Modi woos Gujarat farmers, skirts Dalit-Patel issues

Gujarat knows a son from this land can take responsibility of the nation and won’t do anything to embarrass the state NARENDRA MODI, Prime Minister

DHROL (GUJARAT): In his first public rally in home state Gujarat since he took office two years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation Yojana and hailed the Indian economy that, he said, has maintained pace despite a global slowdown.

Addressing a huge gathering at Sansora village near the Aji-III dam site in Jamnagar district, Modi, however, did not touch upon the Patidar quota agitation and the Dalit unrest in wake of the Una flogging incident that have put the BJP on the backfoot in its key bastion. Jamnagar is located in Saurashtra peninsula, which is the nerve-centre of both the agitations.

Nearly 1 lakh people, mainly farmers, filled up the spacious waterproof shamiana that had a huge stage at one end where Modi was accompanied by the new chief minister Vijay Rupani and his entire cabinet.

The government had deployed more than 700 state buses to ferry people from 11 districts of Saurashtra that will benefit from the irrigation scheme. Modi’s 40-minute address in Gujarati helped him renew the connect he shared with the people as chief minister for 13 years.

“Today India has accepted Gujarat’s son as their PM. Gujarat knows that a son from this land can take the responsibility of the entire nation and this son will never do anything to embarrass the state,” the Prime Minister said.