PM's event sold out in minutes, Rahul's event needed paid influencers: BJP leader

BJP leader Amit Malviya on Monday drew a contrast between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming event in Vadodara, the tickets for which he said were sold out within minutes, and Rahul Gandhi's Pune event, where he pointed out that influencers reportedly had to be paid to attend.

"One commands genuine public enthusiasm. The other needs incentives to manufacture a crowd. That's the difference," he wrote on X.

All seats for PM Modi’s programme in Vadodara were booked within an hour of registrations opening on BookMyShow, with the government describing the initiative as a first of its kind.

The Vadodara Municipal Corporation used the private digital platform to facilitate free registrations for Tuesday’s event. Once all seats were booked, registrations were closed, while more than 42,000 additional applicants were placed on a waiting list.

According to a press release, the entire process -- from registration and verification to venue entry and seating 00 is being handled digitally to streamline entry and manage the movement of attendees. The digital system will also be used on the day of the event. Registered participants will receive an M-Ticket in their BookMyShow account, featuring a secure, live QR code for verification.

PM Modi is scheduled to visit Vadodara on Tuesday to inaugurate, dedicate and lay the foundation stones for several development projects. Among the projects being dedicated to the nation are three sections of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, spanning 326 route kilometres and built at a cost of more than Rs 20,700 crore.

The projects include the Vadodara-Ratlam third and fourth railway lines, the Miyagam Karjan-Choranda-Malsar gauge conversion project and the Vishwamitri-Dabhoi doubling project. Modi will also lay the foundation stone for three national highway projects worth around Rs 1,780 crore, as well as Gujarat government projects estimated at around Rs 2,600 crore.

On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi's 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' event in Pune on August 23, which Malviya was referring to in his tweet, came under ridicule from BJP leaders, who called it a 'political comedy show' and claimed that Gandhi was more interested in making political remarks than addressing the concerns of students.