Modi to hold 7 'Vikas' rallies in Gujarat from today: Top 10 developments

On Sunday, PM Modi will be addressing three public meetings at Bharuch and at Surendranagar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is once again visiting his home state Gujarat on Sunday, three days after he addressed four campaign meetings for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the poll-bound state. 

The two-phase Gujarat Assembly elections will take place on December 9 and 14, while the results will be out on December 18.  

Here are the top 10 recent developments in the Gujarat campaign: 

1) Modi to address 7 public gatherings: For his two-day sojourn, the BJP has organized seven public gatherings named as 'Vikas Rallies', to stress on the ruling BJP's development plank.

2) Modi to visit Bharuch and Surendranagar: On Sunday, Modi will be addressing three public meetings, at Bharuch in the morning, and later at Surendranagar. 
 

 

3) BJP plans 100,000-strong rally: Modi will be visiting the capital of Saurashtra, Rajkot, before his visit to Ahmedabad where he will inaugurate a hospital at the Swaminarayan Gurukul Vishwavidya Pratisthanam (SGVP). The BJP wants to make this meeting a grand event and is planning a huge rally comprising more than 100,000 people. The administration and police have geared up for the event.
 

 

4) Modi to hold public meetings again on Monday: On Monday, the Prime Minister will be holding public meetings at Dharampur in Valsad district and later at Bhavnagar. From there he will visit other Saurashtra places, Junagadh and Jamnagar.
 

5) Modi to address 24 more meetings after December 6: He will also be visiting the state in three phases after December 6 where he will be addressing more than 24 meetings and rallies.

Modi was in Gujarat on Wednesday, to campaign in Saurashtra region and south Gujarat.
 

6) Saffron party feeling a strong wave of opposition: The BJP has been in power in the state since more than 22 years with the major share of that under the tenure of Modi as Chief Minister. But after having ruled for more than two decades, the saffron party is feeling a strong wave of opposition in the form of various agitations from different sections of the society.

7) Modi has been visiting the state every other day: A majority of these forces have joined hands with the opposition Congress party and the more than two-decades reign seems to be on the downslide. That's the reason why Narendra Modi, despite his very busy schedule, has made Gujarat virtually his home since the last couple of months and has been visiting the state every other day.

Lately, the saffron party has felt that the young Patidar leader Hardik Patel has been gathering more people in his rallies and that even their star campaigner Modi is not garnering the crowds he used to do in the state.
 

8) BJP sees Rajkot rally as a prestige issue: According to sources, the BJP is taking the Rajkot rally as a prestige issue and wants to make it a huge success. It can also be because the Saurashtra region has been opposing the BJP more than any other region of Gujarat and from where the Patidar agitations have had immense support and success.

9) Rahul Gandhi hits out at Modi and BJP: Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday accused PM Modi of not providing basic necessities to the women of poll-bound Gujarat. (Read more here) 

The Congress vice-president took to Twitter and expressed his concern. In his tweet, Rahul took a dig at Modi and the BJP-led state government for depriving Gujarati women of basic facilities like health care, education, and safety.

Rahul Gandhi said, "No security, nutrition and education was provided to the women. The only thing which took place was their exploitation."

The Congress leader also accused the BJP leadership of disappointing Anganwadi and Aasha workers.

A political slugfest has erupted ahead of the elections, as the Congress is continuously attacking the BJP and vice-e-versa on several issues like development in Gujarat, the demonestisation drive, and the Goods and Services Tax (GST), etc.

10) Congress' candidate against CM Rupani arrested: Congress' Gujarat legislator Indraneel Rajyaguru, who is contesting against Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani from Rajkot West, was on Saturday arrested following a ruckus between party workers and police after his brother was attacked by some goons while campaigning. (Read more here)