BJP begins campaign

BJP president Rajnath Singh declares Narendra Modi will be the sole leader the party will project, report Haresh Pandya and agencies.

Over a dozen top BJP leaders on Tuesday barnstormed across the 87 constituencies where the first phase of elections will be held on December 11. BJP president Rajnath Singh declared Narendra Modi will be the sole leader the party will project.

HT Image

Singh kicked off the campaign with a large rally at Kalawad town of Jamnagar district. "Narendra Modi has worked for the development of the state with a lot of zeal. We have full confidence in him," he told reporters in Tankara, 40 kms from Rajkot.

About 25 central BJP leaders descended on the state to hold nearly 100 meetings in a 'carpet bombing' campaign.

Barring AB Vajpayee and LK Advani, the entire top leadership was here, including MM Joshi, Venkaiah Naidu, Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. A second round of rallies is scheduled for December 2.

Singh refused to comment when asked why BJP stalwart and former Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel, who leads the dissident faction in the state, was not campaigning for the party.