From 'Bimaru' Tag to Now Among 'Top 10 States': PM Modi Highlights BJP Govt's Achievements in MP

Ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled later this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi amped up the Bharatiya Janata Party’s poll pitch in Madhya Pradesh where he held a roadshow upon his arrival. He received a grand welcome in Gwalior amid chants of ‘Modi-Modi’.

In the visuals released by ANI, PM Modi can be seen rallying with Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan as he greeted and waved at the crowd. The PM was also joined by the BJP state unit’s president VD Sharma.

PM Modi also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of several projects worth Rs 19,000 crore for public interest in Gwalior.

Later, the prime minister addressed a rally in Gwalior where he not only highlighted the achievements of the BJP government but also launched a scathing attack on the previous Congress government in the state.

Modi charged that Congress made Madhya Pradesh a bimaru (sick) state during its tenure and alleged they never spared money or time for the development of the state. He also added that now when BJP is trying to uplift the state, the opposition out of jealousy is trying to pull the state down with their tactics.

“Those people who don’t have a new thinking or a new roadmap development can never help Madhya Pradesh progress. These people have only one work and that is to hate the country’s progress and the various schemes. They forget about the country’s achievements with all the hatred that they have,” said PM Modi.

“Double engine means double development in Madhya Pradesh. In these years our government has turned the state from a ‘Bimaru Rajya’ to the top ten states in the country. Our aim is to make Madhya Pradesh one of the top three states in the country,” added PM Modi.

PM Modi’s Madhya Pradesh Visit

In MP, PM Modi will visit Gwalior, the stronghold of BJP leaders and Union Ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia and Narendra Singh Tomar. BJP’s performance was not very satisfactory in the Gwalior-Chambal region in the 2018 assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh.

While in Gwalior, PM Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the Delhi-Vadodara Expressway, which has been developed at a cost of about Rs 11,895 crore. He will also lay the foundation stone for five different road projects worth over Rs 1,880 crore.

He is also set to initiate the ‘grih pravesh’ ceremony of over 2.2 lakh homes built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin. PM Modi will also inaugurate the houses constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban at a cost of about Rs 140 crore.

As per the PMO, Modi will lay the foundation stone of Jal Jeevan Mission projects worth over Rs 1,530 crore in Gwalior and Sheopur districts. These projects will together benefit more than 720 villages in the region.

He will also lay the foundation stone of nine health centres under the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission and inaugurate and launch several other projects.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister visited Chittorgarh in Rajasthan where he launched multiple development projects. He will also visit Gwalior in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh later.

In Rajasthan, the PM launched and laid the foundation stone for development projects worth about Rs 7,000 crore. He will launch and lay and foundation stone of projects around Rs 19,260 crore in Madhya Pradesh.

He also held a mega road show in Chittorgarh amid chants of ‘Modi Modi’. Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia and Union Minister Arjun Meghwal were also present with him. He also addressed a public rally in the district later.

PM Modi’s Rajasthan Visit

The Prime Minister has reached Chittorgarh for his official visit. While in the district, PM Modi inaugurated the Mehsana-Bathinda-Gurdaspur gas pipeline, built at a cost of Rs 4,500 crore in yet another step to promote a gas-based economy.

He also inaugurated Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited’s (HPCL) LPG plant in Abu Road. This plant will bottle and distribute 86 lakh cylinders per annum, resulting in a net reduction in running trucks carrying the cylinders by around 0.75 million kilometers annually, and will help to cut down about 0.5 million tons of CO2 emission per annum.

Among the other projects, PM Modi threw open a four-lane road on NH-12 (new NH-52) on the Darah-Jhalawar-Teendhar section, which has been constructed at a cost of more than Rs 1,480 crore. The road has been needed to ease the transportation of the produce of mines from the Kota and Jhalawar districts.

Foundation stones for constructing and widening the railway overbridge from two lanes to four in Sawai Madhopur were also laid. Further, PM Modi also inaugurated several railway projects, tourism facilities, and a permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Kota.

Speaking at the event, PM Modi remembered Mahatma Gandhi and former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversaries.

“Today is the birth anniversary of respected Bapu and Lal Bahadur Shastri ji, the source of inspiration for all of us. Yesterday, on October 1, the entire country including Rajasthan organized a big program regarding cleanliness. I express my gratitude to all the countrymen for making the cleanliness campaign a mass movement,” he said

“Bapu was very keen on cleanliness, self-reliance, and all-round development. In the last 9 years, the country has greatly expanded these values of Bapu. This is also reflected in the projects worth Rs 7,200 crore that have been launched in Chittorgarh today,” he added.

Later addressing a public rally, PM Modi slammed the Congress-led Rajasthan government over rising incidents of crime in the state and asked the people to vote for BJP in the upcoming polls.

“Rajasthan has given the call. People will save Rajasthan and will bring the BJP government… This is what Congress has done in Rajasthan for 5 years. Every corrupt person, goon, rioter, tyrant, and every leader of Congress has considered himself the government of Rajasthan…Rajasthan is saying with great confidence and trust that the BJP will come, and hooliganism will go. BJP will come and stop the riots. BJP will come and stop stone pelting. BJP will come and stop dishonesty.

BJP will come, it will bring women security. BJP will come and bring employment. BJP will come and make Rajasthan prosperous,” he said.

He also claimed that in a way, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has conceded defeat and congratulated the BJP.

“Nowadays he is insisting that his schemes should not be stopped after the formation of BJP government. First of all, I express my gratitude to him for accepting the formation of BJP government,” PM Modi added.

Assembly Elections In MP and Rajasthan

The Prime Minister’s official programmes come ahead of the possible announcement of assembly elections soon in five states. Assembly polls in both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are expected to be held in November-December.