Gujarat Confidential: 100th Mann Ki Baat

Surat will see two events to celebrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 100th episode of Mann Ki Baat to be aired on April 30. One of the events is set to be organised by Vinod Jain, president of Rashtriya Sena, at Indoor Stadium in Surat. Jain has invited several national leaders to this event where first-time voters will be felicitated. “We are expecting around 10,000 attendees to attend the Mann Ki Baat event, including well-known dignitaries like state BJP chief CR Paatil and former Deputy Prime minister and senior Nepali Congress leader Bimlendra Nidhi, and poet and writer Manoj Shukla ‘Muntashir’.” Meanwhile, former state minister and BJP MLA from Surat West Purnesh Modi, who recently won a defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, has organised public gatherings in his constituency where the radio show will be live-streamed. “We have made arrangements at 100 locations in 222 booths in our assembly area where on each location, around 1,000 people will listen to the show.,” he said.

‘Vannakkam’

Since April 17, when the first special train arrived in the state with around 300 Saurashtrian Tamils aboard, the Veraval Railway Junction has added Tamil as a language for announcements. The special trains are linked to Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam, a government initiative that is helping Saurashtrian Tamils reconnect to their roots. Generally, public announcements at the station are made by the staff tasked with examining train tickets. In view of an increasing number of Tamil passengers, the Bhavnagar division of Western Railway has roped in employees who know the language. The staff members, who would make the announcements, may be posted in other departments.