Narendra Modi plans new tribal district in Gujarat to clear ‘debt’

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Monday announced the 28th district in poll-bound Gujarat, which will be called Chhota Udepur. Modi told a tribal sammelan that the district will come into being on January 26, 2013.

"I have walked the streets and cycled in Chhota Udepur in my youth and got so much love here. To clear my debt, I declare the creation of Chhota Udepur district so residents of this region will not have to travel all the way to Vadodara for government works," he said, to applause from around 30,000 people, mostly tribals. "The new district will come into being on January 26, 2013, the same day as Gir Somnath district," Modi said.

Chhota Udepur is 110 km from Vadodara and shares its border with Madhya Pradesh.

Modi said a committee headed by the chief secretary would decide the administrative limits of the new district.

Modi's announcement is being seen as yet another attempt by the ruling BJP to make further inroads in the tribal belt, traditionally a Congress bastion.

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