In the home city of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the infrastructure projects carried out by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, the BJP’s Nagpur candidate, are a bigger talking point in the run-up to the Lok Sabha election than the ubiquitous “Modi ki guarantee’ slogan.
The city is adorned with giant posters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi – noticeably absent are images of BJP’s national president J.P. Nadda, Mr. Gadkari himself, and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis – but the residents note a distinctive approach to campaigning. While the majority of the BJP’s candidates across the country are leveraging Mr. Modi’s name and the Union government’s welfare initiatives like Ujjawala, Awas Yojana, Swachh Bharat and national security policies to attract votes, Mr. Gadkari has distinguished himself by running a campaign that highlights his own personal achievements, barely leaning on the PM’s popularity.
“I tried to serve Nagpur honestly while serving as a Minister in Maharashtra and now as a Union Minister for the last 10 years. So, I believe that the people are with me in full force,” Mr. Gadkari said, while addressing a public meeting at the Lakdipool and Bangladesh areas of the city.
