Mumbai - Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to kick off the BJP's high-stakes campaign blitzkrieg in Maharashtra today with a massive rally in the Chandrapur district. This opening gambit marks the beginning of an all-out electoral war, as the party prepares to defend its formidable bastion against the onslaught of a united opposition.
Chandrapur, a constituency with a rich legacy, is where Modi will sound the bugle, lending his inimitable oratory prowess to the campaign of Sudhir Mungantiwar, the incumbent Forest Minister. Mungantiwar, a stalwart of the state cabinet, finds himself pitted against Pratibha Dhanorkar, the Congress candidate and widow of late MP Balu Dhanorkar, whose untimely demise last year has added an emotional dimension to the contest.
Buoyed by their resounding triumph in 2019, when they clinched 23 of the 25 seats they contested in alliance with the then-undivided Shiv Sena, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned. Modi's rally in Chandrapur is merely the vanguard of a veritable juggernaut, with at least 10 more public meetings scheduled across the state's electoral battlegrounds.
Sudhir Mungantiwar, the BJP's standard-bearer in Chandrapur, is brimming with confidence, asserting that the Prime Minister's visit will allow him to "interact with the people of Gadchiroli and Chandrapur, and share the nation's development story." He has also trained his rhetorical guns on the late Balu Dhanorkar, accusing him of neglecting the region's development during his tenure.
With 48 Lok Sabha seats up for grabs, Maharashtra stands as a pivotal prize in the national electoral sweepstakes, second only to the heavyweight Uttar Pradesh. The state's electorate will cast their ballots in five phases, spanning April 19 to May 20, in what promises to be a hard-fought and closely watched contest.
As the campaign juggernaut rumbles into action, all eyes are on Chandrapur, where Modi's opening salvo will reverberate across the length and breadth of this politically crucial state.
