Amit Shah raises Narmada in poll-bound Gujarat

Union home minister Amit Shah lashed out at the Congress on Monday saying the party had kept the Narmada project on the back burner since 1964 and Narendra Modi, right after becoming the chief minister, ensured that the water of Narmada reaches Ahmedabad. Shah was addressing a congregation of farmers organised by the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee in Bavla town near Ahmedabad.

The comments came as the BJP is seeking to turn provision of the Narmada water to the farmers of Gujarat into a key campaign issue in the run-up to the assembly election. Shah, who was in his home state on a two-day visit, inaugurated various projects in his Lok Sabha constituency. He said 70,000 hectares of land will benefit from the Narmada water.

Last month, Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel had said, during a programme in Bhuj in the presence of Prime Minister Modi, that "urban Naxals" had opposed the Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada to deprive the Kutch region of water. While Patel had directly named activist Media Patkar, the PM refrained from doing so but reiterated the charge against "urban Naxals" during his virtual address to the environment ministers on Saturday. The meeting was held at Kevadia, the township that has grown around the Sardar Sarovar Dam.


Earlier this month, Shah too had alleged at an event in Ahmedabad that activist Media Patkar was being provided a backdoor entry into Gujarat politics.

While Media Patkar had parted ways with the Aam Aadmi Party in 2015, any mention of her name evokes a strong reaction in Gujarat as the state has benefited from the Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada river and Patkar's opposition to the dam over the years has been equated to her opposition to the people of Gujarat.

BJP leaders said the party's track record in providing water to the people of the state, which was parched until late 1990s, is stellar. "Once we start talking about water, there's no one to beat us," said a senior leader.