PM Modi to attend four functions including Somnath temple trust meet during Gujarat visit

Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a day's visit to Gujarat on Thursday where he will attend four functions, including the convocation of the Gujarat Forensic Science University and a meeting of the Somnath temple trust.

The meeting of the Shree Somnath Trust -- the PM is one of its seven trustees -- will be held at the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar, trust secretary PK Laheri said.

The prime minister will arrive in the morning and address a public meeting in Jujwa village near Valsad town, where he will attend the collective e-griha pravesh (online house warming) of beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (gramin), an official release said.

More than one lakh houses have been built in the state under the Centre's flagship scheme which envisions housing for all, it said.

From the same venue, Modi would perform the ground-breaking ceremony of a water supply project meant for the tribal population in Dharampur and Kaprada talukas.

After the event in Valsad, the prime minister would go to Junagadh town in Saurashtra to inaugurate various projects, including a newly-built hospital of the Gujarat Medical and Education Research Society and two fisheries colleges at Veraval town in the Gir Somnath district, another official said.

Modi would also address a public meeting at the Police Training College ground near Junagadh.

Later, he will preside over the convocation ceremony of the Gujarat Forensic Science University in Gandhinagar and before leaving for Delhi, he will attend the meeting of the Somnath temple trust in the evening.

BJP president Amit Shah, who is also a trustee of the temple, is expected to be present in the meeting.

All the seven trustees, including Modi, will remain present in the trust's 117th meeting, said Laheri, who is also a trustee of the temple.

The other trustees of the temple are - Keshubhai Patel, who is also the chairman of the trust, veteran BJP leader L K Advani, businessman Harshvardhan Neotia and noted scholar JD Parmar.

The temple is situated in Prabhas Patan town, commonly known as Somnath town, in Gir-Somnath district of Saurashtra region and attracts thousands of devotees every day.

The prime minister was earlier supposed to be in his home state on July 20, but his visit was postponed due to heavy rains in several parts of the state, especially in south Gujarat.