As against the Congress' silent campaign, the BJP has stepped-up the decibel of its Gujarat ‘mission 150-plus seats’ with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to give it a big push by reaching the state on Saturday for a road-show and senior BJP leaders, including its president J P Nadda besides Union ministers and chief ministers, to address a slew of public meetings on Friday in the constituencies falling in the first-phase of polling.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who did not campaign in Himachal Pradesh and is focusing on his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, is expected to take a break and join the campaign in Gujarat around November 22 to give voice to his party’s low-key, door-to-door campaign.
The 89 Gujarat Assembly constituencies in Gujarat are going to polls in the first phase of elections on December 1. Saurashtra, Kutch and south Gujarat are the regions going to polls in the first phase while 93 seats in north and central parts of the state will have polls on December 5.
The main face of the BJP campaign in Gujarat, Prime Minister Modi, would be reaching Gujarat on Saturday after inaugurating Arunachal Pradesh's first greenfield airport Donyi Polo, developed over an area of 690 acres and built at a cost of more than ` 640 crore, in a boost to connectivity, trade and tourism in the scenic region.
The Prime Minister's Office said the PM will also inaugurate the 'Kashi Tamil Sangamam', a month-long programme being organised in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, on Saturday before flying to Gujarat.
Modi would be leading a road-show for the BJP and address a number of public rallies in his home state . One of his earlier road-shows was cancelled due to the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy. Nadda will hold rallies in three places — Navsari, Ankleshwar and Rajkot East -- while Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Narendra Singh Tomar and Anurag Singh Thakur will address public at three, four and four meetings, respectively.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan will address three and four rallies respectively.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union ministers V K Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste are among other party leaders who will be addressing rallies, they said. Since 1995, the BJP would be be seeking mandate for the seventh time in Gujarat on the ‘Hindutva’ , ‘double-engine government’ and the ‘continuity of development’ planks. The Congress is heavily banking on the perceived ‘anti-incumbency’ factor against the BJP and wooing of the rainbow of OBC, Dalit, Adivasi and Muslim votes.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), under Arvind Kejriwal, has entered the poll fray for the second-time in Gujarat. An unpredictable player, it may cut into the votes of the Congress or the BJP.
AAP is not choosing to speak on the issues relating to Minorities including on the controversial Bilkis Bano case where life convicts of the 2002 gang-rape case have been given remission and let off . The AAP, which is contesting a majority of seats, has promised free electricity, access to water and government schools to the voters.
Besides, AAP has promised `1000 monthly allowance to all women above the age of 18 if it is elected to power. The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) too is in the fray exclusively targeting the Muslim community and expected to cut into the Congress vote base. The AIMIM and the AAP both are described by the Congress as the B-team of the BJP.