<p>Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the 'Modi factor' was writ large across the country during the first phase of elections and multi-cornered contests in several states favoured the ruling BJP.</p>.<p>Polling was held in 91 Lok Sabha constituencies spread across 18 states and two Union Territories on Thursday, marking the beginning of the seven-phased general elections.</p>.<p>Observing that verbal battles between the Left, Trinamool Congress and the Congress are becoming visible increasingly, Jaitley said, "On the leadership issue, the situation looks gloomier than what I had thought. The BSP leader Mayawati, the Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee leave no stone unturned in running down the Congress President."</p>.<p>"There is no leader, no Gathbandhan, no Common Minimum Programme and no real issue. Not surprisingly there are not many takers for a "failed campaign". It is 'Rent a Cause' Campaign," Jaitley said in a Facebook post.</p>.<p>The Opposition is in disarray in many states, with alliances having not worked out, he said, adding that multi-cornered contests obviously favour the BJP.</p>.<p>"To oust a popular Government, an extremely popular Prime Minister, you need some real issues, not fictional issues. The Opposition wasted the past two years in a run-up to the polls "manufacturing issues" which didn’t exist," Jaitley said in the post titled 'India's Opposition is on a "Rent a Cause" Campaign'.</p>.<p>The minister said the Opposition's false campaign on Rafale did not carry much weight.</p>.<p>Loan waiver to industrialists was a lie, the EVM as an instrument of rigging was a bigger lie, he asserted.</p>.<p>"The First Phase of voting is over. The "Modi" factor was writ large across the country. (BJP President) Amit Shah's challenge to the BJP workers to prepare for a 50 per cent voting target in the BJP stronghold states even where there are opposition alliances seems coming through," Jaitley said.</p>.<p>Stating that the Opposition comes up with a new cause on a daily basis, Jaitley said one day the Pulwama terror attack was questioned as self-engineered, while the next day Balakot strike was questioned as a non-existent operation.</p>.<p>"One day BJP is accused of whipping up war hysteria, the other day it is dubbed as pro-Pakistan.</p>.<p>"One day the focus would be on the BJP candidate's educational qualification, fully forgetting that a public audit of Rahul Gandhi's academic credentials may leave a lot to be answered. After all, he got an M.Phil without a Masters degree!," Jaitley said.</p>.<p>The minister said there is no running thread in the Opposition's campaign which connects what is being said today or what has been said over the last several months. </p>
<p>Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the 'Modi factor' was writ large across the country during the first phase of elections and multi-cornered contests in several states favoured the ruling BJP.</p>.<p>Polling was held in 91 Lok Sabha constituencies spread across 18 states and two Union Territories on Thursday, marking the beginning of the seven-phased general elections.</p>.<p>Observing that verbal battles between the Left, Trinamool Congress and the Congress are becoming visible increasingly, Jaitley said, "On the leadership issue, the situation looks gloomier than what I had thought. The BSP leader Mayawati, the Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee leave no stone unturned in running down the Congress President."</p>.<p>"There is no leader, no Gathbandhan, no Common Minimum Programme and no real issue. Not surprisingly there are not many takers for a "failed campaign". It is 'Rent a Cause' Campaign," Jaitley said in a Facebook post.</p>.<p>The Opposition is in disarray in many states, with alliances having not worked out, he said, adding that multi-cornered contests obviously favour the BJP.</p>.<p>"To oust a popular Government, an extremely popular Prime Minister, you need some real issues, not fictional issues. The Opposition wasted the past two years in a run-up to the polls "manufacturing issues" which didn’t exist," Jaitley said in the post titled 'India's Opposition is on a "Rent a Cause" Campaign'.</p>.<p>The minister said the Opposition's false campaign on Rafale did not carry much weight.</p>.<p>Loan waiver to industrialists was a lie, the EVM as an instrument of rigging was a bigger lie, he asserted.</p>.<p>"The First Phase of voting is over. The "Modi" factor was writ large across the country. (BJP President) Amit Shah's challenge to the BJP workers to prepare for a 50 per cent voting target in the BJP stronghold states even where there are opposition alliances seems coming through," Jaitley said.</p>.<p>Stating that the Opposition comes up with a new cause on a daily basis, Jaitley said one day the Pulwama terror attack was questioned as self-engineered, while the next day Balakot strike was questioned as a non-existent operation.</p>.<p>"One day BJP is accused of whipping up war hysteria, the other day it is dubbed as pro-Pakistan.</p>.<p>"One day the focus would be on the BJP candidate's educational qualification, fully forgetting that a public audit of Rahul Gandhi's academic credentials may leave a lot to be answered. After all, he got an M.Phil without a Masters degree!," Jaitley said.</p>.<p>The minister said there is no running thread in the Opposition's campaign which connects what is being said today or what has been said over the last several months. </p>