Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend a road show in Ranchi on Tuesday evening and move to Lohardaga for addressing an election rally the next morning, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Saturday after late night intimation on Friday from the party’s central high command.
According to the itinerary provided to the State unit of BJP, Modi will land in Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Airport at around 8pm and attend a road show on his way to the Raj Bhawan, where he will stay in the night. This, sources said, will be Modi’s first night halt in Ranchi since becoming the Prime Minister of India.
“The Prime Minister will attend a road show on his way from airport to Raj Bhawan. We received this information from the high command at around 11pm on Friday,” said Pratul Shahdeo, BJP Spokesperson.
Modi’s visit will mark the beginning of an electioneering spree of BJP bigwigs in Jharkhand. After the Prime Minister’s rally in Lohardaga, BJP National President Amit Shah will address a rally in Chatra on April 27 and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath will address rallies in Palamu either on April 25 or April 26, party insiders said. Meanwhile, sources said that Home Minister Rajnath Singh too is likely to address an election rally in Hazaribag this week.
The BJP, which won 12 of 14 Lok Sabha seats here in the 2014, is banking on Modi’s achievements as the Prime Minister to lure voters in Jharkhand. Chief Minister Raghubar Das has been convincing voters here to strengthen Jharkhand by voting to power a “double engine” Government.
However, unlike 2014, the BJP this time is faced against a united opposition in Jharkhand. The Mahagathbandhan, an alliance of Congress party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), has launched an aggressive anti-incumbency campaign in the State.
BJP insiders said that Modi will leave for Lohardaga on Wednesday morning and is likely to address the rally at around 11am.
In his term as the Prime Minister, Modi paid at least eight official visits to Jharkhand since the landslide victory in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The party here claims that no other Prime Minister has paid as many visits to Jharkhand in single tenure. During his last official visit to Jharkhand, Modi inaugurated three medical colleges in Hazaribagh, Daltonganj and Dumka.
Three of 14 parliamentary constituencies –Lohardaga, Chatra, Palamu— in Jharkhand will go to polls on April 29. The BJP enjoys incumbency in all the three constituencies and is gearing up for a tough fight from Mahagathbandhan allies Congress and former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad-led RJD.
