Sanjay Yadav is a twenty-something student of mass communication at the Hinduja College in south Mumbai. He is also the chief organiser of Modi Yuva Shakti, a youth group entrusted with the task of campaigning for Narendra Modi’s rally, which will be held on Sunday.
This will be Modi’s first rally in Mumbai after BJP’s recent victory in the four state elections. The venue is rather significant — Bandra-Kurla Complex in suburban Mumbai, which is fast emerging as a major business district. The political stalwart is keen to address the business class in the country’s financial capital.
The party machinery is in a state of overdrive to make the rally a grand success. More than 10,000 vehicles and 22 special trains have been hired by the BJP to bring in its supporters, who are expected to number around five lakh. Cyber space is also buzzing with tweets, Facebook pages and blogs, all rallying support for the event.
Yadav says about 17,000 students across the city have signed up to attend the rally. Using online media, campaigning outside colleges and even using simple enrolment forms, he has managed to gather the troops for the rally.
Explaining his fascination for the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he says that Modi has become a youth icon because of his quick decision-making and his ability to govern in difficult times. “When Modi becomes the Prime Minister of the country, we want to be a part of that process,” he says.
The State unit of the BJP is also intent on tapping into new pockets of potential voters, who have otherwise been neglected by mainstream parties, and engage with them for the rally. A unique ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ has been adopted by the party and is meant to organise all tea stall owners across the city for the rally.
The party decided to adopt this strategy after opposition party men took a dig at Modi by calling him a chaiwala . (The politician used to run a canteen in his early days.)
Senior BJP leader Madhav Bhandari explains that the opposition’s jibe was never taken as a criticism by the party. Tea shop owners and their workers are target voters and the party is making efforts to unite them and provide them special enclaves at the rally, he says.
“In the Mumbai region, there is a chain of tea stalls called ‘Shankar Vilas’. We are talking to 40,000 such tea stall owners to come to the rally,” Bhandari adds.
Timing Unlike traditional political rallies which start after 7.00 p.m., BJP’s rally is scheduled to be held at 12.05 p.m. on Sunday. Political pundits are speculating that the time is ordained by astrology and that party men would be keen to avoid Rahu Kaal (inauspicious period).
However, Bhandari rubbishes such claims and says that the time was purely chosen for its convenience, as over five lakh supporters are expected to attend the rally. A large number of supporters are expected to converge from the interiors of Maharashtra and the timing should be suitable for the supporters to start their return journey on the same day.
“If we had kept the rally at 12 pm sharp, then our detractors would have said hum ne to bara baja diya (we have created a complete mess),” he quips.
The Convenor of BJP’s industries cell Shreeram Dandekar says that the party has invited all the major business houses, industrialist and SME businessmen from the State, “Big tycoons may not show up, because they can manage any party in power, but that is not the case with the businessmen from the SME sector. These businessmen want to understand Modi’s vision for the industry,” he says.