File photo of Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, will address a Vijay Shankhnaad rally today in Jhansi of the Bundelkhand region, which has been long considered a bastion of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
The rally, 313 km from Lucknow, is the second in Uttar Pradesh out of the proposed nine rallies by year end. It is aimed at not only influencing voters in the four parliamentary constituencies of the Bundelkhand region, but also in districts like Guna, Datia, Panna, Shivpuri, Teekamgarh and Chatarpur in Madhya Pradesh that go to polls next month.
BJP leaders say Mr Modi will be "seeking account" of the Rs.7,200 crore package given to Bundelkhand region by the central government at the behest of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
"Rahul's political innings in the state began six years back from a Dalit home here, but nothing has happened here," Vijay Bahadur Pathak, BJP spokesman told IANS.
"Despite the Congress hype of political focus and financial assistance to this area, it sadly contributes for the maximum farmer suicides in the state. Both the Congress and the Samajwadi Party try to fool the poor people of this region by mere lip service," he added.
Out of the four Lok Sabha seats in the region - Jalaun, Hamirpur, Banda and Jhansi, the BJP holds no seat, while the SP and the BSP have two seats each.
"It is our endeavour not only to take these seats from opposition parties, but also to change the face of the undeveloped Bundelkhand region," state BJP president Laxmikant Bajpayi told IANS.
The rally at the GIC grounds in Jhansi will also see party leader Uma Bharti and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, who earlier this year merged his regional party with the BJP.