New Delhi, March 11 : A day after Bharatiya Janata Party registered a historic victory in assembly elections in four states including Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting his home state Gujarat on Friday. “Leaving for Gujarat, where I will be attending various programmes today and tomorrow. At 4 pm today, will address a Panchayat Mahasammelan, where several representatives from Panchayati Raj institutions will attend,” PM Modi tweeted. Government officials said the Prime Minister will visit Gujarat on Friday and Saturday. A victory march would be held from the airport to BJP state headquarters ‘Shri Kamalam’ in Gandhinagar. Gujarat BJP chief CR Patil said around four lakh people are expected to participate in the road show. At ‘Kamalam’, Modi will interact with BJP MPs, MLAs, office-bearers, and state executive members. The two day visit of the Prime Minister is being seen as sounding of the bugle ahead of the Gujarat assembly polls later this year. In the assembly elections in 2017, BJP won 99 seats and Congress won 77 in the 182 member assembly. Since then, the numbers of Congress seats have gone down to 64 due to defections and defeat in the bypolls, and BJP’s have gone up to 112. After the road show, the Prime Minister will participate in Gujarat Panchayat Mahasammelan and address the gathering on Friday. Gujarat has three tier Panchayati Raj structure, with 33 district panchayats, 248 taluka panchayats and over 14,500 gram panchayats. ‘Gujarat Panchayat Mahasammelan: Aapnu Gaam, Aapnu Gaurav’ will witness participation of more than one lakh representatives from the three tiers of the Panchayati Raj institutions in the State. On Saturday, the PM will dedicate the building of Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) to the nation. He will also deliver the first convocation address of the RRU as the chief guest. On Saturday evening, he will declare open the 11th Khel Mahakumbh and deliver an address on the occasion. The visit comes a day after results of polls in five states were announced. BJP retained power in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. Modi, addressing party workers at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, said the party managed to increase its vote share despite being in power, and the results were the precursors to the 2024 General Elections.
With uni inputs
