Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched BJP's new slogan "Aa Gujarat, Mai Banavyu Che (I have made this Gujarat)" from Kaprada in south Gujarat where he started the party's poll campaign for the first time since the announcement of Gujarat assembly poll dates.
Launching the campaign, Modi said that this time he would be working for "Bhupendra to break Narendra's record", referring to his record of winning 127 seats, out of 182 Assembly seats, in 2002 as the Chief Minister and helping Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel to cross that number.
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BJP's winning number since 2002 has been decreasing. In 2017, the number reduced to two digits, 99, the ruling party's worst tally in its 27 years of rule.
Kaprada Assembly seat in Valsad district is reserved for the scheduled tribe (ST). Claiming that "A means Adivasi" for him, Modi said, "This is my fortune that I am starting my first election campaign with the blessings of Adivasi brothers and sisters. The people of Gujarat have made up their minds to bring back BJP once again with the biggest record. In this poll, I will give whatever amount of time Gujarat BJP asks me for. I want to break my own record. Will you all help? I want to make a record for Bhupendra better than Narendra."
The Prime Minister also claimed that the region was not new for him as he had travelled a lot. Mentioning a person, Ramtubhai, who he met, Modi claimed that he and Ramtubhai used to travel through the jungle of Dharampur on a bicycle.
Later in the day, the Prime Minister travelled to Bhavnagar and attended a mass wedding ceremony along with chief minister Bhupendra Patel, among other party leaders.
Congress releases "chargesheet" against BJP
Meanwhile, Gujarat Congress released a 22-point "chargesheet" against the BJP government accusing it of being anti-people. It highlighted the collapse of the suspension bridge in Morbi which killed 135 people, release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape as "unconstitutional", among others. It said that the release of 11 convicts has "unmasked" BJP that women are not safe under its rule. Similarly, the "chargesheet" also mentions the appointment of governor Acharya Devvrat as chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi founded-Gujarat Vidyapith through "dubious means."