AHMEDABAD: It was a musical start to the day for thousands of people at the Sabarmati Railway Stadium, the venue of the ground-breaking ceremony of the bullet train project, as a concert kickstarted the programme as early as at 7.30 am.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe reached the venue where Abe was welcomed with a traditional Gujarati stole. While Modi was dressed in a beige kurta and white pyajama, the Japanese PM wore a black colour suit. Abe’s wife, meanwhile, spent the morning with students in a blind school.
The two leaders were welcomed on the dais with thunderous applause. Abe started his speech with ‘Namaste’ striking an immediate chord with the crowd which cheered it with a huge applause. During his speech, Abe praised Modi for his leadership amid people chanting slogans of ‘Modi Modi.’ The Japanese PM expressed hope that he and Modi would come back in 2022, when the bullet train will be operational between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
Staying true to his audience, Modi started his speech in Gujarati thanking the people for the welcome extended to Abe, but the PM soon switched to Hindi. During his 30 minute address, he referred to Abe as ‘my friend’ at least 15 times.
In a probable dig at those calling the bullet train deal expensive, the Prime Minister told the crowd that Gujarati people are very business minded and try to look for most economical deals. As the day progressed, singer Aishwarya Majumdar, who won a musical reality show in 2007-08, sang a recent popular Bollywood number and ended the concert with patriotic songs. Though it has been three years since Modi resigned from post of Gujarat chief minister to become PM, his popularity does not seem to have waned.
Hundreds of people travelled overnight to reach the venue to attend the function. One such person was Sunita Desai who runs a shop in Jamnagar. She said didn’t want to miss such a historic occasion.