Over two years after he left Gujarat for New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address his first public meeting in the State — at Dhrol in Jamnagar district — on August 30, marking the completion of the first phase of the Rs.12,166-crore Saurashtra Narmada Avatarana Irrigation Yojana.
The project is aimed at linking 115 dams in the parched Saurashtra (the stronghold of Patidars) region to the Sardar Sarovar reservoir.
“This will make the Narmada appear to be avatarit , as the name of the project suggests, in Saurashtra,” said a senior official of Gujarat. It is the first project of its kind in India.
Hub of agitationSaurashtra is the cradle of the Patidar agitation for reservation that had rocked the State for the past two years. From Saurashtra, Mr. Modi had derived much political support while he was Chief Minister.
In the local bodies elections last year, the BJP lost most of the district and taluk panchayats in the region, which sends 57 MLAs to the 182-member Assembly.
“Mr. Modi has only addressed two gatherings in Gujarat since he went to Delhi: one was the Vibrant Gujarat summit and the other was the meeting of Director-Generals of Police (DGP) in Kutch,” said a senior MP from Gujarat, who coordinates the arrangements for the public meeting.
“This will be his first public rally after becoming Prime Minister. We expect a crowd of no fewer than two lakh people,” he said.
Senior sources in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Gujarat government said the project, commissioned in 2013 when Mr. Modi was Chief Minister, held a sentimental value for him.
Parched region“Saurashtra has been parched. Despite the construction of 471 small and major dams, water availability is an issue, since dams fill up during the rainy season and are under-utilised in dry months,” an official said. “This project will link 115 of these dams to the Sardar Sarovar Dam to make them perennial,” he said.
The first phase will connect 16 dams with a 220-km pipeline laid in the districts of Morbi, Rajkot and Jamnagar, which are drought-prone and Patel-dominated areas. “The project will bring about tremendous changes in Saurashtra’s countryside,” said a senior official from Gujarat.
The BJP is hoping that Mr. Modi’s undeniable popularity in the State will help it tide over its recent political difficulties.
“This will improve the morale of the party, which has been down for the year or so,” said a senior party MP from the State.
(With Mahesh Langa)
