NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hit the campaign trail from Saturday in two election-bound states in his bid to boost to his Bharatiya Janata Party’s prospects in Maharashtra and Haryana.
According to the itinerary finalised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Modi as the party’s star campaigner would address four rallies each day in the first week — three in Maharashtra and one a day in Haryana.
The two states are scheduled to vote to elect their new legislative assemblies on October 15. The rival Congress party has been in power in Maharashtra and Haryana for 15 and 10 years respectively.
In all Modi will address 10 rallies in Haryana and about two dozen rallies in Maharashtra.
Riding on Modi’s popularity, BJP swept to power in the summer general elections at the centre and has decided against projecting its chief ministerial candidates in the two states and instead seek votes on Modi’s name.
BJP, however, may have damaged its prospects by snapping ties with the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra and Haryana Janhit Congress in Haryana after seat sharing talks with the two parties failed due to BJP’s soaring ambitions.
BJP has once again turned to its veteran leaders Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi after sidelining them in the recent past. Advani and Joshi will campaign in Maharashtra which is a big state with 288 assembly constituencies compared to 90 in Haryana. The two veterans would, however, not campaign in Haryana.
Besides Modi, BJP’s five chief ministers, namely Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), Vasundhara Raje Scindia (Rajasthan), Manohar Parrikar (Goa) and Anandiben Patel (Modi’s successor in Gujarat) will also campaign in both states.
BJP president Amit Shah, who launched BJP’s campaign in Haryana on Monday and addressed half a dozen rallies in two days, is among the star campaigners listed by the party for both states besides his two predecessors and now federal ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari. Though finance minister Arun Jaitley’s name figure in list of campaigners, his participation is doubtful as he is currently recuperating in isolation ward of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences following a diabetic surgery in a private hospital.
Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has been asked to focus exclusively on her home state Haryana. Swaraj has started her political career in 1977 by becoming the youngest ever minister in Haryana is presently a Member of Parliament from Madhya Pradesh and has served in the past as Delhi chief minister too. She is seen as being among the front runners to become Haryana chief minister in case the BJP manages to form government in the northern state.
Modi will wind up his campaign trail by addressing three rallies in Haryana on October 11 and four rallies in Maharashtra on October 13 — the day campaigning would come to end ahead of October 15 polling.
