PM calls for record turnout in Guj polls

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday appealed to voters to set a new polling record in the upcoming Gujarat elections, promising that state will have industries of the future in coming years, with investments in hydrogen fuel production and semiconductor manufacturing, and billed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as critical for the development work over the next decades.

Modi was speaking at rallies as he resumed his extensive campaign for Gujarat elections, holding events in Dahod, Mehsana, Vadodara and Bhavnagar.

Bhavnagar goes to polls on the first phase on December 1, while Dahod, Mehsana and Vadodara go to polls in the second phase on December 5. Separately, Union home minister Amit Shah took on Jasdan, Bardoli and Surendranagar.

The PM urged voters, especially the young, to cast their ballots in large numbers.

“You (young generation) have seen vibrant Gujarat, but we have given our sweat and blood to make it vibrant in the last two decades.. It is now your responsibility to make India and Gujarat prosperous over the next 25 years by pressing the Lotus button to form your BJP government in the upcoming election in 10 days (December 5),” he said at tribal-dominated Dahod.