Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2014: BJP tops in number of rallies across state as Congress falters
As the race to win maximum number of seats in the assembly election intensifies, BJP seems to be taking the lead in holding the maximum number of rallies across Maharashtra. After the BJP-Shiv Sena and the Congress-NCP alliance ended, political pundits were left with a confused set of equations about which party would take the lead in the state and which post-election alliance would work out.
With the latest set of numbers, it is pretty easy to say that BJP leaders have gone out of their way to woo voters in the state. Though the sample size of the rallies or actual number of rallies by other leaders are not available and cannot be verified, below is a report of the rallies that took place and which leaders took the lead.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state of Maharashtra and spoke about BJP’s unified vision for the state while targeting the NCP-Congress and their dynastic politics. Modi managed to attend 27 rallies and address people in a record time across the length and breadth of Maharashtra. Modi is followed by BJP President and his closest aide Amit Shah with 17 rallies. It is interesting to note that Shah, who has a controversial public image, managed to handle BJP’s entire campaign in Maharashtra along with Devendra Fadnavis. But, as the campaign started losing steam, Narendra Modi was brought in as the last resort.
After senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde’s untimely death, it was Nitin Gadkari who was touted as the probable BJP Chief Minister candidate for the state, a fact which was strengthened by him attending a massive 104 rallies — a feat unsurpassed by other leaders. But, BJP has placed its bets on Devendra Fadnavis for the state, although Fadnavis has attended a mere 40 rallies in comparison. Gopinath Munde’s daughter Pankaja Munde has managed to attend 35 rallies. After her father’s demise, she is the BJP’s OBC face in the state to draw the crowd from the OBC section.
So, it will be interesting to note this development and the actual results post elections.
