Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi staged a massive roadshow in Ahmedabad on Thursday in preparation for the Gujarat Assembly elections.
The roadways through which the Prime Minister’s motorcade was travelling were crowded on both sides. People showered his convoy with flowers. “Modi…Modi.” was being chanted by the mob brandishing his posters. The prime minister could also be seen waving and greeting individuals.
Prime Minister Modi returned to the Gujarat election campaign route after a two-day absence. His three-hour mega roadshow will visit 16 assembly districts for the second round of the Assembly election.
The roadshow began at the Naroda Gam and would end at the Gandhinagar South constituency, covering a distance of more than 50 km. PM Modi is expected to stop at at least 35 memorials along the road, including those for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay.
Some of the constituencies the prime minister is visiting during his roadshow are Thakkarbapanagar, Bapunagar, Nikol, Amraiwadi, Maninagar, Danilimbda, Jamalpur Khadia, Elisbridge, Vejalpur, Ghatlodia, Naranpur, and Sabarmati.
It’s interesting to note that voting for the first phase of the Gujarat election was taking place while the prime minister was canvassing for the second phase.
Modi served as Gujarat’s chief minister for the longest period of time from 2001 until 2014.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 99 out of a total of 182 seats in the 2017 elections in Gujarat. The state’s longest-serving chief minister, Narendra Modi has led the BJP to power for the past 27 years.
This time, the party led by PM Modi, Amit Shah, and CR Paatil hopes to win more than 140 seats, which would be a record.
The state has historically been a BJP stronghold, and the party has set its eyes on winning a seventh term in office.
A total of 56.75 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the first round of the two-phased Gujarat Assembly elections, which ended on Thursday at 5 pm. Voting is taking place in 89 constituencies distributed across 19 districts in Kutch, Saurashtra, and South Gujarat.
BJP chief ministerial candidate Bhupendra Patel contested from the Ghatlodia seat. Among prominent candidates, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi contested from Khambhaliya, former Congress leader and BJP candidate Hardik Patel from Viramgam, former Congress leader and now BJP candidate Alpesh Thakor from Gandhinagar South.
AAP state president Gopal Italia contested from Katargam constituency, Gujarat Home Minister (State) Harsh Sanghavi from Majura, Rivaba Jadeja from Jamnagar North, former Gujarat minister Parshottam Solanki from Bhavnagar Rural, Kunwarji Bavaliya from Jasdan, Kantilal Amrutiya from Morbi and Jayesh Radadiya from Jetpur.
Gujarat’s election’s second round would take place on December 5.
The votes will be counted on December 8. The results of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections will also be announced on the same day.