PM Modi’s rallies in Gujarat have not been big crowd pullers so far due to the Patidar agitation and Rahul Gandhi’s successful election campaign. Various responses on Twitter vouch for that. It seems, the BJP organisers in Gujarat are worried and want to draw crowds by any means, fair or foul.

The twitter handle further criticised the BJP by saying, “It is astonishing to learn about total disregard for private sector’s productivity and business merely for an election rally.”

Morbi in Gujarat is the third-largest manufacturing hub for ceramics in the world after China and Italy, and accounts for 90 per cent of the total ceramic production in the country. Ceramic items have a GST of 28 per cent which caused a huge hike in price of the items, resulting in heavy losses for the ceramic industry. The ceramic industrialists have been requesting the government to cut down the tax rate from 28 per cent to 12 per cent.

Incidentally, Prime Minister Modi in Morbi spoke about reduction of GST on ceramic goods and criticised former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for covering her nose due to foul smell when she visited Morbi. He said the BJP should be credited with the development of Morbi and not the Congress. Among other things, he mentioned Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana and SAUNI Yojana undertaken by his government for the development of the region.

The BJP claimed that there was a huge crowd to listen to PM Modi at the rally in Morbi. But was this crowd fuelled by ceramic factory workers?