PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched development projects worth more than Rs 7,200 crore in Bihar’s East Champaran district. The projects are related to rail, fisheries and other sectors. Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, several Union Ministers and other dignitaries were present on the occasion. The Prime Minister’s visit to Motihari, the district headquarters, is his 53rd tour to Bihar since 2014, said Choudhary. In line with his vision of a future-ready railway network, Modi flagged off four new Amrit Bharat trains between Rajendra Nagar (Patna) and New Delhi, Bapudham Motihari and Delhi (Anand Vihar terminal), Darbhanga and Lucknow (Gomti Nagar) and Malda Town and Lucknow (Gomti Nagar) via Bhagalpur. Modi on Friday sounded the poll bugle in Bihar, where Assembly elections are due shortly, calling for “an NDA Government, once again”, which would protect the state from the “evil intentions” of the RJD-Congress combine. Modi on Friday launched a slew of development projects worth Rs 5,400 crore in West Bengal, unveiling major initiatives across the oil and gas, power, rail and road sectors aimed at boosting infrastructure, connectivity and clean energy in the region.

 

Addressing a programme in the industrial town of Durgapur, Modi said the world today is discussing India’s resolve to become a developed nation, and the ongoing transformation of the country’s infrastructure is a key pillar of that vision. “Today, the entire world is discussing the resolve for a developed India. Behind this, there are changes visible in India, on which the edifice of a developed India is being built. A major aspect of these changes is India’s infrastructure,” the Prime Minister said. Reiterating his Government’s vision of ‘One Nation, One Gas Grid’, Modi said the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project was conceptualised to ensure equitable energy access and spur industrial growth across eastern India. “In Motihari alone, the around three lakh families have got pucca houses and the figure continues to grow. Today, more than 12,000 families have got keys to their new houses and 40,000 families have received funds in their bank accounts to build pucca houses”, said the PM, whose speech was preceded by launch of development projects worth more than Rs 7,000 crore.

 

He also pointed out that the poorest of the poor now had access to banking services thanks to the Jan Dhan scheme launched by his Government, in sharp contrast to earlier times, “when our mothers and sisters were forced to keep their savings hidden in some obscure corner of their homes”. Modi charged the Congress-RJD combine with “arrogance that leaves no respectable space for leaders who do not belong to families that control these parties”. The allusion may have been to Independent MP Rajiv Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, an INDIA bloc supporter, and young Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar, both of whom were shoved aside last week while trying to climb atop a vehicle from where Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav were addressing the public in Patna. The PM also said that the Congress-RJD combine, while in power, had “put brakes on development”, but “we salute the resolve of the people of the state who broke the shackles” in the 2005 assembly polls, which brought the NDA to power for the first time. He, however, added that “the younger generation must be made aware of the despair in which Bihar was mired (nirasha ke gart mein duba) until two decades ago” and that it was essential to “protect Bihar against the evil intentions (buri niyat) of the Congress-RJD combine”.

 

The PM also touched upon the success of Operation Sindoor, which followed his announcement, from Madhubani district in the state, that the culprits of Pahalgam terror attack will be taken to task. “This is a new India, which spares no effort in punishing the enemies, mobilizing forces from both land and sky”, remarked Modi, who also reaffirmed his Government’s commitment to stamp out naxalism, and claimed that efforts made in the direction have “benefited Bihar districts like Aurangabad, Gaya and Jamui, once held back by Maoist violence”. He shared with the people his vision for a developed Bihar, “where Motihari gets as much prominence in the east, as Mumbai has in the west, opportunities in Gayaji are at par with those in Gurugram and industrial growth in Patna matches that of Pune”. Modi also accused the previous Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre of “political retaliation” against the Nitish Kumar administration in the state “which received a meagre assistance of Rs two lakh crore over a period of 10 years”. “Since 2014, when we took over, Bihar has been provided Rs nine lakh in central assistance”, disclosed the Prime Minister. Besides the Bihar CM, who is a key NDA partner, the PM shared the stage with Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, besides Union ministers belonging to the state, including Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan, Nityanand Rai and Ramnath Thakur.

 

 

PRIME Minister Narendra As part of the day’s events, the PM laid the foundation stone for Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited’s (BPCL) Rs 1,950-crore City Gas Distribution project in Bankura and Purulia districts. The project aims to supply piped natural gas (PNG) to households and industries, compressed natural gas (CNG) at retail outlets, and generate employment in the region. He also dedicated to the nation the Rs 1,190-crore Durgapur–Kolkata section (132 km) of the Durgapur–Haldia Natural Gas Pipeline, laid under the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga (PMUG) initiative. Passing through Purba Bardhaman, Hooghly and Nadia districts, the pipeline is expected to benefit lakhs of people with a steady and clean supply of natural gas. Continuing the Centre’s thrust on clean energy, Modi dedicated Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) systems retrofitted at the Durgapur Steel and Raghunathpur Thermal Power Stations of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC). Built at a combined cost of over Rs 1,457 crore, the systems aim to curb industrial emissions and improve air quality in the region. In the rail sector, the Prime Minister inaugurated the doubling of the 36-km Purulia–Kotshila rail line, completed at a cost of over Rs 390 crore.