PM Narendra Modi to kick off poll campaign from Valsad’s Kaprada today

SURAT: After the announcement of dates by the Election Commission for Gujarat Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally kick off his campaign from the Kaprada constituency in Valsad district on Sunday afternoon.
Modi will hold a public rally in Nana Pondha where around 50,000 people are likely to participate.
The choice of the venue is obvious, given the fact that south Gujarat and Saurashtra are going to polls in the first round on December 1.
Kaprada, a constituency reserved for an ST candidate, assumes significance if the focus of the BJP government on the area is observed closely. The foundation stone of Astol group water supply project had been laid by Modi himself in August 2018. In a mega public meeting at Jujwa near Valsad, Modi had launched the Rs 586 crore project.
The project was inaugurated by Modi in June 2022 at an event in Khudwel, Navsari. The project is claimed to be an engineering marvel in which Madhuban dam water is lifted to a height of 1,800 feet for distribution to 174 villages. The reserved seat is now represented by BJP.
In June 2020, Congress MLA from Kaprada, Jitu Chaudhary, resigned and joined BJP and in November 2020 he won as a BJP candidate with a lead of 47,066 votes. BJP won the seat after 24 years.
Chaudhary later became minister of state for fisheries and water supply.
As a Congress candidate, Chaudhary had won the seat with a lead of 170 votes in 2017. For 2022, Vasant Patel is the Congress candidate from Kaprada. For the PM’s rally, a helipad has been developed near the venue and elaborate security arrangement has been made with about 1,200 police personnel.
“Five SPs, 13 DySPs, 26 PIs, 130 PSIs and over 1,000 personnel will be on duty at the venue. Since it is a rally by the PM, we are maintaining tight bandobast,” said Rajdeepsinh Jhala, SP, Valsad.
BJP MLA from Pardi, Kanu Desai, said: “People are excited since the PM is to start the election campaign formally from here.”