Modi, Rahul launch rally blitz as Gujarat poll campaign heats up
AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI: With 10 days to go for polling in Gujarat, campaigning took on a shrill tone on Wednesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi were locked in a war of words across seven locations in the Saurashtra region.
The opposition Congress is fighting to end the BJP’S 22-year rule in the state.
Modi held four rallies through the day in the Patel-dominated western Gujarat.
He slammed Gandhi for his visit to Somnath, saying the country’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru (Rahul’s greatgrandfather) had opposed the idea of rebuilding the temple.
Gandhi, too, held several meetings, stepping up the offensive against Modi over a multi-million dollar fighter jet deal and the ruling BJP’S treatment of the influential Patidar community.
In the midst of this high-decibel faceoff, a controversy erupted over whether Gandhi had registered as a non-hindu visitor at the Somnath temple earlier in the day. The party denied he had, saying images circulating on social media purportedly showing an entry by him were fake.
Meanwhile, having declared his support for the Congress, Patidar leader Hardik Patel, too, held five rallies in Saurashtra. Addressing a huge crowd in Rajkot West, CM Vijay Rupani’s constituency, Hardik declared: “Let us show our strength to Vijay Rupani in Rajkot and others in faraway Gandhinagar.” Rupani had held his rally at the same venue a day earlier.
Gujarat votes on December 9 and 14 to elect a new assembly. The results are expected on December 18.