under the current Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. Pointing out Congress’s recent victory in state polls, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, Vadra said the people of the respective states gave a good blow to the BJP.

Jabalpur has a sizable number of tribal voters. It is the cultural capital of Madhya Pradesh. Congress leader Vivek Tankha said Vadra chose Jabalpur to begin the party’s campaign for the state because former Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra did not pass through the region.

The Congress won the 2018 Madhya Pradesh election but the Kamal Nath government collapsed after two years of rule after Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, the former Congress loyalist switched to the BJP. More than 20 MLAs favoured his decision and chose to join BJP along with him.

The BJP says that Congress is pursuing soft Hindutva in the upcoming state elections.

Congress leader PC Sharma denied the allegations saying the BJP separated Lord Rama from Goddess Sita as they say Jai Shri Ram. Whereas the Congress takes the name of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita together as they say Jai Siya Ram. He differentiated between the two parties by saying that the BJP does Politics of religion and the Congress does politics by following religion, whether it was Lord Krishna or lord Rama.

Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to go to polls later this year along with Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, where the Congress is in power. The election is being watched very closely by both the BJP and the Congress as in the last 2018 elections, Congress made a swift entry into power in all these states and is hoping for a same 2018 like result, the hopes have gone high after its recent performance in the Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh elections.