Party puts Modi and Shah in driver’s seat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah are likely to be more involved in Gujarat affairs in the coming months as elections are expected to be held in November.

Modi will address Narmada Utsav in Gujarat on September 17, an event to celebrate the completion of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the river.

Fifty-six years after the foundation stone was laid, the Gujarat government on June 17 got permission from the Centre to shut the gates of the controversy-hit structure, marking the “completion” of the project.

Modi will also receive Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad on September 13 for a series of programmes, including the foundation stone laying of India’s first bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

The BJP will also organise a town hall programme for party president Amit Shah at 100 places simultaneously. This is Shah’s second such event. “More than one lakh youth will participate in the event on September 10,” a BJP leader said. “We have got confirmation from 22,000 participants till yesterday,” he said.

Adikham Gujarat (resolute Gujarat) is the tagline for this event. Shah will attend the town hall event in Ahmedabad and answer queries related to youth.

Questions for the event have been invited via phone calls, SMSes, website and other means. BJP leaders call it an outreach programme for youths, who are becoming important in deciding poll outcome.

Although Vijay Rupani is the chief minister of the state, the focus is on these top leaders. The reason is two-fold. First, Rupani is a relatively lightweight politician. Second, Modi continues to remain the most popular figure in Gujarat and Shah’s organisational efforts converts his popularity into electoral success.