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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, 3 December, addressed public gatherings – labelled ‘Vikas rallies’ – in poll-bound Gujarat. He lashed out at the Congress saying the party wanted to divide society on the basis of caste, creed, and religion.
Modi had recently addressed four campaign meetings for the BJP in the state. Patidar leader Hardik Patel also addressed a massive rally in Surat the same day.
Gujarat will go to polls on 9 and 14 December.
Addressing a rally in Surat on Sunday, 3 December, Patidar leader Hardik Patel took a dig at the BJP, saying “they will show blue film of a young man, but not talk of their progress.”
He alleged that he was offered Rs 5 crore by an industrialist to not address the rally.
The Patidar leader appealed to people to “wake up and talk to their relatives about not voting for the BJP,” and asked them to take an oath to oust the saffron party from the state.
Patel spoke about the plight of farmers in Gujarat, saying villagers are “innocent” and are “fooled” by the rich.
Union Minister Smriti Irani, while addressing a rally in Surat on Sunday, 3 December, said that the upcoming Assembly elections are for “every Gujarati” who was called a “gadha” by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav.
Patidar leader Hardik Patel is set to address a mega rally in Surat.
Prime Minister Modi said Ivanka Trump, the daughter of US President Donald Trump, who was in Hyderabad recently, expressed shock when she heard that women in India get six months maternity leave.
In the US, women still don’t get six months leave, Modi said.
“Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines will be used along with Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in all 50,264 voting booths of 182 constituencies in Gujarat,” Achal Kumar Joti, Chief Election Commissioner of India, said in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
“We (BJP) set vote-bank politics aside, we kept religion aside, and we walked together on the road to development instead,” said Prime Modi Narendra Modi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised his party’s “successful development model” for solving water crisis in Surendranagar district.
“I am asking my sisters, tell me the truth. Weren't there major issues with water? Didn't you have to walk kilometres heaving matlas (earthen pots) to get water? Didn't you have to dig deep borewells,” Modi asked those present at the rally.
Modi, at a rally in Surendranagar on Sunday, 3 December, said:
“So, what the youngster Shehzad (Poonawalla) is saying is not unusual. It is the Congress culture. Those who have no internal democracy can’t work for people. I want to tell this youngster Shehzad, you have done a brave thing but this is sadly what has always happened in the Congress,” Modi said.
With regard to the Uttar Pradesh civic polls, the Gujarat elections, and the election for the Congress president, Modi said, “A few days back at a rally in Navsari, I had said there are three polls whose results are definitely certain. I said the BJP will win by a landslide and the Congress will be nowhere in the UP polls.”
“There is a man named Shehzad (Poonawalla), he has asked a question to the 'shehzaada',” Modi said in reference to Congress leader Shehzad Poonawalla’s letters to Rahul Gandhi.
“They are getting publicly embarrassed by a Congress leader. They spoke so much about tolerance that they have released a 'fatwa' that whichever WhatsApp group Shehzad is in, he should be removed. When a responsible leader raises questions, the same party that speaks of tolerance, releases fatwas,” he added.
BJP president Amit Shah, addressing a rally in Gujarat's Mahuva asked Congress Vice President Raul Gandhi to “respect the jawans” who conducted surgical strikes, instead of asking for “proof”.
Elaborating on how the BJP government responded to the Uri Attack, he said:
Modi, while concluding his speech in Bharuch said, “Our ‘vikas’ is not just about development but it also intends to bring Gujarat at par with the global economic giants. We have a great track record for doing so.”
"When common man gets security, then 'vikas' can easily take place. That is why security is important. Don't you remember when there were curfews? It was the BJP which brought about security to the state," Modi said.
“I helped negotiate Rs 1 lakh crore from Japan for the bullet train free of interest. UPA could not take the discussion forward with Japan at all. I say oppose me but the Congress party crosses its limit when they oppose ‘vikas’. They spent five decades on dividing people and promoting dynasty,” Modi said.
“When there were floods in Banaskantha, the Congress leaders were in Bengaluru to save one leader from losing a Rajya Sabha poll. That same leader is the topmost Congress leader, but what did he do for Bharuch. He was unable to work for Narmada, neither did he think about Ro-Ro ferry,” Modi said while criticising Congress leader Ahmed Patel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing three public gatherings at Bharuch, Surendranagar and Rajkot on Sunday, 3 December.
On Monday, 4 December, the PM will hold public meetings at Dharampur in Valsad district and later at Bhavnagar. From there he will visit other places in Saurashtra, Junagadh and Jamnagar.
Modi will be visiting the capital of Saurashtra, Rajkot, before his visit to Ahmedabad where he will inaugurate a hospital at the Swaminarayan Gurukul Vishwavidya Pratisthanam (SGVP).
Ahead of the Gujarat elections, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held press conferences and spoke at length about their opponents rule, or the lack thereof.
Alluding to the former prime minister, Jaitley on Saturday, 2 December, said the UPA government under Singh was the “most corrupt.” The people of Gujarat didn’t need to pick a “clone” when they had the “original pro-Hindutva” party – the BJP, the Finance Minister said.
On the other hand, Singh reiterated that demonetisation was a major blow to the country. He said China was benefitting from this blow to the Indian economy.
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Published: 03 Dec 2017,10:44 AM IST