Give BJP a missed call; get picked up for Modi's rally

Mumbai: The state's BJP unit is planning to give Narendra Modi a rousing welcome at his rally later this month, and several plans up its sleeve to increase footfall. 

Modi will address the rally at the MMRDA grounds in BKC on December 22. Sources have revealed that the BJP workers are devising elaborate plans to make it the biggest political rally ever in the country so far. Having set themselves a target of over 8 lakh attendees, they are leaving no stone unturned to make this figure a reality.

For instance, all that a supporter has to do is give the party a missed call at a given number, and an organiser will call them back, take down their number and residential address, and even pick them up on the day of the rally from a landmark near their homes. 

The move is geared towards wooing supporters who are toying with the idea of attending the rally, but live on the fringes of the city in Borivli, for example and are daunted by the distances they have to travel to make it to BKC.

Confirming the development, Niranjan Shetty, spokesperson for BJP's city unit, said, "We have asked people to give us a missed call and have also made arrangements to get them to the MMRDA grounds, if they desire to come with us." The party is also planning to woo supporters to register online for the rally, saying that they will be allowed into a separate enclosure if they do so. "The target is to register 2 lakh supporters online.

Our senior state leaders have told us that the target for online registration is high because we want to surpass the footfalls recorded in Modi rallies in Karnataka and Hyderabad, where 1.5 lakh and 1.25 lakh people had registered online respectively," said another leader. The party is also arranging for people from different corners of the state to arrive on trains and other modes of transport, and has roped in religious organisations to give food to attendees