Ahead of polls, BJP to hold 300 rallies across Maharashtra

Party also plans over 35 virtual rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The Bharatiya Janata Party plans to hold a record 300 rallies across Maharashtra on Tuesday and Wednesday as a part of its “Mulukh Maidan” concept, in the run-up to the assembly polls.

These rallies are expected to cover all 288 assembly constituencies in the state, with an objective to reach out to the largest number of voters possible.

The BJP has roped in practically all its union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, apart from state leaders to address poll rallies.

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh would address rallies in south Maharashtra, a leading sugarcane-growing area with a powerful cooperative sector dominated by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party.

Union Human Resources Development Minister Smriti Irani would hold public meetings in the state’s education capital Pune. Former member of Parliament and cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu would do so in Mumbai.

This apart, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar would address rallies in Nashik, party vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe in Thane and national secretary Muralidhar Rao in Latur and Solapur.

“The party has already launched a campaign in print media and also on TV and radio. Social media will be used as effectively during the assembly polls as it was in the Lok Sabha polls,” a BJP leader told Business Standard.

The BJP would also appeal to the voters, “Chhatrapati ka aashirwad, chalo chale Modiji ke saath” (With the blessings of Chhatrapati Shivaji, let us go with Modi in Maharashtra). This would be done on the lines of “Ab ki bar Modi sarkar”.

The BJP has also proposed to hold at least 15 rallies and over 35 virtual rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi across Maharashtra to counter the campaign of its erstwhile ally, the Shiv Sena.

Polling for the 288 seats is slated for October 15 and the counting is on October 19.