As per few pre-poll surveys, Modi’s popularity has soared multifold and his chances of winning in northern regions are almost ensured. Not only Bihar, Jharkhand and UP are showing positive signs but old turfs like Maharashtra and southern states are also showing promise.
Gujarat chief minister and Bhartiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi addressed a massive rally in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. The Vijay Shankhnad rally, as it was called, was his second rally in the eastern UP after Baliya where he had addressed last year.
Modi started his speech by thanking the people assembled to hear him speak in the rally for contributing in his pet project – statue of unity. He then spoke on the historical importance of the place like his other rallies. It seems that the Gujarat chief minister tries to invoke passion in the hearts and minds of the people by indulging them in such histrionics.
Asking people to help him create a “Congress-mukt Bharat”, Modi started his poll pitch which included slamming the state government of Akhilesh Yadavan his father Mulayam Singh Yadav’s political style. Modi used ‘good governance’ as his main card indicating towards the shortcomings of Akhilesh government.
He presented the illuminating examples from Gujarat to gain the public attention. He talked about women safety, poverty eradication and good agricultural practices.
According to Modi, UP alone can eradicate poverty and hunger from the country. Saying that the Akhilesh government was incapable of running the agriculture sector properly, he added that the UP government did not have sense of timing. Taking a jibe at the father-son duo, Modi said, “Where ever I go, the father and son (Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh) follow me. Today they said that Modi does not have the right to make Uttar Pradesh into Gujarat…Netaji do you understand what it means to make Gujarat? It means 24 hour electricity in every village and town. Netaji you are right. You cannot make a Gujarat here. For that you need a 56 inch chest.”
“I have taken a vow to ensure Uttar Pradesh’s progress,” Modi said amid cheers.
Giving a quick fix solution for funding a girl’s marriage, Modi advised people to plant five trees after a girl’s birth in house. According to him, it will not only ensure income till your daughter’s marriage, it will also cater to the demand of timber which he advised people to sell to fund their daughter’s marriage.
Modi then raked up the statement made by Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar at AICC meet in Delhi and said that the Congress wanted a Chaiwallah, a poor guy, to remain poor so that it can do politics over his poverty. Modi also said that the Congress party was an elite party which never wanted progress of the country as it would mean working more.
Dipping into his same old lines, Modi then asked the people to vote for him looking at the development he made in Gujarat. “You’ve given the Congress 60 years, give me 60 months and see the difference. You’ve elected rulers, this time elect a servant to the post and see the difference,” he said.
In all, Modi presented nothing new in his speech although he did not mention Rahul Gandhi and kept it to the progress of UP only.
The rally venue had a capacity of three lakh and was seemingly overcrowded. Wherever the camera was panning, sea of people was visible with wobbling heads.
As per few pre-poll surveys, Modi’s popularity has soared multifold and his chances of winning in northern regions are almost ensured. Not only Bihar, Jharkhand and UP are showing positive signs but old turfs like Maharashtra and southern states are also showing promise.
After Aam Aadmi Party leaders’ chaotic show in Delhi, few newspapers have also reported their decline in terms of monetary funding and support, which may actually result in consolidation of votes for BJP. But the reality will unfold only after the general election results.
