PM Modi appeared larger than life throughout the Gujarat elections. No wonder BJP’s electoral dictionary only has ‘Modi Sarkar’ and not ‘BJP Sarkar’. This has already happened before, but this time BJP has asked for votes in the name of PM Modi. Despite being in power in Gujarat since 1995, the BJP has only mentioned the last 20 years of party rule in its campaign. For three weeks Modi campaigned in Gujarat almost every other day and addressed 3-4 rallies a day.
Personal attacks helped PM Modi
Every time the opposition has made personal attacks on PM Modi, his popularity has increased. In 2007, when Congress leader Sonia Gandhi called him a ‘dealer of death’, a rally in support of the BJP took place across Gujarat and the BJP won 117 seats in a no-issue election. The 2012 election was fought on the emotional issue of supporting Modi to become the Prime Minister of the country in 2014. The highest voter turnout in that assembly election was 71.3 percent.
Even though the BJP had a clear victory in the Gujarat assembly elections from the start, PM Modi left no stone unturned to start campaigning in his home state. The Prime Minister is a natural and tireless campaigner who really enjoys addressing election rallies. On the other hand, now the exit polls are also predicting a huge victory for the BJP in Gujarat for a record seventh time.
What is the power of Prime Minister’s meeting-rally?
Certainly the BJP, which has been in power in the state since 1995, could have won without the Chief Minister coming forward to lead. The only question was who would finish second and third in the race. Although the BJP has focused on the ground level, Modi has remained its brand ambassador and star campaigner, addressing rallies and establishing direct communication with voters. He had addressed around 35 rallies since November in which he reached out to farmers, youth and women with his message. In contrast, Rahul Gandhi addressed only two public rallies for the Congress in Gujarat.