PM ON TWO-DAY VISIT TO GUJARAT
Hardik shaves head, tries to kick up a storm ahead of PM’S visit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat from today, during which he will attend the annual general meeting of African Development Bank in Gandhinagar and inaugurate some developmental projects.
The prime minister will also address two public meetings in Kutch district.
Modi’s visit will start with inauguration and laying of foundation stone by him for various projects of the Kandla Port in Kutch district, followed by his address to a public gathering at nearby town Gandhidham.
Later in the evening, he will be in Bhachau to inaugurate a pumping station built on Narmada branch canal for the Kutch region. The PM will address a public gathering at Bhachau also.
Meanwhile, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Gujarat, Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel and 50 of his supporters today got their heads tonsured, alleging “atrocities” against their community by the BJP government, and launched a ‘march for justice’. Hardik’s move came ahead of Modi’s scheduled two-day visit to his home state from today.
Ahead of his visit, Modi informed his followers about the programmes for the next two days through his official Twitter account on Sunday.
Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat when the massive earthquake hit the state on January 26, 2001. Kutch was worst hit by that quake. “On Tuesday, I will be in Gandhinagar to participate in the opening ceremony of the meetings of the @Afdb_group,” the prime minister added. “The Annual Meetings of @ Afdb_group have chosen the very relevant theme of Transforming Agriculture for Wealth Creation in Africa ,” he said. On the sidelines, he will meet some of the distinguished delegates of the AFDB Group.
The AGM is expected to see participation of delegates from around 80 countries, including some African heads of states.
This is Modi’s third visit to Gujarat in the election year, as assembly polls are expected to be held later this year. On April 7, he had visited Botad to inaugurate the phase II of the state government’s ambitious Sauni project. Earlier on March 8, he had visited Gandhinagar to address women sarpanch from across the country on the International Women’s Day.
Hardik and 50 members of his Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) got their heads shaved as a mark of protest at Lathidad village this morning. Thereafter, they embarked on ‘Nyay Yatra’ from Botad district, about 155 kms from here, to highlight their demands, including inclusion in the OBC category for reservation.
“Along with the 50 PAAS members, I decided to get our heads shaved to highlight the atrocities committed by this government on our community in the last two years. Now, we are embarking on the Nyay Yatra to seek justice,” Hardik told reporters. The march, which commenced from Botad, would pass through around 50 villages and end in neighbouring Bhavnagar city.
A few days back, Hardik had announced restarting of the quota stir in Gujarat and said his main goal was to defeat the ruling BJP in the upcoming Assembly polls. The 23-year-old quota leader had accused the state government of dilly-dallying on the issue of reservation to Patel community and warned that the ruling party would face consequences in the assembly polls if it did come up with a definitive plan on the issue at the earliest.