After Bhubaneswar, Surat welcomes PM Modi with pomp and show

Surat (Gujarat), Apr 16 (ANI): Concluding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Executive Meet in Bhubaneswar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed in style in Surat on Sunday. His two day visit kick started with a road show where Prime Minister Modi received a grand welcome in his home state which will go to the polls later this year. The crowd chanted "Modi-Modi" as he showed up in his open-top SUV. The entire stretch of road from Surat airport to the circuit house was decked up and people from different communities and groups felicitate him after every 200 metres on the 11-km stretch decorated with sarees imprinted with the titles of various development schemes and projects. All government and commercial buildings on the route was illuminated A bikers rally escorted him to the circuit house. Earlier, Prime Minister was welcomed by Gujarat chief minister and deputy chief minister upon his arrival in Surat. On Monday Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate Kiran Hospital in Katargam, a drinking water scheme in Tapi district, cattle feed plant, and a diamond manufacturing unit in Ichhapur, and irrigation project in Botad. Prime Minister Modi would then head to Bajipura village in the neighbouring Tapi district to inaugurate a cattle feed plant and an ice-cream plant of Surat District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union, popularly known as Sumul Dairy. He will also address a large gathering at Bajipura. Expressing excitment over his visit, Prime Minister Modi tweeted, "My gratitude to all those who are participating in the various programmes. Visiting the vibrant city of Surat is a matter of great joy." The BJP has been in power Gujarat since 1998 and it is seeking a fifth consecutive term. The party has deployed the slogan "UP mein 325, Gujarat mein 150" (325 seats in UP, 150 in Gujarat) to indicate it wants to win the upcoming election with the sort of record margin it accrued in India's most-populous state. (ANI)