Mumbai: The Lok Sabha election fever is at its peak in Maharashtra with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to hold as many as six rallies in the state in the next two days. While the opposition claimed it was a sign that the BJP was in panic mode, the saffron party said PM’s rallies are part of its strategy to reach out to the maximum voters.
Modi will address rallies in Solapur, Satara, Pune, Madha, Dharashiv and Latur Lok Sabha constituencies in the next couple of days. The six rallies come on the backdrop of him holding a big rally in Kolhapur on Saturday.
Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that Modi will address rallies in Solapur, Satara and Pune on April 29, followed by rallies in Madha, Dharashiv and Latur on April 30.
Voting for the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra is being held in five phases from April 19 to May 20. Modi has already held five rallies for the first two phases of the polling in the state. In the first phase, the PM held three rallies for five seats and in the second phase, he addressed two rallies for eight seats.
According to political observers, the increased number of PM’s rallies shows that the BJP and its allies are anxious about their winning chances and are relying only on Modi’s charisma to win the elections in the face of a stiff challenge posed by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance comprising Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress.
Maharashtra is one of the most important states in the Lok Sabha polls as it has the second highest number of seats (48) after Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 elections, the BJP had won 41 seats along with the then undivided Shiv Sena. The BJP won 23 seats and Shiv Sena won 18.
The BJP was hopeful that the split in the Shiv Sena and NCP would further strengthen the saffron party’s position in the State, as their leaders claimed to win at least 45 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats. However, according to party insiders, trends in the first two phases of polling are not so encouraging which has prompted the party leadership to go for a higher number of Modi’s rallies.
While the saffron party said PM’s rallies are part of its strategy to reach out to the maximum voters, the opposition claimed it was a sign that the BJP was in panic mode. “The PM is holding rallies in almost every constituency in Maharashtra. It shows that they have panicked and are terrified of losing seats,” said NCP (SP) Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase.
