BJP’s Navneet Rana says no Modi wave in the country, Opposition agrees

A day after BJP’s Amravati candidate Navneet Rana stated there was no “Modi wave”, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT) said she is speaking the truth as the desperation of the party is evident by the way its poaching leaders from the Opposition.

Navneet was speaking at a rally in her Amravati constituency where the media was not allowed. However, her clip of making the statement has now gone viral. 

“We will have to fight this election as if it were a gram panchayat election. We will have to bring all the voters to the booth by 12 noon and tell them to vote. Don’t remain under the illusion that there is a Modi wave,” said Rana in the viral video.

“For good measure, in the last elections, despite a Modi wave, I was elected as an Independent candidate,” she added.

The Opposition NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and the Shiv Sena (UBT) on Tuesday quickly pounced on her statement. They said there was panic in the BJP ranks. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut also remarked the Opposition alliance would win all 48 seats in Maharashtra.

“Forget about the Modi wave. Whether Modi will be able to win his seat is the big question,” Raut said.

“Our party chief Uddhav Thackeray has already said the BJP will get only 45 seats all over the country and Maha Vikas Aghadi will win all 48 seats in Maharashtra. Even the BJP’s own candidates are already speaking the truth and that too openly and loud and clear,” he added.

Reacting to her statement, NCP (SP) chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said, “Whatever Rana has spoken is just the fact. She knows it and the BJP MPs know it. The BJP itself knows there is no Modi wave. And this is reflected in the way the party had gone all-out roping in one Opposition leader after the other. It has imported even those leaders whom it had accused of corruption. It had no alternative because it saw in those leaders the potential to win elections”.

Rana who had won the Amravati seat as an independent candidate supported by the undivided NCP in 2019 has been fielded by the BJP this time.

She, later clarified her statement saying the opposition was using her edited speech to build a false narrative.
"People know the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There was a Modi wave, there is a Modi wave and there will be a Modi wave. We are taking the work and promises of PM Modi to voters and asking for votes. The target of over 400 seats will be achieved this time," she said.