MUMBAI, FEB 23: Shaken by the huge turnout at Sonia Gandhi's rally at Shivaji Park -- the privileged political venue of Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (SS-BJP) alliance is now redrafting strategy for its campaign-closing rally at the same venue on Wednesday.As a part of the plan the alliance today unleashed a teaser advertisement campaign in major local newspapers here to arouse interest in the rally. The advertisements announce that Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and Atal Behari Vajapyee would disclose the causes of the serial bomb blast that rocked Coimbatore city last week, at at the rally.
However, the nervousness of the saffron brigade is evident in the Shiv Sena spokesman's claim that ``our rally, which will be addressed by Thackeray and Vajapyee will be the biggest ever event of the century.
``We are working overtime to wipe out the so-called impact caused by Sonia Gandhi's rally,'' Sena spokesman Subhash Desai told The Indian Express.
Desai held a meeting with seniorSena leaders and important office bearers at Sena Bhavan here today to chalk out the new programme for the rally. ``We briefed them on the on-going preparations for the meeting. Now our march will be from Shivteerth (Shivaji Park) to Red Fort (New Delhi),'' Desai said.
Desai ruled out any impact of Sonia Gandhi on the electorate, saying people had rushed to the Shivaji Park out of curiosity and were least concerned for the crisis-ridden Congress party.
Endorsing the remarks of Desai, Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Prakash Jawdekar said organising party meetings is not new to the Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party. However, Wednesday's rally will not be just another campaign meeting, but it will be remembered for ever.
Jawdekar, who is one of the main campaign organiser for the party, observed that even though the turnout was huge, it will not help the Congress to regain its hold over Maharashtra. ``The State has been witnessing steady downfall of the Congress. Even during the tenure of Rajiv Gandhi, hefailed to revive the party. Now, Sonia Gandhi, who has absolutely no standing in the party, is unlikely to create any impact on the electorate,'' Jawdekar added.
Quoting from official records, Jawdekar said the party polled just eight per cent of the total votes polled in 1984. In the last parliamentary elections, it increased to more than 34 per cent. ``We polled such a high number of votes even during the Rajiv wave. Now, I don`t think that Sonia can help the Congress. At the most, she can save the party,'' Jawdekar pointed out.
Despite the bravado, some senior Shiv Sena as well as BJP leaders confirmed that they were shocked at the massive response to Sonia Gandhi in Mumbai. ``We were not expecting such a large turn out. Since all the parliamentary seats and 33 out of 34 assembly seats are held by us and also the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, we felt that less than a lakh people will attend the rally,'' a Shiv Sena confidante from Mumbai remarked. He added, ``But according to official agencies,the turnout was more than three lakh.''
The Shiv Sena has given specific instructions to all its candidates in Mumbai, Thane and Konkan region, legislators, Vibhag and Shakha Pramukh for making the rally a grand success.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
