PM Narendra Modi attends mass wedding event in Gujarat

New Delhi, Nov 06: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attended a mass wedding ceremony held in poll-bound Gujarat.

The event was organised at Jawahar Maidan in Bhavnagar city of Gujarat in which 551 couples tied the knot. On the occasion, the Prime Minister urged the newly-weds not to organise a separate wedding function afterwards under the pressure of relatives after reaching home and instead save that money for their children.

"Gujarat has gradually adopted this practice of mass weddings. Earlier, people used to borrow money for organising a grand function just to show off. But now, people have become aware. They have now turned to mass-marriage functions," PTI quoted Modi as saying.

The Prime Minister said he used to attend such mass wedding functions as the chief minister of Gujarat to support this noble cause and inspire others. "I want to repeat the advice I used to give back to couples at that time. Many times, under the pressure of relatives, couples organise a separate function after tying the knot at a mass marriage programme. Please don't do that. If you have extra money, then save it for your children's future," he said.

On the occasion, the PM urged the newlyweds to contribute to society in whatever way they can, such as stopping the wasting of food and segregating dry waste from biodegradable kitchen waste. Modi was on a tour of Gujarat where Assembly polls will be held in December.

Earlier in the day, he kicked off the election campaign in Gujarat.

Speaking at the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the forces that indulged in spreading hatred and defamed Gujarat will be swept out of the state again in the next month's Assembly polls which he said BJP would win with a record margin.

Addressing his first election rally in his home state after the announcement of the poll schedule, Modi came up with a new slogan in Gujarati - "Aa Gujarat, mai banavyu chhe" (I have made this Gujarat), and also made people chant it several times during his 25-minute-long speech.

"Those divisive forces that have indulged in spreading hatred, those who have tried to defame and insult Gujarat have been swept out of Gujarat. The people of Gujarat never accept those who spread hate.

With inputs from PTI