Signal Faliya adjoins the Godhra railway station where the ill-fated Sabarmati Express was attacked on February 27, 2002. Polan Bazaar is a Muslim dominated area in Godhra.

At 10.30 pm on Sunday, Modi surprised the district administration by visiting the communally sensitive Polan Bazaar and Signal Faliya areas. “He wanted to move in an open Jeep, but permission was denied. He still moved in the area and spent almost half an hour. Nearly 3,000 people gathered in the area and quite surprisingly, the local youth rode on their motorcycles ahead of the CM’s convoy,” said an officer who was part of the convoy.

The parade ground, which has a capacity of 40,000, was flooded with people. “We were surprised to see over 1 lakh people at the venue and many of them had to stand out. We were indeed worried about the security, but fortunately, it passed off smoothly,” said a senior IPS officer.

Locals, however, maintained that Modi’s visit may not translate into votes. “We were all happy to see him in our area and it was unexpected. But, the development works took place in specific areas and our area was not even properly cleaned. Lighting was done in other areas by the government, but in our area, it was done by individuals. But we are still happy that he turned up in our area to at least have a look,” said Shakir Patel, who runs a printing press.

At the state function, Governor Naval Kishore Sharma unfurled the Tricolour while the police band played the national anthem and a helicopter dropped flower petals.