Modi to embark on extensive Gujarat poll campaign from Nov 18

Gandhinagar, Nov 16: Gujaratis, move over to Rahul Gandhi, time to welcome, son of the soil, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the high octane Gujarat Assembly election drama.

All these while we have been hearing about the Congress vice-president's "successful" campaign run in the home state of PM Modi which is going to vote for a new Assembly on December 9 and 14.Now, reports say Modi is all set to enter the election campaign to win back his home state for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In fact, Modi was the CM of Gujarat before he left the post to become the country's PM in 2014. The PM will start his extensive campaign in the state beginning from Saturday (November 18). All these days, Rahul pulled out all the stops to campaign for the Congress in the BJP-ruled state.

However, it looks like the entire political dynamics in the state is going to change once Modi is going to frequently visit Gujarat. It was not that Modi did not visit Gujarat in the recent times. But all those visits were primarily official in nature. But now, as Modi once again don the cap of the BJP's star campaigner it is surely going to give jitters to the Congress camp.

Reports say Modi will address one big rally in each of the 32 districts of Gujarat and start campaigning around November 18, once the BJP finalises its candidates for the first phase of elections. The PM will also hold roadshows in major cities of the state. Modi has visited Gujarat almost 10 times in months ahead of the polls to attend various government events, including completion of the Narmada Dam, laying foundation stone of the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai bullet train project and inauguration of a ferry service linking south Gujarat and Saurashtra region via sea routes.

According to reports, the BJP is likely to finalise its candidates for 89 seats in the first phase on Thursday after the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting on Wednesday in Delhi. The party is likely to announce their names on November 17, a day before Modi's visit to the state. The BJP media centre has prepared an "Election Chariot" which will travel in all four zones of the state -- north, central, south, and Saurashtra--Kutch regions and make public aware of development in the state through traditional folksongs.

The chariot was flagged off by party's national general secretary Anil Jain and Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya. In Gujarat, both the BJP and the Congress are fighting a tough contest in 182 Assembly seats. The ruling BJP has an edge however it "much-weaker" competitor, the Congress. But that has not deterred the Congress from giving its best to challenge the might of the BJP and PM Modi.