PM Modi to launch BJP campaign in Uttarakhand on March 28 with rally in Rudrapur
Uttarakhand BJP’s vice president JP Gairola said Modi’s rally in Rudrapur on March 28 will boost party’s campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick off the BJP’s campaign for the Lok Sabha polls in Uttarakhand slated for April 11 by addressing a poll rally in Rudrapur on March 28.
“The Prime Minister is slated to address an election rally in Rudrapur on March 28, which will give a boost to our party’s campaign for the Lok Sabha polls,” said JP Gairola, vice president of the BJP’s state unit. Many star campaigners of the BJP, including Union ministers Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Smiriti Irani and Sushma Swaraj are also likely to address a series of election rallies across the state.
Modi’s Rudrapur rally will be his second in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. He addressed the first rally in the same town via mobile phone on February 14, where he launched schemes worth ₹3,400 crore to give a boost to the cooperative sector.
Gairola said Modi is likely to address similar election rallies in Garhwal, for which dates were yet to be decided.
The mood appeared upbeat among the cadre and leaders of the BJP’s state unit ahead of the election rally to be addressed by Modi. “Such is the impact of his (Modi) personality, oratorial skills and the development schemes he envisioned for the state that his election rallies will turn the upcoming Lok Sabha elections one-sided in favour of our party,” said state BJP general secretary Naresh Bansal.
He claimed that the coming polls would be a repeat of the 2014 general elections when the BJP swept all the five Lok Sabha seats in the state after Modi concluded the party’s campaign by addressing a series of public meetings.
Analysts said the development schemes launched in the state by the Modi government were unprecedented. “The Modi regime allocated funds in big amounts on infrastructure projects it launched in the state, which never happened under the Congress that ruled the country for several decades,” said Professor MM Semwal of HNB Garhwal (Central) University. He was referring to the infrastructure schemes like the Chardham all-weather road project, Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail project and the Kedarpuri reconstruction project. “All such initiatives are sure to bring the party poll dividends in the elections,” Semwal said.
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Bansal admitted that the national fervour sweeping through the country after the air strikes on the terrorist training camp in Pakistan was sure to go in the party’s favour. “I am not talking in terms of electoral benefits but his (Modi) daring decision to allow air strikes on terrorist training camps in Pakistan has certainly turned the public mood in his favour,” he said.
Bansal indicated that the move had also sent a positive message among the ex-servicemen and their families that form a sizeable chunk of voters in the mountain state. “They (ex-servicemen) also stand behind the Prime Minister as he conceded the defence forces’ long-pending demand for One Rank One Pension,” he said.
BJP working committee member Brij Bhushan Gairola said the party would sweep all the five Lok Sabha seats owing to both development schemes carried out by the Modi regime and the air strikes.
The Opposition Congress, however, said people wouldn’t get carried away by Modi again as he failed to fulfil the promises he made ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. “Not only has he (Modi) failed to fulfil his promise to waive farmer loans because of which some 13 farmers have committed suicide in the state he also failed to check the rising unemployment,” said state Congress vice president Suryakant Dhasmana.
He alleged that the (Modi) regime also failed to release the full amount of ₹7,500 crore the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime had allocated for reconstruction of the Kedar valley after it was struck by floods in 2013.
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