PM Narendra Modi launched phase I of Saurashtra Narmada Avataran for irrigation project in Jamnagar
Highlights
- PM Modi addressed a rally in Gujarat's Saurashtra region today
- This was his first public rally in home state after taking office
- PM inaugurated an irrigation project in Saurashtra
Prime Minister Narendra Modi focused on farmers and told the growth story at a public rally today in Jamnagar, his first in home state Gujarat since he took office in Delhi two years ago.
"Gujarat has adopted the Mantra of Vikas. This mantra will transform the state," the Prime Minister said, speaking in Gujarati and detailing his government's initiatives for farmers.
He had taken to Delhi what he learnt in Gujarat, said Prime Minister Modi, who was the state's chief minister for 13 years till he became Prime Minister after leading the BJP to a sweep of the 2014 national election.
Many party workers he said complained that he had not visited Gujarat. "But you know it well that since you sent me to Delhi, I was new there and had to learn many things. Now I am settled so I will keep visiting to ensure that you don't have any complaint," PM Modi said.
He was in Gujarat's Saurashtra region, dominated by Patels or Patidars, but PM Modi made no reference to the community's massive agitation for reservation in government jobs and colleges.
Some people among the thousands at the rally attempted to raise pro-Patel slogans, but they were swiftly removed by the police.
A staunch BJP support base for years, the Patels have put the party's government in Gujarat on notice over their demand ahead of next year's assembly elections, expected to be the toughest battle the BJP has faced in the state in years.
Because of bad weather, the prime minister traveled by road, not chopper, from the Jamnagar airport to the venue about 50 km away, to inaugurate an irrigation project for Saurashtra, which faces an acute shortage of water for drinking and irrigation.
"Give a farmer from any part of India water and see the wonders he can do," said the Prime Minister.
As it grapples with not just the Patel agitation but also one by the state's Dalits angered by the brutal beating of four young men last month by cow vigilantes in Una, the BJP hopes the Prime Minister's rally will rejuvenate party cadre ahead of the Gujarat election late next year.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was present today, as was his predecessor Anandiben Patel who resigned last month amid allegations that she mishandled the Patel and Dalit agitations in the state, weakening the political position of the BJP.