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Expressing confidence that his party will regain its lost ground in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said Narendra Modi's rally in Kanpur has brought disappointment for the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress.
Naidu also took a jibe at the Samajwadi Party for its comment that the entire country is interested in Unnao's gold excavation and that no one is bothered about Modi's Kanpur rally.
"It's ok that they want gold and we want to awaken the sleeping Central Government," he said.
Naidu claimed that Modi's rally is being held in Kanpur in national interest.
"You will see this evening how successful is the Kanpur rally. The Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress Party is disappointed, I have full confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party will achieve success in Uttar Pradesh. The Bharatiya Janata Party had 58 Lok Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh once upon a time, I have full confidence that we are heading in that direction and reach that point," Naidu told media in Hyderabad.
"So far, Narendra Bhai has not taken rounds of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Today is his first rally in Kanpur then there is a rally in Patna on the 27th . Let these rallies be over, you will come to know about the public opinion," he added.
Uttar Pradesh - which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, almost a seventh of the 543-member House - has the potential to make or break Modi's Delhi dream.
The BJP, which currently has only 10 MPs from Uttar Pradesh, is taking no chances.
The rally which has been named as 'Vijaya Sankhanaad' has a separate gallery for youth, which has been set up close to the dais where Modi would be speaking.
Kanpur has been decked with posters, hoardings, bunting and banners that give details of the rally and its venue-the social welfare department ground opposite the Gautam Buddha Park in Indiranagar.
Special teams of party workers have been formed to get students for Modi's audience, and they are reportedly inviting students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and other local colleges for the event.
In an attempt to reach out to everyone, the party has trained a team of about 150 workers, who would be equipped with laptop and mobile phones, to share the information and updates of the event in various social networking sites.
Sophisticated audio system and a large number of LED screen has been installed at various points.
Modi's supporters have turned out in large numbers for today's rally where the BJP's prime ministerial candidate is expected to pitch his development agenda.
One of Modi's supporters, Ramesh Kumar, exuded confidence in Modi, and said that he would lead the nation towards the path of progress.
"I have just come to listen to Narendra Modi's speech as I agree with his youth ideology and he will lead the nation in right direction and make India progressive," said Kumar.
Another Modi supporter Abhishek said that he would help to eliminate the problem of unemployment.
"Narendra Modi's personality is such that it attracts people. He is quite popular and he attracts youth of the nation. He will eliminate the problem of unemployment. We are hopeful that the youth will get employment as 60 million got employment under the rule of senior leader of BJP, Atal Bihari Vajpayee," he said.
Modi, who has so far been critical of the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Government at the Centre and the Gandhi family, will be flanked by Amit Shah and veteran Uttar Pradesh leader Kalyan Singh during his Kanpur rally.
The holding of the rally in Kanpur, which is widely regarded as a bastion of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS), is being projected as a crucial strategic move to snare as many Lok Sabha seats as possible out of the total 80 seats that are up for grabs in Uttar Pradesh during next year's general election.
