Starting October 13, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will campaign in nine constituencies across Maharashtra over four days. Union Minister for Child and Women Development and Textiles Smriti Irani outlined the PM’s campaign schedule for the Assembly elections on Friday.
Mr. Modi will kick-start his campaign in Jalgaon and will also address a rally in Sakoli on October 13, where the Congress has fielded veteran leader Nana Patole. He will then address three rallies in Akola, Panvel and Partur on October 16.
The next day, he will speak at a rally in Parli, which is the site of a rivalry between cousins Dhananjay Munde of the NCP and Pankaja Munde of the BJP. He will also address two rallies in Pune and Satara on the same day.
In Pune’s Kothrud Assembly seat, BJP State chief Chandrakant Patil is facing stiff opposition from the local Shiv Sena leadership.
In Satara, along with the Assembly seat, the Lok Sabha bypolls are also at stake with the BJP fielding Udayanraje Bhosale for the latter. The former three-time Nationalist Congress Party MP recently switched alliances to join the BJP along with his cousin Shivendrasinh Bhonsle, who is the BJP candidate for the Assembly seat.
The final rally will be held in Mumbai on October 18 and will most likely be held in Bandra Kurla Complex.
Ms. Irani highlighted her party’s achievements while taking pot shots at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. “We do not concern ourselves how he (Mr. Gandhi) runs his political campaign. However, wherever he has campaigned the Congress has lost,” she said, adding people of the State will ask him about his insult to Veer Savarkar.
Asked about the friction between the BJP and the Sena over tree-cutting at Aarey colony, the minister said on matters of development of Maharashtra and national security, they have always been on the same page. Calling Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis a visionary leader, she said the government had consulted every stakeholder. “It is the utmost priority of the BJP that development and environmental responsibilities are balanced equally.”