Over 100 cultural performers accompanied by Kutchi folk artistes, nearly 200 retired soldiers, farmers, women from cooperative societies, religious leaders, traders and youth have gathered at Lalan College ground here, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday is scheduled to make his first address for the crucial Gujarat polls next month.
BJP workers and supporters are all geared up to welcome their top leader, who is making his third visit to Kutch after assuming the highest office. “This is going to be a landmark moment for the Gujarat elections. On August 15, 2013, as the then Chief Minister, Modji had hoisted the national flag from the same ground. We had wished him to rise from this Lalan ground to reach Lal Quilla (Red Fort in Delhi). And in 2014, our dream came true,” Ghanshyam Thakkar, head of BJP Kutch unit, told BusinessLine .
According to Thakkar, as many as 1 lakh people from all the six constituencies in the district are expected to attend the PM’s rally on Monday. The town has been converted into a fortress for Modi’s security. The Prime Minister will land at Bhuj airport at about 9 am and will head straight to Ashapura Temple at Mata No Madh.
“PM Modi will be the first Prime Minister to visit this temple, an important deity of Kutchis. After taking her blessings, he will head to the rally ground for his address,” said Bhaumik Vachcharajan, a BJP supporter in Bhuj.
Notably, in 2012, the BJP had cornered five out of the six seats from the Kutch district with a vote share of over 45 per cent. The party has repeated the candidates from Abdasa, Bhuj and Anjar seats. However, in 2012, Abdasa candidate Chhabilbhai Patel had won on a Congress ticket; he joined the BJP in 2014.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, along with a group of senior party leaders, will also accompany the Prime Minister at the Bhuj rally, after which Modi will head to Saurashtra, where he is scheduled to address rallies at Jasdan in Rajkot district and Dhari in Amreli district.
On his day-long visit to poll-bound Gujarat, Modi will attend his fourth and last rally at Kamrej in Surat district in the evening, before heading back to Delhi. The voting for all these constituencies will take place in the first phase on December 9.