Visit eyes on polls: Cong

The Congress on Wednesday wondered whether the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was limited to Gujarat in view of the upcoming Assembly elections.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said the manner in which the Japanese premier’s visit was structured was “awkward” as the leader of India’s strategic partner was not hosted in the national capital.

“With an election in Gujarat round the corner, it does raise a question that and I hope this is not the case, that a state visit is actually being used for political purposes because the manner in which it is structured, is rather awkward to say the least,” Tewari said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Abe in Ahmedabad on Wednesday afternoon and the two leaders drove through the city in an open vehicle as people lined up on either side of the road to greet them.

Modi and Abe will participate in the ground breaking ceremony for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai High Speed Rail project for which Japan is providing a soft loan of around Rs 88,000 crore at an interest rate of 0.1% to be repaid over 50 years.