Modi's campaign 'historic' and 'unprecedented' says BJP

As the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections ended, Narendra Modi seems to have created a record of sorts by travelling over 3,00,000 km and holding 5,827 public meetings, mixing traditional methods of holding rallies with innovative use of technology, the party claimed.

Termed by the BJP as "one of the largest" mass outreach in India's electoral history, Modi addressed 437 public meetings in 25 states besides 1350 3-D rallies since September 15, when he held his public rally after being declared as the party's prime ministerial candidate.

The total number of his public meetings stood at 5827, which included his 4000 'chai pe charcha', in which he interacted with groups of people across several cities connected to him by video-link, and two mega road shows in Varanasi and Vadodra, the two LS seats he is contesting from.

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BJP claims Modi has reached out directly to anywhere between 5-10 crore people.

The Modi "juggernaut" rolled out on September 15 last year with an ex-servicemen's rally in Rewari in Haryana and ended on May 10 with a rally in Balia in the eastern UP, which goes to polls on Monday.

While he addressed 38 rallies held across 21 states to build the momentum before the elections dates were announced, he launched a massive campaign by kicking off Bharat Vijay rallies with a public meeting in Udhampur on March 26.

He addressed a total of 196 such rallies spread across 25 states and covered close to 2,00,000 km.

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BJP describes the campaign as "historic" and "unprecedented" in its intensity and scale in addition to being innovative and precise.

Modi's campaign is one of the biggest mass mobilisation anywhere in the history of electioneering, the party claimed.

Reflecting the importance of Uttar Pradesh to his electoral fortunes, Modi has addressed the largest number of rallies, eight, in this state followed by four in Karnataka, three in Bihar, two each in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Assam and Odisha, besides one each in other states.

A strong proponent of leveraging of modern technological innovations, Modi expanded his use of 3D technology, first seen in his campaign in Gujarat in 2012, across the country and the unique medium itself drew big crowds especially in the hinterland.

'Chai pe charcha' programmes held across 24 states in several rounds and, internationally, across 5 locations in 15 countries.  Some 10 lakh people had participated in this innovative programme, the party said.

The prime ministerial hopeful's day began at 5 am and sometimes went past midnight, the party said, during the gruelling campaign schedule.

"I am running, the affection of the people is making me run," Modi said during the campaign.