(PTI)
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi soared into the clear Ahmedabad sky on a seaplane from the Sabarmati river marking a dramatic end to a gruelling election campaign, the flight created huge waves in Gujarat’s politically turbulent waters. The BJP was quick to hail it as a reflection of “vikas” ushered in by the party’s governments in the state, while the Congress debunked its development claim. “This is a demonstration of ‘vikas’. The whole world is watching how development has taken a leap from the Sabarmati river,” BJP spokesman Sambit Patra said. Congress’s president designate Rahul Gandhi was, however, not impressed. “If he wants to fly on a seaplane, there is nothing wrong about it. But the issue is not the seaplane…it is the distraction (from the real issues). The question is what has been done for Gujarat in the last 22 years,” he told a press conference in Ahmedabad.
Modi ended the campaign for the second phase of Gujarat Assembly polls in style as he took a seaplane ride from the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad to Dharoi Dam in north Gujarat, and returned after offering prayers at the famous Ambaji Temple and holding a road show. He boarded the single-engine seaplane from near the Sardar Bridge connecting the old city with Ahmedabad west and flew to Dharoi Dam in Mehsana district.
