PM Modi's five rallies, strident attacks on Baghel govt puts BJP in driver's seat

Raipur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed five rallies in Chhattisgarh after announcement of Assembly polls, targeting Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel over the alleged Mahadev app scam and accusing the Congress of appeasement politics, while calling the Bharatiya Janata Party's promises as 'Modi's guarantees'.

Against predictions by most exit polls that the ruling Congress had an edge in the state, the BJP, which banked heavily on the charisma of the PM, was leading on 53 seats in the 90-member Assembly.

The Congress is leading on 35 seats, with several of its stalwarts, including Deputy Chief Minister TS Singh Deo and state unit chief Deepak Baij trailing from Ambikapur and Chitrakot, respectively.

In his five rallies in Kanker, Durg, Surajpur, Mungeli and Mahasamund districts after announcement of the poll schedule on October 9, Modi had attacked the Congress over corruption and had said the BJP would come back to set the state back on the path of development.

"BJP ne banaya hai, BJP hi sawaregi (BJP has created Chhattisgarh and it only would nurture the state)," he had said in the rallies, including in Mungeli and Mahasamund on November 13 where he accused CM Baghel of stalling development and allowing his kin, including son, and a coterie of officials to act as 'super CM'.

The Congress led by Baghel and those close to him had looted the coffers of the state during its five year rule, he had said.

He also spoke about the alleged money trail in the Mahadev app 'scam', which is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate, asserting that '30 per cent wale kakka ka sarkar ka jaana pakka ho gaya' (the 30 per cent commission government of Kaka is sure to go). Baghel is fondly called 'kaka' by his supporters.

The PM had also said the Baghel government was involved in alleged irregularities in the state public service commission recruitment process and had warned that those involved would not be spared when the BJP comes to power.

The PM had said the people of the state were fed up of the Baghel government and were now chanting 'aur na sahibo, badal ke rahibo' (will not tolerate anymore, will bring about change).

Slamming the Congress for its demand for a caste census, Modi had said the poor were the biggest caste for him in the country.

The PM had addressed rallies in Jagdalpur (October), Bilaspur and Raigarh (September) and Raipur (July), which were well attended and set the ground for the BJP's campaign to unseat Baghel.