"Nation's mood is for PM Modi's leadership": NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) leader Praful Patel

Gondia (Maharashtra) [India], April 19 (ANI): As the voting in the first phase of 2024 general election is underway, Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) Praful Patel said on Friday that the mood of the nation is for development and for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
"The mood of the nation is for development. The mood of the nation is for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. All the schemes that he has promised in the last ten years, he has delivered," Praful Patel told ANI after casting his vote at a polling booth in Gondia, Maharashtra.
"The country has become a vibrant nation. There will always be problems. You cannot say that all problems have been solved but the direction is to solve the problems and overcome them. This is a big change," he added.
Five constituencies out of the state's 48 (Chandrapur, Bhandara - Gondiya, Gadchiroli - Chimur, Ramtek, Nagpur) are going to the polls today.
In the first phase, voting is being held in the 102 constituencies spread across 21 states and Union Territories.
There are over 16 crore people eligible to vote in the first phase.
Polling for assembly elections in the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim also started along with voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on Friday morning.
Arunachal will be polling for two Lok Sabha seats and the 60-member Assembly. Apart from Arunachal, Sikkim will vote for 32 assembly seats and a lone Lok Sabha seat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking his third consecutive term, while the opposition bloc-INDIA- a coalition of opposing parties formed to take on the BJP in the general elections, is eyeing ousting him from power.
A total of 16.63 crore voters are going to vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, deciding the fate of 1625 candidates, with Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju, Bhupendra Yadav, and Arjun Ram Meghwal among several Union ministers in the fray. (ANI)