Four months after BJP’s defeat, Narendra Modi supporters enthused in Chhattisgarh

BALOD: On a vast arid, dusty ground, thousands of people from several far off villages arrived in droves and sat through a sweltering day under a massive scaffolded tent to hear Prime Minister Narendra Modi.


After hours, when Modi landed in a helicopter, for his first

Lok Sabha

election rally in the

Chhattisgarh

state, at Balod, over 110 kms from

Raipur

, men and women, old and young, climbed their chairs, tanks and whatever they could step on, to get a glimpse of him.

Just a few months ago, the BJP government headed by then chief minister Raman Singh, who had served three terms, was defeated in the state by the Congress party in the assembly elections.

On Saturday, the Prime Minister chose to hold his rally in a Congress stronghold, Balod, which is part of the Kanker Lok Sabha constituency. Incidentally, just two days ago, four BSF jawans were killed by Maoists in an ambush in Kanker. The state has eleven parliamentary constituencies which will go to polls in three phases, beginning April 11.

The youth among the audience shouted ‘Modi, Modi, Modi’ as he arrived on the stage, waved at them and began to address them. Speaking to an overenthusiastic congregation, Modi said that he was overwhelmed by the ‘jan samudara’ (a sea of humans) whom he had watched aerially.

In his own unique interactive style, he asked the people directly if they were satisfied with his governance and tough decisions like the surgical and air strikes against Pakistan. “A weak state is one which after every terror attack does,” Modi paused, gesturing silence. “Lekin ek mazboot sarkar ghar pe ghus ke marti hain,” he said to a thundering applause from the audience.

In a scathing attack against the Congress, Prime Minister called their manifesto a ‘dakosla’ (farcical) document. Oversimplifying the manifesto, he told the audience that the Congress party was going to withdraw the legal ‘protection’ of “our soldiers who are laying down their lives for defending us.”

Without mentioning Rahul Gandhi’s name, Modi took a dig at him for having failed to waive off farm loans in Chhattisgarh. “We were told that he will sack the government in 100 days but he hasn’t done that yet,” he said.

Dressed in a white

kurta

and slacks, Modi repeatedly sought answers from his supporters about what they thought about his policies towards the poor and national security. The audience backed him on all his questions.

“We will vote for Modi,” a first timer voter said arguing that Modi had brought ‘vikas’ (development) to the rural Chhattisgarh, one of the poorest states in India.