BJP president Amit Shah today said continuance of his party’s government in Gujarat was needed for a “peaceful” and “curfew free” atmosphere, a barb aimed at the Congress’ stint in power before 1995. Shah also appealed to leaders of the cooperative sector associated with his party to reach out to farmers and ensure the BJP’s tally rises to 150 in the upcoming polls. Crediting the BJP and its government for the completion of the Narmada dam, which was dedicated to the nation by Modi yesterday, Shah said the people of Gujarat are no longer dependent on water supplied through tankers which was a “routine during the Congress rule before 1995”.
“Gujarat became a highly developed state because the BJP has been in power since 1995 and due to the efforts of the cooperative sector. If we want a ‘curfew mukt’, ‘tanker mukt’ and peaceful Gujarat where a Rath Yatra procession passes off without any trouble, the rule of BJP is necessary,” he said. Shah, who was addressing a gathering of leaders of the cooperative sector, said the Congress was “daydreaming” about coming to power in the state, and asked them to ensure Gujarat does not slip into “wrong hands”.
He said it was because of the BJP government that the state had round-the-clock power supply. As part of the BJP’s efforts to court farmers in the state where elections are due later this year, Modi had yesterday inaugurated the Amreli Agriculture Produce Market Committee’s (APMC’s) new marketing yard in Saurashtra.
Shah said the cooperative sector leaders should work to ensure that the party won 150 out of the state’s 182 Assembly seats in the upcoming polls. “When Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat, the BJP had won 129 seats. Now, when he is our prime minister, we must get 150. It is the duty of cooperative leaders to reach out to farmers and make them understand what the BJP has done for them,” he said.
