Ahead of Gujarat polls, BJP & Cong organise events to remember Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary

The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress are celebrating Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on Sunday in a big way in Gujarat where the Assembly elections are due later this year. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel attended a prayer meet with BJP leaders at Kirti Mandir in Porbandar, the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi, and said the Father of the Nation lives in the heart of every Indian.

The Congress said it will hold a prayer meeting at Kochrab Ashram, established by Mahatma Gandhi, near the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad in the evening. Elections are due in Gujarat by this year-end and political parties are engaged in hectic campaigning across the state.

After the prayer meet in Porbandar, CM Patel said, Mahatma Gandhi resides in the heart of every Indian. His philosophy of non-violence, truth and cleanliness is being thought about and followed across the world when it is plagued by war, communism, imperialism and capitalism." He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working to realise Gandhi's ideas.

PM Modi has taken up the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan based on Mahatma Gandhi's insistence for cleanliness, Patel said. "He has also given a great push to the sale of Khadi, which will revive local village economy, which is also as per the thoughts of Gandhi, he said.

Gujarat Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel and local BJP leaders were present at the programme. In the morning, the Sabarmati Ashram authorities in Ahmedabad organised an all-religion prayer meet in the premises where Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan was present.

The Gujarat Congress will hold a prayer meet in the evening at Kochrab Ashram on the Sabarmati river banks where party state in-charge Raghu Sharma and state unit president Jagdish Thakor will be present. The Congress will also take out bike rallies in different cities of the state after garlanding the statues of Mahatma Gandhi there, the party said in a release.