Mihan and his victory margin, Gadkari tackles it all at rally
Ashish Roy | tnn | Apr 8, 2019, 06:13 IST
BJP candidate Nitin Gadkari during an election campaign for the 17th Lok Sabha on Sunday April 7th, 2019Nagpur: BJP candidate Nitin Gadkari is supremely confident of his victory this time as well. He is urging voters not to ensure his victory but to increase his margin from 2.85 lakh to 5 lakh. TOI accompanied him on first half of Sunday on his campaign trail to find out what he is doing to achieve the magic figure. The excerpts:
Its 9.30am at the Ravi Nagar residence of BJP candidate Nitin Gadkari where he is having a quick breakfast before he takes out a mega scooter rally in east Nagpur. However, many of his people are waiting for him in the hall.
As soon as Gadkari enters the hall, people flock towards him. Some want him to hear their personal grievances while others submit him letter of support of their associations. Gadkari tells everybody that he would attend to them after April 11. He has to rush to Satranjipura for the scooter rally and they should excuse him.
Even then it takes fifteen minutes before he can board his car. By then, television reporters have already taken his bytes.
TOI correspondent travels with him to Satranjipura in his car. His rival Nana Patole has accused him of failing to develop Mihan. Responding to this, Gadkari says, “Congress president Rahul Gandhi talking about developing Mihan is a joke. His party tried its best to scuttle it. When I floated the idea during my stint as guardian minister of Nagpur in late 1990s the then MP Vilas Muttemwar and NCP chief Sharad Pawar had convened a public meeting in Jaitala and strongly opposed it. Muttemwar had said that if any government official entered Jaitala to acquire land he would break the officer’s legs.”
The MP continues, “Congress chief minister Prithviraj Chavan did his best to ruin it. He took back land from investors and did not help anyone in trouble. TCS and HCL, which have now employed thousands, were on the verge of quitting. We are still paying the price for his policies.”
We reach Satranjipura. Gadkari boards the open campaign vehicle along with his grandson Ninad. Hundreds of BJP and Shiv Sena workers are there to accompany him on a tour of east Nagpur on their two-wheelers. The campaign vehicle has MLA Krishna Khopade, BJP office-bearers and local corporators.
We leave for Shanti Nagar. People have come out in large numbers to watch the rally. A BJP leader urges them to waive to Gadkari. Many of them do so while others greet him with folded hands. Some are however, indifferent.
The rally travels through Dipti Signal, Minimata Nagar, Bharatwada, Punapur, Pardi, Shrikrishna Nagar, etc and reaches Satranjipura again.
Everywhere people had turned out in large numbers to watch the rally. However, people living in posh flats preferred to stay indoors in the heat.
BJP and Sena workers welcomed Gadkari with garlands and rose petals every three to four hundred feet. They also provide water bottles, fruit juice sachets and snacks to the workers. The corporators get down as soon as their area ends and new ones board the vehicle.
The vehicle stops at some places so that Gadkari can address his voters. He urges them to increase his victory margin to 5 lakh so that he can develop Nagpur into an international standard city.
TV reporters hang on to the vehicle to take his bytes. One of them says that his rival Patole has claimed that he was planning to contest from Indore too as he was afraid of losing. Gadkari laughs. “I will send Patole packing to Bhandara. He will lose his deposit.”
We reach Satranjipura and Gadkari thanks all the party workers for their support. He boards his car and leaves for a community meeting. On the way he says Congress has resorted to casteist campaigning because they have no other issues to confront him with. “People of Nagpur are not casteist. They want development. I won by 2.85 lakh votes last time. How many voters of my caste are there in the city?” he says.
Its 9.30am at the Ravi Nagar residence of BJP candidate Nitin Gadkari where he is having a quick breakfast before he takes out a mega scooter rally in east Nagpur. However, many of his people are waiting for him in the hall.
As soon as Gadkari enters the hall, people flock towards him. Some want him to hear their personal grievances while others submit him letter of support of their associations. Gadkari tells everybody that he would attend to them after April 11. He has to rush to Satranjipura for the scooter rally and they should excuse him.
Even then it takes fifteen minutes before he can board his car. By then, television reporters have already taken his bytes.
TOI correspondent travels with him to Satranjipura in his car. His rival Nana Patole has accused him of failing to develop Mihan. Responding to this, Gadkari says, “Congress president Rahul Gandhi talking about developing Mihan is a joke. His party tried its best to scuttle it. When I floated the idea during my stint as guardian minister of Nagpur in late 1990s the then MP Vilas Muttemwar and NCP chief Sharad Pawar had convened a public meeting in Jaitala and strongly opposed it. Muttemwar had said that if any government official entered Jaitala to acquire land he would break the officer’s legs.”
The MP continues, “Congress chief minister Prithviraj Chavan did his best to ruin it. He took back land from investors and did not help anyone in trouble. TCS and HCL, which have now employed thousands, were on the verge of quitting. We are still paying the price for his policies.”
We reach Satranjipura. Gadkari boards the open campaign vehicle along with his grandson Ninad. Hundreds of BJP and Shiv Sena workers are there to accompany him on a tour of east Nagpur on their two-wheelers. The campaign vehicle has MLA Krishna Khopade, BJP office-bearers and local corporators.
We leave for Shanti Nagar. People have come out in large numbers to watch the rally. A BJP leader urges them to waive to Gadkari. Many of them do so while others greet him with folded hands. Some are however, indifferent.
The rally travels through Dipti Signal, Minimata Nagar, Bharatwada, Punapur, Pardi, Shrikrishna Nagar, etc and reaches Satranjipura again.
Everywhere people had turned out in large numbers to watch the rally. However, people living in posh flats preferred to stay indoors in the heat.
BJP and Sena workers welcomed Gadkari with garlands and rose petals every three to four hundred feet. They also provide water bottles, fruit juice sachets and snacks to the workers. The corporators get down as soon as their area ends and new ones board the vehicle.
The vehicle stops at some places so that Gadkari can address his voters. He urges them to increase his victory margin to 5 lakh so that he can develop Nagpur into an international standard city.
TV reporters hang on to the vehicle to take his bytes. One of them says that his rival Patole has claimed that he was planning to contest from Indore too as he was afraid of losing. Gadkari laughs. “I will send Patole packing to Bhandara. He will lose his deposit.”
We reach Satranjipura and Gadkari thanks all the party workers for their support. He boards his car and leaves for a community meeting. On the way he says Congress has resorted to casteist campaigning because they have no other issues to confront him with. “People of Nagpur are not casteist. They want development. I won by 2.85 lakh votes last time. How many voters of my caste are there in the city?” he says.
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