BJP, which is contesting 148 seats in the MahaYuti, proposes to ride on the Modi wave while approaching the voters, a report by Sanjay Jog
BJP, in a serious bid to surpass anti-incumbency, has lined up rallies by party bigwigs including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who are in demand from most of the party nominees, during November 6 and 14.
BJP, which is contesting 148 seats in the MahaYuti, proposes to ride on the Modi wave while approaching the voters. BJP also proposes to seek votes for pro-development MahaYuti opposing the anti-growth Maha Vikas Aghadi.
The party also hopes to increase its vote share banking on the popularity of Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had addressed 18 rallies during Lok Sabha elections for the MahaYuti candidates, will address two rallies each during November 8 and 14 covering Konkan, North Maharashtra, Western Maharashtra, Vidarbha and Marathwada before he leaves for his official trip abroad.
He will visit Dhule, Nashik, Akola, Nanded, Chandrapur, Chimur, Solapur, Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Navi Mumbai, and Mumbai.
BJP insiders said that two more rallies may be organised in some constituencies based on the Prime Minister’s schedule. The Prime Minister is expected to visit Mumbai on November 14 to address the MahaYuti’s joint rally at the Bandra Kurla Complex.
The MahaYuti partners have already swung into action to mobilise cadres to put up a show of strength.
According to a senior party functionary: “The party bets big on the Prime Minister’s charisma and popularity. His meetings help the party and MahaYuti to woo the voters in their favour. The Prime Minister’s appeal to vote MahaYuti to increase the pace of Maharashtra’s development is crucial. His call for the election of double engine sarkar will find resonance among the voters, especially in the wake of a slew of development projects launched by the Centre and the MahaYuti government in the last two and half years.”
He recalled that the Prime Minister during his recent visits to the state has already announced the Centre’s assistance for Maharashtra to become a powerhouse and one of the major tourist destinations while Mumbai is the Fintech capital.
Furthermore, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who held more than four region-wise meetings in September and October to review the party’s poll preparations, will address at least 20 rallies in the state.
The state unit has so far received the Home Minister’s schedule for November 8 when he will hold rallies in Kolhapur south, Jat, Karhad South, Khadakwasla and Parvati. His schedule for other days will be sent to the state unit soon. Amit Shah had also addressed more than 10 rallies during the general elections.
The state BJP unit is banking on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as he is scheduled to address the rallies on September 6 when he will address rallies in Washim, Murtijapur and Mozart-Tivasa.
“Yogi Adityanath’s appeal for voters such as ‘Ek Rahangdale to Bachenge’ and ‘Batenge to Katenge’ will change the narrative in the state in favour of the party,” said another party functionary.
He further added that Adityanath is expected to hold rallies in other constituencies also.
MVA to formally launch Maha poll campaign
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of the Congress, the Shiv Sena-UBT, and the Nationalist Congress Party-SP will officially launch its campaign for the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly elections with events in Nagpur and Mumbai, attended by top leaders, on Wednesday, party leaders said.
Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will land in Nagpur in the morning and attend the ‘Samvidhan Sanman Sammelan’ (Honour the Constitution Meeting), there.
Rahul Gandhi will start his state trip by first paying homage at Deekshabhoomi, where the Indian Constitution’s Chief Architect, Dr B. R. Ambedkar, and over four lakhs of his followers had embraced Buddhism 68 years ago.
Later, he will participate in the ‘Honour Constitution Meeting’ at Kavivarya Suresh Bhat Auditorium, and later, along with Kharge and other top leaders, shall arrive in Mumbai for a massive MVA public rally – the “Swabhiman Sabha” – at the Bandra Kurla Complex, Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe said.
“We will unveil the Congress’ guarantees for the people of Maharashtra ahead of the Assembly elections, highlight the corrupt dealing of the ruling MahaYuti alliance government, how they have mortgaged the pride of Maharashtra to Gujarat, its various acts detrimental to the state, etc,” he said.
The MVA leaders shall also give a firm response to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s fake narratives, detail how the Congress guarantees have been implemented in Karnataka and Telangana, and the manner in which it would be executed in Maharashtra.
The opposition rally will be attended by Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party-SP President Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena-UBT President Uddhav Thackeray, NCP-SP state chief Jayant R. Patil and heads of other parties in the alliance.
The MVA allies have so far addressed independent political meetings across the state for their respective candidates in key constituencies from the 288 going to the polls.
However, the Wednesday rally will be the first formal joint campaign launch for the MVA-INDIA bloc, followed by more such combined rallies planned in different parts of the state, said a party leader in Mumbai.
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