All eyes are Narendra Modi’s Hunkar Rally in Patna on October 27 when he will take on Nitish Kumar on the latter’s home turf.
According to leaders in the state, BJP will soon launch signature campaign to prove how many “are eagerly awaiting to hear Modi”. The BJP wants to better Lalu’s crowd-pulling capacity when he was at the height of power. “In 2003, it was Lalu’s Garib Maharaila that attracted maximum number of people. Modiji’s rally will surpass that,” Nand Kishor Yadav, the rally in-charge adds. Though not willing to put a number to buses that will ply to Gandhi Maidan, Yadav admits that the state unit “is being forced to hire transport from neighbouring states”. The party is also in process of hiring a vendor who would install LED screens, so that everyone can listen and watch Modi. With 40 seats at stake, BJP leaders say Modi’s rally would lead to a groundswell for the saffron party in Bihar.
Rahul found it a good time to invade Gujarat last week. With its chief minister committed to a nationwide itinerary—the Congress spies a vacuum. The CAG report citing malnutrition among children in the state, unfortunately for Rahul, came a day late. But Congress leader Gurudas Kamat says, “We’ll take up in a big way’ nevertheless.” Rahul’s office said that his schedule is being drawn up. He would also be going to Punjab.
It is quite revealing that both leaders are spending so much time in places that will vote only in the general election. In doing so, they are showing sensitivity to the current political situation, as much as a longer-term view.
“The non-Hindu vote in UP is anybody’s game now after the Samajwadi Party discredited itself with the Muzaffarnagar riots. A heightened polarisation is expected to yield benefits for Modi, although he has not made any mention of the riots,’’ a Congress leader said.
But unlike the Congress, which is acting shy about openly projecting Rahul, the BJP out-of-power for nearly 10 years now, is going all out to endorse a campaign around its prime ministerial candidate. And Modi has staged one after another high-decibel glitzy rallies, seven in September alone, including those in poll-bound Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh. The BJP is moving unabashedly to create more buzz with 100 more rallies across the country.
If the plans currently being finalised fructify, the next three months would see Modi making an appearance every week—rallies that will take to him Jammu, Moga, Bangalore, Trivandrum or Calicut.