No Modi wave in Maharashtra? PM’s rally strike rate less than 50 per cent

Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held 27 election rallies in Maharashtra. However, more than half of the BJP candidates for whom Mr Modi held rallies have lost the election.

Political rivals of the BJP are saying that this indicated there was no Modi wave in Maharashtra.

During his election rallies, 116 BJP candidates were present on the dais with Mr Modi at various places. Of these 116 candidates, 46 were victorious while 70 of them lost the election.

“The BJP itself has admitted that the strike rate of Mr Modi’s election rallies was less than 50 per cent. It means that there was no Modi wave. Less than 30 per cent electorate have voted for the BJP and its allies,” said Congress MLC Sanjay Dutt.

The BJP’s vote share in the Assembly election was 27.8 per cent.

NCP leader Nawab Malik said that BJP’s tally of 122 seats was the result of imported candidates from other parties. “More than 30 BJP MLAs were imported from other parties a few days before the election. About three months ago, BJP leader Nitin Gadkari had made a statement that the party would welcome winnable candidates from other parties in order to increase its base in Maharashtra. That is what the BJP did and relied on turncoat candidates. The strategy has paid off, and not the Modi wave,” he said.

One of Mr Modi’s rally was held at Maharalxmi in Mahim when the Prime Minister had appealed to the people to vote for seven BJP candidates. Four of them Atul Shah (Mumbaidevi), Madhu Chavan (Byculla), Sunil Rane (Worli) and Shalaka Salvi (Shivadi) have lost the election.

Mr Modi had also held huge rallies in R.R. Patil’s constituency Tasgaon in Sangli district and Ajit Pawar’s constituency Baramati. However, the turnout at his rallies did not convert into votes and both the NCP leaders won the election comfortably.

Mr Modi’s last rally was in Kankavali in Sindhudurg district for BJP candidates Pramod Jathar (Kankavali), Vishnu Modkar (Kudal) and Rajan Teli (Sawantwadi). All three of them lost the election.