Top leaders criss-cross nation in battle for states
NEW DELHI/KOLKATA/ CHENNAI:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has addressed 24 rallies in the four election-bound states and Union Territory of Puducherry since elections were announced on February 26 with a clear focus on West Bengal, which his Bharatiya Janata Party hopes to wrest from the Trinamool Congress, and Assam, while Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have largely focused on Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Modi has addressed 19 rallies in West Bengal and Assam; the Gandhis, 12.
Interestingly, till April 3, Modi has addressed nine rallies in West Bengal, repeatedly accusing CM Mamata Banerjee for the three Ts Tanasahi (dictatorship), Tolabaji (extortion) and Tushtikaran (appeasement). The Gandhis have been largely absent from the campaign in the state.
The BJP has pulled out all the stops to end the 10-year rule of the Trinamool Congress — apart from Modi, home minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda have made several visits while Banerjee is trying to stake claim for a third term. In Assam, the BJP has aggressively campaigned to retain power against the alliance led by the Congress, which ruled the state for 15 years before it was ousted in 2016.
Modi officially kicked off the BJP’s Bengal campaign on February 7 at Haldia in East Midnapore, and has visited the state at least seven times till Saturday since the polls were announced. He has addressed nine rallies including a mega one at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata. He will likely address more with the West Bengal elections being held in eight phases, with the last phase on April 29. “On May 2, Didi’r ‘khela shesh hobe, vikas shuru’ (her game will be over and development will start),” Modi said at several rallies in a reference to the TMC’s “Khela Hobe” (the game is on) election slogan.
Jay Prakash Majumdar, state BJP vice president, said Bengal is important to the BJP from the emotional angle because it is the birthplace of Syama Prasad Mookherjee, the founder of the party’s previous avatar, the Jana Sangh. “And geographically Bengal is currently one of the most important epicentres . The state controls trade and development for the entire northeast and some other eastern states.” Saugata Roy, TMC MP, said the BJP’s high octane campaign will have no impact on Bengalis. “They (BJP) feel she (Banerjee) is the only impediment to authoritarian politics. They want to demolish the main pillar of resistance against their wrong politics.”
As for Assam, Modi visited it for the sixth time on Saturday; he has so far addressed seven rallies, where he has reminded voters about the development work done by BJP-led government and accused rival alliance led by the Congress of being communal. Rahul Gandhi has visited the state three times and addressed eight rallies in which he targeted the BJP for spreading hate in India, and reiterated his party’s five guarantees: Five lakh government jobs in five years, steps to scrap the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), free electricity up to 200 units for all households, ₹2,000 for all homemakers, and enhancing the daily wage of all tea garden workers. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Assam four times between March 1 and March 23 and addressed 7 rallies
In the two southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the BJP is considered to be a smaller player although it is contesting in alliance with ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and has presented itself as an alternate to Congress led United Democratic Front and CPIM led Left Democratic Front in Kerala. In Puducherry, where the PM had held one rally the party is hoping to win in alliance with the NR Congress of former CM N Rangaswamy.
PM Modi and Shah were in Tamil Nadu for three days each and addressed five rallies each. Rahul Gandhi, was in the state for five days holding 12 election related events. Modi has also addressed three rallies in Kerala till Saturday. Gandhi has visited the state thrice. Political analysts said that from the rallies it is clear that the BJP’s focus is West Bengal.
“They (the BJP) have more stakes in West Bengal where they want to form the government and believe to have a chance as TMC is in power for 10 years. However, in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the BJP is only a marginal force,” said Chennnai based political commentator R Duraisamy. “BJP is contesting in below 10% of the seats in TN (20 out of 234) and most of those 20 seats are take it or leave seats. They’re only preparing the ground for the next elections here by fighting the DMK-led alliance.”