President Ram Nath Kovind, PM Modi, Amit Shah to visit Gujarat in April

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah are likely to visit Gujarat next month. The President is likely to attend a judicial officers' conference at the Statue of Unity and an event at Madhavpur near Porbandar.

The PM is likely to visit Dahod on April 21 and attend a tribal sammelan, state BJP president C R Paatil said on Wednesday.

Modi is also likely to visit Banaskantha to attend farmers' and women's sammelan. Although there has been no official announcement of the PM's visit, party sources said he is expected to address a rally in the region. Union home minister Amit Shah is also likely to attend state and central government events in Gujarat in the next three weeks, according to key sources in the state government.

On Tuesday, Paatil had said that the Union government had decided not to green-light the controversial Par-Tapi-Narmada river-linking project following protests by tribals in Gujarat.

Elections are due in the state later this year. Tribal leaders within the state BJP too had appealed to the Centre not to go ahead with the project.

Addressing BJP workers in Gandhinagar on Wednesday, Paatil said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Gujarat on April 21. His first programme in the morning will be held in Dahod."

Party workers will make it a grand event, he added. "While Congress organizes a press conference in Delhi on issues related to Gujarat, BJP workers hold meetings for programmes to be organized in tribal areas. This is the difference between the two and this is why BJP candidates have been getting elected," he said.

He was referring to a press conference held by the Congress in Delhi on Wednesday over the river-linking project.

Congress Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat Shaktisinh Gohil and MLAs Sukhram Rathwa and Anant Patel attended the press meet.