Assembly polls maybe round the corner in five states in the country, but the BMC general elections still holds special significance for political parties. In fact, star campaigners Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi are expected to campaign for Congress and the BJP respectively in the BMC polls.
Despite the fact that the leaders are busy campaigning for the polls in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, they are expected to make time to campaign for the BMC polls to be held on February 16.
With the BMC having an annual budget of over `20,000 crores, parties want to seize control over the civic body of the financial capital of the country and leave no stone unturned during the campaigning.
“Any member of the Gandhi family has always enjoyed a major following. Rahul Gandhi is a youth icon and has struck a chord with the young voters in India. He will definitely boost our chances in the election,” said a senior Congress corporator.
According to the BJP sources, Mr Modi has a huge mass appeal and he will be helpful in consolidating the sizeable number of Gujarati voters, who have always remained faithful to the party over the years.
“Along with Modi, we are also planning to invite national leaders like Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh,” said BJP leader Ashish Shelar.