Lok Sabha elections: Thunder ahead of VIP storm in Gujarat

GANDHINAGAR: A day after a thunderstorm swept several parts of the state on Tuesday, a political storm is all set to sweep

Gujarat

. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and a host of star campaigners from both the BJP and the Congress will slug it out in a high voltage campaign over the next two days. On April 18, both Modi and Gandhi will be fighting it out on Gujarat’s turf.

PM Modi, star campaigner for the BJP, will focus on North Gujarat, Saurashtra and Anand in Central Gujarat, where the BJP is facing a tough fight from the Congress. Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi will address rallies in Saurashtra, Kutch and South Gujarat to woo voters. Campaigning for all the 26 LS seats ends on April 21 and voting will take place on April 23.

With just five days of campaigning left, both the parties are chalking out an aggressive campaign across the state. Apart from Modi, other star campaigners, including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Yogi Adityanath, Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Vasundhara Raje, will address rallies in different constituencies. For the Congress, Ahmed Patel, Sam Pitroda, Ashok Gehlot, Kamal Nath, Mallikarjun Kharge and other leaders will campaign in the state.

Modi has chosen the seats of Surendranagar, Amreli, Sabarkantha and Anand for his campaign as the BJP is perceived to be weak on these seats. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi, after campaigning in Amreli, has chosen to focus on Junagadh, Bardoli and Kutch, where a close fight is on the cards.

Although schedules have not been finalized yet, Modi might campaign for one more day in Gujarat on Saturday. Similarly, Congress leaders said that either Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi will visit Gujarat again on either April 20 or 21 and address rallies in North Gujarat. Top Congress sources said Priyanka Gandhi could visit the Ambaji temple in North Gujarat before April 21 and address a rally.