Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022 The state, which has 182 assembly constituencies will go for polling in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will occur on December 8, which coincides with Himachal Pradesh’s result date
Our Bureau
Ahmedabad
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will head to poll-bound Gujarat this weekend and is expected to participate in at least eight programmes crisscrossing the state from Saurashtra to Surat. The highlight of PM Modi’s tour is his visit to the famous Somnath Temple on November 20. The Prime Minister is also the chairman of the Somnath Temple Trust. On November 19 evening after landing in Gujarat the Prime Minister will address a rally in Valsad.
On November 20, after visiting the Somnath Temple, he is scheduled to address four rallies in the Saurashtra region. Venues have been finalized at Veraval, Dhorarji, Amreli and Botad.
Incidentally, in the last assembly elections, the BJP was not able to win a single seat in these assembly constituencies in Saurashtra. The BJP won the state polls but wasn’t able to breach this bastion that has traditionally voted for Congress.
On Day 3, PM Modi will hold three rallies in Surendranagar, Bharuch and Navsari.
While Bharuch was the constituency of the former Congress tall man Ahmed Patel in the past, the BJP state president CR Patil who hails from Navsari has been winning this Lok Sabha seat with huge margins.
Incidentally, Congress Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi is also expected to visit Navsari on November 21, the same day that PM Modi is expected to be in Navsari.
Modi, who hails from Gujarat, is also expected to have a closed-door meeting with the state leaders during his stay here to further boost the party in the western state. In Gujarat, the BJP party has been in power for the last 27 years with Narendra Modi being the longest-serving chief minister of the state.
This time the party under the leadership of Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and CR Patil is aiming to fetch more than 140 seats. The state has been a BJP stronghold for long and the party confident of coming back and forming the government for the seventh term.
The state of Gujarat which has 182 assembly constituencies will go for polling in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will occur on December 8, which coincides with Himachal Pradesh’s result date.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday said that though Gujarat has been developing for many years, the BJP has created a story that all development in Gujarat has taken place during Narendra Modi’s rule and to claim that Gujarat is Modi shows a person’s arrogance.
While addressing the media here at Congress headquarters in Ahmedabad, Singh said, “People of Gujarat are known for business and enterprises. The per capita income of the state was different from all other states since its formation. In 1960, when the state was formed, during those decades (the 1960s-1970s), many projects of industrial development came to the fore. Rajkot became a place that is known for its automobile parts. Now the story that is woven around the development in Gujarat is that all development has been done by Narendra Modi and ‘Gujarat is Modi’ is the biggest proof of a person’s arrogance.” Hitting out at the central government over the demonetization policy that was implemented in 2016, Singh said that the decision by the government failed as no black money was brought back to the country, nor did it make any difference in terror activities as was promised.
In another development, Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Gujarat’s Surat East, Kanchan Jariwala, on Wednesday said that he withdrew his nominations because the party workers had started demanding money. The AAP candidate refuted allegations of being kidnapped by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Jariwala further said that he was not capable enough to spend Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore.
“Reason for withdrawing my nomination was that (AAP) workers in Surat (East) Assembly started resigning. The workers started demanding money. I’m not capable enough to spend Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore,” Jariwala said.
“There was a lot of pressure from the party. People were harassing me by calling again and again. I went away with my son’s friends. There was no one from BJP. What I have to do now, I will tell after five to seven days,” he added.
However, the AAP had levelled allegations against the ruling BJP for the forcible withdrawal of papers of his party’s Surat East candidate in Gujarat after kidnapping him.
