MUMBAI: While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address nine rallies in Maharashtra, BJP President Amit Shah will address 18 to campaign for party candidates in the upcoming assembly elections, state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil has said.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray, however, has not been able to book any ground for his first rally in Pune on October 9.
BJP has submitted a list of 40 star campaigners to the election commission and planning for rallies has begun. Since most of the star campaigners are common for Haryana, the dates and venue are yet to be finalized, Patil said.
“Modi will address two rallies in Western Maharashtra. One will be at Satara while the other will be at Pune. Both the rallies are likely to be held on October 17,” Patil said.
Amit Shah is scheduled to address a rally at Savargaon in Beed district on the occasion of Dusserrah on Tuesday (Oct 8). But, that is not the part of party campaign. He will be addressing the Dusserrah rally organized by Rural Development minister Pankaja Munde. Her late father and BJP leader Gopinath Munde had started the tradition of Dusserrah rally at Bhagwangad. But, since the past two years when Bhagwangad trustees objected to political function at religious place, the rally is held at Savargaon.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray too will address party’s customary Dussarrah Rally at Shivaji Park on Tuesday evening.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray too is scheduled to kickstart his party’s campaign from Mumbai by addressing a rally on Tuesday. However, his party has not been able to book a ground for his rally on Wednesday at Pune.
“We have approached all major educational institutes in the city for their ground for rally. However, they told us to get a permission from collector or municipal commissioner and when we approached the authorities they told us that they won’t grant us permission till we have a no objection certificate from the owners,” said city MNS chief Ashok Shinde, who is contesting from Kasba constituency.
“Most of the educational institutions are affiliates of RSS-BJP and this is a plot to not let us get a ground for rally,” Shinde said and added that if the condition remains so, the party shall conduct rally of its leader on road.
During Lok Sabha polls, Raj Thackeray had created a huge stir with his 11 rallies. He had campaigned against BJP though he had not fielded any candidate. Though Thackeray’s rallies had not been able to create much impact in terms of electoral results, a similar campaign is expected from him ahead of assembly polls.