Contrary to former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s statements questioning the patriotism of Gurajatis, a record number of youngsters have registered themselves for Army recruitment rally.
Akhilesh had provoked outrage with his comment on martyrs earlier this year after a young Army officer was killed in Kashmir. In an indrect jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Akhilesh had said that UP, Bihar, MP and Southern parts of the country had a lot of martyred soldiers, but has any soldier of Gujarat been martyredIJ
According to a recruitment officer, more than 71,000 candidates have registered online and evinced interest to join armed forces. The recruitment rally has started from July 6 and it will continue till July 16 at Vallabh Vidyanagar around 3 km from Sardar Patel’s birthplace Karamsad.
Selection procedure of candidates from 21 districts situated in North, South and Central Gujarat, except Saurashtra-Kutch region, will be completed in ten days. Candidates from neighbouring Union Territory Daman & Dadra Nagar Haveli too are participating in the recruitment rally. On and average nearly 5,000 to 10,000 candidates are being interviewed by the Army recruitment officers per day during the rally.
On Thursday, Surat, Mahisagar, Dang districts coupled with the aspirants from adjoining Union Territory Daman & Dadra Nagar Haveli participated for the selection procedure. According to the recruitment officials since 2014 Gujarat has been witnessing a consistent increase in number of participants recruits per rally.