PM Modi to address three back-to-back rallies as poll heat peaks in Gujarat

Gandhinagar: Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls slated for next month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address three back-to-back Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Vijay Sankalp Sammelan rallies in the poll-bound state today.

PM Modi’s first rally on Monday will be in Surendranagar at 11 am, the next will be in Jabusar at 1 pm, and then in Navsari around 3 pm. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will hold four public meetings in Dwarka, Somnath, Junagadh and Kutchh districts of the state on Monday ahead of the Gujarat assembly elections slated next month.

At around 11 am, Shah will address the first meeting in the Khambhaliya Assembly constituency in Dwarka district. Then at 1 pm, in Somnath at Kodinar, he will address another rally.

The other two meetings that the Home Minister will address are at 3 and 4 pm in the Mangrol Assembly constituency in Junagadh and Bhuj Assembly constituency in Kutchh respectively.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is also a BJP’s star campaigner for the Gujarat elections, will also address a public meeting in the Mahemdavad assembly constituency.

PM Modi, who arrived in his home state on Saturday evening, held a road show in Valsad and also addressed the people.

The Prime Minister, who had four scheduled public meetings, began his campaign on Sunday from Somnath. Later he also held election rallies in Dhoraji, Amreli and Botad.

Speaking at the rally in Dhoraji, the Prime Minister took an apparent swipe at Rahul Gandhi and said that during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress leader walked with a woman who tried everything to derail the Narmada Project.

The Elections for the 182-member State Assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8.

The party has already announced its list of star campaigners for the Gujarat elections.

Gujarat where the ruling party which has been in power for over 27 years will be seeking its seventh term in office.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been Gujarat’s longest-serving chief minister from 2001 till 2014.

The state has been a BJP stronghold for a long period and the party has set its sight on returning to power with a handsome majority this time as well.

However, it faces a stiff electoral challenge from the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has named Isudan Gadhvi as its chief ministerial candidate.

Congress also hopes to put its best electoral foot forward to unseat the BJP government.

In the 2017 Gujarat polls, despite a decrease in the number of seats, the incumbent BJP retained its simple majority in the house and formed government for the sixth time.

In the results declared for all the 182-seated Gujarat Assembly, BJP won 99 seats, Congress wins 77, 1 seat was won by NCP while Bhartiya Tribal Party and Independent candidate won 2 and 3 seats respectively.