The Bharatiya Janata Party sounded bugle for assembly elections in Gujarat, even as its national president Amit Shah hinted that there won't be a snap poll.
Addressing an overflowing gathering in the 1,200 feet long dome on the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, Shah said that the “victory chariot of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi” will come to Gujarat in November. Assembly elections in Gujarat are due by the end of the year and Shah's statement puts to rest, at least for now, rumours that Gujarat may well face an early election.
Shah's question to the party workers that whether they were ready for the elections elicited an affirmative response, and the party chief exuded confidence that the BJP would win more than 150 seats. Gujarat has 182 assembly seats, and 92 seats are needed for a majority.
Fresh from BJP's victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and its spirited performance in Manipur and Goa, Shah roared that nobody had the courage to defeat the party in Gujarat. He said that many would not even know the kind of atmosphere that existed in Gujarat before the BJP came to power in 1995, and claimed that the state had witnessed 200 curfews during one single year. “It was the rule of begums and badhshahs,” he said.
Attributing the success to Modi and the party's policies, Shah said that the BJP, which in its initial days had 10 members, today have 11 crore members. The BJP, he said, has 1,385 MLAs across 15 states.
Shah described Modi as the most popular leader post-independence. Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, while addressing the gathering, compared Modi-Shah duo to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Mahatma Gandhi.
Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi, Shah said that the Congress vice president would not understand the difference between the nature of cross border firing during UPA's regime and NDA's regime. This was because Rahul had “Italian glasses” on his eyes, he quipped. Shah said earlier the firing was begun and ended by the neighbour, but now they begin and India ends it.
During his two-day visit to his home state, Shah, also an MLA, will attend the assembly session on Thursday. He will also address party office-bearers and leaders, and later attend a dinner to be hosted by party state president Jitubhai Vaghani.
Earlier in the day, around 12,000 BJP youth workers welcomed him at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. None other than Modi has had received such a grand welcome in the state.
Party workers were seen wearing Modi and Shah masks at the venue and its premises.
