Modi takes 'first-ever' seaplane flight for campaigning

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, the last day of campaigning for the Gujarat Assembly elections, took off in a seaplane from the Sabarmati Riverfront to Dharoi Dam, a reservoir near Ambaji, to hold a rally.

The Bharatiya Janata Party said it was "the first-ever flight by a seaplane in the country".

With the second and final phase of polls due on Thursday, Prime Minister Modi has been in the state consecutively for the last four days. Since the election notification for Gujarat, Modi has been a very frequent visitor to the state to campaign for the ruling BJP.

Asked the reason for the Prime Minister taking a seaplane, Jagdish Bhavsar, an official of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said, "You can take this gesture of the Prime Minister as our other programmes like the Ro-Ro Ferry Service, or the Bullet Train project or the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS). You can take this new programme as one of the initiatives of the BJP."

After reaching Dharoi Dam reservoir, Modi will have 'Darshan' at the famed Ambaji temple and then address a pubic gathering there. In the evening, he will fly back to Ahmedabad by the same plane.

The Election Commission of India, while announcing the elections for Himachal Pradesh, had postponed announcement of the Gujarat elections, which the opposition Congress alleged was aimed to allow Prime Minister Modi and the BJP to launch initiatives like the Ro-Ro Ferry service, the Bullet train and other programmes.

Earlier, local authorities had denied Modi and Congress President-elect Rahul Gandhi to hold rallies in the financial capital of Gujarat, Ahmedabad.

Tuesday is the last day for campaigning for the elections and all the political campaigning will halt at 5 p.m.

Door-to-door campaigning will be allowed wearing the party symbol on caps and T-shirts.

The second phase polls on Thursday will see around two crore voters decide the fate of 1,828 candidates fighting for 93 assembly seats.

--IANS

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