It seems like the allegations made by the opposition, that the EC had deliberately delayed the announcement of the dates for Gujarat Polls so that the BJP could announce the last minute perks and sops for the people, may be true.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting his home state, Gujarat for the third time in the past month. As the assembly elections are nearing in and the ruling party fearing the anti-incumbency, is trying hard to maintain its rule in Gujarat and not let Congress take over at any cost.
With Modi, frequently visiting the state, it seems like the Prime Minisy=ter has himself taken the command in his hand to make sure that the BJP wins the poll at any cost. The results of the Gujarat polls will play a major role in deciding the course of the Lok Sabha elections due in 2019. Modi has been the Chief Minister of Gujarat for 13 years and since then has shown the dream of the Gujarat Model to the people. BJP believes that Modi is the national face of BJP and the public trust him, therefore, projecting Modi, announcing different sops, could be a ray of hope for the BJP.
Narendra Modi will visit Gujarat on 22 Oct and will inaugurate and lay foundation stones for a number of projects in Bhavnagar and Vadodara districts. During his address at Gandhinagar on Monday, Modi had mentioned about the roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) ferry service as his dream project and he will also be inaugurating the first phase of the Rs 615 crore roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) ferry service between Ghogha in Bhavnagar district and Dahej in Bharuch in the Gulf of Cambay.
As per his schedule itinerary, Modi will address a gathering in Ghogha and undertake a journey to Dahej from Ghogha on the ferry. From Dahej, he will leave for Vadodara. He will be inaugurating and laying the foundation for projects worth over Rs 1,140 crore in Vadodara.
Ajay Bhadoo, Chief Executive Officer of Gujarat Maritime Board, informed that the first phase which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister on Sunday is meant for passengers and the second phase will be for the cars, which will be ready in two months.
“It is a complex project which involves the complicated marine structure of the Gulf of Cambay, on which it is built. The service reduces the distance between the two towns from 310 kilometres by road to 30 kilometres which can be covered in 1 hour,” Bhadoo said.
Narendra Modi will also be laying the foundation stone for eight different projects worth Rs 1,140 crore.
Providing the details of the projects Vadodara Municipal Commissioner Vinod Rao said “a Rs 100 crore city command and control centre in Badamadi Garden, Rs 125-crore Janmahal city transport hub and multi-level parking (under PPP), a Rs 160 crore multi-modal city transport hub, Rs 267 crore waste-to- energy processing plan are few of the projects to be inaugurated by Modi. Some other projects include a Rs 166 crore water treatment plant, two flyovers collectively worth Rs 265 crore, a Rs 55 crore deer safari park, and a Rs 6 crore veterinary hospital.
This is the third visit of Modi to Gujarat, prior to this he had addressed the BJP workers at a rally in Gandhinagar on 16 Oct and before that he visited his home town Vadnagar on October 8 and also inaugurated and laid foundation stones of various projects in Rajkot, Vadnagar, Gandhinagar, and Bharuch.
Modi had exactly a year ago had visited Vadodara, his a constituency from where he contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election on October 22 last year to inaugurate a new airport terminal building and distribute assistance devices to the divyangjan (specially-abled) people.