In full-fledged campaign mode in his home State Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 10 warned the “Urban Naxals” trying to gain entry into the State, an apparent reference to Arvind Kejriwal and his AAP, which is taking on the BJP in a triangular contest in the State.
Warning BJP cadres, the Prime Minister said that the Congress was working “silently” campaigning in the villages and rural areas to convince youth to vote against the BJP in the Assembly polls.
On the second day of his three-day visit to the poll-bound State, the Prime Minister addressed political rallies in Amod, Bharuch and Vallabh Vidhyanagar in Anand, a community function in Ahmedabad and a brief roadshow and government function in Jamnagar.
In Bharuch, where he laid the foundation stone for a new bill drug manufacturing plant and other projects, the Prime Minister also addressed a rally. He slammed the AAP and its leaders, calling them ‘Urban Naxals’ out to provoke the youth, in a veiled attack.
“Urban Naxals are trying to enter the State with new appearances. They have changed their costumes. They are misleading and provoking our innocent and energetic youth into following them,” Mr. Modi said in his address.
He also blamed the activists for stalling the Narmada project for which the State had to fight till the Apex Court to get green signal to build the dam and a sprawling canal network that brings Narmada water to perched areas of Saurashtra and North Gujarat.
“The Urban Naxals are setting foot from above. We won’t let them destroy our young generation. We should warn our children against the Urban Naxals who have taken up the task of destroying the country. They are agents of foreign powers. Gujarat will not bow down its head against them, Gujarat will destroy them,” PM Modi said.
In Vallabh Vidhyanagar near Anand in central Gujarat, addressing a rally of BJP workers, the PM asked the party workers if the Opposition party was working in rural areas.
“I need to warn you because it appears to me that this time the Congress has adopted a new strategy. I have not probed, but that is what appears to me at first glance,” he said told the party cadres.
Mr. Modi’s remarks about the Congress party appear to be a message to the party workers to not become complacent in the run-up to the State polls.
“Do not assess them on the basis of the fact that they have not conducted public meetings, press conferences, or made statements…There is a need for you to remain alert for the coming elections,” the Prime Minister said.
He also slammed the Opposition party leaders for not visiting the Statue of Unity, a towering statue of Sardar Patel built over the Narmada river in South Gujarat.
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Paying his tributes to Sardar Patel, who came from Anand district where Vallabh Vidhyanagar, a satellite town named after him, PM credited him for merging all princely states into the Union of India at the time of independence and bringing unity in the country.
He also took the opportunity to take a veiled dig at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for failing to resolve the Kashmir issue after the independence.
Spearheading the BJP’s campaign, Mr. Modi has made a dozen trips since March this year and attended over two dozen events and political functions at various places across the State ahead of the crucial Assembly elections.
