Delhi's Gujarati community plans to felicitate 'Narendrabhai'

They celebrated his victory with feasts of 'dhokla', 'fafda' and 'jalebi' and by setting off fireworks and now Delhi-based Gujaratis are planning to host a grand felicitation for 'Narendra bhai' who is all set to become the next Prime Minister.

There are more than 1.25 lakh Gujaratis residing in Delhi who are mainly living in Dwarka, Gujarat Vihar, Civil Lines, Jehangirpuri and Paschim Vihar area.

They annually organise Garba festival during Navratris and Uttarayan on Makar Sankranti.

There has been a festive atmosphere in every Gujarati household since May 16 when Lok Sabha results were declared in which Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi led BJP got a historic mandate.

Mohit Parikh, the president of Delhi Gujarati Samaj, says that they are planning to have a grand felicitation for the PM designate post his oath taking ceremony.

"Naturally the Gujaratis of Delhi are elated with Modi's success. We had organised a programme in Shah auditorium on May 16 where a big screen was installed to see the election results. There was Gujarati food, traditional dance and fire works. We also established a Delhi enlightened citizens club to celebrate his victory," Parikh told PTI.

He said that an invite has been sent to Modi for the felicitation programme and they are waiting for a reply.

"We want to organise a grand felicitation ceremony where all Gujaratis based in Delhi will be invited. We have written a letter to Gujarat CM in this regard and they have asked for the detailed schedule. I hope that this will materialise after Modiji takes oath as the next PM of India," he said.

"Modiji has visited us before and is familiar with the Delhi Gujarati Samaj," he added.

When asked about the expectations from Modi, he said that he is very well aware of finance and economy and is capable of taking the country forward.

"He is straight forward, systematic and keen to work. He is capable of taking country forward and removing the current evils. Being a Gujarati, he is also very well aware of finance and economy," he added.

The former head of youth wing of Samaj and resident of Gujarat Vihar, Neeraj Shah, said, "We are very happy that after Morarji Desai, another Gujarati is going to be the PM of India. We have celebrated his win collectively and there is still festive atmosphere in Gujarati households."

"I am born in Delhi but my wife and mother are from Ahmedabad and I keep visiting Gujarat frequently for business purpose. I am amazed to see the development of Gujarat in last decade. The quality of life is far better than Delhi. They don't have to struggle for basic facilities like electricity, water," he added.

Citing the example of Canal Solar Power Project of Gujarat, he said that Modi had innovative development plans which will benefit the country for sure.

"Modi has development ideas which transformed Gujarat. For example his Canal Solar Power Project which was launched in 2012 to use 19,000 km long network of Narmada canals across the state for setting up solar panel to generate electricity.

"It was the first ever project in India and benefited Gujarat immensely. Now we can have more such projects in different fields," he said.