Ahead of the Assembly elections, due by December 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to visit his home state of Gujarat almost on a monthly basis this year.
Although the ruling BJP currently enjoys a comfortable position in terms of election-preparedness, it is not taking any chances in making all-out efforts to win at least 150 Assembly seats out of 182, as targeted by Modi and party chief Amit Shah.
The anti-BJP agitations launched over the last two years, successively, by the Patidars, the OBCs, the SC-STs and the Dalits, among others, over a number of issues are dormant now. The main opposition Congress Party and the Aam Admi Party (AAP) are also seen as faction-ridden and in disarray. There also seem to be no anti-incumbency issues in Gujarat.
The BJP is lining up a busy schedule of visits by the PM to Gujarat from May to September. The Prime Minister would visit the state at least once in a month to keep the party and the people in election mode. According to sources, he will visit the state on May 21 and 22 to attend a meeting of the African Development Bank in Gandhinagar and participate in an irrigation department event at Rajkot.
In June, the PM will attend events related to the national textile policy and Indo-Russian bilateral ties. In July, he will attend the centenary celebrations of Sabarmati Ashram set up by Mahatma Gandhi in Ahmedabad. In August, he will attend an event of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd near Vadodara and lay the foundation stone for a proposed tribal university. In September, he will go to his home town of Vadnagar near Mehsana to inaugurate a hospital, a medical college and other public works.
At some places, Modi is also expected to stage road-shows.