Modi-Mulayam showdown in UP today

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will address 'Vijay Shankhnaad' rally in Agra while Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav will take the stage in Bareilly with his 'Desh Bachao, Desh Banao' rally.

 

The Congress has also planned a rally in Lucknow on Thursday to press for the implementation of the Food Security Bill.

 

Political pundits believe the rallies would reveal the actual influence the parties, especially the personalities, wield over the region.

 

Modi is likely to focus on developmental issues and crticise the state's SP-led government for its poor law and order record. In contrast, the SP boss will try to project himself as a crucial leader of the Third Front.

 

Uttar Pradesh BJP will "felicitate" its MLAs Sangeet Singh Som and Suresh Rana, who were arrested for allegedly inciting communal violence in Muzaffarnagar, during Modi's rally. Both the MLAs are currently out on bail. Reports say the party is likely to felicitate the two MLAs before Modi reaches the dais. 

 

Earlier, addressing a rally in Bahraich, Modi had claimed that the UP government had tried to defame the BJP by sending its two MLAs to jail on baseless charges.

 

Security Guard commandos, Special Task Force personnel from Gujarat and more than 1,000 UP policemen turned the Kothi Meena Bazar ground here into a fortress.