Virendra Singh Rawat
Lucknow / Dec 5, 2021
Yet again, the eponymous Modi-Yogi pair hit the stage when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates projects totalling almost Rs 10,000 crore on Tuesday in Gorakhpur, the pocket borough of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
In run up to the high stake 2022 UP assembly elections, the frequency of Modi’s visit to the poll bound state has upped significantly. More visits are lined up till the Election Commission of India (ECI) announces the poll dates and model code of conduct comes into force.
However, Modi could still visit the state for canvassing and addressing election rallies of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), although official functions, announcements and inaugurations would be off limits.
The PM will dedicate three projects viz. the Gorakhpur fertiliser project worth Rs 8,603 crore, the first AIIMS of Eastern UP built in Gorakhpur at an investment of Rs 1,011 crore and hi-tech lab of RMRC at a cost of Rs 36 crore.
Talking to media at Gorakhpur on Sunday, Adityanath said the inauguration of three big projects was the biggest investment by far in Eastern UP, which was made possible by the PM.
“The PM has provided these projects for the welfare of farmers, women, youth, children and for the uplift of the entire region. Whereas the opposition considered them as merely a vote bank till now,” he noted.
Attacking the previous governments, the CM said the fertiliser plant of the Fertiliser Corporation of India (FCI) was closed in 1990 but no regime paid attention for its revival although farmers faced untold hardships. “After 26 years, PM Modi laid the foundation stone of a new fertiliser factory in 2016.”
He said the plant will not only provide timely supply of fertiliser and chemicals to farmers, but generate vast employment opportunities. AIIMS Gorakhpur will serve a large chunk of population in Eastern UP, Bihar and even Nepal.