Narendra Modi meets superstar Rajinikanth in Chennai

Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi met superstar Rajinikanth at his residence in Chennai on Sunday evening.

Mr Modi is scheduled to address an election rally in the city. Speculation is rife that Mr Modi could seek the superstar’s endorsement for the Lok Sabha elections. According to opinion polls, BJP would not fare well in Tamil Nadu.

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'Modi for PM': BJP ready with slogan for Lok Sabha polls

BJP on Tuesday decided to firmly peg its Lok Sabha election campaign on the party's Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, while taking the message to the people that the conditions prevailing now were akin to those witnessed immediately after the Emergency imposed by Congress in 1975.

Following a meeting of chief ministers of five BJP-ruled states and its Parliamentary Board here, general secretary Ananth Kumar told reporters that the election slogan for the party would be 'Modi for PM'.

"BJP's 'Modi for PM' campaign will be on the lines of the JP movement that was launched in the Emergency era to throw out the Congress government," Kumar said.

Maintaining that in 1977, the mood had been strongly anti- Congress, Kumar averred that a similar situation exists today. "It was a watershed year. Nobody thought the opposition could garner so many votes," Kumar said.

The recent Assembly election results show that BJP is head and shoulders above its rivals, Kumar claimed. Kumar also revealed that as part of their ambitious campaign, BJP workers will also collect funds under a 'one vote, one note' programme.

"The minimum amount to be contributed will be Rs 10 while the maximum limit is Rs 1,000," Kumar said.

During the meeting, BJP President Rajnath Singh claimed that wins in three states and a good performance in Delhi in the recent Assembly polls had set the momentum in favour of the party and would help it in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The leaders passed a resolution stating that these results were a referendum that a government has to perform or perish.

The party has only one target — of getting 272-plus seats in Lok Sabha polls.

The party will also hold meetings in over 400 Lok Sabha constituencies before selecting its candidates for the polls.

A national meet of party booth-level workers will be held on February 28 to discuss the micro-level management during polling. The main opposition is also looking to cash in on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birthday on Wednesday by celebrating it as 'Sushashan Diwas' (Good Governance Day).

The party is also highlighting its success in bagging a sizeable number of reserved seats in the recent Assembly elections, especially in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It will also make efforts to bring more parties into the NDA fold to boost its chances of forming a government at the Centre. 

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Election results 2013: BJP to retain power in MP, scores a landslide win in Rajasthan

The BJP on Sunday appeared heading towards a record third straight win in Madhya Pradesh and and has returned to power with a landslide victory in Rajasthan.

The party is leading in 152 of 228 seats from where trends are available in Madhya Pradesh, while in Rajasthan, it won two seats and was leading in 144 out of 199 seats.

In Madhya Pradesh, Congress is way behind with its candidates leading in 67 places, while BSP is leading in five seats and others four.

Madhya Pradesh has a 230-member assembly where BJP held 143 seats in the last elections and Congress 71.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is ahead of his Congress opponents from both Budhni and Vidisha seats.

Though several senior ministers including Babulal Gaur, Kailash Vijaywargiya, Vijay Shah, Uma Shankar Gupta, Jagdish Devda and Archana Chitnis are leading, public relations and culture minister Laxmikant Sharma and Anoop Mishra are trailing.

Gaur, a former chief minister, contesting from Govindpura for a record 10th time, is leading by 11782 votes over Govind Goyal of Congress, while Kailash Vijawargiya is ahead at Mhow against Antar Singh Darbar of Congress by 2889 votes.

Ministers Narottam Mishra is leading from Datia, Tukoji Rao Pawar from Dewas, Archana Chitnis from Burhanpur, and Gopal Bhargava from Rehli.

Their colleagues Laxmikant Sharma and Anoop Mishra, a newphew of BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee, are, however, trailing their Congress rivals at Sironj and Bhitarwar respectively.

Former Union minister Suresh Pachouri of the Congress is trailing his BJP opponent and sitting MLA Surendra Patwa by 10,000 votes at Bhojpur.

However, the leader of opposition in the state assembly, Ajay Singh is leading by a margin of 6120 votes from his traditional Churhat constituency.

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh's son Jaivardhan Singh, who is making his electoral debut, is leading over his BJP rival Radheshyam Dhakad at Raghogarh.

In Rajasthsan, the ruling Congress was ahead in 28 seats.

National People's Party candidates were leading in nine seats whereas independent candidates were leading in 8 seats each, according to latest trends.

Candidates of other parties were leading in three seats. BSP candidates were ahead in three seats.

BJP candidate Samaram Grasiya s Pindwara-Abu seat of Sirohi district by defeating his nearest rival of Congress Gangaben Grasiya by a margin of 30855 votes.

Another BJP candidate Gurjant Singh won from Sadulshahar seat of Ganganagar district by defeating his nearest rival of Congress Jagdish Chander by a margin of 4808 votes.

With trends indicating a clean sweep for the BJP, celebrations broke out in the party office with workers congratulating each other.

"We are confident that the party will come to power with clear majority and it will be a thumping victory," said a party worker outside the BJP office.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot was leading in his Sardarpura constituency of Jodhpur district by a margin of 4,619 votes against his BJP rival Shambhu Singh Khetasar.

BJP state president Vasundhara Raje was leading from her home constituency of Jhalarapatan in Jhalawar district by a margin of 3,923 votes against her nearest rival of Congress Meenakshi Chandrawat.

Discus thrower and Commonwealth Games medallist Krishna Poonia (Cong) is trailing behind her BJP rival Kamla Kaswan on Sadulpur constituency in Churu district.Kaswan is leading by a margin of 22088 votes after ten rounds of counting.

NPP's general secretary and sitting independent MLA Golma Devi is also trailing by 2339 votes from Rajgarh-Laxmangarh seat after first round against Congress and BJP candidates.

Former royal Diya Kumari of BJP is trailing by 6957 votes from Sawaimadhopur seat against Congress and BJP rivals.

Kiran Maheshwari of BJP is leading by a margin of 21372 votes on Rajsamand seat against Congress candidate Hari Singh Rathore.

National People's Party convenor and Lok Sabha Kirori Lal Meena is leading by a margin of 1,675 in Lalsot constituency against Congress and BJP candidates.

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Modi writes to fellow CMs, asks them to oppose Communal Violence Bill

BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Friday wrote letters to some chief ministers urging them to rise above political affiliations and oppose the Centre's proposed Communal Violence Bill, alleging it was "a blatant intrusion upon the powers" of state governments.

"It is important for all Chief Ministers to rise beyond political affiliations and come together to oppose the Bill, which is nothing but a blatant attempt by the Centre to interfere with and intrude upon the powers of elected state governments," Modi, Gujarat Chief Minister, said in the letters to the CMs.

The Bill, he said, would polarise the society and would introduce the idea of differential application of criminal law to citizens based on religious and linguistic identities.

It would also demoralise public servants and impact how the state government can deal with law and order situations in future, Modi said.

The recipients of Friday's letter include Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Prithviraj Chavan (Maharashtra), Okram Ibobi Singh (Manipur) and Mukul Sangma (Meghalaya) among others, officials said.

Modi's letters to the CMs came a day after he written to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue, terming the Bill as "recipe for disaster".

The UPA government plans to introduce the 'Prevention of Communal Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2013' in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.

In his letter, Modi has called upon his counterparts in other states to discuss the issue and oppose the Bill.

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