PM in Bhopal LIVE: Modi Holds Roadshow, To Address Mega Rally; Traffic Regulated, Schools Shut

If 2024 is the grand finale, 2023 is definitely the semi-final for political parties in India when as many as nine states go to polls.

Apart from the north-eastern states, among the major states, the Karnataka election is done and dusted in which Congress wrested power from the BJP and called the loss a clear mandate for a ‘BJP-mukt south India’ — hitting the saffron party with its own game of slogans.

With four states remaining — Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh — BJP knows it has to showcase its best performance to winch the perception war ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha election when Narendra Modi will seek re-election for the third consecutive term. Regardless of the invincible ‘Modi magic’, if BJP fails in these four states, it is likely to have a direct bearing on the mind of the electorate. READ MORE

With the Special session of Parliament over, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the election campaign of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan on September 25, Monday, with massive rallies in the capitals of both the states.

The successful passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament is expected to be the highlight of the rallies of the Prime Minister with the same being described as a “historic step” for women empowerment. The PM may play up how the Congress paid lip service to the cause of women reservation and did not bring it to the Lok Sabha for four years till 2014 when they were in power. The BJP is banking on women voters in both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan elections, and expects the Bill to have a positive impact on them. READ MORE

The message from the BJP is loud and clear after union home minister Amit Shah’s mega press conference on Sunday – the face of the Madhya Pradesh assembly election is not Shivraj Singh Chouhan, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Asked who will be the next chief minister, Shah said, “Why are you getting into what the job of the party is? That’s the job of our party, we will decide.”

In fact, Chouhan’s name was hardly mentioned and, that too, only while giving a historical perspective of the state’s polity or at the very beginning of the speech. The stage from which Shah presented the BJP’s ‘report card’ did not have faces of any other leader but the rather large press conference hall had a number of standees with the prime minister’s face. READ MORE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a mega congregation of BJP workers here in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Monday. The ‘Karyakarta Mahakumbh’ is being organised on the birth anniversary of Jana Sangh co-founder Deendayal Upadhyaya to mark the formal culmination of the BJP’s ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatras’ that crisscrossed the length and breadth of the state, party leaders said.

This will be the third visit of the prime minister to Madhya Pradesh in the past 45 days where the ruling party is locked in a close contest with Congress. According to sources, the BJP has set an ambitious target of gathering 10 lakh people for the Monday event being projected as a show of strength by the saffron party.

“Modiji is going to address ‘Karyakarta Mahakumbh’ at Jamboree Maidan in Bhopal on September 25, the birth anniversary of Deendayal Upadhyaya,” MP BJP chief VD Sharma told PTI.

With Assembly elections nearing in Rajasthan, the BJP is working on different strategies to return to power in the desert state.

Party leaders have confirmed that the 200 Assembly constituencies in the state will be divided into four categories — A, B, C and D — depending on the party’s winnability in the respective seats.

While the seats with highest winnability factor have been included in ‘A’ secion, the lesser popular seats have been put under ‘B’ category. The seats weaker than ‘B’ section have been clubbed in ‘C’ category, while the weakest seats have been bracketed in ‘D’ category. The party will give top priority to the seats in A, B and C categories, party workers said. READ MORE

Women matter. Women voters more so. Ahead of the upcoming election season, all parties are wooing them. As per the Election Commission data, in 2019, women voters at 67.18% outstripped men at 67.01%.

Results from Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Bihar showed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had scored on the strength of women voters. For example, in parts of UP, the triple talaq issue worked among Muslim women who voted for the BJP. READ MORE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday address a public rally in Jaipur, a culmination of a series of parivartan sankalp yatras taken out by the BJP in poll-bound Rajasthan, a Union minister said. Women in large numbers will attend the ‘Parivartan Sankalp Mahasabha’ to thank Modi for the women’s reservation bill, Union Minister of State Arjun Ram Meghwal said on Sunday.

He said 42 blocks have been set up at the venue of the rally and each block will be commanded by a woman who will oversee the arrangements there. “PM Modi will arrive at the rally in an open jeep,” Meghwal told reporters.

Union Minister and BJP’s election in-charge for Rajasthan Prahlad Joshi oversaw the final preparations for the rally in Dadiya village. He said people are determined to remove Congress from power in the state where elections are due later this year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday paid tributes to Deendayal Upadhyaya, a principal ideological inspiration for the ruling BJP, on his birth anniversary.

Modi said Upadhyaya was dedicated to serving the country for all his life, and his personality and work will always inspire people.

Born in Mathura in 1916, Upadhyaya joined the RSS and was a co-founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the BJP’s progenitor. His philosophy of integral humanism and, especially, antyodaya (uplift of the most downtrodden) have often been cited by Modi as a major influence on his politics and policies.

It will be a super Monday as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will launch its ‘campaigner-in-chief’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi in two poll-bound states – Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan – even as it completes its high-voltage Jan Ashirvaad Yatra in MP and Parivartan Yatra in the desert state.

PM Modi will address party cadre and supporters in both the states, injecting confidence among them, taking the BJP poll bugle to the level of siren. Monday is also significant for the BJP as it is the birth anniversary of Jan Sangh co-founder Deen Dayal Upadhyay. READ MORE

Ahead of PM Modi’s visit, a holiday has been declared in several schools as a result of anticipated traffic congestion and regulation of various routes by the Bhopal Police for the prime minister’s arrival. According to a Live Mint report, several schools have postponed exams keeping in mind difficulties students might face due to heavy traffic and road diversions.

PM Modi’s ‘Booth Mahasammelan’ event in Daidiya Panchayat, Surajpura, Jaipur will mark the culmination of the four-phased ‘Parivartan Sankalp Yatra’ across the state. PM Modi is scheduled to pay tribute to Pt Deendayal Upadhyay in Jaipur at 2:45 pm. At 3:45 pm, he will address a public meeting in Jaipur.

BJP has organised ‘Karyakarta Mahakumbh’ on the birth anniversary of Jana Sangh co-founder Deendayal Upadhyaya to mark the formal culmination of the party’s five ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatras’ that took place across the state, party leaders said. PM Modi will address a public meeting at Bhopal’s Jamboree Maidan at 11:30 am.

BJP president JP Nadda had flagged off the first yatra in Chitrakoot, Satna, on September 3.

As per reports, the BJP is expecting a gathering of 10 lakh people at the event in a show of strength.