Mumbai, Oct 30 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to rope in party bigwigs including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to campaign for the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly polls.

These top leaders, along with leaders from the state as well as other states, are expected to address over 170 poll rallies during their whirlwind tours across Maharashtra. The BJP is contesting on 148 seats of the total 288 seats while it has left four seats from its quota to allies.

The central and state leaders will kick start the campaign by holding rallies from November 5 after the ongoing Diwali festival and the last date for withdrawal of nominations, which is slated for November 4.

Although the BJP has not issued any formal statement, a senior party functionary said that the state party office has received the PM’s tentative schedule whereby he is expected to address 10 to 13 rallies between November 7 and 14 as he is going abroad thereafter.

The PM will not only address rallies in the constituencies where BJP nominees are contesting but also of allies, Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party.

PM Modi had held about 19 rallies for the MahaYuti candidates during the Lok Sabha elections. During his recent visits to launch a slew of welfare and development projects, he had exhorted the voters to elect the "pro-development" MahaYuti alliance, defeating the "anti-growth" Maha Vikas Aghadi.

Home Minister Amit Shah, who held region wise meetings with the state party leaders and also with the MahaYuti partners to review the poll preparations, is likely to hold 20 rallies. He had also addressed more than 10 rallies during the Lok Sabha elections for the MahaYuti nominees.

UP Chief Minister Adityanath, who was in demand from not only BJP candidates but also from allies during the Lok Sabha elections, is expected to address at least 15 rallies. Another party functionary said that these meetings are being finalised in consultation with the central leaders.

The state poll management committee chaired by former Union Minister Raosaheb Danve is in the midst of preparing a final programme in this regard. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is expected to hold 40 rallies while Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who had extensively travelled during the general elections, will address about 50 poll meetings across the state. BJP state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule is expected to address 40 rallies.

Chief Ministers Pramod Sawant of Goa, Mohan Yadav of Madhya Pradesh, Vishnu Deo Sai of Chhattisgarh, Bhajan Lal Sharma of Rajasthan, and Nayab Singh Saini of Haryana, who are part of the party’s 40 member star campaigners, will also hold rallies in the state.