Rahul Gandhi rally bigger than Narendra Modi’s, say Mumbai cops

BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi may be drawing bigger crowds than any other leader across the country, but Mumbai proved to be an exception on Monday. Congress's Rahul Gandhi attracted more people than Modi at the MMRDA ground in the Bandra-Kurla Complex where the two attended rallies on consecutive days, police estimated.
After analyzing the security detail on both days, the police believe around 50,000 people attended Gandhi's rally, which was on Sunday. On Monday, around 40,000 people gathered for Modi's rally, where the BJP's star campaigner arrived late in the evening after speaking at another meet in Kalyan. On both days, police had made arrangements expecting at least a lakh in attendance.

Modi started his day in Kalyan, where the Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde is contesting against MNS's Raju Patil, by exhorting the people to vote for only Mahayuti candidates and ignore all others in the fray. Observers interpreted it as a snub to Raj Thackeray, although he didn't name the MNS.

The MNS recently declared support to Modi, creating a stir in state politics. Modi reminded the gathering that the Mahayuti comprised of the Sena, BJP and the RPI, making it clear that the MNS, notwithstanding its support to him, was not to be mistaken for a saffron ally. It is believed that Modi decided to touch Kalyan at the special request of the Sena to drum up support for Shinde.

Modi then arrived at BKC marking the culmination of a five-week campaign for Lok Sabha polls in the city, which votes on Thursday.

He wooed Mumbaikars by promising to improve the efficiency of railways, which he called the lifeline of the city, and work for its modernization if he is voted to power. "Why can't we have a university of railways where training can be imparted for upgradation of the railways?" he said.

In a special appeal to young voters, Modi said: "The country needs a strong, stable and efficient government for the benefit of those in the 18-28 age group. If you choose a wrong government, your life will be plunged in darkness... You are at life's crucial station. You need a regime which will alter your future...You surely don't want to face the trials and tribulations which your parents had to undergo. "

Modi slammed Sonia Gandhi and Rahul for the country's slow development in his 20-minute speech. "Power stations which can generate a total 20,000MW of electricity are not functioning because there is no coal. There is no industrial growth, no job opportunities for 70 crore jobless youth. Doob maro...(Let this government drown)," he said.

"For us, India is motherland, for Rahul bhaiyya, India is mother's land," he said, drawing applause. Pouring more ridicule on Rahul, Modi said for the Congress vice-president, the poor was a tourist destination. "Rahul bhaiyya wants to know how a poor man looks, what he eats and so forth. So, arrangements are made for his visit to the house of a poor man. There Rahul bhaiyya polishes off the poor man's food...for Rahul bhaiyya, poverty is a matter of entertainment. For me, poverty is a matter of empathy, of deep concern."

Modi began his speech in Marathi and paid tributes to Balasaheb Thackeray and Babasaheb Ambedkar's memorial in Dadar.



Sena president Uddhav Thackeray slammed Sharad Pawar and senior NCP ministers for corruption. "Pawar is an epitome of corruption," Thackeray said, urging that a vote for Modi was a vote for India's future.