PM delays return to Delhi by hours, holds meeting with Guj CM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was scheduled to return to Delhi from here this afternoon, delayed it by a couple of hours to hold talks with Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on several key issues in the state.
As per the schedule, Modi, who was on a two-day visit of Gujarat starting yesterday, was scheduled to fly to Delhi around 1.30 pm, after attending the opening ceremony of the 52nd Annual General Meeting of the African Development Bank group at Mahatma Mandir here today.
However, after the function, he changed his itinerary and stayed back in the state capital for nearly two hours, during which he held discussions with Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel at Raj Bhavan before finally leaving for the airport.

As the Assembly polls are also approaching in Gujarat, it is believed that Modi discussed various aspects related to the election preparedness of the ruling BJP in the state.
Talking to reporters later, Patel said that the prime minister delayed his return for around two hours to discuss various issues concerning Gujarat as well as to provide guidance about three ongoing projects.
"He stayed back for over one-and-half hours upon our request. We had requested him to give his time to discuss various issues and wanted to share some information about various other subjects. We were glad that Modiji gave us time," Patel said.

During the meeting, Patel and Rupani gave presentation as well as progress report about three ongoing projects, which were initiated by Modi when he was the Gujarat chief minister.

"We made presentations on Ro-Ro Ferry service, Statue of Unity and iCreate campus. We normally make such presentations about ongoing projects whenever Modiji visits Gujarat. Today, he gave his guidance about these projects," he said.
The roll on-roll off ferry service would connect Dahej in Bharuch district with Ghogha port in Bhavnagar district.
The proposed 'Statue of Unity' is one of the ambitious projects initiated by Modi, wherein a 182-meter tall statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel would be installed on a small island near Sardar Sarovar Dam over Narmada river.

ICreate, an autonomous centre of excellence having its own incubation centre, was formally launched in 2011 by Modi when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. This institution near Ahmedabad mentors budding entrepreneurs and guides them to set up their own start-ups, said Patel.