PM Narendra Modi’s ‘Sankalp Rally’ is in full swing as the NDA addresses audiences across states to cast a lasting impact on voters. In the count down to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the mobilization of the voter seems to be a shared political agenda.
The New Leam Staff
On March 3rd, 2019 PM Narendra Modi was to address a rally in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan. In preparations for the really, the NDA had supposedly hired eighteen trains and more than 5,000 buses and hundreds of cars to take their supports there. But despite having made such elaborate preparations, the ground remained less than half filled.
The hyped rally called ‘Sankalp Rally’ had expected to garner large crowds for the address by the PM ahead of the Lok Sabha polls but ironically in spite the arrangements, it could not manage to attract a large audience. The NDA had claimed before the rally that the Gandhi Maidan would be overcrowded and people may not even have space to sit but moments into the really, images of an empty ground went viral on social media.
The key highlights of the PM’s speech in the really were the Phulwama attack, the response that India gave to Paksitan through the strike by the Indian Air Force and the coming back of Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman.
The BJP had expressed an overpowering confidence in the fact that the ground would be overcrowded with people but the disappointment at being unable to gather enough supporters was indeed disappointing for the NDA.
The official records of the party claim that 5 lakh people turned up at the rally. In fact, it has been observed that JD-U’s workers and supporters bearing green flags came in larger numbers than the supporters of BJP. Crores were utilised to paint Patna saffron ahead of the really.
The Sankalp Rally was the first big show of the Nitish Kumar- BJP alliance formed in July 2017. After an unpleasing response in Patna, the PM addressed a crowd in Gujarat’s Jamnagar on Monday.
The main highlight of the PM’s Jamnagar speech was his comment on the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. In stating praise for this flagship healthcare program, PM Narendra Modi said that anybody who produced a Ayushman Bharat Card could attain treatment anywhere between Kolkata and Karachi. He later clarified that it was only a slip of tongue and what he had meant was Kochi and he had made the mistake because his mind had been too occupied with the India- Pakistan tension.
The PM had been addressing this gathering after having inaugurated a 750 bed Guru Gobind Singh Hospital at Jamnagar.
Today, the PM is all set to address a rally in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Party workers will take part in large numbers in the rally. This is the rally where the PM will also officially launch his campaign for the coming Lok Sabha polls. The campaigning ahead of the elections is in full swing and no stone is being left unturned to create a lasting impact.
The countdown to the polls is indeed an interesting one and will have lasting implications for the democratic traditions of the nation.
