Shinzo Abe in Gujarat: “Is it election campaign for ensuing polls?”

In its efforts to deck up the twin cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, which will host a slew of programmes during the visit of Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie Abe, the Gujarat government not only installed streets shimmering in fluorescent lights, and hoardings and banners welcoming them but in the rush of the moment also covered up several slums with green cloth.

BJP supporters seem jubilant over Modi-Abe grandiose event but many alert twitter users have been raising questions over the elaborate arrangements put in place to woo the foreign guests.

Parody of a Hindi song—that pokes fun at the state government, is making rounds on social media:

‘Japan se aaya mera dost,
Abe, dost ko salaam karo.
Raaton raat ped kaato,
Din ko raasta banao.
Sab milke ke lighting lagao,
Ahmedabad ko aaj sajao’.

(My friend Abe has come from Japan. Greet him with courtesy. Cut down the trees in night. Lay down the roads in day time. Everyone join hands to install street-lights. Deck up Ahmedabad today.)

The Japanese PM is in Gujarat for two days to attend the 12th India-Japan annual summit and will be expected to discuss the future of the global partnership between the two countries. In a roadshow—that was marked was huge pump and show, from the city's airport to the iconic monument Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram, Modi and Abe visited the historic Sidi Saiyyed Mosque.

Reacting to the event, some twitter users wondered if Ahmedabad has become the capital of India as before Abe’s visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping and the First Lady visited the Sabarmati.

Since state Assembly elections are due in Gujarat, some keen observers linked the mega event with BJP’s election strategy.

Many pointed out that as Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi hardly visited Sabarmati Ashram but after becoming Prime Minister, he was visiting it with foreign dignitaries quite frequently.

Then there are such twitter users who did not let go this opportunity to take a jibe at government over issues as basic as price rise.