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On 2nd visit in fortnight, PM Modi holds a roadshow in Kangra’s Dharamshala
PM Narendra Modi, who is in Dharamshala to chair the 1st National Conference of Chief secretaries, held the roadshow before heading into the conclave
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held a kilometre-long roadshow in Dharamshala after landing in Himachal Pradesh’s winter capital on Thursday on a two-day visit to the state. This is PM Modi’s second visit to the state in a fortnight.
PM Modi is in Dharamshala to chair the 1st National Conference of Chief secretaries at the indoor facility of the stadium managed by the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association. Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba opened the three-day conclave organised by NITI Aayog on Wednesday.
Riding in an open jeep decorated with rose petals, PM Modi waved to BJP supporters who lined up along the kilometre-long stretch. Standing with him in the jeep was chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, who faces his big test in November this year when the state, which hasn’t re-elected the incumbent government in nearly three decades, goes to polls.
The BJP said more than 10,000 party workers welcomed PM Modi at the roadshow.
Himachal Pradesh goes to the polls this year-end and the BJP is pulling out all stops to retain power in the hill state, where the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party is also trying to gain a toehold after its success in neighbouring Punjab.
Kangra, the nerve centre of Himachal Pradesh politics and the biggest of the state’s 12 districts, has been a key focus area of the BJP ahead of the November elections. The Kangra district is the largest of Himachal’s 12 districts and overall, the Kangra region accounts for a fourth of the state’s 68 assembly segments.
The BJP’s defeat in the bye-election to Fatehpur assembly segment has also underlined that the party may have some distance to go to overcome anti-incumbency.
