BJP plans rally blitz across State

Having ended alliance with Shiv Sena, the party is banking heavily on Modi’s appeal

BJP president Amit Shah and RPI president Ramdas Athawale during a meeting at BJP office in Mumbai on Saturday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is set to launch its Maharashtra poll campaign with a blitzkrieg of 300 public meetings across the State over 48 hours, starting Tuesday.

The power-packed two days will set the stage for its chief campaigner Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, according to party sources, will address 23-25 rallies in 7-9 phases.

After the separation with its long-time saffron partner, the Shiv Sena, the BJP is banking heavily on Mr. Modi’s appeal to repeat its spectacular Lok Sabha win.

It will fight the poll with the slogan Chhatrapati Cha Ashirvad, Chalo Chale Modi Ke Saath (Let us seek blessings of Chhatrapati Shivaji and walk along with Modi). The reference to Shivaji, observers say, is to appeal to the dominant Maratha population. Termed “Mulukh Maidan,” the two days of rallies that will cover every constituency makes a reference to the Maratha warrior.

Mulukh Maidan was a feared cannon that was a part of the arsenal of Shivaji’s armies.

Fighting without the Sena for the first time in 25 years, the BJP will contest 257 seats in the 288-member Assembly. Its allies will fight in the remaining 31 seats. The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghathan will contest 14 seats, the RPI-A eight seats, the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh seven and the Shiv Sangram four.

Marathon meetings

To chalk out the poll strategy, BJP president Amit Shah held marathon meetings with senior leaders here on Saturday and Sunday. He, however, kept away from the media.

Among the 53 leaders who will address the “Mulukh Maidan” rallies are Union Ministers Radha Mohan Singh (South Maharashtra), Smriti Irani (Pune), Nitin Gadkari, Prakash Javadekar (Nashik), Kailash Mishra, Uma Bharti and Santosh Gangawar.

BJP vice-presidents Purushottam Rupala (Satara and Sangali) and Vinay Sahastrabuddhe (Thane), party national secretary Murlidhar Rao (Latur and Solapur), Delhi BJP leader Vijendra Gupta and ex-MP and cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu will also address meetings.

Party spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said the strategy behind having so many rallies was to start the campaign with an “impact” and create a ripple “effect” in favour of the party in the entire State.

Till 2009, owing to its alliance with the Sena, the party could only fight 119 seats. “We want to reach as many people as we can,” he said.