At BJP’s Gaurav Yatra launch, Amit Shah makes a prediction for Gujarat elections

Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday flagged off the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Gujarat Gaurav Yatra which will criss-cross the state along three routes as part of the party’s massive outreach programme ahead of state elections later this year.

Shah, who mostly kept his attacks sharply focused on the Congress, also predicted a two-thirds majority for the BJP in the Gujarat elections.

Shah said the yatras were envisioned to celebrate Gujarat’s achievements in the last 20 years after Narendra Modi first became its chief minister in 2001. “Many asked me what is the gaurav (pride) in the yatra? Under the leadership of Modiji, the people of Gujarat have time and again reposed their faith for 20 years and the BJP has always lived up to their expectations. In these years, Gujarat has become the country’s topmost state and this yatra is to celebrate this feat,” Shah said at an event to launch the first of the three routes from Sant Savaiyanath temple at Zanzarka village in Ahmedabad district.

The minister contrasted the BJP’s performance with that of the Congress.

“It is not that only BJP has ruled in Gujarat. Were you getting round-the-clock electricity during Congress’ time? Were you getting water from Maa Narmada before Modiji? Did Sanand and Ahmedabad districts see industrial development before BJP? Congress did not give water, industrial growth or electricity. They only gave communal riots. Out of 300 days in a year, Gujarat witnessed 200 days of curfew and this kind of situation was created by the Congress. They did this because they believed that till the time people fought among themselves, they had nothing to lose,” Shah alleged in his public address.

This changed after the BJP came to power and Gujarat saw peace, development, security and prosperity, he said. “Today you have the world’s largest stadium here, a diamond bourse has come up in the state, Ahmedabad has emerged as a sports hub, a world-class traditional medicine centre has come up, the first international financial city GIFT City is in Gujarat. Prosperity has travelled to every home in the state,” he said.

It was on account of the development projects that the BJP has won every election, right from the ones for municipal, district and state assembly to the Lok Sabha. “The people of Gujarat have ensured BJP’s victory. Let me say this before the media persons here, BJP will win a two-thirds majority this time. This is because the people of Gujarat have put their faith in BJP and BJP has worked hard to live up to that faith,” said Shah.

The three yatras that Amit Shah launched on Thursday – he travelled to Navsari district 400km away to launch the other two from Unai Mata temple in Vansda taluka – are part of a package of five that the BJP has planned ahead of state elections. The other two were flagged off by BJP chief JP Nadda on Wednesday.

Together, the yatra will pass through 144 of Gujarat’s 182 assembly segments over the next week or so, covering a distance of about 5,700km. In all, party leaders including Union ministers are scheduled to address about 145 rallies at various locations that are touched by the yatra.

The yatras are seen as a massive effort by the BJP to consolidate its support base in a state where it has been in power for the last 27 years.

As Gujarat chief minister, Modi organised the first Gaurav Yatra ahead of the state elections in December 2002; the party won 127 seats. The BJP organised the Gaurav Yatra again in 2017 when it won 99 of the 182 seats.