In the campaign trail ahead of assembly elections in of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) brought in Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the “star campaigners”. While Congress gained immensely across all three states, the BJP lost significantly even in areas where Modi and Adityanath held their rallies.
A brief summary, then, of the two leaders can be made as such:
Adityanath Campaign Trails
Adityanath, reportedly, organised 70 rallies across the three states, focusing solely on the Hindutva agenda. However, reports suggest that Adityanath’s gambit failed to pay off as the BJP lost several seats where Adityanath had come to be seen as the party’s lead campaigner.
- In total, according to Newslaundry, Adityanath campaigned in 26 areas in Rajasthan, followed by 19 in Chhattisgarh and 17 in MP. In addition, he also campaigned in eight areas in Telangana.
- Most notably, of the 26 areas in Rajasthan, Adityanath also campaigned in Alwar, where he invoked his statement of Hanuman being a Dalit. Of the 11 seats forming the Alwar constituency, BJP lost eight seats according to Dainik Bhaskar.
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Modi Campaign Trails
In comparison with Adityanath, Modi’s show of strength in the three states was restricted to about 38 areas. Despite his limited campaigning, if there was any perception of that Modi being the lodestar for BJP’s electoral successes, his aura has certainly taken a huge dent in the wake of the election results.
- Reportedly, Modi held most rallies in MP (12), followed by 11 in Rajasthan and five in Chhattisgarh. He also held three rallies in Telangana.
and Mahasamund rallies of Modi didn’t propel BJP to victory.
In Telangana Modi’s rallies happened in Hyderabad, Mehboob nagar, Nizamabad. Results are out for all to see.— TheAgeOfBananas (@iScrew) December 12, 2018
- In Chhindwara, where Modi targeted the state Congress president Kamal Nath based on a doctored video, the latter party stood solid winning five of the seven seats in the constituency.
- In Kota, where Modi lamented about Congress abusing his mother and targeting his caste, reportedly, there was a stalemate between the two parties, with each winning three of the six seats in the constituency.
- In Sikar, where Modi infamously said Rahul Gandhi had issued a fatwa against him for saying, Bharat Mata ki Jai, according to Dainik Bhaskar’s report, the election results once again went Congress’ way with it winning four of the eight seats, to BJP’s lone victory.
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