As the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections enter the final lap, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leaving no stone unturned in its quest for a return to power, with its senior leaders addressing a significantly larger number of public meetings. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the saffron party’s biggest crowd puller and star campaigner, is expected to address an additional six rallies. Party president Amit Shah will also hold 11 more public meetings.

The increase in the number of public meetings the Modi-Shah combine will address indicates the saffron party is going for the kill in the last two phases of the Lok Sabha polls amid increased speculation that the BJP might need the support of allies to form the government.

Of the six rallies, Modi will address two each in West Bengal and UP clearly showing where the BJP is putting its money, while the PM will also address one each in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana.

In fact, a closer look at Modi’s rallies in the first four phases is telling about his strategy to minimise and offset losses in Uttar Pradesh and compensate it from other states.

Until the first four phases, Modi has held 87 public meetings and three big roadshows, according to an ET report. Of these, Modi's 50 percent public meetings were held in just five states of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Odisha and Gujarat.

In Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats, the Prime Minister held 12 rallies along with a major roadshow ahead of filing his nomination from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat in the first four phases of Lok Sabha polls where 41 seats were at stake.

In some of the assembly elections held in the recent past, when Modi increased the number of rallies towards the fag end of the campaign, it was speculated that the BJP feared a loss. It turned out that the party was ratcheting up the campaign to romp home with an absolute majority.

In West Bengal, the PM has addressed nine rallies in the first four phases. By the time West Bengal’s seven-phase elections will be over, Modi would have addressed an overall 15 public meetings in the state taking maximum advantage of the multi-phase polling.

Yet another focus state of Modi had been Odisha where the PM had held eight rallies and roadshow for 21 Lok Sabha seats. In comparison, Maharashtra with 48 Lok Sabha seats saw Modi holding just nine rallies for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance.

Compared to heartland and eastern states, the lack of focus on other southern states in PM's campaign is telling and indicating that BJP itself is not expecting major gains from these states. Modi held just eight rallies across four major southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Another reason for less Modi rallies in these states could also be due to single-phase elections, except Karnataka.

As for campaign theme, the overwhelming focus of Modi's campaign during these rallies has been on nationalism and strong anti-terror stance, particularly the surgical strikes carried out inside Pakistani territories.

Additionally, the PM has also focused on the National Democratic Alliance government's income support scheme for farmers and Ayushman Bharat scheme as part of his pro-poor and development pitch in these elections.

First Published:May 6, 2019 1:16 PM IST