Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday that unlike Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “train, which has bogies full of common people, one engine and one driver,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “train” has many drivers but no bogies. “No one seems to know who is steering the engine in Rahul Gandhi’s train. Everyone from Sharad Pawar to Uddhav Thackeray to Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son claim to be the engine drivers. However this train has no bogies unlike Narendra Modi’s train, which has bogies full of common people, one engine and one driver (Modi),” the BJP leader said at a public meeting. Fadnavis and the other the top brass of the ruling Mahayuti accompanied Dr Sujay Vikhe Patil, the alliance’s candidate for the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat, when he filed his nomination. The constituency will vote on May 7. Besides Fadnavis, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar, district guardian minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil (also Sujay’s father) and other Mahayuti leaders such as Pravin Darekar and Ram Shinde also attended the public meeting, which followed a huge procession. Both Shinde and Fadnavis said that the election was all about re-electing Narendra Modi as prime minister for a third time. “The Modi engine is a powerful one and ensures Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas (development for all),” Fadnavis said. Shinde said that voting for Sujay would mean supporting Modi. “Last ten years were only a trailer. Asli picture abhi baaki hain,” the chief minister said. Sujay thanked people who had turned up in large numbers and waited in the heat to support him. This public meeting and the procession are being seen as a counter to the show of strength put up by Sujay's rival candidate Nilesh Lanke, who had got NCP founder Sharad Pawar, senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray to attend the conclusion of his Swabhiman Jansamwad Yatra. Pawar then said the Vikhe-Patils were losing sleep owing to Lanke’s NCP-(Sharadchandra Pawar) candidature. He said his party’s candidate was dynamic and would address the concerns of the people in Ahmednagar.
