Maharashtra polls: Modi to launch campaign today, BJP, Congress leaders plan state-wide rallies | Mumbai news
Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to launch his campaign for the Maharashtra assembly election with rallies in Nashik and Dhule in north Maharashtra on Friday. Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will conduct multiple rallies across the state for the BJP. Meanwhile, Congress is preparing to deploy its senior leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
Modi will commence his seven-day campaign programme on Friday, April 08 at Dhule, followed by a rally at Nashik at 2 pm. On April 09, he will address two rallies at Akola and Nanded. On April 12, he will speak at two rallies at Chimur and Salapur and hold a road show in Pune. His campaign for the Maharashtra Assembly polls will conclude on April 14—a day before embarking on a foreign tour—with two rallies in Sambhaji Nagar, Raigad and Mumbai.
Amit Shah, expected to hold over 20 rallies in Maharashtra, begins his campaign on April 08 with four rallies. He will address a public rally in Shirala at 11 am, followed by rallies in Karad, Sangli and Kolhapur.
Besides Modi and Shah, Yogi Adityanath will address 15 to 18 rallies in constituencies dominated by north Indian voters. Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari is scheduled for over 20 rallies across the state, while Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hold at least six rallies.
Additionally, Bhajan Lal Sharma, Pushkar Singh Dhami, and Mohan Yadav, the chief ministers of Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh respectively, are scheduled to campaign for the Mahayuti candidates.
Rahul Gandhi will campaign for four days starting from April 12. He will return on April 14 and 16, with one more day to be added to his schedule later, according to Maharashtra Congress in-charge Ramesh Chennithala. Gandhi is expected to address eight to ten rallies in the state.
Gandhi visited Nagpur and Mumbai on Wednesday, where he unveiled the party’s poll manifesto alongside Kharge, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray.
Priyanka Gandhi, who is contesting a bypoll for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, will campaign in the state for three days—April 13, 16 and 17. The Congress president will campaign for five days during the polls on April 13, 14, 16, 17 and 18. The detailed schedule and locations for all leaders will be announced later, Chennithala said.
Chief ministers from other states, including Siddaramaiah from Karnataka and Revanth Reddy from Telangana, have been asked to prepare their schedules for poll campaigning in Maharashtra.
