7 days before polls, BJP plans blitz with top guns

WHILE BJP WILL FIELD A BATTERY OF UNION MINISTERS, CONGRESS VICEPRESIDENT

RAHUL GANDHI

WILL BE HOLDING

THE FORT ALMOST SINGLEHANDEDLY

AHMEDABAD: As the final countdown for the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections begins, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to launch a starstudded campaign by its leaders, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking the lead in Saurashtra-kutch and south Gujarat that goes to polls on December 9.

While the BJP will field a battery of its Union ministers and national leaders, Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi will be holding the fort almost singlehandedly in the coming days.

State BJP in-charge Bhupender Yadav said on Saturday that PM Modi will address campaign rallies in Bharuch in south Gujarat and Surendranagar and Rajkot in Saurashtra on December 3 .

Other senior party leaders who will be campaigning on Sunday include BJP national president Amit Shah, Union home minister Rajnath Singh, Union I&B minister Smriti Irani, Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, Union minister Purshottam Rupala and former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel among others.

The PM will also visit Ahmedabad to attend a function at the Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul Vishwavidya Pratisthanam (SGVP) for the inauguration of its newly built campus hospital.

This will be the second visit of the PM to an event by Swaminarayan sect, which has immense following among the Patidar community.

Sections of the Patidars are up in arms over the issue of reservation benefits in government jobs and college admissions for the community.

Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) has declared support for the Opposition Congress after several rounds of discussions with party brass.

PM Modi will address poll rallies in Dharampur, Valsad followed by Bhavnagar, Junagadh and Jamnagar in Saurashtra, on December 4, Yadav said.

On the other hand, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will lead the campaign with another three day tour starting on December 5.

On December 5, he will cover Kutch, Morbi and Surendranagar districts, and the next day, he will be covering Tapi, Surat and Narmada districts.he will visit central Gujarat on his last day of the tour.

Gandhi has already completed four phases of a Navsarjan Yatra where he travelled across all four zones of Gujarat. This was followed by two-day tour to Amreli and Bhavnagar on November 29 and 30.