PM Narendra Modi during a roadshow in Indore, Madhya Pradesh
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, November 14: The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress top guns mounted on heavily decorated vehicles for roadshows in cities of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on Tuesday as poll fever is peaking ahead of curtains coming on electioneering tomorrow.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah are leading the saffron charge with roadshows and temple hopping. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the national general secretary of the party, are carrying the weight of the electioneering on their shoulders.
The Congress leaders claim that the party is comfortably poised to net MP and Chhattisgarh in the party kitty. The BJP leaders claim that the party has made an extraordinary comeback in both the states where they would be winning the elections. While the verdict will be known only next month, the electioneering in the two states has revealed the scale of electoral rivalry between the Congress and the BJP at an even level.
Despite adverse ground feedback from both the states, the BJP refused to yield the turfs and the saffron outfit unleashed an intense electioneering led by Modi. The BJP is counting on Modi to blunt the Congress’ bid to extend the winning streak of the guarantees-based election plank, forcing the saffron outfit to even include some of the promises such as highly subsidised LPG cylinders and monthly cash transfers to women.
“The Congress can even promise to build castles of gold to grab power,” said Modi at an election rally in Madhya Pradesh to build narrative against the guarantees-based poll plank of the Congress.
On the other hand, the Congress has taken its allegations against corruption to Madhya Pradesh after the highly successful campaign in Karnataka where the then chief minister Basavaraj Bommai couldn’t recover from the relentless campaign of commissions paid for work during his rule in the state. “The BJP didn’t spare even the Mahakaal Corridor from corruption,” alleged Mallikarjuna Kharge, the Congress president, during an election rally in MP. The Congress is promising a corruption-free government in the state.
Shah has sought to counter the Congress offensive by reminding the people of the alleged misgovernance during the Kamal Nath-led government in MP. While Modi has staked his own credibility by pitching “Modi Guarantee”, the prime minister has been repeating that he would ensure that all the promises made by the BJP would be fulfilled.
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