PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi to be back in Guj as poll heat rises

With the names of all the candidates to 89 Assembly constituencies formalised, the BJP and the Congress would see their leaders - Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi - hit the road again from Friday.

Rahul Gandhi, who has moved across the length and breadth of the state in his four-phased three-day Navsarjan Yatra over the last two months, will begin his latest campaign on Friday. He will begin the day at Kirti Mandir in Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, and meet fishermen at the Fishing Harbour Ground in the town.

Later, he will fly down to Ahmedabad and travel to Sanand. Here, he will address a Dalit Swabhiman Sabha at Dalit Shakti Kendra and accept a giant national flag measuring 125X80 feet made by dalit artisans. The flag was earlier slated to be presented to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. Citing lack of space, the officials reportedly refused to accept it.  

Rahul will return to Ahmedabad and address professionals, before holding a public rally at Nikol, the stronghold of Patels in the city. There are rumours that Hardik Patel may join him, especially after the Patels accepted the Congress formula on quotas.

The next day, Rahul will move towards the central Gujarat towns of Dehgam, Bayad, Lunawada and Dahod to hold corner meetings and public rallies before flying off to Delhi.

Modi's itinerary

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, since the notification of elections in the state, has been part of two religious functions - one in person and another through video conferencing - will land in Gujarat for campaigning on November 27 and 29. He is slated to address eight rallies across different parts of Saurashtra and South Gujarat, where polling for the first phase of Assembly elections is scheduled to be held on December 9.

On November 27, the prime minister will address the people of Bhuj in Kutch district and then address public gatherings in Saurashtra region at Jasdan town of Rajkot and Dhari in Amreli district before flying off to Kamrej of Surat district in South Gujarat.

On November 29, Modi will be back in the state to address rallies in Saurashtra region at Morbi and Prachi villages near Somnath, Palitana in Bhavnagar and at Navsari in South Gujarat.

"Each rally has been organised in such a way that people from five to six surrounding constituencies can participate," Bhupendra Yadav, Gujarat BJP in-charge, told mediapersons.