Saharanpur: PM Modi plans to steal Maya-Akhilesh show

NEW DELHI: Saharanpur is set to see high-profile political rallies in quick succession, beginning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has decided to hold a rally on April 5, two days ahead of the first joint rally of BSP chief Mayawati and SP president Akhilesh Yadav, and a possible rally of Congress president Rahul Gandhi or his sister Priyanka.

On April 5, the PM will also be in Amroha for a rally, a seat that goes to polls in the second phase on April 18. The Saharanpur rally, which will be held close to the main city, could be a big draw as the PM is keen to “set the agenda” ahead of the alliance leaders in western UP, a BJP leader told ET on condition of anonymity.

He said the BJP’s candidates from Ghaziabad (VK Singh), Saharanpur (Raghav Lakhanpal), Noida (Mahesh Sharma) and Kairana (Pradeep Chaudhary) will be present at the Saharanpur rally along with the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. This will be PM’s second rally for western UP’s Phase-1 seats, after he addressed a rally in Meerut on Thursday.


Rahul or Priyanka Gandhi may also hold a rally in Saharanpur for their candidate Imran Masood on April 7, according to Congress members.

Saharanpur will see a three-cornered contest among the BJP, Congress and the SP-BSP-RLD alliance candidates. The BSP has put up a Muslim candidate, Fazlur Rahman, from here. Mayawati will also campaign for the party’s Meerut candidate, Haji Yaqoob Qureshi, on April 8 in Meerut.

Modi will be holding 13 rallies in the next five days, including four on April 3 in Arunachal Pradesh (Pasighat), Maharashtra (Gondla) and West Bengal (Kolkata and Siliguri). On April 2, he will be in Bihar’s Gaya and Jamui, and Kalahandi in Odisha, while a day earlier, he will address rallies in Maharashtra (Wardha), Andhra Pradesh (Rajamumdry) and Telangana (Secundarabad).