BJP Foundation Day: Women upset over PM Narendra Modi’s absence from rally

Mumbai: A large number of people, including Muslims, thronged the MMRDA Ground at BK for BJP’s Foundation Day rally on Friday. But many of them weren’t aware of why they had come to the ground.

The Free Press Journal has learnt that the women who came from hinterlands of Maharashtra were told that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would address the large gathering in Mumbai but were disappointed after they learnt that it is not Modi but the party president Amit Shah who would address the meet.

Sources said there were nearly 40,000 Muslims including hijab-clad women and children from Latur, Malegaon, Aurangabad and Vidarbha regions attended the rally. A BJP worker, Subhadra Pomendkar from Powai, said that the “Muslims had left their Jumma ka Namaz (Friday prayer) to attend the rally.”

“It was more important for us to listen to BJP heavyweights at the rally than to offer Jumma ka Namaz because BJP has done a lot for us,” said Powai-resident Shabana. But she could not recall “what the saffron party has done for them.” Another Muslim supporter from Raigad district’s Roha taluka, Fatima Salam Sayyed, said, “You can do sajda anywhere.”

Also read: BJP Foundation Day: Rally sends city traffic into a tizzy

The supporters came to Mumbai by buses, private cars and trains. Another Muslim supporter of BJP, Ghulam Mustafa, who came from Sewri, said in broken Hindi that “BJP is a pro-development party.” However, 58-year-old Laxman Bapurao Harvade, a farmer from Bhandara district, revealed that he had come to the rally with his wife and neighbours as their food and travel costs had been borne by the BJP.

“It is the first time that I came to Mumbai. We all live in Bhandara district and had never dreamt of coming to Mumbai at our own cost because we are very poor. Today, I am mesmerised to see the shining buildings, broad roads of Mumbai,” said Harvade. But he lamented and added that the previous government of Congress party was way better than the incumbent BJP.

“Our crops have been damaged and we don’t have any penny. We are not getting compensation from the government for crop damage. The BJP government is not doing anything for us, Congress was better,” he added. A large number of people were seen sitting outside MMRDA ground, which was overwhelmed by BJP supporters.

Munde supporters create ruckus

Before the function began, agitated supporters of late Gopinath Munde who had come from his native Beed district raised strong objections to late Munde’s photograph missing from the backdrop of the dais. Dr Preetam Munde, his daughter and Lok Sabha member tried to pacify the supporters who were seated in front of the main dais from the enclosure for elected representatives. However, as the supporters refused to relent, Dr Munde had to cross the barricade to meet the party cadres and calm them down.