Ensuing election blunder, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has 12 days left to reclaim his career
Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau called a snap election for Sept. 20, intending to earn his Liberal Party the ruling majority. Until last month, Justin Trudeau was sure of winning the election due to his successful vaccination strategy, which earned him very grateful Canadian voters.
His main opponent, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole, was non-existent for the Canadians until Trudeau called a snap election which resulted in his numbers plummeting instantly. With barely 12 days left to go, he will probably end up with a debilitated minority government or may go as far as to face a crushing defeat.
"The Liberals likely called the election thinking that they would be able to run on their pandemic record, bask in a vaccination halo and get ahead of the post-stimulus economic adjustment," said Nik Nanos, an Ottawa-based pollster at Nanos Research Group. He further added, "That's out the door now." reported NDTV.
Trudeau’s possible downfall may be due to several factors, reckon analysts. The mood of the electorate, one of the reasons voters feel taken advantage of by a politician who has turned a health crisis into a power grab. In one poll, 60% of the population agreed not to have an election.
Some point to tactical factors, On day one Trudeau, was very vague while conveying his message about his vision for the country and the reason for the vote.
In the meantime, O'Toole's Conservatives took another direction focused on the economy and eliminated its traditional ideological baggage.
Following the incident, the liberals focused on issues such as abortion, private health care, anti-vaxxers and gun control, hoping to paint the conservatives as decremental.
"I don't understand how they could have been so tone-deaf about the mood of the Canadian public, about peoples' total preoccupation with Covid and some kind of return to normal," said Peter Donolo, a vice chairman at Hill+Knowlton Canada who was communications chief to former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien, according to NDTV.
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Sambhal violence orchestrated by BJP, govt to divert attention from poll rigging: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday alleged the violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district over the survey of a mosque was "orchestrated" by the BJP, the government and the administration "to divert attention from electoral malpractice".
Police used tear gas and "minor force" in the face of stone pelting by locals in Sambhal on Sunday as tension escalated during a second survey of the Mughal-era mosque, claimed to be originally the site of an ancient Hindu temple.
Ten people have been detained and a probe was launched into the violence, an official said.
Tension has been brewing in Sambhal over the past few days after the Jama Masjid was surveyed last Tuesday on the orders of a local court following a petition that claimed that a Harihar temple stood at the site.
A day after the Uttar Pradesh bypoll results were declared and the Samajwadi Party managed to win just two seats while the BJP and its ally RLD bagged the other seven, Yadav levelled serious allegations against the police and administration.
"A serious incident occurred in Sambhal. A survey team was deliberately sent in the morning to disrupt discussions about the elections. The intention was to create chaos so that no debate on election issues could happen," the Samajwadi Party chief claimed.
Citing reports, he said several people were injured in the violence in Sambhal and asked when a survey of the mosque was already done, why was a new survey conducted again and "that too in the morning and without preparation?"
"I don't want to go into the legal or procedural aspects, but the other side was not even heard. This was intentionally done to provoke emotions and avoid discussions on election rigging," Yadav said.
"What happened in Sambhal was orchestrated by the BJP, the government and the administration to divert attention from electoral malpractices," the former UP chief minister alleged.
Asserting that in democracy, true victory comes from the people, not the system, he said, "The new democracy created by the BJP ensures that people cannot vote while the system dominates."
He added that whenever an impartial investigation takes place, and the truth comes out through booth recordings and CCTV footage, it will be evident that "voters did not cast their votes and someone else became the voter inside the booth".
Yadav claimed that on the polling day, the police and the administration removed the Samajwadi Party's almost all booth agents and many supporters who wanted to vote.
"If voters were prevented from voting, then who cast the votes? If Samajwadi Party votes didn't reach those booths and our candidate didn't get support, then who voted there? This is a serious issue," he said.
"Additionally, there were two types of slips, -- one with a red mark and another regular slip. We raised this issue on the voting day itself, stating that the administration had created such arrangements, leading to discrimination," Yadav alleged.
The Samajwadi Party's candidate for the Kundarki assembly bypoll Haji Rizwan too has alleged that his supporters were prevented from voting.
The BJP's Ramveer Singh won the bypoll in the Kundarki seat by a margin of over 1.45 lakh votes.
