MUMBAI: Modi's magic is fading which is why the government is trying to gather people by spending huge money for his function, leader of opposition in Maharashtra legislative council, Dhananjay Munde has said referring to PM Modi's program at Shirdi on Friday wherein he is expected to give away keys of houses to beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Shirdi in Ahmednagar district on Friday to participate in the concluding ceremony of the centenary celebration of Saibab's Samadhi.
For the program around 20,000 beneficiaries of PMAY too have been invited from five districts viz. Pune, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad and Beed and the rural development ministry under whose aegis this program is being organized has cleared expenses of around Rs 2 crore for the program.
Munde took a dig at the amount being spent on one program of Prime Minister. "Maharashtra is reeling under the burden of debt worth Rs 4 lakh crore. Moreover, dark clouds of drought are looming large over the state. However, the government wants to spend money on promotional events rather than giving relief to the common man," Munde said.
He added, "This also shows that Modi's magic has completely faded which is why the BJP government is spending tax payer's money to gather people for his program."
According to a senior rural development ministry official, though PM Modi won't be distributing keys to all 20,000 beneficiaries of the rural housing scheme, he will inaugurate 'e-Grih Pravesh', virtual entry to home at the grand function. 20,000 beneficiaries with one family member each would be provided transport from their respective village to Shirdi and back by the government to attend the function. Around 400 MSRTC buses are being hired for the program at a cost of Rs 15,000 per bus. Rest of the money would be spent on snacks to be provided to the beneficiaries, the identity cards provided to them, the banners put on the buses ferrying them, the taxes that will have to be paid on all the services hired for them etc. The official also said that around three fourth of the amount has already been spent.