Narendra Modi may be topping the popularity charts with BJP cadres on the campaign trail and hogging all the limelight in the five poll-bound states, it does not mean the party’s other battle hardened veterans are leaving anything to chance.
In the last few days of frenzied campaigning, when even the mightiest can be dislodged from their lofty perches, or pushed to the corner by an opponent’s punch, the entire BJP top brass has hit the dirt trail.
Starting with BJP patriarch L K Advani who has participated in all elections since the first in 1952, to the first-time party MP and youngest general secretary in party’s history Varun Gandhi, all are out addressing rallies.
With over a dozen leaders thrown in between, when the election campaign ends in two weeks’ time, the rally count of these leaders would be between 150 -200.
The focus will be on four states, Chhattisgarh (polling on November 11 and 25) and Madhya Pradesh (November 25), where the party is looking for an encore, and in Rajasthan (December 1) and Delhi (December 4), where BJP is aiming to dislodge the incumbent Congress governments.
BJP’s list of star campaigners for the current elections include Rajnath Singh, leaders of Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley; former party chiefs M M Joshi, Nitin Gadkari, and Venkaiah Naidu; vice presidents Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Uma Bharati, Smriti Irani, and Balbir Punj; Ravi Shankar Prasad; S S Ahluwalia, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Shahnawaz Hussain.
Even Bollywood veterans and former BJP MPs Hema Malini and Vinod Khanna, who had fallen off the political radar, have also been roped in to work their charm.
According to strategy, instead of all leaders campaigning together, they would be spread out to carpet bomb different Assembly constituencies for maximum impact.
The 86-year-old Advani has allotted six days for campaign in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. On November 9 and 16, he addressed rallies in Chhattisgarh, has already addressed one rally in Ashoknagar in Madhya Pradesh, where he sought votes in favour of his favourite chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He would again travel to Chouhan’s state on 19 and 22and would be in Rajasthan five days later on 27. Curiously, the warhorse’s Delhi schedule has still not been finalised.
BJP president Rajnath Singh, who was in Raipur, would be busy addressing a series of rallies in MP (18, 19 November), Rajasthan (20, 22, 26, 27) and Delhi 25 and 29 November.
Sushma Swaraj is currently focussing on Madhya Pradesh (November 13, 15, 17, 21), which has her parliamentary constituency, Vidisha. Interestingly, Chouhan is also contesting from Vidisha Assembly constituency along with his current constituency Budhni. Swaraj has addressed two rallies in Chhattisgarh on November 7 and 9. On Saturday she unveiled the manifesto with Chouhan.
Swaraj would again make her presence felt in Rajasthan on November 19 and 23, before focussing on Delhi. She will hold a number of rallies in the Capital for seven days starting November 26.
Jaitley’s programme includes spending two days each in the four states.
Modi, who is not merely looking at the outcome of these elections, but of Lok Sabha a few months later, has allotted three days for campaigning in Delhi (November 23, 30 and December 1) to address six rallies. The Gujarat Chief Minister’s schedule includes campaigning in Madhya Pradesh on November 18, 20, 21, 22, 23. Similarly, in Rajasthan, Modi will address rallies on November 19, 24, 25, and 28.
The travel plans of central leaders were finalised at the BJP’s war room at 11 Ashoka Road. The dates were discussed between the leaders and state units, and then frozen.
While the war room headed by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has drawn up the detailed list of dates of each leader, the final nitty gritties of venue, number of rallies in a day are decided by host state units .
There is flurry of activity within the war rooms, as some dates are still being tweaked. The war room walls are pasted with gigantic constituency maps, while roads maps are also kept handy to chalk out last-minute venue details. “We end up making over 70 calls in a day,” a leader said.
According to party leaders, three former BJP presidents, Joshi, Naidu and Gadkari would be Madhya Pradesh between November 19 and 22, followed by Rajasthan and then Delhi. Gadkari, who is in-charge of Delhi elections, would be focussing on the state after November 21, as he would be addressing rallies with other state and central party leaders here.
Sources said for most central leaders, arrangements have been made for travelling by helicopters from the nearest airport to the election venue.
Both Simriti Irani and Varun Gandhi would be spending two days each in Delhi. Irani would be in Delhi on November 7 and 9, the city she contested her first Lok Sabha election from.
BJP’s filmi connect Hema Malini and Vinod Khanna too have been allotted two days each for each of the four states.
The only weak point in BJP’s plan is Mizoram. Rajanth Singh, Uma Bharati, Venkaiah Naidu and Balbir Punj have allotted a single day each for the hilly state.