Gandhinagar: NDA presidential candidate Ramnath Kovind will arrive for a brief visit to Gujarat tomorrow evening during which union minister Nitin Gadkari and BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya would also accompany him.

BJP national president Amit Shah, who is an MLA of Gujarat assembly, however, won’t remain present on the occasion owing to other pressing engagements in Delhi.

Kovind’s Gujarat visit was earlier slated for July 11 but was re-scheduled for July 15 in the wake of terror attack on Amranath pilgrims in Kashmir.

BJP state president Jeetu Vaghani today said that Shah and Gujarat BJP in-charge Bhupendra Yadav would not be able make it with Kovind owing to some pressing engagements in Delhi.

‘After visiting Goa and Maharashtra, Kovind would arrive at Ahmedabad airport with Gadkari and Vijayvargiya at 0530 pm tomorrow where he would be accorded grand welcome. CM Vijay Rupani, Dy CM Nitin Patel and other ministers, senior party leaders and other community leaders of the state would remain present at the airport,’ he said.

‘He will participate in a meeting of the MLA’s and MP’s of Gujarat and other leaders of the state in the Swarnim Sankul in capital Gandhinagar in the evening in which Gadkari and Vijayvargiya will also remain present. The three leaders will return to Delhi tomorrow night,’ Vaghani said.

Notably the election for next President will be held on July 17. Mrs Meira Kumar is the candidate of Congress led coalition of 17 opposition parties. She had started her campaign from here on June 30 after visiting Sabarmati Ashram. Going by the arithmetic of the votes, the election of Kovind looks like a mere formality, however Mrs Kumar who is appealing the voters to cast vote on the ‘voice of their conscience’, was pinning hope on a miracle of sorts and large scale cross voting in the election in which parties technically can’t issue whip for voting.

DeshGujarat