A day after the Centre put a halt to the controversial Par-Tapi-Narmada Riverlinking Project following tribal protests, the BJP on Wednesday announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit the Adivasi-dominated Dahod in central Gujarat and Banaskantha in the North on April 21 and April 22.
Addressing BJP workers in Gandhinagar on Wednesday, Gujarat BJP President CR Paatil announced that, “Prime minister Narendra Modi will visit Gujarat on April 21 and April 22. His first programme in the morning will be held in Dahod on April 21 and address a rally the next day in Banaskantha.”
He later told mediapersons that in 27 years of its rule in Gujarat, the BJP had worked extensively for the uplift of tribal communities. “Due to this, they have been electing BJP candidates. While Congress organises a press conference in Delhi on issues related to Gujarat, BJP workers hold meetings for programme to be organised in tribal areas. There is a difference between the two,” he said.
He was referring to a press conference held on Wednesday by Congress in Delhi over the Par-Tapi-Narmada river link project. Congress Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat Shaktisinh Gohil and MLAs Sukhram Rathwa and Anant Patel attended the press meet.
On Tuesday, Paatil had said the Centre has decided not to give a go-ahead to the Par-Tapi-Narmada project.
The decision came after tribals in Valsad and other parts of south Gujarat organised massive rallies to protest against the announcement about the project made by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech last month.
Sitharaman had also said that the Union government will provide support for this and other river linking projects only after consensus is reached among concerned states.
The Par-Tapi-Narmada project envisages transfer of water from surplus regions of the Western Ghats to water deficit regions of Saurashtra and Kutch. It proposes seven new reservoirs in north Maharashtra and south Gujarat.
Centre Succumbs To Tribal Protests in Gujarat, Puts Par-Tapi-Narmada Riverlinking Project On Hold
