Ahmedabad:Prime Minister Narendra Modi was accorded a grand reception here tonight as he landed at the airport ahead of his 66th birthday tomorrow.

This is the PM’s third visit in recent times to Gujarat, where Assembly elections are due next year.

Governor O P Kohli, the entire Gujarat cabinet including the Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, state BJP leaders including the newly-appointed president Jitu Vaghani and hundreds of party workers welcomed Modi at the airport.

After his grand reception, Modi thanked Gujarat BJP leaders and party workers and drove to the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar where he will spend the night. Some of the party workers seemed disappointed as Modi did not address them.

Tomorrow, Modi will first go to Gandhinagar to seek the blessings of his mother Hiraba and meet other family members, Gujarat BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya told PTI. Modi’s mother lives with his younger brother Pankaj Modi in Gandhinagar.

Later, he would go to the tribal district of Dahod to inaugurate various irrigations projects.

Dahod collector Lalit Padaliya said the inauguration ceremony will be held at Limkheda town, around 25 km from the city, and the PM will also address a rally there.

“The Prime Minister will inaugurate Kadana-Hafeshwar irrigation project,” Padaliya said.

Later in the afternoon he would go to Navsari where he is scheduled to take part in a function where aid would be distributed to the differently-abled persons.

“In Navsari, PM will distribute kits and aid to ‘divyang’ citizens. He will also address a large gathering near Navsari town,” Pandya said.

BJP is facing a challenge in Gujarat ahead of next year’s polls in the aftermath of Patel quota agitation and the protests of Dalit community after the Una atrocity incident.

Last month Modi visited his home state twice — to condole the death of Sawminarayan sect’s leader Pramukhswami Maharaj and later to inaugurate an irrigation scheme in Saruashtra region.

PTI