President Pratibha Patil begins Gujarat visit today

President of India, Pratibha Patil will pay her first visit to Gujarat since taking charge in July 2007, by arriving in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. Patil will arrive at the Ahmedabad airport at 5.00 pm on Wednesday and, after taking the guard of honour at the airport, she will go to Gandhinagar to attend a public welcome organised at the Town Hall there.

Patil will be welcomed by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, the governor and other dignitaries. The president will spend the night at the Raj Bhavan and will be in Gujarat for five days. The state administration has been busy over the past month preparing for the president’s visit.

The Indian president will visit the Sabarmati Ashram at around 9.00 am on Thursday and will attend a function at the Sardar Patel Memorial in Shahibaug at around 10.30 am, to inaugurate a new hall. She will spend the second half of the day at the Amul plant in Anand, returning to the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar in the evening. The state government and governor of Gujarat have also organised a banquet in her honour.

On October 2, Patil will visit Porbandar to participate in a morning prayer at the Kirti Mandir — Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace — at 9.00 am. She is likely to visit Somnath or Dwarka later in the day.

Patil will visit the wildlife sanctuary at Gir on October 4 and is likely to remain there for the night. On the following day, she is likely to visit Diu, ending her visit to Gujarat by visiting Rajkot in the evening before returning to New Delhi.