Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2014: BJP tops in number of rallies across state as Congress falters

As the race to win maximum number of seats in the assembly election intensifies, BJP seems to be taking the lead in holding the maximum number of rallies across Maharashtra. After the BJP-Shiv Sena and the Congress-NCP alliance ended, political pundits were left with a confused set of equations about which party would take the lead in the state and which post-election alliance would work out.

With the latest set of numbers, it is pretty easy to say that BJP leaders have gone out of their way to woo voters in the state. Though the sample size of the rallies or actual number of rallies by other leaders are not available and cannot be verified, below is a report of the rallies that took place and which leaders took the lead.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state of Maharashtra and spoke about BJP's unified vision for the state while targeting the NCP-Congress and their dynastic politics. Modi managed to attend 27 rallies and address people in a record time across the length and breadth of Maharashtra. Modi is followed by BJP President and his closest aide Amit Shah with 17 rallies. It is interesting to note that Shah, who has a controversial public image, managed to handle BJP's entire campaign in Maharashtra along with Devendra Fadnavis. But, as the campaign started losing steam, Narendra Modi was brought in as the last resort. 

After senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde's untimely death, it was Nitin Gadkari who was touted as the probable BJP Chief Minister candidate for the state, a fact which was strengthened by him attending a massive 104 rallies — a feat unsurpassed by other leaders. But, BJP has placed its bets on Devendra Fadnavis for the state, although Fadnavis has attended a mere 40 rallies in comparison. Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja Munde has managed to attend 35 rallies. After her father's demise, she is the BJP's OBC face in the state to draw the crowd from the OBC section. 

So, it will be interesting to note this development and the actual results post elections. 

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Congress, which faced a major drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections, seems to have reduced their number of public rallies. While Sonia Gandhi's 'empty vessels' comment and war of words with Narendra Modi gained traction, Congress' visibility with respect to rallies is still low. Manikrao Thakre, who has not been a prominent figure in Maharashtra has managed to outdo both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi with a huge margin. While Sonia and Rahul attended 4 and 6 rallies respectively, Thakre has envisaged the rallies aiming for the Chief Minister's role with 70 rallies. Maharashtra's ex-CM Prithviraj Chavan managed to address around 40 rallies. Congress' fate in the state after their break-up with the NCP is not yet gaugeable. So, neither the probable CM candidate nor the party's performance in these elections is still tangibly clear. 

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The Nationalist Congress party (NCP) has been placing bets on Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal and Sharad Pawar after the alliance break down with the Congress. Also, Vidarbha has been NCP's stronghold which Modi is trying to break into, hence the battle for Maharashtra is all set to be intense. NCP's star campaigner is Ajit Pawar, who managed to attend and address 80 rallies while Sharad Pawar followed it up with 55 rallies. Sunil Tatkare, Chhagan Bhujbal and Supriya Sule followed it up at the same spot with 40 rallies. 

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Finally, the BJP's former alliance partner Shiv Sena has upped the ante with campaigns across the state. From attacking BJP to Narendra Modi, the party and Uddhav Thackeray have done it all. Meanwhile, an alliance between Sena and MNS may happen post elections according to political pundits. Debutant Aditya Thackeray of the Yuva Sena attended a total of 35 rallies, while Uddhav Thackeray has addressed 50 rallies. Sena is pitted against the BJP, Congress and NCP in the state. 

It would be interesting to note how Aditya's entry into mainstream politics will affect Shiv Sena's fortunes. 

Meanwhile, below is a list of leaders with the highest number of rallies held in the state. BJP's Nitin Gadkari tops the list with 104 rallies followed by NCP leader Ajit Pawar with 80 rallies. Congress' Manikrao Thakre has attended 70 rallies. See the table below: 

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On the other hand, the top brass of the BJP and Congress, including Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi and Amit Shah have had fewer number of rallies as compared to state leaders. Here's a compilation: 

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And then there are also some others who had a record number of rallies from different parties. 

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While the number of rallies are not the actual measure of a party's popularity, they help explain a party's campaign structure and reach before the elections. 

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