Elections: Modi Clocked 150 Hours Of Speeches; Most In South, UP
NEW DELHI, (IANS) – May 30 marks the culmination of about three-month long high-voltage campaign for 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
A comparative analysis of the election campaign at regular intervals showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi held 4-5 election rallies and roadshows in a day, his rivals were seen doing just 2-3 poll events.
He has set a sort of record in wooing the electorate with his 75-day extensive outreach programs via election rallies, public events, roadshows, and interviews with TV channels and news publications.
The marathon election campaign comprised of 206 public rallies and roadshows and 80 interviews, over a period of 75 days.
Breaking it down further, one gets to know that the Prime Minister spent close to more than 150 hours at the hustings in scorching heat and faced over 1,000 questions from media outlets either in the electoral arena or inside TV studios.
Considering that the Prime Minister spoke for about 45 minutes at each election rally, 206 rallies would mean (206 x 45 = 9,270 minutes) about 154.5 hours, for which he addressed the electoral rallies.
PM Modi’s brisk and energetic campaigns took place across the country, with special emphasis on South India, and saw him undertaking up to five events in a single day while doing four events on multiple days.
He is understood to have done 5 events in at least three days while managing 4 events in more than 22 days. His campaign gathered more pace in May, as he covered 96 events alone this month.
The Prime Minister’s big focus has been the ‘South Push’, which also became the big talking point, this election. Four big states of the Hindi heartland with maximum number of Lok Sabha MPs also stood high on Modi’s list of priorities, as he spent most of his time campaigning in these states.
He addressed maximum election rallies in Uttar Pradesh, the state which sends 80 MPs to Lok Sabha. The NDA won 64 seats in the state in 2019 polls and the BJP is hoping to raise its tally, this time.
Bihar (40 Lok Sabha seats) and Bengal (42 Lok Sabha seats) were other states which saw multiple election rallies and roadshows by the Prime Minister.
He held 20 election events in Bihar and 18 in West Bengal. In Bihar, the BJP has vowed to win all 40 seats while looking to corner (West Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee in her turf by claiming 24-30 seats in the state.
Maharashtra is the fourth state that saw repeated visits by the Prime Minister for election rallies. PM Modi almost doubled his election rallies and roadshows in the state, as compared to 2019 polls.
He also led from the front in BJP’s ‘South Push’ for 2024 elections and did at least 35 election events in five southern states, including Karnataka, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu.
The BJP has been hoping to make deep inroads in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, making big gains in Karnataka while smelling an opportunity for the ‘best ever show’ in Telangana by tapping anti-incumbency sentiments.
Modi held 10 election rallies and roadshows in Odisha. Jharkhand saw 7 events of the Prime Minister. Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh saw five and four election rallies each, while Gujarat, his home state, witnessed five campaign events.
