Several districts in central and south Gujarat received heavy rainfall on Friday with over 1,500 persons evacuated to safer places in Surat which is the worst-affected, officials said.
The administration has been put on high alert following the India meteorological department's (IMD) forecast of extremely heavy rainfall across several districts of Gujarat in the next two days.
'Narendra Modi -- a man with deep and vital experience of Indian politics -- has seen the BJP lose many elections between 1975 and 2015, and with every defeat, he learned lessons that made sure he would never allow his party to be defeated so easily again.'
The Congress is chiefly banking on the issue of water woes and "incomplete" irrigation projects to make fresh inroads in rural Saurashtra, sensing a feeling of being "left out" among the populace.
Three national highways in Kutch, Navsari and Dang districts were blocked due to damage caused by rains. Fifty one state highways and over 400 panchayat roads have also been damaged, state Disaster Management Minister Rajendra Trivedi told reporters.
Come December 8, and the Congress will again do well in Saurashtra region, he says.
The Centre has decided not to give a go-ahead to the Par-Tapi-Narmada river link project following strong protests against it by tribals, Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party president C R Paatil said on Tuesday.
The weather office has issued a forecast of heavy to very heavy rains at isolated places in several districts of Gujarat over the next one week.
In his address, Modi stressed on conserving water and remembered his days as Gujarat chief minister when people did not understood his vision to bring transformation in agriculture sector.
Jignesh Mevani of Dalit Samiti on Monday said the PM paid only lip service instead of reining in the cow vigilantes.
The administration is geared up for more showers as the India meteorological department has warned of heavy to very heavy rains with isolated extremely heavy rains in several districts of the state till Thursday morning.
Heavy downpour continued in various parts of Gujarat on Tuesday and six people died in rain-related incidents in the last 24 hours, raising the toll to 69 since June 1, officials said.
In the 2017 assembly election, the voter turnout in the first phase covering the same 89 constituencies stood at 66.75 per cent.
In Gujarat, Amit Shah's tactic of spiriting away Congress leaders and MLAs is jocularly called 'shop-and-buy votes'. Although haemorrhaging the Congress is a vital aspect of his election blueprint, an aide said, "Amitbhai wants to win on our strengths and not by weakening the Congress."
The Congress won 77 seats or 42% of seats in the 2017 polls. How then can Gujarat be called a BJP bastion, asks Sanjeev Nayyar.
'The BJP's problem is what rabbit can it pull out of the conjurer's hat?'
The television cameramen had taken their positions in the bed of the dam to cover the event from below.
Gujarat has registered a voter turnout of 64.33 per cent for the recently-concluded elections to 182 assembly seats, a drop of more than 4 per cent as compared to the turnout registered in the 2017 polls.
Hindu temples are also coming up in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, the prime minister told the gathering.
Better living conditions must be an integral part of all political campaigns. But this will only happen if the public pressures the political class to understand the irreversibility of climate change and make the environment a crucial part of their manifestos.
An average 59.24 per cent voter turnout was recorded as of 5 pm on Thursday across 89 assembly seats in the first phase of Gujarat elections, officials said.
The foundation stone of the dam was laid on April 5, 1961 by the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. However, it took 56 years to complete its construction.
Sonia Gandhi's speech at Rajkot may not have been newsy enough, but her visit to Gujarat was memorable for the people of Rajkot, reports Kinner Acharya.
Among the 121 villages declared 'partially scarcity-hit', 58 are in Kutch, 52 in Banaskantha district in north Gujarat and 11 in Jamnagar district in Saurashtra region.
Gujarat agriculture department on Wednesday said that 89 farmers committed suicide in the state in the last four years, while claiming that crop failure was not the reason behind the extreme step in any of the cases.
The prime minister further alleged that the work of Congress while in power was mere pretentiousness.
Just before the elections, the government waived interest on loans up to Rs 300,000 for farmers. But this may not really help small and marginal farmers in the state, who make up for two-thirds of the total and are still dependent on informal channels of credit.
The National Democratic Alliance government has asked states to emulate the Gujarat water management model to address the problem of water scarcity.The Centre has forwarded a compact disc received from Gujarat government's Water and Sanitation Management Organisation on the subject "The state-wide water supply grid" to the states to study how the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state managed the problem of water scarcity.
According to the initial estimates, the flooding of rivers and heavy rainfall has caused damage to the agriculture crop to the tune of Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion) in the state.
Gujarat govt will set up a Tribal university in the Narmada district, over 100 smart Ashram shalas, 10 new hostels for tribal girl students
Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rallies for Wednesday were cancelled.
The results are expected to have a bearing on the 2019 parliamentary polls.
In Gujarat, of the 12.5 million hectare of area under cultivation, while six million is dependent on rainfall, two million is covered by groundwater, a bulk of which is said to be in north Gujarat. Scanty rainfall in the last one and half years has not only depleted groundwater level but also affected dams.
The Congress has reportedly instructed its spokespersons to refrain from personal attacks on the PM.
The last rites will be conducted in Mandala in Madhya Pradesh, according to his wishes.
Anna Hazare, who shook the then United Progressive Alliance government three years ago with his anti-corruption crusade, was back in New Delhi on Monday on a two-day dharna protesting against the land ordinance promulgated by the Modi government, accusing it of being pro-corporate.
'Corruption is rampant in every office in the state from the villages right up to Gandhinagar. I have witnessed all these issues first hand... Before Narendra Modi became chief minister Gujarat had a debt of Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 30,000 crore. Today it is Rs 180,000 crore. There has been six-fold jump in public debt in Gujarat in the last ten years... Every child born in Gujarat owes a debt of Rs 30,000 today. How can you call this development? Look at how high taxes are in Gujarat. Look at the condition of our public health system. There are not enough doctors or nursing staff in government hospitals; not enough teachers in schools and colleges.' Three-time BJP MLA Dr Kanubhai Kalsaria rips apart Narendra Modi's policies.
'I hope the anger that Gujarat farmers have demonstrated is also reflected in other parts of the country in ensuing elections.' 'Only then will the ruling parties accept that something is terribly going wrong in the hinterland.'
The wars of the future will be fought over water and if they occur on large scale, will be far more devastating than any we have seen yet.
