As Assembly elections approach in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will Monday visit Purnea district where he will announce and inaugurate projects worth Rs 36,000 crore, open an airport and launch the National Makhana Board.
The visit is politically significant considering Purnea is in the Seemanchal region, where the BJP has usually struggled to make electoral inroads.
Modi will address a rally in the district and open the Purnea airport that will provide air connectivity to several metro cities, fulfilling a longstanding demand in the Seemanchal region.
The Purnea airport will be Bihar’s third, after Patna and Darbhanga. It is expected to be used by people from the Seemanchal districts of Purnea, Kishanganj, Araria and Katihar, besides Bhagalpur.
The PM will also announce the setting up of the National Makhana Board, a major move to boost the state’s makhana processing industry. Hailed as a “super food” by the PM in many of his speeches, makhana (foxnut) is widely cultivated in Bihar, which accounts for close to 90 per cent of its production in the country.
Modi, who has been addressing region-wise public meetings in Bihar over the last four months, will launch and announce projects worth Rs 35,461 crore in sectors such as agriculture, energy, Railways and women-led empowerment.
Bihar BJP media in-charge Danish Eqbal told The Indian Express: “The PM’s visit will boost development initiatives for Bihar. While the PM will establish the National Makhana Board with the objective of making Bihar a national makhana hub. He would also announce the opening of operations at the Purnea airport. These initiatives are a big boost for the Seemanchal region, which otherwise had been ignored by the Congress-headed government at the Centre.”
Modi will open a thermal power project worth Rs 25,000 crore in Bhagalpur. He will lay the foundation stone of the Rs 2,170-crore Vikramshila-Kataria rail line project and virtually inaugurate the Rs 4,410 crore Araria-Galgalia rail line.
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In a boost to the Union government’s Labharthi schemes in the poll-bound state, keys to 40,920 beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana will be distributed. These houses were constructed at a cost of Rs 603 crore.
The PM will also distribute a community investment fund of Rs 500 crore to women’s federations under the Prime Minister’s DAY-NRLM scheme.
A senior BJP leader said: “The PM’s visit will neutralise any gains achieved by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav through the 17-day Voter Adhikar Yatra that had concluded on 1 September. His visit will blunt the Opposition’s attack on special intensive revision of electoral rolls.”
