Modi, Shah’s victory celebrations in Gujarat to be low-key

Ahmedabad, May 26 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah are arriving here on Sunday a two-day visit to home turf Gujarat, which has again given the party all 26 Lok Sabha seats, but the celebrations will be simple in homage to the Surat fire victims.

Modi and Shah are expected to land at the Sardar Patel airport at 5 p.m. and offer floral tributes to the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the airport, state party President Jitubhai Vaghani said.

"PM Modi and Amit Shah are coming for the first time after a huge victory, but the celebrations would be simple and austere," he said.

"There will be no fire crackers or beating of drums. This is in homage to the children who died in the Surat fire."

A total of 23 students were killed when a fire engulfed a coaching centre in Surat on Friday.

A human chain will be formed from the Sardar statue to the airport circle. Twenty-two stages would be erected on both sides of the road to host cultural performances, according the party's youth wing President Ritvik Patel, who is presiding over the preparations.

From there, the leaders will reach the old State BJP headquarters at JP Chowk in the Khanpur area. Modi used to live here in a room when he was Gujarat BJP's Organizational Secretary in the late 1980s during the party's formative years in the state.

The Prime Minister and the BJP chief will address a public meeting at the JP Chowk where Modi always makes the first speech after every election victory. The meeting would be to convey his and the party's gratitude to the people for giving such a massive mandate.

As always, Modi will have a night-halt at Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar and visit his mother Hiraba to take her blessings at his younger brother's house in Raisan area in Gandhinagar before leaving for Delhi.